Poor service and unfair refund penalty fee

I am writing to express my disappointment with the service I received from Rochester Furniture's Thohoyandou Thavhani Mall branch.

I purchased a couch through a salesperson named Palesa Sadiki. During the purchase, I was charged an installation fee and was informed that the delivery team would assist with the installation of the couch upon delivery.

To my surprise, when the delivery team arrived, the delivery person refused to install the couch, stating that installation was not part of his job. We explained that we had paid an installation fee specifically for this service. Since he refused to install the couch, we requested that he take the package back with him. He also refused, stating that his responsibility was only to deliver the item and not to return it.

At that stage, we were already concerned that the couch might be too large for the available space in our home. As the delivery person would neither install the couch nor take it back, we opened the packaging to confirm whether the couch would fit. Unfortunately, our concern proved correct, and the couch was indeed too large for the space.

We immediately contacted the store to arrange a return and refund. However, we were informed that we would be charged a 15% penalty because the packaging had been opened. I find this extremely unfair for the following reasons:

We paid an installation fee, yet the promised installation service was not provided.

We were never informed that, if the delivery team refused to install the couch, we should not open the package and should instead contact the store first.

The couch was never used, and the issue was reported to the store the very next day.

The store attempted to impose a 15% penalty before even inspecting the couch to determine whether any damage had occurred.

I believe Rochester Furniture failed to deliver the service that was promised and paid for. Had the installation service been provided as agreed, this situation could have been handled differently. Charging a 15% penalty under these circumstances feels unjustified and unreasonable.