Furniture Village Sofa Purchase

[syvonne]

Hello, apologies if this is in the wrong area, it was the closest I could find.

Basically I purchased a corner sofa from Furniture Village, under much duress from the salesman, only to find out that it wont fit in my lounge, the delivery of the sofa was 14 weeks, I have asked to cancel and get my £1060 deposit back to be told I cant !! ... Just to add I did make the purchase in store and paid my deposit in store but I NEVER saw the sofa, it was just pictures, I was shown a 2 seater sofa that had the same material on it, but I was not shown any corner sofa and was certainly not shown the actual sofa I purchased ... does this mean that I am covered by "Distance Selling" ??

All they have done is offer me in-store credit for the £1060 amount.

many thanks

[R0b]

Can I ask:

1. When did you make the order.
2. What do you mean delivery of the sofa was 14 weeks. was that 14 weeks ago, 14 weeks from the date of order or something else?
3. Can you explain in what way(s) you felt pressured into the sale and you couldn't just tell the salesman that you needed to think about it or check the measurements. Was it your mistake that the sofa you ordered didn't fit in your lounge because you or someone else on your behalf took them?

The distance selling rules you are thinking of don't apply, the key is in the title and you made the sale on premises irrespective of the sale being based on a photo.

[syvonne]

Hi Rob, thanks for the reply

it’s around 3 months ago I made the purchase and it was a 14 week wait for delivery from that time, I mistakenly made the size judgment myself, thinking there would be no problem, my partner then checked the measurements for me and it was then I realised I’d made a huge mistake !!

The salesman spoke of a “sale” that was ending that day, and the price would increase back up to original cost the following day, so I made the snap decision to go for it and paid the deposit, low and behold the following day the “sale” had been extended and continued to do so each day, the sofa in fact dropped even further in price !!

it’s kind of counter intuitive the whole “distance selling” then, as I believed it was based on and relevant to the fact that the item purchased was not & could not be seen in person !?

as it stands I have the £1060 store credit but 3 months on and there is still nothing I need from Furniture Village and it’s obviously a lot of money to just sit there or spend on furniture not really wanted or required.

[R0b]

The distance selling regulations are not in force and have been replaced by the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 which are not too dissimilar to the old distance selling regs. The phrase "distance selling" is how the contract was concluded, not whether you were able to see the physical item. There are 3 types applicable

1. On-premise contracts are what it says on the tin, contracts concluded at the traders business premises.

2. Off-premise contracts take place off the traders business premises for example if you signed a contract in the physical presence of the trader in your own home.

3. Distance contracts are essentially contracts concluded where the trader and consumer are not physically in the same place. Think internet-based sales, telephone sales etc.

Don't think that just because the salesperson had mentioned the sale is ending today would be enough for you to unwind the contract as I personally think there would need to be something stronger to suggest you were pressured into the sale. Even if you could somehow argue that the salesperson's suggestion that the sale is ending that day was not true or deliberately misleading you would be out of time under the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations which gives you 90 days to complain and unwind the contract.

The right to unwind the contract also does not apply if you have accepted a discount - which in this case seems to the credit you've received. Sounds like the sale was in fact ending but got extended which companies are entitled to do so I can't see anything misleading there.

As you took the measurements yourself, i don't think there is anything you can argue around that either.

Afraid to say I think your chances are slim at best if you tried to pursue this and may be throwing good money after bad. Chalk it up to an experience and make sure the same mistake doesn't happen again.

[syvonne]

Ok, good points … many thanks for your help & advice

[R0b]

I should correct myself regarding the CPUT regulations, it's 90 days from the date of delivery or when the service started. So you would be within the 90 day period of delivery but essentially accepting the deposit rules you out of any unwinding of the contract. Unfortunately you can't revert the discount and then claim something better even if you didn't know what you were entitled to.

[dslippy]

Sorry, but Rob seems to have it right.

[Huxie]

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