(another) Land of Leather complaint

tiamai_d · 25 September 2008 at 1:13PM

First, I know now, not to buy from Land of Leather, but not then....

November 2006 our LOL soafa's were delivered without any problems. They have been cared for as instructed (care kuts and what not) have not been over-used (though how you can over use a sofa I'm not sure), and now they are done.

The leather trim and stitching are all splitting so we called Homeserve (as we bought the warranty which was handy when nail varnish was spilled) about this and the previous repair (nail varnish was showing through again).

Assesor came out on the 17th September 2008 (sofa is 1 year and 10months old) and told me it was a manufacting fault.

Today I received a letter from Homeserve that says the splitting is due to wear and tear and the age of the sofa, but technically it is a manufacting fault as teh leather has dryed out.

Called LOL and spoke to Lauren who passed my details onto the manager who will (for sure) call me tomorrow after he speaks to his reginal manager......

*huge hmmm-hmmmm*

SO my plan is to get my cash back and go elsewhere... LOL will be to fob me off and worm out of every legal obligation....

Adive anyone? Have spoken to trading standards and been advised that a sofa should last longer than 2 years and I am entitled to a refund (if not a full refund).

I plan on calling LOL tomorrow, writing to Homeserve for a copy of the assesors report, and writing to LOL head office, starting a compliant with Trading Standards. Anything else I can do?

nesssie1702 · 25 September 2008 at 1:23PM

Give Consumer Direct a phone call for their advice (they're now the first contact with consumer issues, even if you phone Trading Standards, your call will be diverted.

08454 04 05 06

If you don't want to phone them, then there's practical advice, including letters on their website

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

Hope you get it sorted out

Purpledaisy_2 · 25 September 2008 at 7:10PM

I very much doubt Land of Leather will give you a refund / exhchange - unless there is a well know manufacturing problem with your particular suite / the leather used on it.
It is out of statutory warranty so the manufacturers wont pay out / cover repairs, so I doubt Land of Leather will fork out anything.

If youve paid for the extra cover then get onto Homeserve about it, there are many upholsterers about who could give you a second opinion if they advise its a manu fault then Homeserve will have to repair.

Unless the suite is deemed uneconomical to repair I cant see them giving you your money back.

Stephb1986_2 · 25 September 2008 at 7:21PM

what ever you do dont go near CSL trust me

Sorry to hear your having problems with your sofa.

Here is the ordeal we have had with CSL
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1178083

We sold a pen dragon suite (not any of the horrid ones) for a lump of junk from CSL and now pen dragon no longer trade so i guess we have to put up with these semi analine suites

Steph xx

hjb562 · 26 September 2008 at 8:56AM

i had the exact problem as you tiamai_d exept the delivery date was jan 07 homeserve said it wasnt there problem i got back to LOL wrote a stinking letter and added photos of the damage and included a photocopy of the letter from homeserve quoting the sale of goods act 1979 and the outcome was a phonecall on wed from LOL saying they are going to replace it with new but i will have to wait until end of oct for delivery so good luck and stick with it.
just out of curiosity is it the linzi two and three seater suit you have in black?

tiamai_d · 26 September 2008 at 9:40AM

Purpledaisy wrote: »

I very much doubt Land of Leather will give you a refund / exhchange - unless there is a well know manufacturing problem with your particular suite / the leather used on it.
It is out of statutory warranty so the manufacturers wont pay out / cover repairs, so I doubt Land of Leather will fork out anything.

If youve paid for the extra cover then get onto Homeserve about it, there are many upholsterers about who could give you a second opinion if they advise its a manu fault then Homeserve will have to repair.

Unless the suite is deemed uneconomical to repair I cant see them giving you your money back.

According to trading standards I am entitled to money back, not the whole amount, but 5/7ths of what I paid for it.

Homeserve will nto repair it as it is a manufaturing fault and they do not cover manufacturing faults.

HJB, it is the Mimi in brown. I could understand if it was only the 3 seater as that is used most often, but the 2 seater is just the same and that is hardly used at all (cant see the telly from it!)

Steph, I have never heard of CSL! Going back to Harveys this time, got our first one from them, lasted 7 years for us (and still going strong at bro in laws house!) only gave it away because it was a pain to keep clean with kids.

andiR1 · 30 September 2008 at 8:30PM

I have today noticed that my 10 month old suite has split on the seams. So I got straight onto LOL in Warrington where I bought it from and have been informed that there is a manufacturing fault with these suites and that because the sides of the seat area is only leather look, it is not strong enough to have been stitched to the leather,hence the suites are all splitting and that they have had loads of phone calls, but they are not doing a recall as the probability is that only 40% of all suites sold will develop a fault.
I was then informed that I could either come in and choose an alternative, but I would only be refunded £458, as I have to pay a 'usage' charge of £41 odd. Anyone know whether this is allowed? As I would have thought that because this suite hasn't even lasted 12months without developing a fault, then I would be covered for a full refund or replacement under the sale of goods act?
From reading other peoples comments on here, it appears that it is not only the Adelaide range that is affected.

