peeling colour from a dfs leather sofa

mrs_angry

hi all, i have a problem with a 6 year old leather corner sofa in a light colour aqua white bought from dfs, the colour is peeling off in several areas despite the fact i have looked after this suite and cleaned it every 6 months when the clocks change.
i contacted dfs to ask them why this would be happening to the suite as i was never warned about this only warned that the leather would relax and natural marks would appear, i got a reply from them to say that as the 2 year warrenty had expired and it was 6 years since delivery it was not a fault of the leather, (how would they know it wasnt a fault with the leather?) i did reply to them quoting that at the moment they give a 10 year guarantee on their leather so it could very well be a fault and of course thanked them for all their help NOT!!!!!!
i have owned leather suites before and never came across the problem with peeling colour, is there any leather expert out there who can advse on the course of action i can take to try and sort out this problem or try and at least prolong the suite, as it is in very good condition apart from these peeling patches, it cost us £2500 6 years ago and some may say its done its job but i am a little peeved that it looks like new apart from the peeling! i have read on some sites about others with this problem but didnt really find out any answers or problems. anyone have any ideas why this would happen
any help however small will be very appreciated, thankyou in advance

Kaz2904

Maybe ask who they use to do their repairs so that you can speak to them for advice?

DamnedFrustratedwithSofa

Get a furniture report and take them to the small claims court.

www . furniturereports . co . uk

Also try Dan Cor UK, he is very good.

You haven't had the furniture that long and peeling leather sounds like a defect.

You can claim back any money you spend on a furniture report in court. Find as many defects as you can, this will make your case stronger.

Good luck.

mrs_angry

DamnedFrustratedwithSofa wrote: »

Get a furniture report and take them to the small claims court.

www . furniturereports . co . uk

Also try Dan Cor UK, he is very good.

You haven't had the furniture that long and peeling leather sounds like a defect.

You can claim back any money you spend on a furniture report in court. Find as many defects as you can, this will make your case stronger.

Good luck.

thanks for the advie the probem seems to be though that this suite is not under any guarantees, as far as dfs are concerned this suite is 6 years old so fault is not due to defect, so im not sure i would have any case!
maybe i will have to get a leather specialist to have a look for me and see what they think, but dont think it will be by who dfs use as i cant see them being any good, but thanks for that suggestion for the previous person.
what really annoys me is that i was really asking dfs for some help, as to this problem, but they straight away just fobbed me off, couldnt even be bothered to recommend a specialist just said i should have a specialist look at the sofa! i shouldnt have expected any different i suppose, once they have your money and in my case 6 years down the line they wont want to know will they, the only case i would have is if it was found to be fake leather then i could get them well and truley as they sold me a leather suite as they said on the documentation.

DamnedFrustratedwithSofa

Sorry, I misread, I thought you had written 6 months. 6 years down the line and it is probably going to be difficult to get anything out of DFS.

Like you said, if it isn't genuine leather, they would have miss-sold you the sofa.

There are some great leather products on the market, there might be something you can buy to save the leather from further deterioration and even make it look much better. I am no expert when it comes to leather but have read a bit since buying a leather sofa and have found products for almost every leather and job, big or small.

DamnedFrustratedwithSofa

www . liquid leather . com Try these people for a bit of advice, otherwise you might want to contact a leather furniture specialist to come and look at the problem.

What disgusts me about DFS is that they do not care about their customers within the warranty period or out of it. A decent furniture company would at least look at the problem as a good will gesture, that is how most people get repeat business. DFS want to think about customer care for more than a blink of an eye.

judyb

Hello

After this length of time I think that you will have great difficulty getting anywhere with DFS and I don't think there would be anyway that it would be accepted as a manufacturing fault.
The type of leather you have is a pigment coated leather which is essentially a 'painted' leather with a clear coat finish and it is this coating that has begun to break down.
This type of wear is not uncommon and can happen a lot quicker than this. It is only usually accepted as a manufacturing fault if the leather is under 12 months old.
As you say you have cleaned the leather and this is important but cleaners vary a great deal and in our experience as leather cosnultants leather needs cleaning and protecting on a much more frequent basis to prolong its life.
Leather protectors should be used on all new leather and then periodically replaced to help prevent dirt from damaging the pigment coating. Dirt and abrassion cause wear to these coatings over time.

The colour and finish can be replaced but I would look to have this done professionally rather than relying on DIY products as these can often make things worse. Look for a trained professional leather technician who will do a good job and then your suite will give good service again. If sone cerrectly the leather will wear as new but be sure to cheeck out who you use and what products they use for their repairs as these vary a lot.

Unfortunately furniture retailers are generally not interested in ongoing problems once they have sold the furniture - even warranties that they sell mean that they hand the problem to someone else which is why they are so keen to sell them!!

Hope this helps
Judyb
Leather Care Consultant to the furniture and cleaning industries

bifold

You can do the repair yourself,Gliptone leathers supply DFS with leather pigments/sealents for their own tec guys.You can use the colour ref from your sales invoice,they also stock colours for other retailers.
This is a money saving site,if you can apply makeup, handle a hairdryer why not have a go.
(DFS do their own leather repairs in house)