Faulty sofa from furniture village.

johnejjohnson

We bought a "Real leather" sofa and arm chair from Furniture Village five years ago and over the last year the leather has been peeling on the sofa. I have contacted FV and they tell me that the sofa is out of warranty and that the leather is "Semi-aniline" leather and probably peeled as we haven't cleaned it properly; we have regularly used Guardsman products as provided by FV! I suspect it may be bi-cast leather and therefore mis-sold.
Has anyone got anywhere with them or can anyone recommend a truly independent expert? Is there a possibility of a group legal approach? BBC Rogue Traders?

StickyW

In August 2018 we purchased 3 seater and 2seater Revive settees from Furniture Village at their Exeter Store. Customer Service was excellent, as was the coffee. What a shame this didn’t match the rest of their so called customer service.
Anyway the settees were delivered 10 weeks later. Alost immediately we realised that these were different in comfort to those in the store, we even went back to confirm this. We thought that it might be because that were new and hoped that they might improve with use. Some hope! After two weeks the three seater seats had sunk so much that I couldn’t sit on it, or should I say in it, without it giving me back ache.
They were rejected by taking a letter to Exeter and giving it to a manager who refused to give us his name! An “independent “examination was arranged and this took place a week later. The technician from Castelan examined them and agreed with us that it was indeed defective. He said structurally it was ok but that the filling foam had sunk. It needed boosting with extra foam, but it shouldn’t be going after a only month. Putting new foam in would be no good as it would be just the same. He told me all this would go in his report and I could phone for a copy in a couple of days. Fortunately I had recorded everything he said on my phone, having read reviews of Furniture Village and reports being altered.
After the weekend I phoned FV re. the report. The customer service woman started to read it to me and then suddenly stopped mid-sentence. After being put on hold she came back and said that the report was wrong and would have to go back to Castelan to be altered. She refused to read on or to send me a copy. A week later I received a copy of the report which said that there was no fault with the settee, no mention was made of foam at all. The covering letter said and no action could be taken.
I wrote back questioning this report and saying that I had recorded the conversation with the technician and offered to send a copy. I needn’t have bothered. They still wouldn’t admit it was defective merely saying there was “a typo” in the report.
I then got a local, really independent, upholsterer to examine it and surprise surprise he agreed with the original examiner.
Fortunately I had paid on my credit card so I made a claim using Sec. 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, and within a month had a refund! Brilliant, Nationwide were excellent, I just hope they manage to reclaim from Furniture Village.
So if you feel you really must buy from these people PLEASE make sure you WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING, RECORD CONVERSATIONS and PAY BY CREDIT CARD.

kbutty

johnejjohnson said:

We bought a "Real leather" sofa and arm chair from Furniture Village five years ago and over the last year the leather has been peeling on the sofa. I have contacted FV and they tell me that the sofa is out of warranty and that the leather is "Semi-aniline" leather and probably peeled as we haven't cleaned it properly; we have regularly used Guardsman products as provided by FV! I suspect it may be bi-cast leather and therefore mis-sold.
Has anyone got anywhere with them or can anyone recommend a truly independent expert? Is there a possibility of a group legal approach? BBC Rogue Traders?

Hi I know it was a while ago you posted but did you get sorted I've had my 2 sofas 18 months and on 3 seat cushions they peeling  mine was the shades make. Thanks

kbutty

Purchased 2 leather sofas from fv called shades delivered December 2018 now on 3 seat cushions and arm peeling all I have ever used is the guardsman solutions I purchased from them. They have sent someone out and supposingly it's not manufacturer's fault but he said its contaminated but doesn't know what with. I have seen on numerous review sites about fv and leather peeling how can they be getting away with this there has got to be something wrong with the leather or whatever they using on it. When he came out and looked he said he couldn't repair. Do I have any rights with this I've registered it with trading standards but I just want what's owed to me my money.

kbutty

johnejjohnson said:

We bought a "Real leather" sofa and arm chair from Furniture Village five years ago and over the last year the leather has been peeling on the sofa. I have contacted FV and they tell me that the sofa is out of warranty and that the leather is "Semi-aniline" leather and probably peeled as we haven't cleaned it properly; we have regularly used Guardsman products as provided by FV! I suspect it may be bi-cast leather and therefore mis-sold.
Has anyone got anywhere with them or can anyone recommend a truly independent expert? Is there a possibility of a group legal approach? BBC Rogue Traders?

Hi I also purchased 2 shades sofas december 2018 and mine are now peeling. They sent a inspector out who said it wasn't a manufacturer fault but contaminated. I have had a 2nd opinion and I have sent his report to them. He says the sealant hasn't bonded. They have offered 2 like for like sofas as aact of goodwill 😂 but I'm not happy with that.
Did you have any luck with them.

2budgeteers

I would like to also say how shockingly bad their support sofas are. Less than two years in with minimal use for normal size adults and the sofas are basically useless. They are saggy, rippled material and furniture village's response is for me to buy more inners/stuffing. Yep- for me to buy stuffing for their less than two years old sofas. After six months we ran into issues, and now they are shocking. 

davelang1969

i have just received 2 two seater sofas from furniture village phoned up immediately to report numerous creases in the leather sent photos was told a technician would come out on the 28 October i informed them i had 14 days to return the sofa as stated on there website i asked for return details where and when to return it they will not give me details but said they can collect it for 25 percent of the furniture fee approx. £600 as it is I'm stuck by the time the technician arrives i will be outside my 14 days and if he just fobs me off with things like its the nature of leather or only to be expected i will be left with the  furniture