Mamas & Papas - Faulty Furniture

pnopine

Last year we bought some nursery furniture from M&P before our daughter was born, as you can imagine, it wasn't cheap.

We chose the ‘Ocean – Golden Oak’, after seeing the furniture in-store; the furniture was of a very high standard and the finish was excellent, it felt sturdy and well made and we envisaged it lasting throughout our newborn daughter’s life and her siblings lives a little later on.

Our first order with Mamas & Papas was back in February for 2010 and was for the nursery furniture and other bits and bobs, to us, quite alot of money, but worth it we thought given that it would last along time and we wanted it to be fairly special, given that it was our firstborn.

The nursery furniture arrived as scheduled and was assembled according to the instructions and looked fantastic, the only problem being that one of the wardrobe doors had been drilled incorrectly and needed to be replaced, I contacted M&P and the door was promptly replaced, a minor ‘blip’ in production I thought.

Our daughter was not born until the late May, sometime later than expected, and for this reason the furniture did not get used much, and in fact still does not get used that much as she is currently still sleeping in her parents room.

Recently we have started to notice some problems with two items of furniture which we are currently using, namely the wardrobe and baby changer.
The top of the baby changer is no longer aligned correctly and the smooth finish which we had some months ago has now become quite a prominent edge to the front, topside of the changer, I’d like to add that the changer hasn’t been moved since it was assembled, although we have used it.

There are also major problems with the wardrobe, which again was fine until recently.
The drawer no longer fits into the space at the bottom of the wardrobe; this was sliding in and out with no problems when the wardrobe was assembled. The drawer has only recently been used more regularly, and it is since then that we have noticed that the divider between the wardrobe and the drawer appears to have bowed/warped slightly (this is only noticeable when attempting to push the drawer into the slot) and as such has made the space too small for the drawer to slide into, it rubs on both the top and bottom edge.

There is definitely something wrong with the furniture.

I have written to m&p and emailed them, and enclosed detailed pictures everytime I've contacted them and they refuse to acknowledge that there is a problem with the furniture, they originally tried to suggest that the room was too cold.

They have now sent me a pack of 'Fittings' which they claim will solve the issue - I am not convinced and also do not see why I should spend a day taking all of the furniture apart and back together again (it took near on a full long day to assemble), especially after paying in excess of £1800.

I also asked M&P if they would send one of their 'assemblers' out to check the furniture and see the problem - they refused.

I'm frustrated that M&P can take so much cash and then forget about after sales 'care'

I've plenty of pictures and correspondance from M&P including their emails suggesting that I am at fault with a cold nursery if anyone wishes to see them!

I would never fo back to M&P again, and am left now with furniture that cost so much that is not actually functional

Lip_Stick

Wow, that's a lot of money to be spent for furniture that isn't perfect. You'd think M&P as a reputable brand would have decent customer care. One has just opened in my city but thankfully a couple of years after DS was born or I'd have spent a fortune there too!

I'd say you'd need to send something via recorded delivery detailing your problems and what you expect from M&P. Record all correspondence. You might have to look at getting someone in the field of furniture making a report of the problem, which if the problem lies with the M&P would eventually be paid by them should things escalate.

pnopine

Things have been going back and forth for ages now, they are not taking it any further, I'm a bit stuck really, I'm not sure where I stand and what my rights are

pnopine

Bump, does anyone know where I stand with these problems?

Surely the furniture should be guaranteed for a year anyway?

Below is the first reply from m&p suggesting 'external factors', I have had a some other replies since then, none of which accept that the furniture could be faulty (I can clearly see that the two main parts appear appear warped and would not be corrected by new fittings which they have sent)...

[FONT=&quot]Dear xxxxxx[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Thank you of your recent email with attached pictures of your furniture. I am sorry to hear of the issues you have raised with the build quality of your Ocean furniture. I have forwarded your pictures on the technical department who agree that the faults you have outlined are not deemed as manufacturing and would not have occurred after such a long period of time without any external factors that would has contributed towards the furniture of the faults to occur.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] I understand the dresser rail has started to protrude and is not sitting flush to the rest of the components. I would advice the fittings are tightened to eliminate this fault. I have arranged for a replacement fittings pack to be sent should you require them once again in the assembly of this product.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] I appreciate you are also having further issues with the Ocean wardrobe however once again the nature of the flaws you have raised are not deemed as manufacturing and will need to be addressed by reassembly of the product. Again I am happy to resend you a pack of fittings for the wardrobe in case you require them in the reassembly. You have outlined the drawer was fitting correctly upon if initial assembly and the problem has occurred after. As the Ocean wardrobe is made of wood it will expand when exposed to the incorrect temperature, I would therefore advice the temperature of the room the furniture is stored is correct.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] Once again please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience you may have been caused. Should you require any further advice or assistance do not hesitate to respond back to this email.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
Kind Regards[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
Isha Pervaz-Ijmeeri