garrypettet.com

I went mental on the phone today.

Fi and I ordered a bed from Dreams just over 8 weeks ago at the princely sum of £1100 (we thought we’d treat ourself). At the time I remember reading that some people were not happy with the customer service (apparently there was a BBC Watchdog investigation into them) but I figured that they’re a big company so they must be doing something right. How wrong was I…

When we ordered the bed – the manager who dealt with us did warn us that there would be a “3 – 4 week delay”. We agreed to this (it actually suited us as we would be moving into our current house at that time). A couple of days later I got a letter from Dreams saying that they were expecting the bed to be ready for delivery in 5 weeks. Hmm, 5 weeks is not 3-4 weeks but I still gave them the benefit of the doubt.

I phoned Dreams when I had not heard anything after 5 weeks and spoke to a relatively unhelpful girl on the phone who said that there would be another 2 week delay. By this point I was pissed off and expressed this to them politely. The woman said that she had pencilled me in for delivery today (15th September) and she would phone me back within the hour to confirm. Eight hours later at the end of the working day – no phone call. Frustrating.

The very next day I called Dreams again and this time spoke to a girl called “Candy” (honestly, what sort of name is that?). She confirmed that the bed would definitely, 100% be delivered on Wednesday 16th September and that I would get a phone call or SMS the day before to confirm the time. Despite her stupid name I was reassured as she called me back when she said she would and I had her name, so I hung tight.

Yesterday (the 14th), I got a SMS telling me I would get a phone call sometime before 10:30 on Wednesday (tomorrow, the 16th) to confirm the exact delivery time. Joy!

Today, however, I got a call from Dreams at about 11:00 whilst I was in the library. It was a lady from the warehouse called Stacey who said that she was really sorry but the bed was out of stock. I lost the plot. I demanded to speak to someone more senior than her and was told to contact customer services as she was unable to help further. I called the aforementioned customer services and spoke to a bird called Heather who said that they could arrange delivery (guaranteed – whatever that may mean coming from these aresholes) and they’d give me £50 worth of vouchers for their stores. I said this was unacceptable and that I wanted my bed or a refund. I got “cut off”. That did not help my mood.

I called back customer services and got through to a rather disinterested chap called Simon who offered me £70 of vouchers. I said no, I just want a refund. He said there would be a 20% penalty for cancelling my order (apparently because the mattress was in stock and had been specially ordered for me!). I was not having any of this and so he got his manager, John, to call me back. John the Scot put on the hard sell and said that he didn’t want to lose my business and that they would offer me any of their beds at no extra cost to me and told me which ones he had in stock and could deliver tomorrow. I told him that I didn’t want another bed – I wanted the one I ordered (which, incidentally, still says is “in stock” on their website!) or my money back. He told me again that there would be a 20% admin fee on the mattress (that would amount to £140) as it was specially ordered. I, politely, told him where to shove his 20% fee and mentioned phrases like “BBC Watchdog” and “small claims court”. He said he would “do what he could”. I said that would be a good idea because if I don’t get the full amount back – I wouldn’t let this drop.

This is the first time I have been so disgusted by a company. I will never buy from this company and I will tell anybody who cares to hear why.