Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQs
Delivery Questions
Furniture Information
Billing Information
Accepting Our Terms of Business
The Financial Conduct Authority
Complaints and Compensation
Our Service
Information We Share and Receive
The processing of your personal data
Your Responsibilities
 

How long can I rent for?

• Our minimum term is for 1 month, the longest is for 36 months. After your minimum term you can continue to rent the furniture for as long as you wish and this will be on a rolling monthly contract. A longer minimum term agreed at the outset, will result in a lower monthly rent.

What costs are involved?

• Unless agreed to the contrary in writing, your initial payment due before installation will be for 1 month’s rental and 1 month’s rental as a deposit (ex VAT) plus delivery, collection and any installation charges, subject to credit checks. Delivery/removal/ installation charges vary, depending on location)
• Following delivery, you will be invoiced monthly in advance for the rental of the furniture.
• We apply a damage waiver charge to each month’s rental to cover loss in the event of fire, theft or flood. You can provide a copy of your insurance certificate naming us as the owner of the furniture and we will waive this charge.

Will I own the furniture at the end of the hire agreement?

• No, under the hire agreement you will not own the furniture, nor is there an automatic right to purchase the furniture. However, should at the end of the rental you be interested in purchasing some items, please contact us to discuss further.

How do I know what the total amount repayable under the agreement is?

• On the signed lease agreement, the amount payable over the life of the minimum term is calculated as the number of months in the minimum term multiplied by the monthly rental & Damage Waiver (if applicable) plus any delivery, collection, installation charges and VAT. This calculation will change if there are any changes to the lease i.e additional furniture delivered. If you need assistance calculating the total amount payable figure, do let us know and we can provide this for you.

What happens if I need to cancel my order before delivery?

• There will be no rental charges made, but if you cancel your order within 48 hours of the delivery, a cancellation fee will be charged calculated at 25% of the quoted delivery & collection fee. If you cancel your order in excess of 48 hours prior to delivery, there will be no charges made.
• If you cancel your order after the delivery truck has left our warehouse, you will be charged 50% of the quoted collection and delivery charge.

What happens if I postpone my delivery before delivery?

• Your rental charges will not begin until you take delivery of the furniture, but if you postpone your delivery after the truck has left the warehouse on the day of delivery, you will be charged 50% of the quoted collection and delivery charge.

What charges other than rental charges might I incur?

• Our standard Delivery and collection charges range from £300- £1400 depending on the location the property in the UK. Within 100 miles of KT9 is £300. This fee includes the full delivery and collection of all rental items including the set-up of any items that need assembly and the removal of any rubbish. Prices quoted are plus VAT.
• If you need us to revisit your property to collect items or swap out items (that are free of defect), there is a charge made. This charge is called a ‘go-back charge’ and ranges from £75- £350 depending on location. Prices quoted are plus VAT.
• If a parking suspension is needed to enable us to deliver or collect – we will need the required notice to book this.
• If you need a delivery or collection on a Saturday (ie outside of our standard working days), we will charge a supplementary £150+VAT for each visit.
• If you request a delivery or collection outside our standard operating hours or with very short notice and we cannot provide this service within our fleet, we reserve the right to pass on any additional charges incurred from the 3rd party delivery company
• If any delivery or collection is booked through us using a 3rd party delivery company because of the day of service required or the notice given and this is subsequently cancelled or postponed, we reserve the right to pass on any additional charges incurred from the 3rd party delivery company.
• If you need a designer to attend your property to advise on furniture selection or measure rooms if floor plans are not available or accurate, a charge of £200 will be made. Prices quoted are plus VAT.

What happens if I need to cancel my hire agreement after my delivery?

• If you entered into the contract over the phone or online and you are not a corporate body or a partnership of 4 or more partners, you have 14 calendar days to cancel the contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 . The cooling-off period starts the day after the rental furniture is delivered.
• The delivery and collection charges will not be refunded if the furniture has been delivered. All other pre-payments will be refunded except in the case of damage caused to furniture delivered, where every effort will be made to charge reasonable refurbishment costs to enable us to return all items to stock as rentable product.
• Please refer to section 12 of the Hire Agreement for specific information relating to your specific lease.

What happens if I need to cancel my hire agreement after delivery before the end of the minimum rental period?

• If you are a corporate body or a partnership of 4 or more partners (meaning you are not entitled to the 14-day cooling off period as part of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013) you can break your contract at any time and the break clause charge will be applicable. The calculation is shown as below.
• After the cooling off period has expired, or if this is an unregulated agreement, and you have a hire agreement for a minimum period of 6 months or less you will still pay for the total cost of the agreement. If your hire agreement is for a minimum period over 6 months, you will pay the total costs due for the first 6 months and then will pay a break clause charge (early termination fee) for the remaining term (50% of the remaining fees).

