This does not bode well.

We have no furniture. We moved to the Netherlands into furnished accommodation and stayed that way. Now that we have bought Number Seventy Five we need furniture. Quite a lot of it. Which is fine. When we decided to buy a place we sat down and worked out what we would need and how much it would probably cost. The money is put aside (no credit cards for us) and we are eagerly awaiting our spending days.

Early on we knew we wanted to splurge on key pieces. By splurge I mean get great deals on things we liked. In the Netherlands it can take up to 12 weeks to get furniture from purchase to delivery so we began our research early. We found a good promotion on the sofa and armchair w wanted which reduced the price by 800 Euros. To good to miss we talked to the firm and were told that if we ordered now and paid a deposit we would get the promotion price and they would deliver it in July when we move in.

Fantastic, we thought, and handed over the deposit. I knew it had been too easy.

Last week both the Husband and I had missed calls on our phones and voicemails asking us to call about our sofa. A sense of impending doom commenced.

Today I had the following conversation with the furniture company.

Me: Hello
Sofa Person (SP): $MyName? This is $Furniture Company about your sofa.
Me: Ok
SP: Your sofa is ready. We would like to arrange delivery
Me: I don't need the sofa until July. I don't want it delivered now.
SP: Sorry?
Me: I ordered the sofa to be delivered in July, not now.
SP: Oh, but, oh. Well you need to pay for it in full in week 27
Me: When is week 27? What date?
SP: and then it will be delivered to (name of storage place, can't remember) and you will be charged 10 Euros a week for storage.
Me: No.
SP: Sorry?
Me: I ordered the sofa in February, during a promotion with the agreement that it would not be delivered until the week commencing 13th July. We were not told at any point that we would have to pay for storage.
SP: Well the store should have told you.
Me: Well they didn't. I wouldn't have bought the sofa in February on promotion if I was going to be charged storage fees.
SP: Well it is company policy.
Me: That is not my problem. We were not...

SP starts talking

Me: No. Stop. I am telling you now that we were never informed of this. We ordered a sofa for the week commencing 13th July. We were told that we would be contacted in June to arrange delivery. I would like my sofa delivered in July. I am not paying for storage.
SP: The shop should have told you, they made a mistake.
Me: Yes, but I didn't make the mistake. I am your customer, it is not my responsibility to know your company policy, it is your store's responsibility.
SP: But my order book is not open for July. It is too far in advance.
Me: Well why don't you call me back in June?
SP: Uh... um... ok, so I call you back in June?
Me: Yes. Call me back in June *big huge sigh*. Goodbye.

This is just the first piece of furniture. This does not bode well.