Why won’t they fix my bed?

Hi, Mr Richard, I really need your help.

Please, our value for our money is no longer considered in furniture stores. I made a purchase with lay buy of a bed worth P4,000 last year, August. I went to collect it but after making the payment, I spent a week before getting my bed being told that it was at the warehouse. I ended up getting it a week later.

After 3 months, the bed started making noise. I didn’t even waste time, I went back to the shop to lodge a complaint and I was told it might be factory fault. They then promised to change the bed but it has been 6 months. Now, every month, I pay them a visit and they keep telling me the same thing.

This bed is no longer comfortable for me. I don’t rest well because of the noise. Please help.

I think you’ve been very patient. Perhaps too patient!

Firstly, they failed to deliver the bed when they promised but we can probably overlook that because of the difficulties we’ve all experienced in the last year.

What matters most is that the bed wasn’t in a good enough state. Section 14 (1) (c) of the Consumer Protection Act says that consumers have a right to “the use, delivery or installation of goods that are free of defects and are of a quality that consumers are reasonably entitled to expect”. You are entitled to a bed that allows you to sleep comfortably. That’s what anyone would think they are “reasonably entitled to expect”.

Then there’s the warranty that came with the bed. You don’t say how long the warranty lasted but I guess it was a year. The best thing you did was to highlight the problem with the bed as soon as you could and it’s simply unacceptable that the store has taken so long and made so many broken promises to you. The Act also says that when delivering services to a consumer, they have a right to “timely performance and completion of those services (and) timely notice of any unavoidable delay”. They failed.

I’ve emailed the Head Office for the company and they responded saying “that the complaint has been logged and further feedback will be provided once an update is received.” Let’s see what they think they can do.