What happens if I want to return items before the minimum term is reached?

• You would schedule the collection with the Customer Service team and there will be a revisit charge made for the collection.
• Once the items are back with us, we will apply a rental credit for any days we have billed in advance. A break clause charge will be applied for the returned items up to the minimum term. This is calculated as follows: if you have a hire agreement for a minimum period of 6 months or less you will still pay for the total cost of the returned items as a break clause charge. If your hire agreement is for a minimum period over 6 months, you will pay a break clause charge equal to the the total costs due for the returned rental items for the first 6 months and then 50% of the remaining fees for these items.
• The monthly rental charge will reduce by the value of the items returned.

What happens if I have a complaint?

• We will treat any complaint you have seriously, work hard to understand the issue and resolve it to your satisfaction. However, if you have been unable to resolve an issue and want the company to investigate your complaint fully in accordance with its procedures, you can find full details of our process here www.roomservicebycort. com/about-us/complaints-procedure

When can I book my delivery?

• >Once the bill entity is confirmed (and any credit checking completed), the initial payments made, and the lease is signed (where necessary) we can book your delivery. We usually need a few days to arrange your delivery unless a parking suspension is required.
• >If a parking suspension is needed, we are guided by the council and will pass on the charges incurred. Councils can take up to 10 days to arrange a parking suspension.

What happens if I need to postpone the delivery of my order?

• There will be no charges made if you need to postpone your order before the delivery date.

When is the furniture removed?

• We await your instructions to remove the furniture. If we do not receive instructions, the rental will continue until you request the removal. We may need approx. 1 week to facilitate a removal on your given day. If you can be flexible on the day required, we may be able to arrange an earlier visit. Again, please remember if a parking suspension was needed for the installation, one will be required for the removal and the relevant charge will be made.

When will the arrival slot of the crew for my delivery be confirmed?

• We will contact you the day before delivery/removal and confirm the 2-hour window for our arrival. We typically plan installs for the morning and removals for the afternoon.

What happens if you do not have the items available for delivery?

• Despite good stock control management, we do occasionally run out of some items. In these circumstances, at the time of picking for your delivery, we will choose an item on your behalf that is of equal or greater value – with no additional charge to you.
• - If this affects upholstery, we will ensure you get the same number of seats.
• - If this affects a range of furniture e.g. bedroom range, lounge range, dining range, we will ensure we change all the items in the affected room to be from the same range and provide a consistent feel for the furniture.
• - If you are not happy with the substituted items, and let us know within 48 hours of receipt, we will replace these affected items without a revisit charge. If thereis nothing suitable that you would prefer, we will collect the unwanted items and reduce the ongoing rental charges accordingly.

What happens if I damage the furniture?

• We understand that your rental furniture may show signs of wear by the end of the rental period. We do not charge if there is evidence of reasonable wear and tear. But we do understand that accidents happen, and we have an in-house team who will make any necessary repairs where this is possible. This is a chargeable service, but it avoids a replacement charge. Where refurbishment is not possible or despite our best efforts we cannot restore the item to a rentable condition, a replacement charge will be made equivalent to the purchase cost to us.

Can I have the damaged item if I need to pay a charge to replace it to stock?

• Yes, you can. However, we will need to know quickly that this is your preference, as it will be disposed of within 72 hours of the decision from the refurbishment team that it is beyond reasonable repair. There will be a £60 + VAT charge to deliver this to you.

What do I do if I notice a scratch or issue with my newly delivered furniture?

• The furniture will be delivered to you in ‘showroom condition’. Should this not be the case, please do let us know within 2 days of receipt and we will replace it. If you would like to keep it as is, but just want to let us know – we will note your comments in your lease, so there are no issues when the furniture is collected at the end of the rental.

Do you hang prints and mirrors?

• Hanging of up to 5 prints is included in your delivery charge. If you need more, we can give you a cost for whatever you need. We will not make good at the end of the rental and we will assume that you have the landlord’s permission to hang items if we are asked. Your landlord may deem you responsible for making good at the end of the rental, which may include charges.

What do I do if I want to secure any items to the wall for safety?

• You will have received a door hanger at the time of your installation offering free furniture straps – you can make use of this offer at any time during the furniture rental.
• Please just let us know either by phone/email or via your consultant and we will mail out complementary furniture securing straps for any of our rental furniture items free of charge. We will make a note of the lease for the return of the rental items should there be any damage related to the securing of items to not make any charges. If don’t use our straps, please do let us know you have secured your furniture and we will make a note on your lease and no charges will be made in respect of any related damage to furniture on return.

