@asdaserviceteam Asda direct - Legal action

[DreamX]

Hi there guys,

 

I wonder if you can point me in the right direction...

 

I purchased a pram from Asda direct back in march 2013, over time it has developed a number of faults. I rang asda direct and explained the problems, I was given the choice of a refund or a direct replacement...due to the nature of the faults I chose a refund.

 

We were told to package the pram up and we would receive an email with all the details and the arrangements for the manufacturer/courier to collect the pram. We never received the email. We rang again around 22nd January and we were told the adviser hadn't put it through properly, so again we would receive an email the next day. Guess what?? No email! So again we rang on Thursday 23rd January and we were told the previous adviser had again done it incorrectly. She managed to arrange the courier and said they would collect the pram on Friday 24th January between 8am - 8pm. So I arranged to be there all day....Guess what??? Nobody turned up...I'm sure you can see a pattern arising here!

 

So obviously very annoyed and without a pram for my daughter for a whole week now I rang that evening asking for an explanation and they told me the adviser had forgotten to forward the reference number to the manufacturer so the courier could not be arranged! WOW 3 different advisers were unable to their jobs properly! She said that the manufacturer/courier was closed during the weekend so she would arrange for it to be collected on Monday 27th. I asked if they could confirm on Monday via email for peace of mind.

 

Again I arranged to be there on Monday and waited in all day, I did not receive an email so I rang around midday to confirm that the courier was still coming...I'm sure you can guess what happened next...that's right, the adviser I had spoke to on Friday hadn't even put the request for the courier through! So another wasted day and even more time without a buggy! The adviser then said she would send the relevant email through to them to arrange the courier and it would take between 24-48 hours before I hear back from then. I told them this was unacceptable and this was going to be the last chance. I asked to log this as a complaint and she said she would.

 

On Tuesday 28th I managed to email the courier/manufacturer...they are a company called Obaby, they emailed back the same day and said due to asda directs strict policies they were unable to arrange collection until they receive the correct details, she said she would send asda direct an email again requesting they send over the info they need.

 

In the meantime I had rang Asda house and they explained they were unable to help with Asda direct problems...I also sent an email to the head office CEO of asda but they failed to even bother to reply.

 

I rang Obaby again on Wednesday 29th to ask if they had received anything back from Asda and surprise surprise they hadn't! I explained to them that I will give Asda until Friday 31st and if I hadn't heard anything then I would be sending the pram to the manufacturer myself using a signed courier service and once they are in receipt of it I will give Asda direct 7 days to make the refund before I will be starting proceedings in the small claims court for refund + costs + compensation. I also rang asda direct making them aware of the same thing. I spoke to their legal team to collect the address for making such claim.

 

I have made so many calls and wasted so much time on this...meanwhile our 8 month old has had no buggy at all and we have had to pay additional transport costs. I have just ordered a new pram today as we cannot do without any longer...needless to say we did not buy this from Asda!

 

What I wanted to ask is am I well within my rights to do this? What sort of things can I claim for under the small claims court? Is there a template letter I can use to send Asda threat of legal action?

 

I would appreciate any input anyone can give on this matter. Thanks for taking the time to read this!!

[ericsbrother]

Yes, recovery of your lost income due to waiting in for delivery people/gas fitters is allowed but to play it safe only claim for 3 out of 4 missed appointments as you would have made a loss if they had turned up for one of them. I hope that makes sense. basically they can miss 1 appointment without having to pay up.

[DreamX]

Thanks for the reply...however I was not at work on Monday and my partner stayed in on Friday so there was no loss of earnings, it's more the fact that of the time we wasted staying in and the fact that there was never actually any delivery booked in the first place.