Faulty sofa from furniture village.

fat_taff

Just an update. Trading Standards have called me and confirmed that they took action against FV around 2008 over this so are unable to pursue this for me. They advised me to take civil action if the store didn't rectify the issue.
Managed to speak to the FV store manager and advised her of the situation and was instantly offered a £299 refund! I have since sent them a letter with pictures showing the areas of cracking and peeling. I have also rejected their original offer, so we'll see what they come back with.

In response to the faulty leather post. We ha the same from Guardsman when our Scala had holes appearing in the middle seat cushion that was never used. In the end FV sent their own engineer to replace that section of the settee.

Goodi2shoez

After waiting a week I've eventually got to speak to the manager. They have ordered a full new 3 seat unit and will fit hopefully before christmas. Big tick on customer service, also got a really nice letter apologising. Panic over.

visidigi

glad to hear you got it sorted, thanks for updating the thread, its important for others to know whats being offered

AMBIENTE

Hi after reading all posts here regarding the problems with the Scala range I would like to add my experiences for your reference
I purchased in November 2005 3/2 settees and an armchair .After about three years of little use slight peeling started to occur on both of the settees,a visit to F/V only resulted with myself being told that this was due to wear and tear and not covered under their five year guarantee but if I had bought the guardsman cover when I purchased the furniture then something could be done about it.
I resigned myself to the fact that as long as it didn't get worse then I would live with it
Well of course it got worse and it annoyed me that I had been sold a "dodgy bit of kit" Over the last weekend my wife suggested that because the settees were having a major molting session we should invest in new furniture
Anyway, before browsing for new furniture I searched to see if anybody else had similar problems and found this thread .Armed with your and my dealings with F/V I ventured down the mall for a showdown.
I met up with the manager and relayed all of the above ,I told and showed him all the entries in this thread relate to all the same problem with the Scala range I didn't mention the mis-selling of bicast for leather I was keeping that in reserve just in case things got heated (I still have the advertising card from the time of purchase)
The manager was pleasant and professional and explained they're was problems with a particular batch of sofas and H/O at F/V instructed a 50% reduction on purchased furniture or could give me £600.
After going backwards and forwards for a while a deal was struck
A Dante three seater,two seater and armchair delivered and old units taken away for £400
Im happy with the outcome and would like to say a real BIG THANKYOU to all you guys out there that has enabled this to happen I think that without your input on this forum I would have struggled to get anywhere near whats been acheived

Andy2011

I have been reading through the thread from page 1, and I am not surprised by the Bi-cast leather degrading as quickly as you have mentioned. Real leather should last 10-20 years, and even longer, depending on how you care for it. Not 4 years, or even 5.

What surprises me, is how many people spent so much money on them? Someone mentioned earlier in the thread, they spent a £1000 on a bi-cast leather suite (I know they didn't know it was bi-cast "leather", but that's a lot of money for what you actually get). Bi-cast leather is one of the cheapest "leathers", next to reconstituted or "bonded" leather, which is made up of all the waste fibres stuck together. My understanding of Bi-cast, is it is not as bad in construction as "bonded leather", which actually feels like cardboard - I had some samples of it sent to me for some upholstery, it was cheap £4 a metre or something (a big 2 seater will take 10-14 metres of it). But you couldn't deny the fact it would have felt like cardboard, and you can not deny the fact "bi-cast" feels like plastic, which is again cheap, we had prices for that at £5-10 per metre.

I found this thread in Google by typing "bi-cast leather scam", which I did, because Tesco do the same thing, and are obviously selling this junk to lots of people. Chesterfield Heritage is a company which sells Chesterfield Sofas, both new and second hand - we only use genuine leather, we send samples of the leather, and it's very expensive stuff. This is not a sales plug btw. What really annoys me is Tesco are now selling Chesterfield Sofas in "leather", and then you read the technical specification of being "Bi-Cast". How are they even allowed to confuse our genuine leather product, with an imitation product? I'm sure if I did this to Microsoft, they would be very quick to contact me.

Every time I type Chesterfield Sofa into Google (and there are thousands od searches each month), the same imported "Chesterfield Sofas" are at the top of all the "shopping results" for £699!! We sometimes sell the real thing for less than that, (our restored sofas are always less than that) they should be selling these Bi-cast sofas for no more than £250!!

I think it's a joke, I've read lots and lots about FV not being able to sell bi-cast as leather, but I think there should be clear industry standards about the practice, and people like Tesco should not "undercut" genuine articles, with the rubbish they are selling, tarnishing a good product with eastern imitations, and then making it appear "more attractive" (cheaper) than the real mccoy. Apologies for the vent.

