Need advice re: Mammas & Pappas order...PLEASE!

[Twiga]

Hi, sorry this is probably going to be a bit long - thanks if you get to the end and reply!

Right, back in April dh and I put in a large order with Mammas & Pappas in Craigleith Edinburgh. Apparently Aberdeen is outwith their free delivery zone so we've paid around £160 for them to deliver and build the order. Delivery was due to be the start of this month - my due date is the end of the month. Decided to order direct as was cheaper than ordering through John Lewis up here, even with the delivery fee.

Unfortunately the store forgot to authorise the order through to build and deliver at that time, who as a result didn't contact us at the start of the month to arrange delivery. Anyway eventually got through to build and deliver last week who apologised but said unfortunately their driver was on holiday until 16th but they would do what they could to sort out a delivery asap. Phoned back monday and said they would deliver essentials like car seat, Moses basket etc today before 1pm and the rest of the furniture this coming Thurs. Waited all morning for the delivery which never arrived - phoned just after 1pm to find that yet again the delivery wasn't activated on their system.

To add to all of this M&P have also now told us that our cot is being disconitnued and would we accept an ex-display model at 20% discount - assured us it was undamaged,so we agreed. They then phoned back later this afternoon to say the cot is actually damaged after all and they will "try" to get one from another store - not looking good to be honest ! Problem is cot matches the rest of the furniture and we don't really want an odd cot, neither are we keen to take cot/bed alternative.

Our order has been fully paid for since april - again coz we're outwith the area they wanted all the money not just a deposit. To my mind they therefore should have had all of our stuff on resevere and there should be no question of any of it not being available. I've just over a fortnight to go before due date - mw has said baby is 4/5ths engaged and bh contractions are becoming more frequent and co-ordinated. Am really worried that baby will arrive before any of the stuff. I now have to wait in on tuesday (for the essentail items) and thursday next week (for furniture) - no set time just 9am-6pm at some point - not at all confident that they will deliver despite reassurances. Apparently it's not company policy to compensate, but there "may" be a "good will gesture" made once we've taken reciept of goods next week .

Tempted to cancel the order but feel like they have us over a barrel as where would we now get the stuff in time? Very cross and tearful, have been so organised and it's all going wrong!

Sorry for the length of this, needed to get it all off my chest

Hi ja9, it's been a rotten few days! Glad J's present arrived ok, wanted to get it away early just in case we forgot with all the potential for baby to arrive around that time - hope he likes it! Nearly lost it to dh who thinks it's very cool, you'll have to search him next time we're leaving your house just in case . Bet you can't believe it's been a year! Hope it's not long before we catch up with you guys, lol x

Having had to pick a different cot on Friday and having been told we'd get a call this morning to confirm delivery, suprise suprise no call ! When dh got hold of "Andrew" he was told we will now have to wait until Thursday for the delivery of our cot - it's got to come up by courier and be met by the assembley guy who will also take away the damaged one they sent friday. So much for things being sorted by today/tomorrow.

Just to add to the fun another rep from the company phoned in regard to the letter dh had written. She firstly informed me that "Andrew" would be calling at lunchtime - I replied that I was in shortly as this is what I'd been told. As I've already said he didn't call in the morning and neither did his lunch-time call materialise. Anyway, the lass on the phone has asked us to email her when the order is completed (she thought that would be tomorrow from what she had been told) and that they would see about getting some gift vouchers in the post. I don't want their blasted gift vouchers as there isn't a store anywhere near us at which I could redeem them plus if they think they can fob us off with that after all the hassle.....

dh is in process of writing a follow up letter due to last weeks/this weeks fiasco - gonna email a copy as requested plus post a paper copy - will probably cc it to someone further up the chain too. From what we can now gather they only have the one driver who covers the north form Newcastle upwards - no wander delivery is such a hassle. So the delivery which should have been made and completed on 01/08/05 is now maybe finally gonna arrive 25/08/05 just 6 days before my due date.

sorry sentence in second para should read - informed her I was waiting for him to call in the morning/shortly...

I'm shocked that after all this time and hassle and all you've paid that yur cot won't even match the rest of your stuff. Surely they could have sourced you one from somewhere??

Hope it arrives soon and the whole thing is settled.

Shame you'll be advertising M&P by pushing around your pram for the next few years!

Well the cot is finally here, not the one we'd planned but it is really nice and doesn't look too odd with the other furniture . Going to spend the afternoon putting all the wee bits and pieces into the nursery - finally feel able to now everythings here.

Next battle is to go through the complaints procedure with the contact at M&P's - going to have to wait to do this until tomorrow as dh is still on night shift and sleeping just now. So will post as things progress from tomorrow - very relieved to finally have things together!

Will keep this thread up-dated on how things are handled as it may help someone in the future. A huge thank you to everyone that's posted, it's been really nice to not feel alone on this one and to have your support, lol x

Pleased you have finally got a cot, if not the original one. Hope M and P eat lots of humble pie - how about a refund to the value of the original cot for starters !

so glad it's arrived

now you're just waiting for the babe!

Twige

so glad that you've got everything. I'm a long-term lurker here but have been following your thread with interest. We've got a M&P pram (which we're very happy with) but bought it from JL as my SIL, who works for trading standards, told us to avoid direct dealings with M&Ps due to the huge amount of complaints she's seen about them for both buying/delivery and aftercare

Ok chat so far is that dh has turned down M&P's "goodwill gesture" of gift vouchers and has negotiated for cash to be paid back onto one of our cards. His point being that he effectively missed a days work/earnings having to wait in for delivery that didn't happen on the 18th. Their offer so far is less than a days earnings for him and has thus been refused - they are going to now put an offer in writing which dh will then deal with once letter arrives. His main point to them on the phone has been that a "goodwill gesture" is all very well but they also owe him money for the days work/inconvience, once this is sorted then he'll discuss a "godwill gesture". Very proud of the way he's stuck to his guns, he's always polite but firm [amile].

make that

Twiga, you poor thing, have been on holiday for a bit so missed out all the in between action (or no action as the case was!).

Well done your dh for sticking to his guns. What a pallava. I hope they eat a lot of humble pie and you get a decent refund. Poor you - last thing you need when you are pregnant!

Quick up-date - recieved letter from M&P's today, they've offered a £130 refund/dicount for the inconvience caused to us - doesn't cover a days earnings for dh but is close enough that he'll accept the offer. Their letter was carefully worded to avoid any mention of "compensation" or "good will gestures" and contained a reasonable apology. Dh is going to write and up-date with the final part of our complaint so they've got everything down in writing and also make it clear that we won't be recommending or dealing with them directly again. Will probably fwd copies of our letters so far to the founders as suggested on here and to Watchdog along with photos of the damaged cot they tried to initially offer us.

Feels like it's been a long haul but that we may well have achieved a better result than most from this company. Think for anyone needing advice re: this in the future persistence and stubborness pays off.

On a lighter note my worries of the baby getting here before the furniture - totally unfounded, am now 6 days overdue and counting ! Maybe soon...

Oh, Twiga, glad you are happier and everything is at least now in situ. Definately forward things to w/d. Do it now before baby, who I hope will be making a speedy entrance now!

only just seen this. what a nightmare!! for all the money you're paying (m&p are not cheap) you'd expect them to be much better than this and being such a big and well known company!!
I'm glad you are doing well and you and dh are not being swayed by measly vouchers.

Hope baby comes soon and labour goes well.

Im pleased that you got a reasonable amount of compensation from m&p, your dh is obviously very effective in his complaint! (you'll have to lend him out when other mn'ers have a complaint to make)

Hope all goes well with the birth and look forward to seeing your birth announcement on MN!