Buying a sofa from CSL

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Quick update following my last post on here.... after kicking up a fuss I managed to get to speak to a manager who has agreed that the quality wasn't sufficient and has agreed to replace the chair. Very happy with that and with CSL for agreeing to it, just a shame that it took so much effort to get good service from them.

Tking_2

I apologise for the length of this, but thought it may be necessary to explain the circumstances and why we want to desperately cancel our contract.

I ordered a sofa from CSL (in Manchester) on 27 October 2013 on finance and at the time put down a deposit of £137. The actual value of the sofa being over 2000. They said delivery would take approimately 12 weeks and they would be in touch closer to the time for me to organise a suitable delivery date.

I organised this for Friday 31 January 2014. I work in France and therefore booked a flight back for that weekend on the premise of taking delivery. Approximately a week in advance I received a call from them claiming there had been a supplier issue (they conveniently couldn't provide any more information on this) but told me the earliest delivery date was then Monday 3 Feb. I said this was absolutely not possible since I would be back in France. They then agreed they could do Saturday 1 Feb.

I was told right from the outset and in these additional phone calls that I would receive a text/email the evening before to provide a 4 hour window for delivery. Instead, on Friday 31 (with less than 24 hours before delivery) I received a call saying delivery was not possible. Again, a supplier issue. They offered £50 compensation and I requested to speak to a manager to discuss properly. I was told to expect a call back from said manager within 24-48 hours and asked whether this included weekends. I was told yes. We reach Monday 3 and still no phone call. I call customer services again and I'm told weekends don't count and to continue waiting. These conflicting messages are a theme throughout this ordeal! Still no call on Tuesday so I called them again and finally persuade the useless customer service rep to let me speak to a manager who seemed perfectly reasonable and apologetic. Offered £100 compensation and re-arranged delivery for Saturday 8 Feb. I started reading all these terrible reviews and the further dread of the sofa falling apart when we finally do receive it ensued - I only wish I had read this in October!

Anyway, Saturday came and my other half was at the apartment awaiting delivery on my behalf. We had informed CSL numerous times that we live on a busy main road in the city centre so they could make the necessary arrangements when it came to delivery. They arrived with the sofa and only 2 men. They claimed they didn't know about access issues (although my other half said he could see it noted on the invoice they were holding). They stopped in a loading bay right near our building's entrance And immediately said they could only stop there for 10 mins yet they said it would take at least 30 mins for delivery so we would have to organise redelivery!! They also said they knew nothing about the removal of our old sofa (which we were yet to pay for but it was an additional cost) and therefore we would have to sort this out ourselves. After much begging with them my boyfriend persuaded them to at least leave the units of our corner group in our building foyer and HE would take them up on his own - doing their job for them now! After much umming and ahhing they did it then were told by their manager that's not allowed. By this point they has easily wasted 30 mins and could have just taken it upstairs and completed delivery. Even though we were still paying for the delivery of the sofa my boyfriend even offered to pay for the parking of their van. The answer was no and the delivery men took the sofa away!!! Said they needed 3 men for the job and told my other half he would need to organise redelivery.

After extremely lengthy calls to customer services on that day, we said we wanted to cancel the sofa altogether due to the incompetence of the company and them being incapable of following up on their side of this agreement. Customer services said fine and we would have to wait for a call from the store manager where we bought it from to organise a meeting to cancel the sofa. Always useful to pass us around the houses! We spoke to the store manager who said he was reading our file with his head in his hands he was so appalled - allegedly anyway. We said having read these reviews it will probably fall apart in days anyway! He offered to deliver it on Tuesday 11 February at a time convenient for my other half and said if there was any slight problem with delivery on this 4th attempt now, that we could absolutely cancel. He also "gave his word" if there was any problem with the sofa in the future he would deal with it instead of us chasing it up. We said no, none of it was in writing and frankly he could move jobs next week and we're back to square one. we requested to simply cancel it and get our deposit back. The store manager said this was fine and he would arrange for Head Office to call us on Monday to confirm cancellation.

