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On the 13th May 2003 Mr. & Mrs Hotchkiss, both in their late 80's ordered the above sofa from the Courts outlet in Wolverhampton. They were told that delivery would be approxm.6 - 9 weeks from the order date and they consequently paid a deposit of 10% of the purchase price to Courts expecting to receive delivery within the contract terms.

No sofa arrived and they consequently phoned Courts at the beginning of August to enquire about their delivery. ' 'Regretfully, so they were told, 'the factory in Italy is at present on holiday and we cannot give you a delivery date until they go back to work'.

So they sat back again and waited for Courts to tell them when they would deliver their sofa. Courts did not contact them and by the end of August they sent a letter asking Courts to give them a firm delivery date as the agreed supply time was now seriously overdue. Courts did not reply and when we contacted them two weeks later claimed they had not received this letter. 

We asked the manager at Courts in Wolverhampton to check the delivery status and he came back telling us that they were unable to give a specific time at the moment and that it still could be several weeks or months before they could fulfill the order.

 He blamed the delay on the factory in Italy telling us that they were not in a position to cope with the large amount of orders they had taken for this particular sofa and he reluctantly accepted that Mr. Hotchkiss could cancel the order and have a refund of the deposit, subject to the approval of the area manager. He also offered to supply Mr. Hotchkiss with a damaged display sofa in a different colour at a reduced cost of £ 100.00 in place of the sofa they had ordered.  They declined this offer and have requested cancellation and return of the deposit.

Court's are currently advertising this sofa nationwide in the national papers at a new discounted discounted price and their website  is presently quoting a delivery time of 13 weeks which clearly is false and  deliberately misleading when they cannot specify a firm delivery date after 16 weeks.  Several other customers have also told us that they have experienced similar problems with Courts and that they only had their goods delivered after a very long wait and several complaints.

We have  sent an enquiry to Interline Italia the makers of this particular range and we have invited them to comment on Courts claim that they are unable to supply their orders on time but, regretfully, we have not had the courtesy of a reply and we must therefore assume that the information is correct and that they  are not in a position to satisfy demand.

Under the circumstances we would advise all potential customers of Courts not to order any goods made by Interline Italia unless Courts are prepared to guarantee firm delivery dates. This also may apply to other suppliers of Courts and you are advised to be cautious and alert before you place your order and hand over your deposit.

Lead times, as quoted at present on their contracts,  are not legally binding. 

Courts aim seems to be to collect as many deposits they can from potential customers in the full knowledge that they cannot supply the goods. As Courts contracts also state, that these are firm orders and that customers are unable to cancel they are misleading their customers as this is incorrect and not legally binding once they have substantially exceeded the lead times.  If Courts cannot supply the goods within a reasonable time, the contract can be cancelled and the deposit must be returned to the customer, as any ongoing delay is considered unreasonable. They are in breach of contract - not the customer.

Do not be put off - just demand your money back and go elsewhere.

If you have been let down by Courts or if you had to wait an unreasonable time to receive your delivery then please contact us and share your experience with us.

 After all it's your money they are holding onto without supplying any goods.

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