Furniture Village Delivery drivers damage property

[po-low]

Hi everyone. 

I'm really hoping i can get some help guidance here as im beginning to lose my mind.

 

Purchased a Sofa from Furniture Village around march 2021.  I paid for a delivery and set up service whereby i was told i would not need to do a thing. The delivery guys would deliver, bring in, set up and clear the rubbish.

I did at the time of ordering request to collect it myself but told this was not an option.

 

Fast forward to End of July and delivery day. Fortunately i booked the day off work.

2 delivery guys arrived in the morning.  They managed the 1st piece through the front door, but i was told 2nd piece was too large and to try and take it through the side of house and through the back door.

Once they got the piece through they then began to drag it through and in doing so scratched my wood flooring which i quickly saw and heard and stopped them from doing more damage.

They then informed me this was their 2nd day on the job and no training had been given.

Further scratches were done when removing the packaging and 'attempting' to set up. They had brought no tools so had to borrow mine and were then unable to put the legs on the sofa until i showed them how.

 

They did not have a sign off sheet at the end of the job due to COVID so I could not put the damage they had caused on it. I was told their manager would be in touch.

I immediately took pics of all the damage caused.

2 days later, the Warehouse called to ask how the delivery went and i told them all the issues I had and was told someone would be in touch (tone sounded very dismissive and didnt really seem to be listening)

 

Tried calling them many times (Sometimes over 200 call attempts a day with no luck). Went to the Store to complain, they told me it was the Warehouse fault and they would be in touch. No calls received. Went to twitter. After 3 months, finally got a call from Warehouse manager. We arranged to get the scratches repaired as they Do Not do floor replacement (So i was told).

The floor repairs are unsatisfactory and definitely needs to be changed (1 of the scratches is 1 foot long which goes across the grain).

Warehouse manager is aware of this but now wont respond to my emails.

 

Where do I stand, and what can I do next? Really need to get my floor fixed  as its in plain sight. (Wouldnt be as bad if it was hidden away)

 

Would really appreciate some advice/guidance.

Apologies for the long post (believe me there's a lot more in between)

 

Thanks

[BankFodder]

The liability is pretty straightforward. The delivery was part of the contract and they are required to carry out the contract with reasonable care and skill and on the basis of what you say, they failed.

The first thing to do is to ascertain the value of the damage/cost of addressing even if it means replacing the floor.

Identify a professional expert who is capable of doing that job. Then write to furniture Village and tell them that you are having the damage caused by their employees professionally assessed in order to obtain an expert view of the work needed to repair the problem and also a quotation for doing so.

Tell them that this independent assessment is likely to cost £XXX (find out the cost of this inspection before sending the letter) – and that you will be adding the cost of the inspection to your claim for reimbursement that you are giving them five days to make their comments on your proposal.

At the end of the five days, put the inspection in hand. If furniture Village object then let us know what they say.

Once you have the expert report and quotation then we will help you send it to furniture Village and take you to the next step. It may well be that you will have to end up issuing a small claim in the County Court.

 

[po-low]

Hi BankFodder.

Many thanks for the advice. Ill get a couple of quotes and then send the letter.

[po-low]

So, update time. A bit of delay in getting in contact as i tried to find a company that would replace the damage.

There are hardly any tradesmen (that i could find) that are willing to fix someone else's job.

 

I sent the email yesterday as advised above and finally got a reply back (after continuous emails for 3 months), below:

 

 

Quote

 

I have forwarded your info and pictures to my property repair company so they should have been in contact with you to access the damage. I will chase this up today.

 

Should i wait for them to contact me as they were the ones who didnt do a great job of attempting the to fix the scratches previously?

 

As always appreciate your help.

 

Po-low

 

[BankFodder]

So what is the cost of sorting out the damage?

[po-low]

Its £400 to just remove and replace the damage. 

This doesn't include the materials, removal of rubbish, cleaning up or to remove and put back all the other furntiture (sofas, tv cabinet and all cables etc). If that makes sense.

 

Is that feasible to ask for everything to be as it should? Or am i asking too much?

[BankFodder]

You should be claiming for everything so that at the end, you are not out of pocket by a single penny.

You aren't asking too much and you should be a bit more about your expectations. They are not unreasonable.

