Bath damge discovered 3 months after delivery

[Phil]

Just fitting a bathroom for my parents inbetween other jobs, they got the suite from B&Q (don't ask!) :32n special offer and kept it in the conservatory for 3 months.

Now, I will never fit any bath or shower tray until the film is removed and I'm happy there's no damage, when the suite was delivered my dad says he 'checked' it but he never removed the film, only when this is removed can you see its been belted and cracked the corner. When the film is one there always looks to be damage everywhere but its just the creases in the film.

Bath is one of those D shaped ones with a one piece panel, dad went to B&Q today and manager got on his high horse and said we should have checked fully upon delivery and its been too long now for a free replacement. I didn't check at the time because I though my dad did etc.

Bath is £230 so not massively expensive but he's taking it further now, what are his chances do you think? I can kind of see B&Q's argument as they'll get folk trying it on all the time.

 

[Barry98]

Could always try the swap or I'll not shop here again and advise all my future customers to go bath store

 

[tweakyboy]

If they are being a bum about it couldn't you just buy another one and take the broken one back and ask for a refund. If they wan't to be an bum about it you can be too! :smilewinkgrin:

 

[johnnyplumb]

i think they have a 28 day return policy , check on the back of the receipt.
after 28 days, probably at the managers discretion. imo

 

[Phil]

Could always try the swap or I'll not shop here again and advise all my future customers to go bath store

I'm fitting a bathstore suite for another job at the moment and the pedestal was just a cardboard box full of broken pottery, again suite was in their garage for a good six weeks and bathstore told them they would have to pay.

 

[mountainman]

Just proves that everything should be thoroughly checked upon delivery.
I wouldn't blame any supplier for refusing to accept liability after more than a few days.

 

[Phil]

Just proves that everything should be thoroughly checked upon delivery.
I wouldn't blame any supplier for refusing to accept liability after more than a few days.

Aye I suppose you're right, its just very hectic at the moment, everything else was checked and the toilet was damaged and we had 4 replacements in the end before we got a decent one. They bought two suites, one for the ensuite and other for bathroom. Whole thing has been a nightmare but I told him not to go to B&Q!

 

[Guest123]

Try another branch of B&Q. Their manager might be a bit more understanding.

 

[Nostrum]

If you have a tradepoint card I find they tend to be a bit more forgiving. Best option is as said buy another and take it back with the fresh receipt.

You can't blame then though, you could have had it propped up in a garage for 6 weeks and then knocked it over one day.

Failing all of that, you could set fire to it in their car park and accept your loss?

 

[mountainman]

Aye I suppose you're right, its just very hectic at the moment, everything else was checked and the toilet was damaged and we had 4 replacements in the end before we got a decent one. They bought two suites, one for the ensuite and other for bathroom. Whole thing has been a nightmare but I told him not to go to B&Q!

I agree that it's been unfortunate Phil but three months is a lot of hectic and four toilets before they got a good one should really have set alarm bells ringing.
I'm sure this is a genuine story but if you look at it from the suppliers point of view they could argue that if the customer was vigilant enough to find flaws in several toilets then surely that customer would have checked everything thoroughly.
They could also be forgiven for thinking that the customer may have damaged the bath themselves and are trying to con a new bath out of them.
I have been a retailer myself in a past life and you'd be surprised at some of the stunts Joe Public try to pull.

 

[Guest123]

I have been a retailer myself in a past life and you'd be surprised at some of the stunts Joe Public try to pull.

Things got so bad in a local branch of B&Q, that they had to silicone down the lids on cisterns, just to stop Joe Public from nicking parts from them.

 

[Phil]

If you have a tradepoint card I find they tend to be a bit more forgiving. Best option is as said buy another and take it back with the fresh receipt.

You can't blame then though, you could have had it propped up in a garage for 6 weeks and then knocked it over one day.

Failing all of that, you could set fire to it in their car park and accept your loss?

Buy the exact same bath from another B&Q store and take the existing damaged one back pretending its the same one? I can't really see him doing that to be honest as temping as it sounds.

 

[stevetheplumber]

i once made the mistake of buying 6 suites of wickes every time they delivered over half it had to go straight back i think we had six deliveries to get 6 undamaged suites on about the tfouth delivery we secretly maked the boxes when they came back to us 3 days later as supposedly new stuff we contacted the head office and got most of our money back despite over half the stuff being fitted alllready and replacements direct from stock

 

[Phil]

Unbelievable, its all down to the braindead morons in the warehouse and delivery trucks, I've personally seen these guys trample all over boxes in the vans.

