Coricraft Refund Policy Hell

Even after ALL THESE YEARS Coricraft is STILL making things EXTREMELY difficult for it’s customers.

With comments from readers who have worked for Coricraft indicating that they are setting us up for failure from the start, you really have to wonder why people still buy from them.

But, when we do, a “small” percentage of us suffer.

Here is a letter to the Coricraft CEO from a reader who is fed up with Coricraft and trying to get a refund.

Pretty interesting…

The CEO Coricraft
I am writing to you to complain about the service rendered by your Springfield branch and the despatch centre in Pinetown and to hereby demand an immediate refund in full.

On the 13th of September 2009 I completed my payment, in cash (R16 935.00) and 2 days later I paid for delivery of the said goods (R250.00) to which I refer you to your own policy see below.

RISK OF LOSS

Customers who elect to collect from Coricraft’s premises unconditionally agree and accept that the risk of loss and title for such items passes to you at the time of collection by you or your appointed agent. The risk of loss and title passes to you, the customer, upon delivery as evidenced by the signature of the person taking delivery, on our copy of the invoice.

I paid for delivery expecting to receive my goods in a brand new condition and undamaged as they were purchased brand new and had to be made to order. I paid in full for the goods and the delivery, in good faith, believing that you would deliver the correct products and in an acceptable condition.

The Goods were delivered in the beginning of November 2009 and on delivery I noticed that the corner unit did not match the 2 div unit (a very dark colour and blatantly wrong and never removed from the truck) also supplied and that the Wong coffee table had a dent in the one end when removed from the box. There were also marks on some of the covers and this can be seen to be written on the invoices for replacement by Shaheeda from your Pinetown office. This in its self proves that the covers and the coffee table I received were not going to be treated as new from the date of delivery. No one would have accepted them as new.

I made notes on the delivery note and phoned Shaheeda as well as your store and reported ALL that was wrong. I was assured that the errors would be corrected by December 2009 including the delivery of the 2 div couch.

I was concerned of the issue of wear and tear and scratches and I approached Shaheeda in particular by phone, as well as the staff at your Springfield branch. They all assured me that I need not worry of the condition of the goods if there were some extra marks and extra scratches, as they understood that there would be some damage to the product between date of delivery and date of exchange. I accepted this as I was concerned as I have a young child of 2 yrs, as well as 2 teenagers, at home and I wanted to be assured that there would be no problem at a later stage. The time limit promised was in the next 4 weeks as the staff at Springfield checked the availability online while I was there in October and stated clearly to my fiancé and I that, the Wong coffee table would land by December to replace mine and that they would deliver everything In December 2009 and exchange the covers to a colour that was firstly correct and to one that matched.

The weeks dragged on and I had to continually follow up as no staff member from Pinetown and Springfield ever bothered to return a call after they said they would. I received no sms’s and no emails updating me. I had to threaten to cancel the deal in the beginning of December as I recall. The 2 div couch arrived around the 13th of December 2009 and what do I find? The colour of the 2 div did not match the already delivered corner suite and NO Wong coffee table. Again I updated the Springfield branch and the Pinetown office speaking again to Shaheeda. I was promised delivery ASAP. I notified the Pinetown branch around the 22nd of December that I was going away and that should deliver after the 15th of January 2010. This I did with either Shaheeda or her assistant.

I made numerous calls to the Springfield office and again threatened to cancel the deal towards the end of January 2010 and into the beginning of February 2010.