Get a thorough quote for everything – two quotes if possible

[po-low]

That's pretty much my expectations from the beginning... that the damage be repaired and be left in the original state.

 

I'll try and get a few more quotes if possible.

[po-low]

Time for an update...Still no contact from Furniture Village or the Property Repair Company.

 

Should I send them the quote for repair and see what they come back with?

Should my quote include the labour, materials, removal/disposal of old flooring etc also? (A total reimbursement cost to me?)

 

Thanks again.

[BankFodder]

If you aren't going to send them a quote for total reimbursement, than what else do you have in mind?

[po-low]

Quote

 

Is it ok to send the below?

 

 

Hi N,

 

I have had no contact since your last email.

 

I will now be looking for reimbursement for the damage caused to the flooring.

 

I have attached a quote for the repair and I will be looking for a total reimbursement of £600.

 

This will cover the labour (Quote attached), materials, disposal of items, time and clean up to return the damage back to how it was.

 

I will give you 5 days to make your comments on this proposal.

 

Look forward to hearing from you.

 

Regards

 

[BankFodder]

Firstly there is no reference number – but much more importantly, you are giving them a five-day deadline – and then what?

If you don't respond within five days, I'll huff and I'll puff… and then I'll go off and think of what to do next

[po-low]

ok. Thanks.

 

Would you be ale to advise me on the things that I should include, or is there a template?

 

Thanks again.

[BankFodder]

No, we don't have templates for that kind of thing here.

Every situation is different.

You need to start off by deciding what you want to do.

You certainly need to understand that sending letters with requests or demands which are open-ended leave you in a very weak position .

If they simply don't reply then where are you? You are simply back to where you started .

I suppose that you are looking at bringing a legal action here .

If this is what you would like to do in order to get your payment, then you'll have to be very clear about it in your mind and issue a firm deadline in a letter of claim.

 

I'm not sure what other choice you have

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[po-low]

I want to make a claim to reimburse me for the damage caused and the cost to fix it.

 

Im assuming i'll have to issue a letter of claim?

Is that correct? Or do i need to make a small claim via the county court as per your original post?

Or does the small claim come after the letter of claim?

 

Apologies for so many questions and thanks again for your help.

[BankFodder]

Please read up about the steps involved in taking a small claim in the County Court. It's changed a little bit but by and large the timescales of the same.

You certainly will have to calculate your losses and begin with a letter of claim.

Post a draft letter of claim here and we will have a look.

If you start reading around carefully you will find that you will have fewer questions to ask us and you will feel much more confident about what you are doing

[po-low]

 

I've had a look at the guide on this site as well as various other sites and have put together the below, is there anything that may need adding/changing?

 

Thanks again in advance for your help.

 

 

My name, address

22^nd May 2022

 

Furniture Village

258 Bath Road

Slough

Berkshire

SL1 4DX

 

Ref: Order xxxxxxxxxx

 

Dear Sir/madam,

 

RE: Notice before proceeding with court action

 

I am writing in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct with regards to the following matter which have arisen between us:

On the 28^th July 2021 your drivers caused damage to my flooring on delivery and set up of the sofa. I made them immediately aware and also eventually got in touch with the Warehouse manager to inform him also of what occurred. An attempt was made to fix the repairs by contractors on behalf of the warehouse manager but they were completed to a poor standard and the damage is still very much visible. Upon many attempts to contact the warehouse manager since to get this issue resolved I have had no further reply, the last attempt which was on 02 February 2022.

 

As a result of these matters I am entitled and intend to claim the sum of £850 (eight hundred and fifty pounds) which has been calculated as follows:

This will cover the labour cost to replace the damaged flooring, the replacement parts (laminate flooring, underlay, scotia trims, flooring strips), disposal of the old damaged flooring, disconnection, removal and re-connection of all electrical wiring which is present for the flooring to be replaced and clean up to restore it back to its original state.

 

If you dispute my claim I can confirm that I would be agreeable to mediation and would consider any other system of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in order to avoid the need for this matter to be resolved by the courts.

 

I look forward to hearing from you within the next 28 days. Should I not receive a response to my letter within this time frame, then I anticipate that a legal claim will be commenced forthwith.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

po-low

[po-low]

Is the above letter ok to send now or is there any changes that are required?

Thanks