DFS sofas! how to go about replacing a faulty sofa?

biffyboo85

We were recently given a 6 month old mink fabric recliner sofa bought from DFS last November by my boyfriends Nan as we have just bought our first home.

The sofa cost more than £2000 for a 2 seater and two 1 seaters. The problem is the sofa is covered with a strange lime greeny colour on each piece of furniture! this has not been caused by my boyfriends Nan (which we at first thought it may have been, she denys ever spilling anything on it) as the stains are all around the sofa, places where you couldnt spill anything!! My parents came around and were shocked how bad it was, the stains seem to be getting worse!!The sofa looks that bad that we are getting a new one!

We visited DFS and told them the problem, they are sending someone out to look at it tomorrow but we were told that we will definatly not get it replaced and he may recover it, the thing is all the pieces have stains which means they would have to recover all the sofas, can they not just replace it??

A friend of ours bought a sofa from DFS a few years back and the sofa they recieved fell apart within a few months, they were given a replacement sofa in a different style. When we put this to the sales rep we were told that this did not happen to our friend and that they would have paid DFS around £800 to take the sofa back so DFS could sell it in the sale then they would get there money back but loose the £800 they paid DFS to sell it!!! This sounded crazy to us and our friends insisted that was not what happened with them. Has anyone else heard of this or are we being fobbed off??

Replys would be much appreciated thank you.

Purpledaisy_2

Hey,

They are allowed to insist on a repair, depends how bigger job it is to re-cover the sofa, it may not be economical to do so.

But 9 times out of 10 they will repair it for you.

Just hang off buying a new one and let them fix it ?

downright_mean_with_money

You have a problem! DFS are notorious for shirking their responsiblities when it comes to the sale of goods act so settle back for a possible long drawn out battle.
In your cause it is your Nan who signed the contract with DFS as the original purchaser and not you who was given the item as a gift therefore any problems with the sofa should be sent by her/ in her name or the person shown on the receipt.

So what are your rights (or nans rights in this case) when it comes to faulty goods: -
1. A full refund, because the item is relatively new (less than 12 months old)
2. A free repair
3. If the repair fails then you can still reject the goods and claim a full refund.
4. You pay for the item to be repaired by someone else and then claim the money back from DFS
5. I include this one as a reminder that if all else fails then the small claims court! it only costs about £25 (but dependant on the amount) and can be done online through moneyclaim (https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp)

Another problem you have is you say the item is over 6 months old? Ordinarily if an item purchased appears faulty within the first 6 months it would be the sellers responsibility to prove that item it not faulty! as time moves on however then things become more difficult, If you haven't done so already you need to start recording anything and everything to do with contact with DFS and it is easier if not more time consuming to do this in writing!! Big companies like DFS know that anything said verbally can easily be denied or explained away in the event that you take court action and the court will look more favourablly on you if you have kept good records and stuck to your story that you think that the sofa covering is faulty. Check out the consumer direct website for template letters and more information.
DFS will probably say they want to repair it as most companies would find this more cost effective, bearing in mind this item was probably made abroad, india, taiwan etc, regardless of the price, and therefore would end up scrapped! they may ask to inspect it, which is also normal, and then they may fob you with some "normal wear and tear stuff" now I'm no expert in sofa coverings (maybe a quick surf of the net or somebody else may know could help here?) so I would get help here, but avoid paying for independent advice until you have put this to DFS in writing i.e. keep them informed at all times and become a real thorn in their side.
Just remember your options, you do not have to accept a repair - you can stick to your guns and ask for a refund, again they will probably fob you off and say this is not how it's done or the sofas to old, in this case they may try and offer you much less for it for wear and tear and use. They may say that they will repair it under warranty - but! warranty's are an additional benefit from your consumer rights not a replacement - if you accept a repair this does not mean that's it. If you are not happy at the repair then you can still ask for a refund later - this would appear to the court as you have tried to co-operate. If you do have it repaired then take notes details of what exactly is to be done i.e. ask for them to write it down. It may be that in 6 months time, from the repair, the same thing starts occuring again! but your rights would be extended in this instance becuase the repair date would be treated as if the item was "re-conditioned". Keep a cool head and avoid telling DFS about your friends situation as you have heard they make all sorts of nonsense up about what they do or don't do. The truth of the matter is you think your nan appears to have been sold faulty goods and the law provides you protection from that!!
jeez I hope I've remembered everything in that!:A

KeithP

Just to add one small point to downright_mean_with_money's excellent post...
... take some photographs before any repair.

talulahbeige_2

We are currently in a similar discussion with DFS regarding a faulty swivel chair, the body snapped away from the base and we had only had it for 15mths.

DFS sent someone to look at the chair who said straight away that they would REPAIR the chair. We told him that we werent happy to accept the repair as i had been caused an injury when it collapsed. We theen stated that we wanted a refund, however we were prepared to compromise and would accept a new chair in a different style. He went away saying that he would have to speak to his manager. The manager arranged to come and visit us after 5pm on Friday (they are only allowed to cause you minimal inconvenience and we had already had to go to work late to allow them to come and look initially!)
He cancelled at the last minute saying that they were now prepared to exchange the chair for another style and could we go into store and pick one.

I spoke to both Consumer Direct and Furniture Ombudsman before taking this up with DFS as we fully expected a fight!

CD advised that as the chair was over 6mths old it was up to me to prove the item was faulty at manufacture. They are within their rights to repair the item, however you do have 6 years to raise a dispute so if they repair it and the same fault happens again you have 6 years to keep going back to them. If you can't come to an equally agreeable solution with DFS you can then refer the case to the furniture ombudsman who will arbitrate.
Don't forget that under the sale of goods act they arent allowed to casue you much inconveninece so taking the sofas away for 6 weeks to recover isnt OK, they should give you something to sit on whilst they are doing it.

Dont however think that getting them to replace is that good! It ended up costing us another £200 as they didnt have any chairs at the price we originally paid so we had to pay more to get a replacement! Even like for like would have costed us £50 more!

Make sure you know your rights before you speak with them as they will know theirs!

downright_mean_with_money

yes take photo's....

and just for the record, I live in Doncaster where DFS have their HQ (and large factory, more warehouse!) and they sponser the national "britain in bloom competition"
This has meant that for the last 7 or 8 years there has been a large flowerall (?) display in the middle of a major roundabout (just outside the racecourse) in the shape of an enormous 3 dimensional settee.

Just like the products they sell and true to form
it is "re-covered" every 6 months!!:T:rotfl:

co-incidence....:cool:

derrick

We bought 2 reclining sofas over 2 years ago now, but after 17 months one of the seats had the covering "fading/thinning", they came to have a look at it and as soon as their upholsterer entered the room he said,"it should not have done that", and said he would order 2 new seats for that sofa.
Less than a week later I had a phone call from DFS and was informed that they had spoken to the supplier and that BOTH sofas would be replaced, which they were 4 weeks later.

DFS furniture have 2 year warranties.

So in our experience I cannot fault the service we had from them, which included a few little niggles over the first few months which they sorted without problems.

dizzybuff

Get an independant report done from a local upholster .. I have had one done and sent it to argos who are now replacing my sofa .


Most upholsters will do it with photos....

If it is a manufacturers fault they may replace it

where abouts are you .. Pm me I may be able to give you a jab in the right direction