There was no call from Head office on Monday or Tuesday and we even called Customer Services in the meantime and again were told to continue to wait for the call. Come Tuesday afternoon (yesterday), my other half receives a phone call from the delivery men saying they are en route to the apartment. He said it had been cancelled already. They seemed shocked at the informationa and said customer services would call. When they called they were specifically trying to get my other half to agree to saying "the delivery was rejected" at least 4 times. He purposely said no, and that it was cancelled on Saturday and therefore we should not be receiving a delivery. They consequently told us to await a phone call from Head Office to discuss the cancellation.

I have just received a call from Customer Services (still not managed to actually speak to anyone from Head Office) to now back track on all this and say the sofa is absolutely non-cancellable because it's on finance, it's in our T&C's and it is beyond the store manager's capaibilities to cancel an order - only Head Office can do it. I have also been told the store manager is now claiming he never said it was ok to cancel the order on Saturday. The lady on the phone (with a terrible attitude now - anyone would think she had been screwed over by csl!) is claiming we rejected delivery yesterday as though we are at fault and not them. I tried to explain numerous times that we followed instructions provided BY THEM at all times on Saturday with regard to cancelling (i.e. customer services told us to speak to store manager, store manager confirmed cancellation and told us to await a call from Head Office) and so how is it our problem if we have been continuously provided with incorrect information from different sources at the company. I am now being told I have to wait for a call from the store manager now and he isn't in work until this Friday. How this phone call is going to help I do not know since he clearly is untrustworthy.

We truly want to cancel this sofa. From other people's experiences/knowledge, do we have the right to given their inability to adhere to their side of the contract? Are we obligated to stay in the contract just because it's on finance? Does anyone know what steps we can take next as I so not wish to be in any contract with csl.

cazwoo

Hi all
~I really wish I had seen all these before using this company.
I purchased two sofas in November 2013 and they were delivered in 7 days....


My partner and I removed the two sofas we had in situ ourselves, which were significantly LARGER than the ones we had just purchased, with no problems, the day before delivery.


The sofas arrived and immediately, the delivery guys, ripped from the wall a shelving unit, which was screwed on. Next they destroyed a floor lamp which was not in the way, but on 'wrapping up' the protective coverings from the sofas after they were in place, they knocked over and smashed a lamp as they were leaving. I have tried for months to get a response to emails and photos sent, yet nothing. This lamp was only a few months old and was not cheap, but they initially acknowledged what had happened, yet now all the email addresses they gave are being returned as 'full' (not really surprised by that) or no longer available.
I realise this is minor compared to many on here, for which I apologise, but it is incredibly frustrating that someone who does a job, 'professionally' can destroy your property, yet I managed to get the old ones out, plus previously had large furniture delivered, with no problems....whatsoever


What can be done about these cowboys.... is there no regulations that cover these companies and can be enforced???


Now I am panicking that my sofas, 'WHEN' they become defective will not be fixed even though I took out the policy they offer and can't afford another set for many years!!!!!:(


What can we all do to stop these companies coping out by changing their name and "sweeping the problems under the sofa" ?

PaulJM

Well in your case, after you've tried to contact them, you go to the small claims court for recompense. .. You'd do that if they didn't respond to requests for assistance if they broke early too.

Don't be scared of the court system, it's cheap and easy to use, you can apply on the Internet, and you don't need a lawyer.

daveyjp

There are plenty of independent furniture stores out there. Use them. Far more knowlegable staff who know what customer care is.

susielooe

i received a leather corner suite after waiting 17 weeks,it is riddled with problems,we have had someone out to fix some of the problems but there are still quite a few to go,we have only had this sofa now since 17 th may and I am still fighting to get it resolved,they have admitted to fault and say I can go look at some more in sofaworks and see if I want to have an exchange instead,but we have decided against this,the lack of communication is terrible,they say the manager will call then she doesn't then she says sorry she was in meetings , we have said we will take our 500 deposit back and she can cancel the finance agreement,but it is awful getting any help in this happening I have been so stressed because of the way sofaworks are treating us that I have been staying awake at night,i really cannot stress enough to think carefully and look at the reviews before you buy,i know with all companies you could get a duff sofa,but its the way you are treated when a problem arises that causes me concern

Crasy2

Any advice on how to take sofa works to court as my sofa is flat with flat cushions and they keep refusing to replace it.

madmi

It looks like they changed the brand to sofology.co.uk and doing quite well.