‘Shoddy’ bed shopping row
A FAMILY have slammed “shoddy” customer service and a lengthy wait for a refund after ordering a bed from The Range for their eightyear-old son.
Dad Shane Mulvany, 41, has spoken out after being left “irritated” by their ordeal.
He and his wife, who is 37, visited the store – which was able to stay open during lockdown – at Lady Bay Retail Park, in Meadow Lane, in the middle of March.
“It was £200-worth of stuff – plus a £10 delivery fee,” said the electrician, from Thorneywood.
“They ordered it for us. They didn’t have any in-store. We paid for it there and then.”
Mr Mulvany, of Banksman Close, said it due to arrive on April 7, but that they were informed that damage to their order meant it wasn’t possible.
“Last week, my wife received a text from the delivery people – they deliver on behalf of The Range – saying basically that the bed had been damaged and to contact the store where we bought it from,” he said.
When his wife called the store they were advised to call the company’s head office.
But getting through proved a challenge.
“I had three attempts trying to contact the head office.
“Basically, I spent an hour on the first phone call and got nowhere because nobody would pick up the phone, and then spent another hour a couple of days later on the next phone call.
“No-one would pick up the phone.
“I spent 53 minutes on another day, I eventually got through to them.”
Mr Mulvany said he was told the company was going to refund the family, only for his wife to receive another text.
“About four-five hours after that, my wife received a text saying ‘to get your money back, you need to go back in-store at Lady Bay to get your refund.’”
The bed was ordered on a bank card in his wife’s name.
When Mr Mulvany went into the store on April 7, while his wife was at work, he said staff were unable to refund the money without his wife being present.
“I went in to get the refund on the card but they would not give me the refund – even though the card is associated with me and I have given them all my credentials.”
He ended up getting two managers, “They just said they could not give me a refund because ‘the person was not there who bought the bed, we need them to sign.’”
His wife, a dentist, went in the next day.
“It takes seven to 10 days to come back in,” said Mr Mulvany, of the refund. “Just my wife went in, I do not really want to go in there anymore if I am honest. It took about half an hour and the refund was processed.”
He said their “shoddy” ordeal was “not a very good shopping experience”.
He added: “We are living in 2021. In this day and age, why is it taking so long for them to release the money – for them to give refunds to people who are not happy with their stuff?”
The family have since bought their son a bed from a different company.
A spokeswoman for The Range said: “Customer care is important to us and we will always ensure our shoppers are met with a high standard of customer service.
“We are currently liaising with this customer and the issue is being resolved.”