DFS - What approach to take

jstallan

Hi,

We bought a leather sofa from DFS (because we like the style) back in October. It was delivered at the start of December and due to redecoration of the lounge, the furniture stayed in its protective wrapping until last week. When removing the wrapping we noticed some defects :-
1. Poor stitching on the top of the back rest of the sofa.
2. Scuffs on the arm of one chair
3. Scuffs on the bottom of another chair
4. Dowel hole missing for one foot on the chair

The main defect is the left arm of the sofa and both the chairs. There is a very noticeable slope (as if it has been squashed!). The structure of the arm is solid. This was not evident on the display sofa and one of the reasons of choosing the furniture was the square arms (focal point). The suite is no longer available in the showrooms or the DFS website, but we did print a picture of the sofa from the website when we bought it and the arms are dead square. The nearest sofa they do to ours now is the 'Mancini' range.

We called DFS to inform them of this and they are arriving tomorrow (store manager) to investigate. I know they are well prepared for such events and wanted to know what is the best approach for us to take ? Ultimately, we want a refund as we have little confidence (being kind here) in the longevity of the product.

We bought on 4 yrs Interest Free Credit with nothing to pay for the first year.

Cheers,
John

pulliptears

Dont expect the store manager..... we had a similar problem with our leather sofa, bought and delivered in November. We were promised Store manager and service manager and actually got a travelling repairer.

In fairness to DFS after I had a moan they did fix it to a good standard, and I do love the sofas so it wasnt worth persuing the refund. They did make a note on our account though about the faults and said they would be rectified immediately should they reappear.
Jane

HugoSP

An interesting point with some manufacturers - I don't know if DFS is included in this.

My dad's cleaner some years ago bought a pouffe from one high street retailer only to find the webbing underneath fell apart a few days later.

She contacted the store who sent round a repairer. He offered her the choice between a repair or replacement. At first she said she wanted the replacement. He advised her that the replacement would likely suffer exactly the same problem as they were made so cheaply (to give the store a profit margin).

She finally opted for the repair and got a much better product as a result.

pulliptears

The advantage I had, when the repairer came out primarily to fix the scuffs, I persuaded him to let me have some of the dye they use to repair. He guided me through how to apply a small amount, dry with a hair dryer and buff. Ive had to repair a scuff myself recently (damn dog lol) and its invisible.

My other problem was a sag on the 3 seater sofa, which was fixed in store before I bought it, like hugo says to a better standard than originally.

Overall I was fairly happy with how they treated the problems. Although like I said in my earlier post i was a little disappointed that they promised us managers etc that we never got.

sparkymark_3

DFS are a load of a***holes ?? buy a sofa ? would not buy a kitkat from that shower !!

Honeydog

A good mate once bought a sofa from Englander and living near the factory opted to pick it up. He got chatting to the lads at the factory and found out that they made sofas for DFS (I'm going back a fair few years now) as well as under their own name.

The DFS stuff was made with cheaper materials so whereas it looked like you were getting a bargain - the sofas were not as durable or well made.

Don't know if it is still true but it was then.

Hope that helps someone.

woohoo_postingid

what is the best approach for us to take ?

Be nice, friendly and chatty but also be firm with what you want to be achieved from the meeting. If you go in all guns blazing, you are likely to get the minimal help

carol9uk

hope it goes well jstallen.


i have got to go to land of leather with a problem. anybody had an dealing with them?

cannyscot_2

We have had three dfs sofas over the last 12 years for various rooms and house moves and they have all been fine. unfortunately you should have checked it on delivery but i think if you just stay calm and go with the expectation that a repair/assesor will visit then it will happen.

jstallan

Thanks for all the responses.

Cannyscot - Due to the decoration work that was going on at time of delivery it was impossible to check the furniture. Even when we ordered it we advised DFS that there could be problemsaround the delivery time due to re-decoration and they said they would 'double wrap' the suite to help protect it. I also signed the delivery note as 'unchecked'.

woohoo_postingid - Fortunately, I'm that kinda guy. It's only when I tread like a fool do I start blasting off. Money is hard earnt and I don't like being ripped off.


The guy from DFS has now been. Very pleasent chap. He described himself as a 'qualified furniture technition'. Upon look and assessed our problems and agreed that the frame for the arms of furniture are distorted. On each arm this is a 'slope' of half to three quarters of an inch. Only one arm is trueley square. He said next step was that the store manager would be incontact following the report he was going to write....

jstallan

thought I'd give an update as this may (or may not) help others...

The Manager from DFS (Basildon) came to review the faulty sofa following the report from the technition. Within 5 mins he asked us what we wanted, so we said 'Full refund please'. He said that was fine although there were other options available :-

1. they would remove the arms of the sofa and chairs and remake them.Then review the situation again.
2. Another suite from the showroom

We thought about it and stayed with the full refund. Have to say we were shocked they agreed to this, but happy. Manager was very polite and agreed to let us keep the sofa for another week, before they would collect it.