Wrong item delivered - Found out 9 months later

[Sportsbiker]

Can anyone offer advice please.

 

Ordered a sofa bed from an online store which only sells sofa beds on 13th September 2013. It wasn't delivered until oct/nov 2013.

 

We removed it from its cover, checked that there was no damage, that it was the correct colour, and placed it back in its delivered plastics where it sat un-used until the start of July this year (was decorating the house). We took it out and after a couple of weeks we then found after removing the cushion, that it wasn't actually a sofa bed, and was just a normal sofa.

 

I contacted the company, and after a few emails, they have only offered to refund the price difference of the sofa bed/none sofa bed which has caused us an issue now. We don't want/need a sofa, we really needed a sofa bed (at a cost of £650) and this sofa is useless for us. The one we have is still in brand new condition and labels attached to it. (images were sent to the company)

 

Contacted cit advice and they've informed us to go down the formal letter route which I shall be doing, as the item delivered is not what we ordered. We either want a full refund and the sofa collected, or the item exchanged for what we actually ordered. The company is saying in their terms and conditions that we should have informed them within 28 days. I understand this, and some could argue that we should have checked that an actual sofa bed was delivered. But, if you order a sofa bed, from a sofa bed store, and one that looks exactly the same, with the same colours turns up, you would think that it was the one you actually ordered and wouldn't need to pull it completely out to open the bed part up.

 

The invoice states the sofa bed we actually ordered and date of purchase (paid by credit card).

 

I think I'll need to go down the small claims court route, but can anyone offer any suggestions as to where we would legally stand, and the likelyhood of winning at a small claims court? The company doesn't really want to help, and given the length of the timescale from being delivered to actually realising, I'm concerned that a SCC would end up pointless, leaving us with a sofa not fit for purpose, nor one we were meant to get.

 

Many thanks.

[rebel11]

Hi sportsbiker

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Contact your Card Provider ask to carry out a Section 75 refund, the card provider might play hardball but you will need to persist.

 

Send the following amended template, send it Recorded Delivery.

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/section-75-of-the-consumer-credit-act

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/letter-to-report-a-problem-with-something-bought-on-credit-card

 

Let us know what they say.

[Sportsbiker]

Hi Rebel, thanks for the reply.

 

Thats indeed what I'm going to do, amend and send recorded.

 

With regards to the credit card company, is there a time limit that it applies to? I.E 1 year from payment date or something? I'm going to have a read of your links you posted as well.

[rebel11]

To the best of my knowledge, there is no time limit, but don't hang about. Enclose a copy of the invoice, take some picks of the sofa, explain that they don't match, that the propert was undergoing renovation.

 

Hi Rebel, thanks for the reply.

 

Thats indeed what I'm going to do, amend and send recorded.

 

With regards to the credit card company, is there a time limit that it applies to? I.E 1 year from payment date or something? I'm going to have a read of your links you posted as well.