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My new Dream bed was just a dream
Our correspondent writes ...
I ordered a new bed and mattress from Dreams Bed Superstores PLC because the item was guaranteed in stock and could be delivered within 7 days. The actual delivery date was fixed 8 days from purchase - the earliest available slot. Less that 24 hours before the due delivery date, the warehouse phoned to say that when they went to load the delivery vehicle with my order they suddenly realised that they had "run out"!
How a multi-national company ever conducts an audit with such terrible stock control is beyond me but, to add insult to injury, this person had absolutely no idea when this bed might come back into stock and suggested I rang customer services to acquire an approximate date.
I did just this (at national call cost), and was on hold for 10 minutes before I could explain the situation to the operator. She assured me she would find out immediately and mumbled a very insincere apology.
5pm came with no phone call. The insincere operator had now gone home for her dinner.
I still had no bed so I decided to phone the store from which I bought the bed. I asked to speak to the manager. "He's gone home for his tea," I was told.
Supervisor? Nope. He too has gone home for tea.
So who's in charge? "Er no one. It's 6pm, so we are running on skeleton staff."
Funny that. On the Bank holiday Monday when I ordered the bed, there were salesmen queuing up to take my money.
So buyer beware. They may say they it is in stock but what this actually means is: 'We have some stock, we don't keep track of how many we sell and we have a tiny bit of small print to cover ourselves and avoid being caught out by trading standards.'
Still, seeing as I had booked the following day off work to wait in for the delivery, I had plenty of time to go in to the store and demand my refund.
Editorial comment:
This correspondent's experiences don't exactly match the delivery promises made on the company's website but we perhaps shouldn't be surprised. It's very often the case that a large company's employees don't all sing out of the same hymn book which rather makes a mockery of the government-imposed standards that are supposed to protect consumer rights.
Anybody else had similar experiences with Dreams Bed Superstores?
Visitors' Comments
Totally agree with the comment about Dreams. It took five days to deliver a bed and mattress all because they have incompetent staff in the
warehouse and on the customer service team. It should be renamed NIGHTMARES.
David, Swadlincote
I'm in agreement here.
The Dreams show room from which I purchased my bed was next door to their warehouse and yet, after making a number of calls to confirm stock was available from which I could pick up my purchase the next day, I arrived to find there wasn't any in stock.
I was told upon payment that stock would arrive in 5 working days. This time, I am told "about 2 weeks". I witnessed staff in the showroom both physically walk to and phone the warehouse yet, when chasing them over the phone, they behave like separate entities, instead passing the buck to their national customer service line to contact the warehouse.
Other customers were waiting in the cold for collection (up to 30mins) as no one was around the warehouse to hear the bell. It took 3 irate customers addressing staff at the showroom for one worker to investigate.
My experience has shown staff to be incredibly lazy, and the company to be an incohesive organisation tuned to sell, but not provide.
The branch in question is in Enfield - Mollison Avenue.
AT, London
They literally take the pi**. I had enough of them as I have been waiting for delivery of my beds since Aug 08. They offered me a miserly £200 discount.
Write to the CEO and directors. I wrote them a really long email which I wanted to copy/paste here, but wasn't able to do so. This morning when I called again, they said they can deliver in 3 weeks! Now, after my email, they are saying they can deliver tomorrow. That is besides the point as they do not address compensation, so negotiate hard and negotiate well.
As I have been waiting forever, I will wait and see what the outcome will be. Go to the top, you'll encounter gate-keepers, but be persistent. No-one was prepared to give me their email and you are passed from pillar to post. I done my research. They make profits and turnover of £200 million plus and for them to treat us that way is unacceptable!
ZD, London 6/6/09
I paid nearly a thousand pounds for bed and mattress over a month ago after being told I would receive my bed in five days and that it was definitely in stock. All in all I took four days off work without anyone calling to tell me they couldn't deliver!!! Each day before each delivery date I would phone to double check and each time it was confirmed delivery would be with me the next day. Each time nothing!! It took ages to get through.
Today, after running up a big phone bill, I have been told my bed is not even in the country and the next date available is another month's time. I went to shop of purchase who seemed unhelpful and more interested in customers purchasing in store. Eventually I demanded a full refund to which they than decided to ring customer services who did their best to keep the sale offering me a £180 discount and assurances that the operator will personally ring me every week to update me on delivery of stock to the warehouse.
I am so shocked at the treatment by this company and the shoddy customer service who don't seem to know what's going on. I will be writing to the BBC and hope they can warn customers about this con called dreams. Also, their advertising should be removed from TV etc.
I will never shop at this shop ever again and I warn others to do your research before you part with any money.
Teresa O'Donnell, Oxfordshire
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