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Need a new sofa, is Ikea Ektorp for me?

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Hi there, as the title says, I need a new sofa. We've had our current one for nearly 9 years and it is dead beyond all deadness.
Having lost another nights sleep due to a bad back from sitting on the sofa, I've had enough and told DH "That's it! We HAVE to get a new sofa."
We have two sofas, a 3 and a 2 seater. The 2 seater is fine so we will keep that:money: but we can't all fit on it so do need another 3 seater.
Having looked around, I have seen the Ikea Ektorp sofa which I think MIGHT be the one for us. I can get a 3 seater sofa with a spare cover for £270.70. This will have white covers. Now the white will go with our decor but I'm not too bothered because we currently use brown fleece throws which I would still use. I figure that if I get it really badly stained then I can always just dye it a darker colour.

I would just like to test the water on here as I value your opinions. Does anyone have one? Would you ever buy it again? Am I better off going to DF* or similar (I don't think so but am happy to be told otherwise!).
Does anyone know how long the guarantee is with these sofas? I had a look as one blog said theirs came with a 10 year guarantee. If I can get this length of guarantee, then it's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned!

Look forward to your comments guys, as always, TIA :D
Debt: 16/04/2007:TOTAL DEBT [strike]£92727.75[/strike] £49395.47:eek: :eek: :eek: £43332.28 repaid 100.77% of £43000 target.
MFiT T2: Debt [STRIKE]£52856.59[/STRIKE] £6316.14 £46540.45 repaid 101.17% of £46000 target.
2013 Target: completely clear my [STRIKE]£6316.14[/STRIKE] £0 mortgage debt. £6316.14 100% repaid.

Comments

  • downshifter
    downshifter Posts: 1,122 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    edited 22 March 2011 at 7:26PM
    I found the Ektorp quite hard to sit on, but it's all down to individual taste, I prefer soft squidgy sofas. I bought an Ekeskog from Ikea, don't think they do them now, but it's lasted 10 years daytime use with occasional overnighting as it's big and long enough. However if the quality is the same it will be good, I have since bought spare white covers which I have dyed so can have a complete change depending on my mood.

    If you look on the ikea website it tells you about the different guarantees and yes, Ektorp is 10 yrs: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/customer_service/ikea_services/guarantee.html#Living%20room

    DS
  • emg
    emg Posts: 1,390 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I've got an Ektorp and I think it has got softer with age. When I first had it, it was quite hard but now it seems to be just right. You definitely need to sit on one to try it out though, I'm not sure how supportive you will find the back although the advantage (for me at least) is that it is not very deep so I can sit all the way back and my legs still reach the floor properly.

    The other thing you should check out is whether the angle of your furniture is affecting your back. I used to have my sofa at a bit of an angle to my tv and I used to end up kind of lounging sideways and it always gave me neck ache so I move things round so that I could sit opposite instead and keep my neck straight.
  • Kaz2904
    Kaz2904 Posts: 5,797 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    Thanks for your comments. We drove to Ikea tonight and had another sit on the sofas. We decided on the Ektorp model. They are really really naughty with their pricing though. The sofa is advertised as £229.85 with the cover. It ACTUALLY cost £244.09 for the sofa and a further £40.85 for the cover. That's a whole £55.09 more than the advertised price.
    I will be complaining to customer services but doubt very much that I'll get anywhere.
    Debt: 16/04/2007:TOTAL DEBT [strike]£92727.75[/strike] £49395.47:eek: :eek: :eek: £43332.28 repaid 100.77% of £43000 target.
    MFiT T2: Debt [STRIKE]£52856.59[/STRIKE] £6316.14 £46540.45 repaid 101.17% of £46000 target.
    2013 Target: completely clear my [STRIKE]£6316.14[/STRIKE] £0 mortgage debt. £6316.14 100% repaid.
  • Swan_2
    Swan_2 Posts: 7,060 Forumite
    Kaz2904 wrote: »
    Thanks for your comments. We drove to Ikea tonight and had another sit on the sofas. We decided on the Ektorp model. They are really really naughty with their pricing though. The sofa is advertised as £229.85 with the cover. It ACTUALLY cost £244.09 for the sofa and a further £40.85 for the cover. That's a whole £55.09 more than the advertised price.
    I will be complaining to customer services but doubt very much that I'll get anywhere.
    I have some Ektorp sofas, a chaise longue & a footstool, & I'm really happy with them

    I'm not sure what's going on with the pricing, I paid the advertised price for mine & that included covers, but that was 18 months ago
    on the site the 3 seater with white cover is still showing at £229.85 :huh: so I'd definitely be querying what you paid

    recently Ikea's been showing what appear to be models that have always been on sale before as 'NEW' & I wondered what that was about?
    but I've noticed on the website today that they're advertising flat-packed Ektorps :think:

