to expect compensation and how much?

[Gracie123]

We ordered some tiles for our bathroom back in march, and were told it would be up to 7 days for delivery.

When the man rang to arrange delivery, the date was set for 12 days after we purchased them. I didn't query it though as it didn't seem too important.

I was to wait in (with both kids - despite glorious weather and we have no outside space they can play in ) all day monday 8am -6pm. As I assumed we would have tiles by 6pm, we booked a builder for tuesday to tile our bathroom.

The tiles never showed. I spent about 40 minutes on my mobile phone to an 0845 number, being passed around (obviously no-one is responsible for deliveries ) before finally being told that I wouldn't be able to speak to anyone else as they were closing (it was now 8pm) and I would have to ring back at 8am the following morning.

I did that, but after being passed around a bit more, was told that the relevant dept didn't open until 9am.

Call again at 9.30am, speak to a very rude young man who tells me the delivery guy came but I wasn't home (bull) and that he rang the doorbell (we don't have one) but I didn't answer so he left a card (there is no card). I have checked with both neighbours, nobody spoke to them either.

He said that they couldn't deliver that day, but I would get them at 9am the next morning (they are coming from a depot 25 mins drive from our house). When they still hadn't arrived at 10.30am I rang again, spent another hour on the phone before being told they would definitely be here at 12.

It's now 1.30pm, they're still not here and our builder has done all the prep work he can and is now being paid to sit in the garden having a cup of tea with DH.

The manager I finally managed to speak to says that I should call back once the tiles arrive and he will be willing to discuss compensation.

What's reasonable?

My mum reckons I should demand half a days wages for the builder, but that would be more than the tiles cost (I got them on special offer and with vouchers, so we only spent £57) but the problem is, although we have the tiles for the floor, the builder can't do them until he's done the walls (with the tiles we are waiting for) because he won't be able to walk on them.

I'm not very good at asking for money back etc... and was wandering what other MNers thought would be reasonable to ask back from the company?

If you are happy with the compensation you have received then its all good.

But still write a letter detailing the cock ups.........................

Not really happy, but the guy wouldn't budge. Despite Bill giving me his name and telling me to call back and speak to him, the number he gave me was the generic homebase one and the person who answered wouldn't put me through.

I would recommend a letter/email to the CEO, they should recompense you for cost of calls plus the bill for your builders' wasted time.

You should push for your phone calls to be paid for.

You definitely need to take this further. You should Email this Terry bloke, with a cc to whoever, and explain the situation to him.

Also, you could mention that you have told the whole world on MN, and they are all saying they will go back to B & Q!!!!!

Crap Service. You need the £8.95, the money for your phone calls, reimbursement for the tiler 9After all you booked him for after the delivery time specified in their advertisement/literature, recompense for the time taken off work (how do they kow you are on hols????) and something for the crap attitude of whoever refused to put you through to "Bill".

Can you tell this sort of thing really annoys me??????

My advice would be to write a letter, sent by recorded delivery, to customer services, cc'd to Terry whatshisface.

Start by saying you are extremely disappointed and upset and that you expect better from Homebase. Thank them for refunding the £8.95 and for the voucher but point out the following:

• given the poor customer service, including the hassle of sorting a delivery, the delay, the uncouth behaviour from the driver and the lack of professionalism from the call centre worker who refused to redirect you, you are unwilling to shop there again
• your calls won't be reimbursed by a voucher
• neither will the time you have lost and will have to pay the tiler for

Attach a copy of your phone records, a headed copy of the tiler's invoice and a full description of everyone you spoke to.

Ask for a full explanation of why their customer service failed so badly, a reimbursement of your costs and the time the tiler wasted. Say you look forward to hearing from them within ten working days.

Basically, light a fire under them This is the method I use without fail... I never send emails because you can't prove it was sent/not lost in the ether.

Our local Homebase is a member of Trustmark/Fairtrade who run an arbitration scheme Do following : 1. Find "Trustmark" 2. Put in your postcode 3.If they are a meber of this Trade Association state you will seek their advise if matter not resolved etc They should respond well to this light pressure but obviously up to you . Trademark do not guarantee any money back but they do do hearing s etc Hope this gives peace o mind

The 'Despite Bill giving me his name and telling me to call back and speak to him, the number he gave me was the generic homebase one and the person who answered wouldn't put me through' that would have been it for me.
That would have meant Holy War.
I've been told by people that I am very scary when I complain, not threatening, just relentless, taught by my Dad
My personal tips are
[1] ask to speak to the most senior person available, if they give you the run around state calmly I?m here to complain, is it part of your job description to deal with customer complaints? Most sales assistants will quickly point you in the right direction; they don?t want to waste selling time on you.

[2] state the issue ad nauseam i.e.: You state it says 5-7 days for delivery, it has now been 14+ do you agree that this is unacceptable way to treat a customer. When they do the ?well but blah blah, just keep repeating You/your company state 5-7 days for delivery, it has now been 14+ do you agree that this is unacceptable way to treat a customer.
[3] Always with a pleasant voice [never shout] and a polite smile.
[4]When they agree, [and they will] ask what they plan to do to rectify their poor service.
[5]If you are not happy with what they suggest, go higher, if there isn?t higher available, write, and tell them you intent to write, and do it

As for the letter RoseC above has said exactly what I would do.

This has never failed me, I?m not vindictive, and all I want is a refund of what their disservice has cost me in actual money and time.

I realise that I sound like a total BITCH, and will admit I have my moments, don?t we all?
But I also make a point of commenting on good service. {i.e.: ASK on Friday night made me and OH feel like we were the only 2 in a busy restaurant, we?d gone there as I had been sent a voucher and thought yea cheap and cheerful, they were so good/nice we ended up doing 4 courses and the glass of wine each became a bottle or 2 sod the voucher}

Sorry for hijacking, but it really pisses me off when big companies think they can treat customers badly, but it also pisses me off when people don?t complain to the company [don?t mean you OP] sometimes companies really don?t know that individuals are giving them a bad name and if people don?t complain others will suffer the same bad service, and companies suffer.

Phew??..sorry again for hijack

Argghh!! Just to make matters worse, the builder started tiling and turns out they've sent us a mixed box of different tile! They look the same, but half of them are double the thickness of the others and it looks ridiculous.

Took them back to Homebase store, who said they couldn't do anything about it because they are online only tiles!

So we've ended up buying new, completely different tiles, from the store (who were kind enough to give us a 10% discount as a goodwill gesture and one pack free) but we couldn't even use the £20 off voucher because it's only for their online shop! buying online would have meant holding the builder up another 2 weeks!!

So now builder is currently scraping tiles off the wall, but it's not like I can even eBay them as they have been cut and are covered in adhesive sodding Homebase.

Can't believe how shite the customer service online is and how great they are in store. They shouldn't be allowed to advertise under the same brand.

That's disgusting!

I'd write them a letter, adding in the new details, and say how completely unacceptable it is for the store not to have refunded or swapped items for you. They are not two separate companies and should have a process for swapping payments across the systems.

In your letter I would also praise any member of staff who has dealt well with the issue (doesn't sound like there are many!) so they don't dismiss it as a rant.

Don't know what else to suggest - I really hope you get some of your money back.

For future reference, use www.saynoto0870.com

Start a new thread with crappy homebase in the title

you should be getting money backfor tiles and delivery plus compensation for phone calls, builder and inconvenience

saynoto0870 doesnt have a number for them listed. I did check.

that's a bummer.