My advice to everyone here, is simple. If it has a layer of plastic (a top coating), it is Bi-Cast leather. Do not accept the wording I read earlier, about the thickness of the "plastic". Real, Genuine Leather, should not look, feel, or have anything to do with plastic laminates. You are essentially buying (or have bought), a very cheap, nasty sofa, which does not have genuine leather (leather that will wear and look older and better as it matures). There is an argument to say the outer plastic "protects" the leather. No, it doesn't. In the genuine leather industry, if you wanted to help "protect" the leather, you would apply a lacquer to the leather. The outer plastic layer simply disguises the poor quality of the material, it gives it strength and the ability to wear, wear the "leather" would not withstand daily use without it.

Bi-cast leather is suitable on flat pack dining chairs, bar upholstery, that kind of thing. Not sofas - unless they are exceptionally cheap - I mean exceptionally £2-300, for example. I do not claim to be an authority on the subject, but I do believe in quality furniture. The sofa is the key object in the home, it is where all the arguments happen, the spillages etc, it needs to be robust, and designed to last. I would urge you, and anyone reading this to contact trading standards, if you have purchased a sofa like this from FV, Tesco, Harveys, any retailer who may have miss-sold bi-cast leather as "genuine" leather. I have to be frank, and I apologise for my next comment, but many people in here have been "taken for a ride". If trading standards get enough complaints, maybe they will take action across the board, and stop the companies, who know exactly what they are doing by the way, from taking the P***.

I think some of you are letting them off the hook slightly, by way of your refunds. You should insist on them supplying the sofas you purchased in a 100% Genuine Leather, for exactly the same cost. Otherwise, they have breached the contract they had with you at the time of purchase, by supplying essentially "fake goods". You may want to consider a small claims action against the company (it's something like £80 and can be filed online). You should sue them for the entire amount, plus 100% in damages, as they have essentially defrauded you, and let them argue it in court. If they decide to turn up of course (assuming the sofa cost £800, and 100% in damages would make it £1600, plus the court fee £1680, you'll probably find out a solicitor will cost them substantially more than this, and they will pay out). There are some big companies in the UK selling Genuine Leather, such as CrestJmt Leather (the biggest). You can not buy Bi-Cast leather from them, as it is NOT leather. Check with a genuine leather supplier prior to buying something you believe is not leather. Harveys, FV etc, should be able to give you a swatch.

Apologies for the long post, but it was a long thread, keep fighting the good fight folks, this is just the tip of an iceberg.

fat_taff

Hi all, just filling you in with my outcome. After going back to FV stating that I was not happy with their original offer we have finally settled on a 50% refund and they have collected the faulty settees. We are now waiting for the delivery of our new settees from a different supplier. Thank you to all other posters who have helped me achieve this outcome.

wizzo13

Hi just an update. I have finally hada result of £800 to spend in store so have chosen a lovely cloth 3 seater instead of the cheap leather scala. It really does pay to keep at them, i dont have any money to put towards now. They did knock £200 off for wear and tear which is fine and i got my new one in the sale so should have been £1200! Its been stressfull but i fell happy i saw it through and got what we are entitled to. Anyone on here dont give up, we didnt want to buy Bicast all we wanted was leather!! Good look.

happyshopper1_2

Hi all, we have a FV Alexis sofa that has started peeling and am preparing to speak to FV about it. I bought it in July 2007 so we have a few months of the 5 year warranty left (not that it covers it).

1, does anyone know if the alexis is the scala that is mentioned so much in this forum and 2, has any one been succesful with FV over the alexis sofa.


Im really not looking forward to have to go through this with FV and want to be best prepared as possible.
Thanks very much for your help and time.

visidigi

Dante and Alexis are different sofas - it all depends if the Alexis was advertised as Real Leather with the kite marks the Dante range was.

If it was you have a case, if it wasn't then you bought a BiCast sofa in line with its description I am afraid.

judyb

My advice to everyone here, is simple. If it has a layer of plastic (a top coating), it is Bi-Cast leather. Do not accept the wording I read earlier, about the thickness of the "plastic

The British standard definition of Bicast states the thickness of the finish that indicates whether it can be classified as leather or not so the thickness of the coating is very relevant.
Bicast leather is not the scraps of leather - these are used to create bonded leather. Bicast is split leather with a laminated coating bonded to the surface. It is this coating thickness that determines what it can be sold as as it does have a leather backing all be it a split. I have heard of people who have paid much more than £1000 for a Bicast suite.
If the suite is Bicast it is illegal to sell it as leather but it can be sold as Bicast leather or Laminated leather.
I am a leather consultant and technical instructor to the industry so know and understand the construction of leather.
Hope this helps
Judyb