kitchen fitting balls up where do I stand

[Pesty]

Hello,

Ordered, paid a deposit and been paying monthly for a kitchen early this year from a large diy store with a & in their name.

2 weeks ago they come to fit it and there are problems which I wont go into but the biggest one is the cooker(range apparently whatever that is) does not turn up.

they say this model is not made any more, it was £1400 but they priced matched it down to £800 at the time.

the only other cooker that is the same colour and size is a rangemaster at £1600 and they want us to pay the difference. They expect me to just pluck another £800 out of the air for their fk up.

Now it seems to me they sould have ordered the cooker or at least reserved one when we signed the deal. since they did not and have recived money for the contract the fk up is of their making and they should fit the rangemaster.


In the mean time we have been without a cooker for 2 weeks and the kitchen is not finished as the fitter has dissapeared on another job.

They have delivered today a brand new cooker from currys !! and will fit that as a tempriary measure ! how much does that cost them. £250 for the cooker £100 for fitting and £100 for removeing again?? then probably scrapping it.

So is my possition unreasonable?

Edited by Pesty on Saturday 26th June 09:57

[Cupramax]

I wouldn't back down if I were you. They have a contract to supply and if they've renegged on it they haven't got a leg to stand on, not your problem if they've accepted an order for something thats gone end of life. Its completely unreasonable to expect you to stump another god knows how much to sort it. I'd go into the shop and give them the chance to sort it with another unit of similar design amicably (at their cost if necessary) or start making lots of noise when the shop is busy .

[Pesty]

Thanks

Noise I can do, for £800 they will need ear plugs

[philmots]

Hope you get it sorted all ok!

[Simpo Two]

Pesty said:

they say this model is not made any more, it was £1400 but they priced matched it down to £800 at the time... the only other cooker that is the same colour and size is a rangemaster at £1600

I would say that the contract is for them to supply the first make of cooker for £800, but if there are none available they cannot complete the contract. However, I'm not sure that means they are under any obligation to provide a different and more expensive cooker for you - their liability might be limited to refunding the £800 you paid for the first one. You have no cooker, but you haven't paid for one, so all is square.

Pesty said:

They have delivered today a brand new cooker from currys !! and will fit that as a tempriary measure ! how much does that cost them. £250 for the cooker £100 for fitting and £100 for removeing again?? then probably scrapping it.So is my possition unreasonable?

If they want to provide a temporary cooker that is up to them, as a goodwill measure to help you out. However, once I'd realised that my chosen cooker wasn't going to happen, and I'd got as much as I could expect from the supplier, I'd have gone and bought another cooker on the open market. If the other cooker you want is £1600 you can hardly complain that you have to pay £1600 for it - it's a seperate deal from the first cooker on which you're quits.

That's my take on it anyway. Frustration is one thing, contract law is another. Write lots of Mr Angry letters if you like, they may work, but the company might also say 'No, we've met our legal obligations'. And if they have, that's as far as you can go. I'd suggest you make an appointment to see a local CAB advisor to learn the true position.

Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 26th June 17:20

[Pesty]

Thanks

the temporary cooker was because even if we do order the more expensive one it wont arive till the end of july.

The fitter cannot fit the extractor and things in place until the proper cooker arrives there are other things that need doing which he will do if and when.

as it stands the kitchen is 3/4 finished and wont be done till the end of July with a rangemaster.

Not sure I like this contract law does not seem to take into acount things like having no useable kitchen for 1.5 months.

the mrs has been speaking with them on a possitive note they are now looking around to see if another retailer has one of our original ordered cookers and have agreed to fit that if there is one(thats me being daft again I thought that would have been done already) The manufacturer has sold out.

Edited by Pesty on Saturday 26th June 18:29

[Simpo Two]

Pesty said:

Not sure I like this contract law does not seem to take into acount things like having no useable kitchen for 1.5 months.

It's a moot point I agree. If it should go legal it might be something the judge takes into account, but other parts of law are black and white. He would need to see that the supplier is doing everything it reasonably can to reach a successful conclusion. Hopefully it won't go that far, but you need to think ahead to realise how much bargaining power you may or may not have. At least you didn't buy the kitchen from Sleepmasters.

Pesty said:

on a possitive note they are now looking around to see if another retailer has one of our original ordered cookers and have agreed to fit that if there is one

That would be a perfect solution and I hope it works out. Don't leave it to them, start Googling because you'll be much keener to track one down than they will be - they'd rather say 'sorry, can't find one' than make a possible loss. Stay on amicable terms even if it hurts, because you're much more likely to get results that way.

[Pesty]

Good thinking thanks for the help.

[touching cloth]

Google "loss of bargain" pretty clear cut case of that IMO. They agreed to supply but have failed to do so, at the time you could have got the model you wanted elsewhere at £800 (hence the price match) but only now much later do they tell you they cannot supply, bad enough but their action has also lost the opportunity to get it elsewhere as model now discontinued. Extra cost is on them, stamp feet and quote the above term to them and I reckon they will back down.

[Simpo Two]

Good one, that could work.

[Pesty]

Quick update for those interested.

The reason the range was no longer made is because the manufacturer updated it.

As far as I can see all they did was add a fan into the other oven and call it a new name. Looks identicle and as far as I can tell is the same price (may be even cheaper but that could be my memory playing up)
tin foil hat time I don't think that would have been hard to work out and it would have come to light if they had placed the order when we did maybe they didnt want to seel it so cheap and used that as an excuse?

However credit where credit is due they have delivered and fit the new range, the updated version of the one we ordered not the rangemaster. very happy with this outcome

kitchen is now finished. Yes it did take a lot of phone calls and we were without anything to cook with for a while but over all I am very happy with how things have turned out.
They have redeemed themselves in my eyes.

NB (well not actually finished as the range they fitted is scratched, fitter didnt notice we did when he had finished) so it will either be replaced or we will get a discount.

Thanks for the advice, definitely helped.

Edited by Pesty on Monday 19th July 22:47