Marks & Spencer sofa really uncomfortable

hollydays

Marks and spencer now do some cheaper ranges of certain things. I bought a fitted sheet from them,cheaply-it was rubbish! I noticed they also do a poor quality set of towels.I think they are not known as much now for their quality now,and make different qualities within their ranges. I think the days of saying "If it's from Marks it must be good " are over. Not that that's an excuse for shoddy goods though.

vivatifosi

I am ex-furniture industry (albeit the commercial end) and if you feel that you have been wronged then you should definitely go to the Furniture Ombudsman if M&S is a member.

FIRA, who runs the scheme, is one of, if not the most respected furniture testing bodies in the world. I can tell you that when we used to put products forward for testing by them it was a nervous time for the company. They are very stringent. I can't imagine for one minute that FIRA would want to compromise its standards to take the manufacturer's side (or for that matter the purchaser's side).

My understanding is that conciliation is the first part of the service and this is offered for free. You only pay for arbitration if the conciliation phase fails. So what is there to lose?

andyrules

Tozer wrote: »

Interesting situation. I can understand that it may lose some support but whether this is in keeping with normal standards is somethign which I don't think we can comment on.

OP - what do other people say about it (and try not to be biased!!!)?

op says this - 'My M-i-L wont sit on the sofa as she says it gives her a bad back and other guests say it is uncomfortable.'

hollydays - yes, sadly, M&S aren't what they used to be.

Tozer

andyrules wrote: »

op says this - 'My M-i-L wont sit on the sofa as she says it gives her a bad back and other guests say it is uncomfortable.'

hollydays - yes, sadly, M&S aren't what they used to be.

To me that sounds a bit extreme.

sewo

Your story is the same as ours. I am FURIOUS with the company, I don't even wanna say their name I'm so MAD!
Don't give up. We haven't yet. I have spoken to Consumer Direct for advice and will now be writing to the Head Office quoting the Sale of Goods Act etc. Look up CD's website, give them a call.
I will keep you posted but will not not take this 'lying down' (not that you'd want to lie down on our sofa unless you want a bad back!) Our suite has softened beyond belief (it was firm, almost too firm when we bought it) we were also told nothing wrong, by 'expert'. Asked for second opinion and he said it was too soft, so guess what? They sent replacement foam for cushions....softer and inferior to what's already in there! I am so so mad that this has been going on since Jan when the first expert' came, at that time it was 10 months old! As I said, DON'T give up, that's what they want. There must be so many others like us....please add your comments. (Oh and by the way, the heaviest person in the family (my husband) weighs 11.5 stone!)

petrafyde

Read this - am interested...what happened?

10000volts

Sewo - Thanks for your post we had almost given up - OH wants to throw it on the tip!

The"expert" we had was from FIRA so after the above posts I thought we had nowhere to turn.
Did you get the ombudsman - they said that is all we could do next.

I will contact Consumer Direct and let you know how I get on.

We have put some plywood under the cushions so it is firmer but it is still not comfortable.

It has certainly put me off buying anything from Marks & Spencer!

Purpledaisy_2

Have any of you had a report done by an independent upholsterer ?

If you had someone come out and there report differed to M&S's then you would have grounds to take things further?

Su_Davy

We bought a sofa from Marks & Spencer online after trying it out at the store.

Having owned it for less than a year we are disappointed at how it seems to provide little suport and has become really uncomfortable.

Having informed M&S complaints they sent a furniture specialist who checked the cushions, pressed the spring base then sat on the sofa for about 10-15 seconds. Then he said that is how it is meant to be and it is expected to become softer over time.

We thought it would have lasted more than 10 months before it is supposed to lose support and I don't think 10-15 seconds is long enough to assess the problem.

We have since been back to the store and the one on display is firm and does not gape at the back when being used.

In our opinion the sofa is not fit for purpose and M&S refuse to consider the matter further.

Our only course of action now is to go to the Furniture Ombudsman - at a further cost of £50.

Has anybody else any experience with the Furniture Ombudsman and would it be worth spending another £50 or are we wasting more money?

Thanks for any help[/QUOTE]

We too have rencently bought M&S sofas that need excessive plumping. The care intructions say we should be plumping once a week and changing the cushions around and we have been doing that. However 6 months down the line I am now having to plump each time someone has got up from the sofas.

M&S arranged to have one cushion tested, which they have done and I am now waiting for the results. They have said they will write to me. I am fully expecting to hear that there is nothing wrong with it. However I am disputing that their care instructions were misleading and that if they had said I would need to be pulmping the cushions on a regualr basis more than once a week I would not have bought the sofas. In the first place.

Listening to your situation I am afraid I can not offer you any advice other than, I am fully expecting to have to go to the Ombudsman too. Let me know how you get on.

Regards,

Su

chinwoman

I would love to know how the OP and others got on , had I read this thread earlier I would never have bought the suite we got from M&S as we are currently experiencing the same problems with uncomfortable sofa which sags after just 2 months yet fira stated springs were fine without even sitting on it. Just completed the ombudsman's form to take the matter further.