A self-professed 'petty' man took The Range to court over 'faulty' garden furniture and won all of his money back in a stunning 'David and Goliath' victory.
Jonti Richardson-Jones bought two of The Range's New Hampshire grey garden furniture sets in March 2022 and paid £2,409 for both.
The 22-year-old claims just a few weeks after the purchase, he noticed the benches had started to sag and said the condition of the furniture soon deteriorated.
Jonti said he got in touch with The Range, a national firm which has a store in Swindon's town centre, about the state of the furniture in June 2023, who requested he pay to have a report done.
The construction project manager paid an assessor £200 for the job, which apparently showed there was a manufacturing fault, but he was then told it needed to be done by a rattan furniture specialist.
Jonti claims he was offered partial refunds by The Range after putting a money claim offer in with the small claims court, but refused.
Frustrated, Jonti took the budget retailer to court on September 26, represented himself and won.
The judge at Wigan County Court ordered The Range to issue a full refund and additional costs totalling £2,755.93.
The Range said that although they 'didn't agree with all aspects' of Jonti's claim, they 'engaged with the process in good faith'.
Jonti commented: "I'd say it's fair to say I was a bit petty about it.
"I wasn't bothered by how long it took, but I was angry. It was more for the principle that I wanted the refund.
"It [the furniture] started to sag after a few months, and we thought it was some damage from us sitting on it or whateverr and then it got worse so that's why we contacted them.
"Then after that you couldn't sit on it and the actual plastic snapped, so it had all snapped across and there were big holes in it.
"I wasn't worried facing a big company in court, I thought 'they've got no chance really' because the furniture was awful.
"I was quite confident I was going to win.
"The day in court was fun. The judge was a bit strict, it was like being in school.
"They made me do an oath and sit in this box and I was asked questions."
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After claiming victory in court, Jonti posted a video on TikTok about his experience, which users have viewed more than 41,000 times.
Jonti said: "I was just glad it was over. We've had this furniture in our garden for three years and we've not been able to get rid of it so I'm just glad it can be thrown away.
"I'm going to get some new ones but I'm going to do a bit of research this time. I definitely won't be buying it from The Range.
"I would definitely encourage other people to do the same. I think a lot of people would be scared, a lot of people would have given up when they got ignored at first.
"It doesn't bother me waiting, I'll happily wait as long as I get what I want.
"I think it's shocking, especially spending that much money. The way they go about it should be better.
"I didn't think about giving up. It could have taken another year, I'd have still carried on. They should have to give you your money back."
A spokesman for The Range said: "We were grateful for the court's decision and have complied fully with the judgment.
"While we did not agree with all aspects of Mr Richardson-Jones' claim, we engaged with the process in good faith and presented our position clearly.
"We sell thousands of garden furniture sets each year, and the vast majority of customers are very satisfied with their purchases.
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"We comply fully with the Consumer Rights Act and where issues are raised more than a year after purchase, we ask for sufficient evidence to properly assess whether a product fault is present.
"In this case, the court accepted new evidence at the hearing which led to the outcome.
"We remain committed to continually reviewing our products and processes to ensure customers receive both quality and value from The Range."
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