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

[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?