What credit checks will you do?

• For company accounts we perform checks at both Companies House and Experian, a credit reference agency.
• For consumer (individual) accounts, we may do an ID check as well as a credit check using Experian, a credit reference agency.
• We will only perform a credit check once you have agreed that you wish to proceed with the rental agreement. We will ask for this permission by email when we send the final agreed quotation to you along with a form for you to complete that we will then use for the credit check. Any credit checks undertaken will appear on your credit record.

How do I pay?

• You will need to pay for the rental each month. You can do this either by a recurring credit card or direct debit payment, or you can pay as you receive your monthly invoice by bank transfer or credit card. Invoices are due on receipt. You will receive written notification from us before your first recurring payment is taken in line with Consumer Credit requirements in relation to Continuous Payment Authorities (CONC 4.6)

How does the billing work?

• We invoice monthly in advance.
• The first invoice will show the charge from the date of delivery to the end of the first month as well as a charge for the following month. For example, if your furniture is delivered on the 19th July, you will be charged for the period 19th July
• – 31st July and the 1st Aug – 31st Aug on your first invoice. Thereafter you will receive an invoice just after the 1st of the month (by email) for the following month. For example, on or around the 1st September you will receive an invoice for the period 1st Sept – 30th Sept.
• Any changes to the lease (furniture returned or added) is reflected in the next month’s invoice.
• As we invoice and you pay a month in advance, at the end of the rental there will be a credit applied for the unused days in the final month and this will then be refunded to you by card or bank transfer depending on your method of payment.

How do I know what to pay on my final bill?

• As we invoice monthly in advance, you are likely to receive a credit note as your final accounting document as this will have any rental credit for days you have not used following the removal of the furniture as well as your deposit return. You will receive the credit note at the beginning of the next month after your furniture has been removed. For example, if you return the furniture on the 25th June, you will receive your final invoice/credit note at the beginning of July. If your account is in credit we will refund the funds to you prior to the production of the final invoice/credit note.

When do I get my deposit back?

• Deposits are credited back to the account once all the furniture has been received and the lease is closed. Any outstanding charges on the account (including outstanding rental fees, missing item fees and damaged item fees) will be deducted from the deposit and then any remaining credit balance on the account will then be refunded back to your bank account or card depending on your method of payment. Who do I contact if I have a query on my invoice?
• Please send an email to accountsreceivable@roomservicebyCORT.com with the details of the query and a member of the finance team will investigate and get back to you.

Where do I send remittances?

• Please send by email to accountsreceivable@roomservicebyCORT.com

Where can I view the rental agreement?

• You will find the full rental agreement at the end of every quote and lease document you receive (after any and all changes). In the meantime, please find a link to our hire agreement here: rental-agreement For your convenience, we have expanded on the ‘important points’ in the hire agreement within the lease and quote documents. Please take the time to read these, so you understand the key points of the furniture rental agreement.

By asking us to quote for and arrange a consumer hire application, you are providing your informed agreement to these Terms of Business. We also draw your particular attention to the section headed ‘The processing of your personal data’ contained within this document.

These Terms of Business relate to the services that we provide. We lease furniture and will enter into a hire agreement with you. Depending on the nature of the customer leasing the agreement, some of the agreements are deemed to be regulated consumer hire agreements. Where this is the case our activities are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A consumer hire agreement will be deemed to be regulated, where it is arranged with customers who are classed as ‘individuals’. An ‘individual’ is defined as someone who is a natural person; a partnership consisting of two or three persons or an unincorporated body of persons e.g. an association. Where certain protections are afforded due to the agreement being regulated, this is signposted.

The agreements which are regulated are set out in the hire agreement. For your own benefit and protection, you should read these terms carefully. If you are unsure about any aspect of our Terms of Business or have any questions regarding our relationship with you, please contact us at the above address’.

CORT Business Services UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, our registration number is 736296. Our permitted business is to act as owner of goods hired to you in relation to consumer hire agreements that are arranged with individuals.

You may check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website www. fca.org.uk/register, or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.

We aim to provide you with a high level of customer service at all times but, if you are not satisfied, please contact us in person, in writing, by e-mail or by phone using the address or details above. When dealing with your complaint, we will follow our complaint handling procedures. A summary of these procedures is available on request. If you are still not satisfied, where the agreement is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service. For further information you can visit the FOS website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Access to the FOS is available for complainants coming within one of the following categories at the time we receive their complaint: Consumers (private individuals acting for purposes which are wholly or mainly outside that individual’s trade, business, craft, or profession); Micro-enterprises (businesses employing fewer than 10 persons and with a turnover or annual balance sheet total not exceeding €2 million; Other small businesses (with an annual turnover of below £6.5m, and less than 50 employees or with an annual balance sheet total of below £5 million; Charities with an annual income of under £6.5 million; Trustees of a trust with a net asset value of under £5 million”.

