Re: [OT] - Help with Kitchen

["Mark Harrison \(Yahoo!\)" <mph@xxxxxxx>]

Marcus,

Please remember that I'm not a lawyer - just someone who's bought and done
up a lot of properties - so has been round the block a few times on all
this.

The normal provision of the Distance Selling Directive entitling you to a
cooling off / inspection period does NOT apply in this case. The DSD
inspection period excludes items that are made to your specific order.

On that basis, you have three possible grounds for rejecting the goods:

- Not fit for purpose
- Not as advertised
- Not of merchantable quality

In order to receive a refund, you would need to be able to demonstrate that
they failed to meet one of these grounds. The liability of the vendor is
likely to be a refund - you are unlikely to win a claim for reimbursement
of
the other expenses, since they would argue that you should not have booked
a
date for the worktop fitter until you were ready to receive them. (This
isn't about what's RIGHT - it's about what you're likely to win.)

I know this is not the answer you want to hear, but cosmetic blemishes on
non-visible parts of the kitchen are unlikely to satisfy a trading
standards
officer, or a court, that the goods are not fit for purpose or of
merchantable quality.

I feel that, on balance, the courts would take the view that the supplier
had made a reasonable offer to replace the units that were damaged in a way
that would impact how they looked, and that you are unlikely to get any
more
out of them.

Of course, you may write back and ask for replacement only of the units
that
are visibly damaged, plus them to split the costs of a professional fitter
as an act of good faith. You're unlikely to get this, but it's always good
practice to ask for more and settle for less...

Regards,

Mark

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marcus Warrington" <marcusw@mis-pts.com>
To: <ukha_d@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2004 1:05 PM
Subject: [ukha_d] [OT] - Help with Kitchen


Before Christmas I ordered a kitchen (or rather I ordered the actual units)
>from
High Quality (i.e. solid 8mm backs, dowel and glued, and wood laminated
through out) and I had to wait 6 weeks for them to be made for me.

The units were delivered on the 19th Dec 2003, ready assembled and I was
supposed to be fitting them over the Christmas period. The units were
"protected" with thin cardboard sheets sellotaped onto 3 sides of
each unit,
I found this a bit inadequate given the conversation I'd had with the
company telling how well packed the units would be. After unpacking I
noticed that many of the units has chips in the laminate were they had not
been properly scored before cutting and that many of the units were
scratched etc on their bottom/top edges etc. A few even has crushed corners
and one unit had a screw placed so close to its top edge that it has
crushed
the hole.. this is on the top of the units and will be hidden by the
cornice
but is not a sign of high quality workmanship (see pictures at website)

Some examples of the sort of damage etc can be seen at
http://www.marcusw.dsl.pipex.com/kitchen_issues.htm
(move the images
left/right with the arrows and click on the small image to show a larger
image).

Cutting a long story short I didn't fit the "sub standard" units
and I
contacted the supplier after the Christmas period. They were apologetic and
put in contact with there suppliers who also apologised and asked me to
make
a list of those units that needed replacing and those I "could make do
with". Having spent over 5K on the units I was not happy at this, and
sent
them an email detailing the faults and asking that the replace ALL the
units
or give me compensation for the "low" of the other units. I also
asked for
compensation towards the cost of a kitchen fitter because  I now have no
time to fit the units myslef and I also had to cancel the Granite worktop
people who were due to come and template/fit the worktops (who are charging
me £150 for late cancellation).  Their response was that they would only
replace damaged units that had damage on the visible parts;

---Quote-------------------------------

I will do what is required to rectify certain areas but will not for
example
replace the whole dresser tambour unit because there is a screw that is 4mm
too far forward in an area that is impossible to see as it will have the
cornice screwed over it, The screw ideally should be 9mm back from the
front
edge to center and it is probably 5mm back.

[...snip...]

With this being a new field to yourself I feel I must explain that with the
product being a custom made kitchen fully assembled it carries certain
problems of loading/transit/unloading which will result on minor scratches
to unseen surface

[...snip...]

The main thing is to let us replace the parts that are damaged and seen and
you will end up with a stunning kitchen as enjoyed by all our other
customers customers.

--End Quote ----------------------------

To my mind, this is a nonsense.. how can you run a business on the pretext
that the goods you send out WILL be damaged because of lack of packing. !

I just wondered if anyone has any advice as to where I stand legally or has
been in a similar situation ?
Am I within my rights to ask for a full replacement or my money back on the
grounds that the quality is sub standard ?

Just to make it slightly on-topic, CAT5e and ceiling speakers are being
installed in the kitchen as part of the refurbishment :)

Marcus

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