Grargh

[lnr]

A timeline:

• 27th March: order a dining table and chairs from Argos. It is listed as in stock, and expected to be delivered within 14 days.
• 4th April (approx): Receive letter from Argos, unfortunately due to unexpected demand they're out of stock, but they expect to deliver by 11th May.
• 15th May: email Argos, asking what's happened. They email me back, apologising that it's still out of stock and that they will mark my order as high priority, and I should contact them once it arrives to see if they can offer me some sort of compensation for the delay. Thank them and ask if they know when that will be, they suggest 9th June.
• 12th June: email Argos again, noting it's now past 9th June, and suggesting it would be nice if they told me in advance when they can't make a deadline.
• 13th June: mail from Argos. They can confirm there's a 28 day delay on my order, and that someone will contact me when it's ready for delivery. They say I'm still within my rights to cancel and get a full refund.

I have so far restrained myself from responding because I know I won't get the best result if I try and write something now when I am furious and upset. A full refund at this stage does not in any way compensate us for being without dining room furniture for 2 months. If we'd known at the beginning it would take this long we could have cancelled then, and bought something else. But at this stage I simply do not believe that in 28 days they will actually have any stock. I don't know what to do.

Comments

[crazyscot.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

I think you are in a good position to demand compensation as well as a full refund from Argos, because they have done you wrong in stringing you along like this. The interesting question would be how much; probably only a token sum or goodwill gesture for the inconvenience and upset, unless their inutility has caused you to incur a documented monetary loss.

[tlingel.livejournal.com]

I hate suppliers who do that sort of thing, though I've never had that with furniture. Do have with Thames Water ( and it seems I'm not alone). The master stop valve (theirs not the one in the house) needs repairing. I first reported it in September 2006 - still nothing. No promised dates - just nothing at all. Time to use the complaints procedure and/or write to the regulator. Don't suppose it will do any good, but it will make me feel better. I am likely to want to sell the house at some point and there's work I want to get done in the meantime that means it has to be fixed. My internal stop valve needs changing and obviously that can only be done if the outside one is turned off.
In your podition I'd probably cancel, even though it means starting again. Unfortunately Argos are too useful to boycott completely and for stuff in-stock I've always found them to be very efficient.

[angoel.livejournal.com]

My course of action would be to cancel, buy from somewhere else, and if I still felt upset about the matter, write a letter of complaint about the lack of communication.

[simont]

<touch material="wood">If my house purchase comes off</touch>, I'm going to need dining room furniture. I probably wouldn't have bought it from Argos in the first place, but I definitely won't now...

[fanf]

Argos is on my furniture blacklist - nasty.

[lnr]

They've been fine about everything else, but I think this is the first time we've ordered something from them which is only ever available via [web/mail/phone] order and is not sold through the stores.

And it *was* a nice looking furniture set for a very reasonable price.

[rmc28]

Actually we have more nice Argos stuff than nasty.

[caramel-betty.livejournal.com]

I doubt it's that the stuff Argos do is nasty. It's just that dealing with them, and whoever they subcontract delivery to, can be a royal pain in the ass.

I've had 30 quid desks from them which have been fantastic - but I could check online that it was in stock, drive down to the store, and take it home.

[caramel-betty.livejournal.com]

I doubt it's that the stuff Argos do is nasty.

I should have added "all of". Some of the stuff they do is tat.

[knell.livejournal.com]

Escalate it. The problem with emailing is that you'll only ever get a response from someone whose job it is to answer customer email.

Ideally you need a name, but I've found in the past that a more-in-sorrow-than-anger look-how-poor-your-company's-communication-skills-are email can work wonders. The problem is finding an address to send it too - not all companies are as open as, say, Apple, where mail to sjobs@ (okay, that'll be someone in his office, but..) has worked wonders in the past for me.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Tell them that you want a refund. What are they doing, trying to get your money back off the dog track? Sorry. Do not let a company run by assholes take your money away and string you along.

[lnr]

Thing is I don't want a refund, I want my furniture. And if I do cancel they can't give me my 2 months back. And most places selling furniture say it'll take 28 days (or more) too, so I might even get it sooner by continuing to wait and *argh*.

I hate situations where you've spent so much time or money on something that you don't want to give up, but you're not sure if you're just wasting even more by hanging on.

perhaps a nonstarter ...

[mair_in_grenderich]

see if they have any really nice/expensive furniture *in stock* and persuade them to give it you free ...

Re: perhaps a nonstarter ...

[lnr]

Ha, nice idea. Only suitable alternative (about 30 quid more expensive) is listed as "Delivery usually within 28 days, often sooner subject to stock" which I'm not convinced by!

[imc.livejournal.com]

I'm having visions of the Cheese Shop sketch…

"Do you in fact have any dining-room furniture in this warehouse?"

[simont]

If you can escalate it high enough to reach someone who will give sensible answers, I wonder if a useful line of attack might be to ask questions like

"How many people are ahead of me in the queue for this type of table?"

"Did they all order it before I did?"

"If not, why are they higher-priority than somebody who has been waiting for two months already and been messed about twice?"

[lnr]

Thanks for those suggestions!

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

But by placing you in this situation, such that you now believe you might actually never get furniture, surely they have outstayed their welcome in your custom?

[mhoulden.livejournal.com]

"Dear Sir,

Under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 you are required to supply my furniture within a reasonable period of time. If you do not supply my dining table by I will have no option but to pursue this matter through the courts without further reference to you." Corporate details of the group at owns Argos at http://www.homeretailgroup.com/home/about/

If you paid by credit card and it cost more than £100, have a word with the credit card company about getting a refund. Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 they're jointly liable.

[gnimmel.livejournal.com]

Having seen Argos screw other people around in a very similar fashion over a fridge, I'd be in favour of cancelling and ordering from somewhere else. :(