Helping you to decide

We do not offer advice but will provide you with appropriate information to allow you to make an informed decision. You can then make your decision about how to proceed.

The capacity in which we act for you

In providing our credit services, we will act as the owner in relation to the goods hired to you under a consumer hire agreement.

Our product range and finance provider used

We only offer one type of agreement. The product is a consumer hire agreement that is suitable for the needs of customers wishing to hire furniture from Roomservice by CORT. Applicable law and jurisdiction

These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The parties hereby irrevocably submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales for the purpose of hearing and determining any dispute arising out of or in connection with these terms, or its formation or validity and for the purpose of enforcement of any judgment against their respective assets.

Payment for our services

We will not charge you any fees in relation to arranging the consumer hire agreement.

You should understand we will share and receive personal data relating to you from / with affiliated companies and other third parties. The sharing of information allows us:

• To process client requests which includes affiliated delivery partners where name, delivery address and contact telephone numbers are shared,
• To market our services when we may use a mailing house to mail brochures etc. providing your name and address,
• To research and analyse our client base to provide the best possible service using past data of when/where and what and how our clients have used our services in the past.

To process payments, issue invoices and to administer our business we need to share your personal data with CORT Business Services Inc. (our parent company) using our shared systems. CORT Business Services Inc. is committed to protecting the privacy and security of customer data, and therefore has adopted the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework providing a mechanism for the transfer of personal data from the UK to the US.

When purchasing our services and depending on your payment method, we may share your personal data with credit reference agencies to perform a credit check. This is necessary to safeguard our commercial interests. These checks may use automated decision-making technologies that will confirm financial status, place of residence, county court judgements and solvency. Please contact our data protection representative, Amanda Long at privacy@roomservicebycort.com if you object to the use of automated decision-making technologies or you have encountered problems during previous credit searches.

If you require further information on the data we share, with whom we share it and the reasons why we share personal data, please contact our data protection representative, Amanda Long at privacy@roomservicebycort.com

In your dealings with us you may provide us with information that may include data that is known as personal data. Where we process personal data we comply with statutory data processing requirements as set out by the Data Protection Act 2018. The personal data we will collect will include information relating to your name, address and contact details.

We will process your personal data to allow us to provide you with our services in hiring you furniture. Your personal data will also be used to manage future communications between ourselves. Where you have agreed, or in circumstances where to do so will be in our mutual interests, your personal data will be used to provide you with further information about our wider products and services. You can opt out from receiving such communications by e-mailing privacy@roomservicebycort.com

We will only use your data for the purpose for which it was collected. We will only grant access to or share your data within our firm and group, with other authorised third parties and product and service providers where we are entitled to do so by law under lawful data processing.

We will transfer your data to countries outside the European Economic Area. This is necessary for administrative purposes and to facilitate the relocation of clients from one country to another. As is required by law, CORT has undertaken appropriate activities to ensure your data is protected against unauthorised disclosure and use. Our data privacy representative can provide a list of those countries and organisations your personal data is transferred to and information on the measures undertaken to safeguard your data.

The Data Protection Act 2018 provides you with Access Rights that allow you to gain an understanding on the data being processed, who we share it with, for what purpose, why we need to retain it and retention periods, to object to the processing and to place restrictions on the processing, to request copies of your data and to request the deletion of your data.

If you require further information on how we process your data or you wish to exercise your rights, please contact our data protection representative, Amanda Long at privacy@ roomservicebycort.com. How we process your personal data is detailed further within our Privacy Notice.

You are responsible for answering any questions in relation to any proposal honestly and to the best of your knowledge, providing complete and accurate information which we will require. If you fail to disclose information, or misrepresent any fact which may influence our decision to provide you with a consumer hire agreement, this could invalidate the agreement and mean that the goods may not be provided. You must check all details on any application form or and pay particular attention to any declaration you may be asked to sign. It is important that you read all documents issued to you and ensure that you are aware of the costs, repayments and other terms that apply.

If you are unsure about any matter, please contact us for guidance.

Registration details

Registered in the UK,
Company No. 06448915
VAT Registration No. 923706625

Bank Details

Barclays Bank Plc
1 Churchill Place
London E14 5HP
Account 83478343
Sort code 20-00-00
Swift code BARCGB22
IBAN GB77 BARC 200000 8347 8343
Account name CORT Business Services UK Ltd t/a Roomservice by CORT