In the meantime please realise that I had 2 sets of guests with young children as well as the fact that I LIVE in my house. In other words the units I purchased were being used on a daily basis by everyone and yes they did get dirty. They were not bought for show. It’s normal wear and tear. I did not take the scotch guard option as I did not believe that it was required and for that fact alone, had the exchange been done as promised, we would not be faced with the situation we have now. One must remember that scotch guarding is an optional extra and not required to keep the goods replaceable in your policies

2 weeks ago I contacted Shaheeda again and I was promised delivery last week as she “remembered something about that delivery”. Well isn’t that great. I was remembered but not delivered. Last week on Friday I phoned the customer care line and I was put through to Mark, the Regional manager. He was very helpful and asked if there was any other way it could be resolved and I stated NO! Over and above the previous complaints certain cushions have started to collapse, especially the ones most used, and no matter what one does to puff them up, those cushions continue to look and sit lower than the others. I was polite as I have been with your staff throughout my ordeal but, he even joked and said if it were him, he would have been swearing in December at your staff. What can I say? It’s not the way I work.

What is pleasing to see is that on your website, of which I am a registered user, a client can see what is going on with their orders and complaints. It’s nice to see an invoice on the 24th of February 2010 for the replacement of the goods. The truck unfortunately did not get the delivery because they never arrived.

So throughout the last 8 months I have held my tongue and been polite only to be walked over, lied to and misled into believing that the goods were going to be exchanged. Now that I have asked for a refund, now and only now, has anyone bothered about the condition of the goods. If I had said yes to Mark on Friday, I can almost guarantee that the goods would have been exchanged on Monday the 17th of May 2010 or in the next week. Strange now that I need my refund due to Coricraft’s poor service, that now Mark refuses saying that he cannot refund the money and that the goods can be sold and I can get whatever they are sold for. What the hell kind of customer service is that. Where is your responsibility as a retailer and manufacturer to ensure your staff uphold your systems and policies. If I take another suite and coffee table it’s great but refund, never. That is totally and absolutely unacceptable. 8 months and I still don’t have the replacement and the product promised to me in September and then in December. I have had enough.

Oh and by the way. I did have a 8 week old puppy during December that died in January. It was an early Christmas present for my daughter of 2yrs. Yes, it did chew the corners of the coffee table but, Had the unit, firstly been delivered correctly and undamaged from day one in November, or a month later in early December, the problem would have been mine. However, the lack of efficiency from the staff in your company as well as the poor delivery service and broken promises, leaves the ball in your court. I do not see why I should take responsibility for their lack of service 8 months after I bought the items and 6 months after the last promise of delivery at the beginning of December 2009. I believe that the cost should be borne by the staff involved as well as the Store manager. Why should I, the customer that paid in full for his goods in September 2009, be held responsible for any further damage to the items concerned. Had I known that this was your policy and had your staff bothered to explain it as such, I would have refused the delivery or they should have collected the goods or not completed the delivery. That now becomes their problem not mine.

To assist you in making your decision I have copied further extracts of your company policy as follows:

RETURN POLICY

All merchandise displayed and sold by Coricraft is subject to stringent quality control standards. Should a customer not be satisfied with any product received within 7 days from date of receipt, Coricraft will endeavour to repair or replace the item in question. If within a reasonable time period Coricraft is unable to repair or replace the item a full refund of all monies paid will be made.

I was not happy on both days of delivery and I notified both the branch and the despatch in writing and by phone and personal call in every instance. So I did respond within 7 days. Next is a reasonable time period. Do you think that for one minute they can claim that this complaint has been repaired or replaced within a reasonable time period? This leads me to one option and that is invoking the last sentence of the above extract in which your company promises to refund me in full.

By the way I spent 22 years in the furniture retail industry and most of that in middle and senior management. I now own my own manufacturing company manufacturing outdoor furniture as well as procurement, for the hospitality industry. In the past 25yrs I can assure you that at no time would I have made this the customer’s problem. I would have held the staff members concerned accountable and requested a refund. Things happen, I understand. But when it’s done, it’s done.

I am demanding an immediate refund as I no longer have the goods in my possession. The goods were collected by Coricraft yesterday 17th May 2010 with the intent to refund me. The goods would have been exchanged no question had I agreed but I asked for a refund instead and I do not see why the responsibility of the condition was not mine in the exchange option but becomes mine 72 hours later when I request a refund.

Please contact me urgently.