 

[mountainman]

Unbelievable, its all down to the braindead morons in the warehouse and delivery trucks, I've personally seen these guys trample all over boxes in the vans.

Erm! What do you expect for £6.25 an hour?

 

[WaterTight]

Erm! What do you expect for £6.25 an hour?

couldn't agree more. i think the more mind-numbing and spirit-crushing your job the more you should be permitted to do it half-arsed.

 

[WaterTight]

also, incidentally, it's rarely the money that's the issue anyway. it's the lack of autonomy, self-expression and purpose. there was a study once where thousands of factory workers were interviewed about what they liked and disliked about their jobs and it turned out the repetitiveness and poor pay were side issues. the main thing they hated was that the conveyor belts moved too fast and so they couldn't do their work to the standard they wanted to. Pride in workmanship. Who amonst us hasn't felt better after the day where they were proud of their work than they did after the day when they had it easy and made big money?

 

[markfxy]

give me the easy life with big money any day, I'm proud of my work but if I was offered a job just to sling it in and take the big money I'd take it without a second thought, you need to get in the real world watertight cause money is always the issue.

 

[mountainman]

Agree mate, I also forgot to mention that the delivery team probably had 25 drops a day to do in an eight hour paid shift.
They are also considered peasants by the paying public who are proud to boast about getting a bargain for a couple of hundred quid instead of paying a bit more from another supplier and getting a better service.

 

[WaterTight]

you need to get in the real world watertight cause money is always the issue.

the real world is scary, depressing and painful. i'm happier with my head in the clouds talking nonsense.

 

[Phil]

On the subject of certain workers not giving a damn, a workmate of mine once worked in the packing department of a bakery and stood before a conveyor belt all day with tea cakes going past. His brief was simple, to put six tea cakes in a packet and then on to the next one.
He had a cold that day and a runny nose and had a lot of flem to get rid of so when the line manager wasn't looking he spat out into a tea cake and then threw it in the bin beside him, at the end of the shift though he was one tea cake down so instead of waiting for more to come from the bakery he picked it back out of the bin and packed it just so he could go home on time.

That ended up in a well known supermarket.

 

[Phil]

He managed to get a new bath out of them, its being delivered on Friday and the lady said make sure its to your satisfaction before the driver leaves.

He had to kick up a fuss though quoting consumer rights act or whatever and the right to a replacement before 6 months is up, I think he was lucky.

 

[Barry98]

Just got to wait three months for you to fit him back in lol

 

[Phil]

Apparantly B&Q delivered another damaged bath today, the bath in question was unwrapped and personally checked by the warehouse manager and signed off as perfect and then bubble wrapped up but when the bath turned up it was scuffed on the inside edge.

Delivery man got his T-cut out but it was too deep so he has two damaged baths now as they don't have room in the van to cram anymore in, probably how they're damaging them in the first place. :lol:

 

[Phil]

3rd bath delivered today damaged lol.

My dad thought he'd watch them this time as they brought it out of the van and he witnessed them get it jammed on the roof and then forced free by shaking it. Result was deep groove scratches on the front curved corner.

Driver was all hot and bothered and bad attitude etc.

B&Q said they would put it down to manufacturing problems but why should the factory have to pay for damage caused by B&Q's carrier monkeys?

 

[Guest123]

After several damaged items Phil, I think you should go and collect it yourself in your van.

I once built a computer for a house bound disabled guy and I spent an hour or so packaging it in plenty of protective casing and it still ended up delivered to him in 3 pieces. Looked like it had been thrown from a great height and obviously the several "fragile, handle with extreme care" stickers all over the packaging were clearly ignored.

Even if someone is only on £6.52 an hour, they are being paid to do a job, having went through an interview and then training. There is no excuse for not caring about the job. If these muppets don't care, then there are many thousands of unemployed out there who'd gladly love the chance of a job and do it well.

 

[Phil]

Aye, I even mentioned that, if you want something doing right do it yourself.

 

[Phil]

4th bath delivered today damaged, it didn't even make it out of the van.

These baths are made by Trojan baths in Huddersfield.

 

[mountainman]

Probably left the factory ok but a cheap 3mm bath can be very easily damaged.

 

[Guest123]

I think that by this stage, they should just get a shower tray installed. :shame: