Furniture shop delivered a different model than the catalogue + damaged drawer — am I right to ask for a refund? (England)

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice about a furniture issue I’m having with a furniture shop in Walthamstow, London.

I went into the shop and ordered an Ambra furniture set using their catalogue. I only saw the catalogue model and was told the furniture I received would be like the one shown.

The furniture was delivered yesterday in boxes. Today, their fitter came to assemble everything. He finished the job, said everything was done, and left. We assumed the professional fitter had completed his work properly, so we didn’t stand over him inspecting every part while he was assembling it.

After he left, we checked the furniture properly and noticed two issues:

1. One of the drawers is damaged. The bottom has a large chunk of wood missing/broken. It isn’t a small scratch or cosmetic mark.
2. The furniture does not match the Ambra model shown in the catalogue. The handles are different, and the delivered version has a grey trim that is not shown in the catalogue image.

We contacted the shop immediately after noticing these problems.

The shop is refusing responsibility and saying:

• The fitter took a video showing everything was fine when he left.
• Once the fitter leaves, any damage is no longer their responsibility.
• The drawer must have been damaged because we moved it.
• The furniture was flat packed, so it could not have been damaged before/during delivery.

The problem is:

• We did not sign anything saying we inspected and accepted the furniture as undamaged.
• The furniture arrived boxed, so we could not properly inspect the final product until it was assembled.
• The fitter was the person who assembled it, and we reasonably assumed his work was completed correctly.
• We reported the issue as soon as we discovered it.

Their “flat packed” argument also seems questionable. The wardrobe arrived in multiple boxes, but the bedside tables each arrived in a single box, and the drawer unit arrived in a single box. Not everything arrived as separate flat-packed pieces like they are claiming.

They also told us the fitter had taken a video proving the furniture was fine. When we asked to see the video, they said they didn’t have one. Later, it turned out they only had photos. The photo they provided does not clearly show the damaged area, so I don’t feel it proves the drawer was fine when he left.

Their catalogue has a disclaimer saying the manufacturer can make “minor” changes and colour variations, but I’m unsure whether different handles and grey trim count as a minor variation or whether this is effectively a different product.

I understand furniture can sometimes have small differences due to manufacturing, but I feel like I ordered one thing from the catalogue and received something different.

Am I being unreasonable here? Does this sound like a case of faulty goods/not as described under UK consumer rights, or can the shop avoid responsibility because the fitter had already left?

Thanks for any advice.