Or is John Lewis

[hawai40]

Having a sense of humour failure here. We bought two expensive (for us !) chairs from John Lewis last year. They are different but part of the same range. The leg/dowl unexpectedly broke on one about 6 weeks ago. Contacted John Lewis who accepted the case and put me in touch with their inspectors/ repairers. I've spent 6 weeks trying to contact them but to no avail and they are now apparently entirely closed.

The chair is heavy and I have three small children, we are constantly moving it to prevent them scratched by it or hurt if it falls over.

I have suggested:

We repair it temporarily ourselves and take a video and they can asses it via that and repair in full when possible.

We put the chair in our garden out of the way of children and they asses it when they can (not ideal as it will be ruined and they will have to replace).

They get their repair company do come, asses and take away for repair. We can leave the chair outside at an agreed time so no infringement or social distancing.

Apparently none of those options are acceptable. They have now agreed to take away the chair and issue a refund but for only one chair. I love the chairs and want to keep them if repaired, but I have no desire to be stuck with one chair which I can't find a replacement for when we need two chairs.

What next ! I am so fed up of moving the chair, but we just don't have anywhere to put it and we are in the house all of the time now.

I don't know why so many posters don't get your point. I also have two fabric sofas (matching) and a contrasting chair. It looks good they were bought to contact. However if one of the sofas broke it would look awful to have two mismatched sofas. If you explain to JLP I am sure they will offer to pay for the repair or you just have to wait until their repairers are open or you fix it yourself and live with it. Alternatively you claim in your insurance. Not really sure what else they can do

I don't think the ops pov has been missed

I don’t think it has been missed. I do understand her predicament, but where does it end? If you buy 6 dining chairs and one breaks, should they refund for all 6? Unfortunately it’s a risk you take when you buy more than one of the same item. Yes, it’s unfortunate, but she can always sell the second one and buy a new set if she chooses to.

You're not entitled to refund on both just because one has broken

Or do you think if you had a dining with four chairs, JL should replace all four of them if one broke?!

Have you actually asked them straight for a discount to keep?
I work for a different company but we would once we have seen the issue, especially as our technicians are not doing home visits at the moment

Have you actually asked them straight for a discount to keep

A discount on what?
The OP has had the chair for some time - it is now broken (we are still not clear on how it broke) Are you suggesting JL should give her some of her money back because the chair is now broken?

Stuff breaks, nothing lasts forever.
Just fix the chair or don't fix the chair.

I also can see the ops point, the fact they are not technically a set isn’t the point, she bought them as a set.

Op, just push the chair out the way and cover it up and wait till the repairs guys reopen and come and fix it.

OP, I TOTALLY side with you. It seems open and shut obvious! You bought two matching chairs (different style, but matching). One broke. A refund on one chair is not useful, because that leaves you one non-matching, useless chair. It's not your fault the chair broke!

That said, I think you are probably going to have to wait until John Lewis reopens and things are a bit more normal. Then they can repair your chair and Bob's your uncle. Is there no hidden corner in your home where you can hide the chair for the next few weeks/months?

Either that, or as others have said, ask for a discount to keep it; then pay someone else to repair the chair.

@4Smalls they aren’t matching chairs?!!

YABU.
John Lewis have offered a perfectly reasonable solution. Can the remaining chair be rehomed and you buy 2 new, cheaper chairs with the refund money (preferably a matching set to avoid this happening in the future)?

I think you'll have to sell the other chair and buy two new ones if you want then to match. Worth looking on eBay to see if anyone's selling one with your fabric though

Can your dh do the temp fix with the bolt now then when the fixing company reopen they can do a better repair?

It's not your fault the chair broke!

Well, we don't actually know this as the OP has not clarified.

What a weird thread. The OP Has a perfectly reasonable complaint. John Lewis's solution does not solve the problem they caused. If the law doesn't require them to solve it, it's defective. (I'm assuming it's a product fault that the chair broke.)

There are only two acceptable options: the chair gets fixed, or both chairs are refunded.

I don't see any way that lock-down restrictions prevent the chair being fixed. If business can deliver stuff, they can pick up stuff. The only obstacle might be the best people to do it being furloughed.

If they won't fix it I'd find someone else to fix it. The chair is of no value to John Lewis, so if they have to pay the refund price or less to fix it, they've done well.

^they aren’t matching chairs?!!

They are. Items can have differences and still be matching. For example sofa and arm-chair that are part of a set. Or Ikea coffee and side-tables from the same range, sold separately.

The chair will get fixed (we're in lockdown atm, remember?) and John Lewis didn't cause the problem, what rubbish!
If the chair was faulty to begin with it did well to last a year with no issues. Far more likely to be down to op's three children who persist in climbing on it even after it broke. To the point where she's worried it'll fall on them

If you bought some trousers and a top that went with them, and the top was faulty, you wouldn’t expect a refund on the trousers too. Surely it’s the same principle?

The op doesn't know whether it can be fixed yet. It's a leg.

If you bought some trousers and a top that went with them, and the top was faulty, you wouldn’t expect a refund on the trousers too. Surely it’s the same principle?

Not really no, I'm sure the trousers will also go with something else and also the outfit probably didn't cost anything like the same amount as the OPs chair and probably isn't something you were expecting to display and use daily for the next 10 years.

If it was that type of outfit (some designer classic) then yes, if they were a matching outfit bought together (as in the equivalent of a suit) then yes if the top was faulty, couldn't be replaced and the trousers went with nothing else, then i'd expect some account to be taken of that and a suitable resolution found.