A disabled 93-year-old gran is forced to sleep upright in an arm CHAIR – after a leading retailer failed to deliver her new bed.
Generous Beryl Kerry, who suffers from knee problems and has to walk with a zimmer frame, donated her old bed to the British Heart Foundation.
After Bensons for Beds failed to deliver her new bed, Mrs Kerry was forced to sleep upright in her arm chair in her living room.
Mrs Kerry, of Derby, said: “I’m disgusted, absolutely. I couldn’t recommend them as a business.”
Mrs Kerry was due to receive her new £1,000 bed, which was ordered from the store at Kingsway Retail Park, on January 24.
She donated her old double bed to the charity but hours after it was collected, Benson’s called her to say they were unable to deliver until later this month.
As a result of the delay, Mrs Kerry has been forced to sleep in her arm chair for the last two weeks.
Mrs Kerry’s daughter, retired teacher Pat McLaughlin, 65, said: “We gave her old bed away on January 24th and Bensons were due to deliver her new one later that day.
“When 6pm came and went I assumed it wasn’t going to be delivered.
“I phoned my mum and told her that she wasn’t getting her bed and would have to sleep on her recliner chair because her old bed had been taken away.”
Unbeknown to Mrs Kerry, the delivery men turned up two hours after the allotted time but were unable to access the property which is in a gated residential complex.
Mrs McLaughlin added: “The delivery men turned up just after half eight at night to deliver the bed when they said they would be here before six.
“I couldn’t believe it. I had a call from a withheld number but thought it was a cold caller so left it. I didn’t think it would have been about the bed because it was so late.
“The text message had said the delivery would be between noon and 6pm – surely they could have rang me to say they were going to be late?
“I had no way of knowing the call was from the delivery because no message was left and I had no way of returning the call because it came from a withheld number.
Words fail me.
“I would not recommend them [Bensons]. They’ve just been absolutely awful to deal with, their customer service has just been absolutely awful.”
Granddaughter Samantha McLaughlin, 38, said: “The situation is diabolical.
“We have explained to Bensons that my Nanna hasn’t got a bed but they don’t seem bothered about her age.
“It just absolutely disgusts me that at her age Bensons were not willing to give us a bed.
“They offered us an airbed but how is a 93-year-old woman supposed to get on one of them? It makes me so angry that they were willing to leave her like this.
“There is no way she could sleep on an airbed because she has got bad knees and needs a zimmer frame to get around.
“They’ve said we can cancel the order, but then we’d lose 20 per cent of the purchase price. I’m really really annoyed about it, it’s disgusting.”
A spokesman for Bensons for Beds said: “At Bensons for Beds we pride ourselves on offering our customers a high level of customer service and have set delivery times for all of our customer orders.
“We were disappointed to hear that we were unable to fulfil this particular order and for the discomfort and inconvenience caused to both Mrs Kerry and her daughter, Mrs McLaughlin.”