    I still think they're great value, but if the pricing structure's been changed to reflect this new way of selling (maybe the basic unit is cheaper?) they need to make it clearer that the cover price is extra


    anyway, I hope you enjoy your new sofa, I love mine :)
  • Kaz2904
    Kaz2904 Posts: 5,797 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    I noticed that they were advertising them as flat packed too but ours most certainly is not flat packed! Well, I've had no email reply so when I've been to the tip (and sorted out my flat tyre- Grrrrr), I'll call their Customer Services.
    Don't hold out much hope though. Cheeky devils.
    TBH, I'd be happy if they would just provide me with a spare set of covers instead of a refund so I may suggest that to them.
    I'll update y'all when I know :)
    Debt: 16/04/2007:TOTAL DEBT [strike]£92727.75[/strike] £49395.47:eek: :eek: :eek: £43332.28 repaid 100.77% of £43000 target.
    MFiT T2: Debt [STRIKE]£52856.59[/STRIKE] £6316.14 £46540.45 repaid 101.17% of £46000 target.
    2013 Target: completely clear my [STRIKE]£6316.14[/STRIKE] £0 mortgage debt. £6316.14 100% repaid.
  • Kaz2904
    Kaz2904 Posts: 5,797 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    So, I've phoned them. First time, no beef. We can charge what we like.
    Second time, he looked over it all and said we had clearly been overcharged. He referred it on and said we'd get a call to arrange a card refund within 3-5 days. So, an hour later, I've had a phone call saying it's a different product. The Ektorp 3 seater sofa is not actually an Ektorp 3 seater sofa as advertised on the website.
    I can return to the store and order online. Only it's a 3 seater sofa in the back of a car over 30 miles away. Then an online order with a £35 delivery charge. They're sh1ts aren't they?
    Complete Customer disservice rather than customer service.
    Apparently I couldn't have bought the sofa shown online because they still have old stock left (£244.09 for sofa rather than £189ish). Why then did it show up as in stock at Bristol when it wasn't in stock?
    As you can tell, I am not happy about the overcharging. I don't mind the price of the sofa. What I DO mind is the lack of transparency in their pricing structure. I am horrified that they are allowed to get away with this type of behaviour and feel the need to complain more. Not that that is going to get me anywhere.
    I did tell her that I was going to go online and tell people exactly what I thought of their customer services and pricing structure etc to warn other people. This was just after I'd said I couldn't really say thanks for your help because you've not actually been any help. I think that's probably the last time I shop at Ikea. Oh well, back to ebay for my spare set of sofa covers :)
    Debt: 16/04/2007:TOTAL DEBT [strike]£92727.75[/strike] £49395.47:eek: :eek: :eek: £43332.28 repaid 100.77% of £43000 target.
    MFiT T2: Debt [STRIKE]£52856.59[/STRIKE] £6316.14 £46540.45 repaid 101.17% of £46000 target.
    2013 Target: completely clear my [STRIKE]£6316.14[/STRIKE] £0 mortgage debt. £6316.14 100% repaid.
  • alexlyne
    alexlyne Posts: 740 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    I know you have bought your sofa, hope you're happy with it :)

    I would say that when we were hunting for suites from the usual sofa places, it often seemed like they offered at least one part of the suite at a much better price than the rest of the items. In our case the 4-seat sofa cost £50 more than the chair and storage footstool (the 3 seater cost a lot more). Therefore if you were only after one item then shopping around and comparing prices for that one item could be worth it.
  • ginvzt
    ginvzt Posts: 4,878 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Could you contact Fair trading and as them for advise on this? Does your sofa has a number on (something like 190.456.45.87) - compare that one to the one shown on the website. If it is the same number, then it is the same product. Take a screenshot or save the website showing the price.
    Spring into Spring 2015 - 0.7/12lb
  • Kaz2904
    Kaz2904 Posts: 5,797 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    ginvzt wrote: »
    Could you contact Fair trading and as them for advise on this? Does your sofa has a number on (something like 190.456.45.87) - compare that one to the one shown on the website. If it is the same number, then it is the same product. Take a screenshot or save the website showing the price.
    The number on the sofa is different to the one on the website. Apparently the one on the site is flat pack (?) but was showing as in stock at Bristol where the girl said it couldn't have been in stock because they have the old stock there. If it hadn't shown as in stock, we'd never have gone up there because it's quite a way from us and it's really annoying to get there and them not have the item you want. Interestingly, it is now not showing the stock (obviously because we bought the last white cover) but I may well check the site later to see if they show it as having other colours in stock. Yes, they do. They are showing other items in stock. TBH, I feel like ordering it online for store collection then getting it and returning it on the original reciept.
    They really are very naughty aren't they :(
    Debt: 16/04/2007:TOTAL DEBT [strike]£92727.75[/strike] £49395.47:eek: :eek: :eek: £43332.28 repaid 100.77% of £43000 target.
    MFiT T2: Debt [STRIKE]£52856.59[/STRIKE] £6316.14 £46540.45 repaid 101.17% of £46000 target.
    2013 Target: completely clear my [STRIKE]£6316.14[/STRIKE] £0 mortgage debt. £6316.14 100% repaid.
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