Disabled Eastbourne woman forced to sleep on a mattress on the floor for weeks

Georgia Hill ordered a bed from Bensons for Beds (BB) on January 3 with a delivery time of 4-6 weeks given on the bill.

When she got a delivery date of 10 weeks Georgia said she put it down to covid and Brexit causing delays.

She said during this 10-week period there were no signs of any issues, even up to the morning of delivery on March 14 telling her a time the bed would arrive.

At this point Georgia was sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

At 8am on March 14 she got a call from the delivery driver telling her he had the mattress but not the bed itself.

Georgia said, “We then rang customer service – they just had it down as ‘out for delivery’ so they contacted the warehouse who said they didn’t even have it there.

“Then customer service rang us back saying they can request a loan bed – which would still take days anyway – and he’d get back to us with more details as to when. He never did.

“We called just before closing time and they just hung up on us when they got our order details!”

Eventually Georgia was told the bed would be delivered on March 22 including a ‘goodwill gesture’. She said she was promised it would definitely be delivered on this date.

Due to Georgia’s disability, she said sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a long period of time is a risk to her health.

She said, “All this has left me more upset, pained and frustrated at an already trying time.”

When the morning of March 22 came, Georgia was told by the delivery man that they had the mattress and headboard but no base.

Georgia said, “He said obviously he couldn’t deliver it to be built if he hasn’t got all parts so he’d ring the office to arrange getting it sent all together and they’d be in touch as to when.

“I never heard back from them. At this point, it’s already been 12 weeks.

“My partner was on the phone to customer services for over 50 minutes to be told the issue all along was the bed not being in stock - an issue I believe we could’ve been informed of before my original delivery date on March 14, not on the day of my second failed delivery.”

On March 23 Georgia was texted twice by BB telling her two different delivery dates – March 28 and April 28. This has now been confirmed to be April 28 – seven weeks after the original delivery date and 17 weeks since the bed was ordered.

Georgia said she’s been told she’ll get £100 compensation, something she isn’t happy with.

She said, “For four months of waiting and many weeks of pain and frustration – a waste of time. All of which they only deem worthy of £100 compensation.

“I would like to emphasise, the staff at our local branch – at Eastbourne Sovereign – have been as cooperative and helpful as they possibly can, there’s just not a lot they have the ability to do on a local level.

“They delivered a bed base from the showroom itself to place the mattress on so it’s higher for me. They did this with their own personal car because locally they don’t have warehouses or lorries for that sort of resolution.

“It’s the company nationally that has let us down and have failed to provide the loan bed put through for us on the March 14.”

A spokesperson for BB said, “We’re sorry that there were a number of the delays with Georgia’s order caused, as she rightly says, by issues outside Bensons’ control.

“Nevertheless, it’s clear the communication could have been better.

“We apologise for this and the delays and will get back to Georgia with a full account of what’s happened.

“The fulfilment of the order is scheduled for May but we’re doing all we can to speed the delivery date up. In the meantime, we’re pleased to say we’ve managed to schedule the delivery of a loan bed for April 1 alongside the compensation she’s been offered.

“The team at Bensons are really sorry for the delays in completing Georgia’s order.”

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