Viking direct are fast to deliver , but extremely slow when things go wrong. (viking-direct.co.uk)

Member Name: purepauluk

Product:	viking-direct.co.uk
Date:	17/08/02 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fast delievery, good promotions

Disadvantages: extremely poor faults/returns process, poor customer service

I placed my first order with viking for a highback exective leather chair. The very same day it arrived and i can tell you i was very impressed. However some 7 months later I had to ring up as the chair had developed a few faults. The sponge on the chair seat had become very thin over time, it was uncomfortable to sit on, and you could feel the wood that the structure of the chair is made of, through the leather and sponge. The leather had also begun to split open and the leather had stretched drasticly making the chair look tatty and unattractive.

When i explained the problem to the sales person on the phone, they told no problem we'll send you a replacement and a box to send the faulty chair back in, which arrived the same day. The delivery driver told me to pack up the chair, to write my account number on the box and that he would collect it the following day.

The following day (friday) i waited at home all day for the driver to collect the chair as he said he would, no one arrived. The following week (monday) I rang them back up to ask why the driver hadnt collected the chair. The person i spoke to was very apologetic and said they there would be someone there within the next two days to collect it.

Once again i waited at home for the full two days for someone to arrive to collect it. No one arrived. I had to rearrange my appointments and have people do my everyday jobs such as paying bills, shopping etc for me.

On the thursday i rang back to ask what was going on, saying i was promised someone would be there to collect the chair but no ones been to my house. I havent been out and no cards have been pushed through my door to say they have been. Once again they where very apologetic and promising me that someone would be there either the same day or the day after to collect the chair. They asked me for a time slot that i could give to say when i would definately be in, i told the woman between 1pm and 5pm. Obviously as you
can imagine at this point i wasnt very happy, there isnt much room in my hallway where the chair was sat waiting to be collected and i couldnt get my refund on my credit card back untill the chair had gone back. On the same day i got a courtesy call to ask if the chair had been collected. I said no and that i wasnt happy, the woman said she would make sure somone collected the chair by friday she also asked me for a time slot and i told her what id told the other person between 1pm to 5pm. So that was two different people on the same day telling me that someone would be there to collect it by friday.

On the thursday i waited in all day, no one arrived. On the friday i waited in all day, at 4pm still no one had arrived. I rang up to ask why had no one had turned up and that you had one more hour to collect it. The man told me that if they werent there by 5pm to ring back. At 5pm i rang back as still no one had arrived. I told the man that no one had arrived and i wanted compensation for wasting my time. He told me they collect upto 6pm, i told him youd already asked me for a time slot and id give the 4 hours that you requested. I told him i wasnt happy, and that i couldnt understand how you can deliver goods to people the same day but collections take over a week. The man to my surprise told me and i quote 'because orders are more important'. This i couldnt believe, id been sat here a whole week waiting for them to do as you said you would, waiting and believing there promises for nothing. What the man said to me was like being kicked in the teeth. From the tone of his voice and what he said, he obviously couldnt care less, thats how i felt anyway. The man put me on hold to go and ask someone about the problem, a few minutes later he came back and said 'just dispose of the chair' i asked him to repeat what he'd said as i couldnt believe it and he said 'throw it away'. Once again i was in shock, id waited all week for them to coll
ect the chair, and then they go and tell me to throw it away.

To me it seemed like the easy way out, they simply couldnt collect the chair and so i was told me to throw it away to end the problem.

Viking direct are a good company in general, but i believe its when things go wrong that really puts a company to the test. They failed miserably.

Ive now got to throw the chair away as i cant keep it, and ive got to do it at my own expense.

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