Purpledaisy_2 · 30 September 2008 at 9:18PM

andiR1 wrote: »

I have today noticed that my 10 month old suite has split on the seams. So I got straight onto LOL in Warrington where I bought it from and have been informed that there is a manufacturing fault with these suites and that because the sides of the seat area is only leather look, it is not strong enough to have been stitched to the leather,hence the suites are all splitting and that they have had loads of phone calls, but they are not doing a recall as the probability is that only 40% of all suites sold will develop a fault.
I was then informed that I could either come in and choose an alternative, but I would only be refunded £458, as I have to pay a 'usage' charge of £41 odd. Anyone know whether this is allowed? As I would have thought that because this suite hasn't even lasted 12months without developing a fault, then I would be covered for a full refund or replacement under the sale of goods act?
From reading other peoples comments on here, it appears that it is not only the Adelaide range that is affected.

Unless there is any "customer damage" on the suite then no you should get a full refund..

If you dont want to pick an alternative then stick to your guns and demand a full refund

mitchb · 30 September 2008 at 9:50PM

andiR1 wrote: »

I have today noticed that my 10 month old suite has split on the seams. So I got straight onto LOL in Warrington where I bought it from and have been informed that there is a manufacturing fault with these suites and that because the sides of the seat area is only leather look, it is not strong enough to have been stitched to the leather,hence the suites are all splitting and that they have had loads of phone calls, but they are not doing a recall as the probability is that only 40% of all suites sold will develop a fault.
I was then informed that I could either come in and choose an alternative, but I would only be refunded £458, as I have to pay a 'usage' charge of £41 odd. Anyone know whether this is allowed? As I would have thought that because this suite hasn't even lasted 12months without developing a fault, then I would be covered for a full refund or replacement under the sale of goods act?
From reading other peoples comments on here, it appears that it is not only the Adelaide range that is affected.

I had a problem after the same length of time and was charged a £150 usage charge. I contacted trading standards regarding this and they advised LOL were entitled to charge a usage charge and that £150 was reasonable for the length of time id had the suite.

My fault was that the colour was peeling off one of the seats on the sofa, homeserve tried to fix it 3 times before coming to the conclusion that teh panel of leather was too soft for purpose. So the fault was their at the time of manufactoring / sale but i was left £150 out of pocket.

Although worth it to end my association with this poor excuse for a company.

tiamai_d · 2 October 2008 at 5:39PM

andiR1 wrote: »

I have today noticed that my 10 month old suite has split on the seams. So I got straight onto LOL in Warrington where I bought it from and have been informed that there is a manufacturing fault with these suites and that because the sides of the seat area is only leather look, it is not strong enough to have been stitched to the leather,hence the suites are all splitting and that they have had loads of phone calls, but they are not doing a recall as the probability is that only 40% of all suites sold will develop a fault.
I was then informed that I could either come in and choose an alternative, but I would only be refunded £458, as I have to pay a 'usage' charge of £41 odd. Anyone know whether this is allowed? As I would have thought that because this suite hasn't even lasted 12months without developing a fault, then I would be covered for a full refund or replacement under the sale of goods act?
From reading other peoples comments on here, it appears that it is not only the Adelaide range that is affected.

That is interesting as the bits that are splitting on mine is where leather look meets leather.... thanks for the info.

Yes, sorry LOL are entitled to take a usage charge. BUT, you can work out how much.

What your original purchase price was (for example £550), the divide that by 7 years (which is what Trading standards say a sofa should last) or 84 months, and times that total by how many months (or years) you have had the sofa.... so...

£550 / 84 X 10 = £65.48 usage charge.

LOL's own repair people are coming out tomorrow, so we will see how that goes!

blondevilla · 3 November 2008 at 9:30PM

Hi,
My parents have purchased a suite from lol 11 months ago and are having the same problem. lol sent out their repair people who said they could not do anything as it was wear and tear. The suite is in the sitting room which is used very rarely. They actually offered to colour in the splits to make them less noticeable. So thank you all for this post as I can advise my Mum that she is not alone in having this problem and direct Her to trading standards

(another) Land of Leather complaint

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