Courting disaster

Two years ago we ordered a dining suite from Courts, on a 0% finance deal from HFC bank, to be delivered by Christmas that year. In December, Courts said it couldn't deliver before January but would give us a 10% discount as compensation.

When the furniture had still not arrived by the end of February, we cancelled the order. We were told we would have to pay a 10% cancellation fee, which we said we didn't agree with, but we thought we could argue this when the bill arrived.

We heard no more from Courts and considered the matter over with. Then we began receiving demands for payment from HFC. Despite several telephone calls and letters to both parties, HFC still insists that we owe money for furniture we never received.

We have since been hounded by HFC, two debt collecting agencies and - most recently - solicitors threatening court action. In addition, we can no longer get credit because details of this alleged loan default were passed to a credit reference agency. What can we do?

JA

There is a definite breach of contract involved here. By not delivering your goods within a reasonable time, Courts has failed to fulfil its end of the bargain. And because HFC was providing the finance for the arrangement, it is judged to be jointly liable with Courts in this breach.

HFC is most likely digging in its heels because you can't generally cancel credit agreements after they have been signed - but as there has been a breach of contract, your situation is a bit different.

You need to dig out any evidence you have of the cancellation and send copies of this to HFC with a letter clearly stating that you cancelled your contract with Courts. The important thing is to stress that this is because your goods were not delivered within a reasonable time.

It's vital that HFC understands that you didn't just cancel the arrangement on a whim or because you changed your mind about the furniture - so you should include a list of relevant dates: original delivery date, rescheduled delivery date and cancellation date.

Evidence that you asked for your deposit back when you cancelled your order is also important. Written evidence will help your case immensely but phone records will at least show that you made contact with both parties several times.

Phone HFC customer services for the name of the complaints department head and address your letter directly to him/her. And send it recorded delivery so that it has to be signed for. Make sure you get written confirmation from HFC that it has sorted the issue with Courts. Once you have this, you will be able to have your credit record altered to remove the defaulted loan reference.

It's important to get this matter sorted before it ends up in court as the judicial system is likely to take a very dim view of a situation which has been running for so long without anyone trying to resolve it.