Mother is left 'trapped' in her home with her son for two days after Argos delivery drivers left sofas inside her front door and refused to carry them upstairs due to Covid-19 restrictions
A mother told how she was left 'trapped' at home for two days after Argos delivery drivers left her new sofas at the front door, blocking the only entrance.
Sarah Miller, 44, of Fife, Scotland, spent £1,000 on two Chesterfield sofas for her new home with son Joel, seven, after separating from her husband Adam Cooper.
But she was left 'in tears' when the delivery drivers arrived and refused to carry the furniture up the stairs at the entrance to her home due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Sarah Miller told how she was left 'trapped' at home for two days after Argos delivery drivers left her new sofas at the front door, blocking the entrance (pictured)
Sarah Miller, left, of Fife, Scotland, spent £1,000 on two Chesterfield sofas for her new home with son Joel, seven, after separating from her husband Adam Cooper. Right, with Joel
They left the sofas stacked on top of each other just inside the front door, which left no way to easily access the propeSarah explained: 'I measured my house to see that I could fit the couches in for sure.
'[The delivery men] brought them in and the first thing the guy said was "I'm not allowed to go past the threshold of the door due to COVID-19".r'I said "right, okay. Fair enough", but I thought if me and my youngest son were to leave and go into a different room, surely it'd be okay.
'A week before a removal company had moved my eldest son into his flat without any problems at all.
'I said, "what am I going to do with these?" They were both jamming the door and it was twice as high as in the photo.
'When they left, they left the door two inches open so the spiel about not being able to come in wasn't true, because they did come to the top of the stairs.
'The younger guy said "this is like a chute" then sat on it [the cardboard] and made a noise saying "wee" all the way down it.
Sarah and Joel lounging on the new sofa, after it was eventually carried up the stairs by her older son. The mother said she was left 'in tears' over the incident with Argos
'I was kind of just standing there in shock at them leaving them there like that.'
Sarah phoned her ex-husband and, together with Joel, they were able to drag one of the sofas to the top of the stairs.
'He brought along step ladders, climbed through my kitchen window and managed with us to pull the top sofa upstairs,' she continued.
Sarah with Joel, who did his best to help his mother drag the sofas up the stairs
'My ex-husband also had to leave us in that state and went back down through the kitchen window, leaving me and my son trapped there for a day and a half.
'He almost hugged me because I was really concerned for our safety. I was in such an emotional state. I was thinking, "if there's a fire, what do I do?"'
With one of the sofas remaining in place, Sarah and Joel were still unable to get out of the property to buy food so they were forced to order takeaway pizza.
Sarah said: 'We were starving but we couldn't get out the door so we ordered a pizza.
'The delivery guy came along and had to push the pizza through the railings of the kitchen window.
'I had no step ladders of my own and the kind pizza guy said "I don't want to push it through the railings because the toppings will fall off". I just told him to because we were starving.'
The following day Sarah's older son Jack, 23, was able to visit and get the sofas into her living room safely.
She said: 'The sofas fit perfectly in the living room just fine so there was plenty of space for them. It's a lot of money and you'd expect it'd at least be delivered safely, so I could get out the front door.'
Despite the incident happening in July, Sarah claims Argos failed to respond to her complaint for six weeks.
Sarah said: 'There was no contact for six weeks then under the threat of media engagement, they contacted me on Wednesday [August 26] and twice on Thursday.
Sarah explained the sofas (pictured) 'fit perfectly' in her new living room despite the hassle
Sarah shared this Facebook post sharing her disappointment and frustration at Argos' service
'I thought I'd leave it and give them a chance. I kept emailing and phoning and hearing nothing back.
'I hadn't heard anything from them for weeks and I said 'okay, I'm going to give you another week and if you don't respond, I'm going to take this to mainstream and social media'. An hour later I get a response from them. How predictable is that?
'What bothered me was the delivery guy did come [upstairs] in the end and then made this "weeing" sound like he was going down a chute. He was sliding down the top sofa.'
After Argos were contacted for comment, she says the retailer then got in touch to offer her a £206 'goodwill gesture'.
Argos claim they are also arranging a full refund for the sofas, which she has yet to receive.
A spokesperson for Argos said: 'We have spoken to Sarah to say how sorry we are for the inconvenience this caused. We are arranging a full refund and additional gesture of goodwill.'
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