Faulty sofa from furniture village.

Jaspig, many thanks for the link!

I thought the same but they won't let me have a new one even though it's still under warranty :mad:

In October 2011 my wife and l bought an Ronson electronic recliner two seater sofa and matching recliner chair from Furniture Village for £1,968:00. (Big Mistake) Within 18 months the back of the sofa was starting to peel away and break up. We told the store manager who said we had to contact customer services which we did. It was inspected by a company called Castelan Group and was replaced as a manufactures fault. Nine months after that the seat in the same section of the sofa started showing the same fault and developed a large crack exposing the leather. Once again we were told to contact customer services. We did this and again the same company inspected the sofa seat and concluded it needed replacing as a manufacturing fault. It was replaced.


Within six months the padding in the arm rest in the same section gave way and it felt like resting your elbow on a steel beam plus the colour started to wear off so we now have a large dark brown stain on the inside of the arm. Again we contacted customer services and again Castelan attended. This time the report stated it was "fair wear and tear". Furniture Village refused to budge on this matter but offered us a new arm filling and cover if we paid for it and signed a waiver that this was a "goodwill gesture". We refused as we thought we had already paid for the arm and filling when bought. They then offered to have it painted over again as a "goodwill gesture". What is "goodwill" about asking us to pay for something that is or should be covered by the sale of goods act ie UK law.?


We went to Trading Standards who advised us to go to the Furniture Ombudsman. We did this and after nearly a year they conclude that the fault was "fair wear and tear". This we have disputed in light of the sale of goods act ie not fit for purpose. A sofa is not only for sitting on it is also supposed to match and complement a room, to be pleasing to the eye. But the Ombudsman would not listen. Surly the arm on a sofa costing nearly £1,300:00 should last more than three years without wearing out and collapsing. But not according to the Ombudsman.


In the meantime the replaced sofa back started to crack up and peel away, we now have a hole the size of a man's fist in the back of our sofa. Again Castelan did an inspection and the report stated that the hole in the surface colouring exposing the leather beneath was caused by "EXTERNAL CONTAMINATION".


I contacted customer services and was told l had to complete a questionnaire before they could discuss the matter. I agreed to this and was asked the following questions, what bath produces do we use, what shower produces do we use, what shampoo do we use, what deodorant's do we use, what aftershave and perfumes do we use, what washing powder do we use, what fabric conditioner do we use. Then l was told it was my body oils that were causing the problem and because l was causing the problem it was not a manufacturing fault hence not their problem. So because we were sitting on our new sofa of less than 4 years old we were damaging it.???


My wife and l are in our early 60's and not in any way naturists we have no children and no pets. How long would this sofa have lasted had we been a young couple with children and pets.????


Furniture Village have offered (again as a goodwill gesture) to remove the furniture at no cost to ourselves and refund us £665:00. We have refused. We have started a court action against Furniture Village in the small claims court for a full refund. We want the furniture gone and our money back.

We have heard from the courts and Furniture Village are defending themselves by claiming that we never cleaned the furniture and that they have made us a reasonable offer.????


"OUR HIDE IS BONEFIDE"...........TOTAL RUBBISH.


SHAME ON YOU FURNITURE VILLAGE FOR SELLING SUCH RUBBISH THEN BLAMING YOUR CUSTOMERS.