Reader’s letter

I bought a sofa from a luxury furniture company for £2,299 and it was delivered after a six-week wait. I was so disappointed that upon delivery there were two huge grey stains on the front and side of the sofa – one of them is about 60cm wide. I was advised by the delivery driver to contact the retailer and he left the sofa at my property. 

The retailer has repeatedly suggested sending out a furniture restoration company to try and clean the sofa – but I am not comfortable with that as a resolution. I have paid full price for a brand new sofa and really do not see why I should accept a major rescue job on it before it has even been sat on. 

I have asked for an exchange, which the company has advised will take around nine weeks to build and deliver. It also seems that the fabric which I had originally chosen is no longer available. They have refunded the £59 delivery charge, but I have already spent a week of back and forth with the company trying to arrange an exchange. 

What are my rights in this situation? I would ideally like some form of discount or compensation on the replacement sofa given the inconvenience, is that something I can ask for?

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Martyn responds

Many readers are surprised to discover that we have a comprehensive collection of laws that govern our rights when we shop.

Yet complaints about retailers dominate my inbox every single week. It’s clear to me that many retailers are ‘misunderstanding’ the law (if I’m being generous) or are openly flouting it (if I’m not).

Despite the law being clear and long-established, I’ve seen shop websites that directly contradict legislation, mislead people about the right to return or make it near impossible to contact the retailer. The moral of the tale is this: just because a retailer makes it hard to get a refund doesn’t mean they are playing fair.

Let’s start with the basics. The Consumer Rights Act allows you to return items that are damaged and get a full refund. You have 30 days to notify the business that you are unhappy and returning the item. The clock starts ticking from the day after you receive the item.

You are entitled to a full refund within 14 days of the item being returned and you should not have to pay the cost of the return either.

It’s not just damaged or broken goods that you can return. The Consumer Rights Act says the goods must be:

• Of satisfactory quality: The retailer must not misrepresent how well the goods have been made, should provide the full scope of the service they are offering or ensure that the goods do what they said they would do effectively.
• As described: The item or service should be as the retailer said it would be. So if you buy a new sofa it should match the colour, fabric and description given by the retailer.
• Fit for purpose: You should be able to use the goods or services for the purpose they were supplied for. So if you’ve bought a sofa with an extendable footrest, that’s what you should get.

The law also says that the goods or services must last ‘a reasonable amount of time’.

So far so straightforward. But with larger value items problems can arise. It’s not unheard of for retailers to insist on sending engineers round to check if your new fridge freezer is working if you allege that it’s not. That’s because there may often be a simple fix that’s easier than returning the item.

Additionally, some readers have told me that retailers have insisted that they can charge them for this appointment if ‘no fault is found’. This is totally unfair, of course. However, you can avoid this situation by using your phone to video the fault in advance, proving there’s an issue.

In this case, your sofa is clearly not as described as it’s stained and damaged. For the same reason it’s not ‘of satisfactory quality’ either. Even if you were minded to accept a replacement, the fabric you chose – a fundamental part of the original contract with the retailer – is not available. So there’s no way you can be considered to have received what you originally ordered.

There’s one last complication to get past. Items that are made to order may not be returnable under some sets of circumstances (when they are personalised, if they are fresh goods that have gone off, etc). Sofas are arguably made to order. If you’d commissioned a unique sofa design, then you may encounter some pushback if you wanted to return it. But even then, if the sofa is damaged then you’ve not got what you paid for.

So in summary, you are entitled to a full refund, you don’t have to pay the cost of the return and you can ask the business to compensate you for the inconvenience. To my intense annoyance, the retail sector doesn’t have a definitive ombudsman service, so you may have to threaten them with legal action for the compensation.

One last thing: if the firm refuses to refund you, then contact your bank or card provider and ask them to ‘charge back’ the money. Make sure you explain you’ve attempted to return the item and you’re invoking your rights under the law to get a refund.