Furniture warranty

katherinelc

Hi im not sure if this is in the right section if its wrong i apologize !! I have 2 leather sofas which i bought from a local furniture store 18 months ago, i also paid £100 for a 5 year warranty with stain guard warrant group. I called them a month ago to put in a claim for one of the arms where the leather has cracked. They then cancelled the appointment and i had to wait another 2 weeks before they came. He took some photos and said he would have to do a report but he commented on the fact that the arms are a very brittle leather compared to the rest of the sofa. i have just had a letter to say that i cant claim because they consider it to be caused by a build up of sweat and it is gradual wear and tear. Personally i believe that a leather sofa should last longer than 18 months !! and the cracks didn't appear gradually the first one appeared suddenly closely followed by about 4 more. I am about to write and complain to the warranty company but i don't hold out much hope, can anyone give me some advice please as to who else i can contact to try and get some help. Thank you

DirectDebacle

I'm sure someone with good knowledge of this sort of situation will be along shortly.

Presumably you have followed all the care instructions that came with the sofas.

First I suggest you have a read of this and then study the small print of the warranty to find out precisely what they cover and what they exclude.

Go to the retailer and ask them to provide as much information as they can about the sofas. Name of manufacturer, where they were made, what the life expectancy of the leather is, were different types/quality of hide used on different parts of the sofas etc.

Did the letter from the warranty company contain a copy of the report made by the rep that attended. It would be useful if you had that to see if it contained their opinion on the type of leather that was used for the arms.

When you have all the information you can decide whether to challenge the retailer under the SOGA or the warranty company or both or neither.

katherinelc

Hi, i didn't get a care instruction sheet with the sofas, i did get a "care kit" which consists of 2 different types of wipes for cleaning. i have read the small print and the only relevant bit i can see in the not covered section is " the cost of replacing your item in the event of staining or damage to armcaps" it does however say in the what is covered section "accidental damage on leather furniture caused by rips, tears, burns, scuffs and punctures" so presumably if i had said that we had caught something on it and cracked the leather they would fix it !!! it also says that structural defects are covered including lifting or peeling of the hide. I have contacted the retailer pointing out that surely a leather sofa should last longer than 18 months for general wear and tear, she did agree with me and is contacting the warranty company to ask for copies of the report and photos. Although after watching rogue trader last night i don't hold out much hope !!

DirectDebacle

If you keep at it I think there is a good chance you will get some recompense.

If the warranty company are saying the leather on the arm is of the wrong type then it seems they should meet your claim as they are saying it is a structural defect IMO.

On the other hand if they back down from this and maintain it is because someone is extraordinarily sweaty. How do they know this?

If a piece of furniture designed to be used by people to sit on can't withstand normal usage for a reasonable length of time then it can't really be fit for purpose.

Hopefully the retailer and warranty co. will come to a satisfactory agreement for you between themselves and not each try to shift the liability on the other.

Just have to wait and see what the retailer comes back with.

DirectDebacle

Edit.

Ask the retailer and the warranty co. to define what an armcap is.

the cost of replacing your item in the event of staining or damage to armcaps

To my mind an armcap is a loose fitting cover which slips over the armrest for additional protection and I suspect that is what this section refers to. If this section also applied to the armrest then it should say 'armrests and armcaps' for clarity.

katherinelc

Thanks directdebacle i am going to keep on at them will let you know if i have any success

katherinelc

After getting nowhere with this i contacted the furniture ombudsman and after 7 weeks or so got a reply saying that although they could understand that i would expevt a sofa to last longer than 18 months they couldnt make me an award unless i can prove that there is a fault !! So i contacted a leather repair specialist about getting a quote and some info who asked me to send him some pictures of the damage. I did this and have dicovered that the sofa is either bicast or bonded leather which not repairable and not worth repairing. This is depiste the fact that the sofa have labels on them saying "covering - leather" and i was sold a stainguard warranty for leather furniture so tomorrow its back on the phone to trading standards and the ombudsman !!

lost_thewill

I purchased a two seater and 3 seater 2 years ago. After 18 months, all the seats became soft and very uncomfortable to sit on. I paid a premium of £225 for cover with Stainguard, Homeserve. At the time of purchase I told the furniture company that I didn't feel I needed it as I had top of the range home insurance. None the less I was convinced this would cover all eventualities (how wrong). I have tried to get some recourse from the Furniture Store and Homeserve all to no avail. Apparently the resilience has not been lost to in excess of 30%. They are obviously including the arms, back and sides in this, but who sits on them!!! I would never ever recommend the shop or the insurance backed policy. The after sales from both has been appalling. Got know where, now in legal hands.

katherinelc

Hooray success after letters to the retailers furniture manager and and MD and also the furniture ombudsman i was offered replacement sofas by the shop as they didn't realise that they weren't leather apparently !!! they also refunded my warranty money and delivery charges towards the amount i had to use for the new ones but as i had bought them as a mega deal i was still short of being able to afford anything they had !! They then offered me a great deal on two new sofas ( not leather, i had been put off lol ) which i was very happy with Its amazing what happens when you start quoting the sale of goods act and misrepresentation especially when it a small local company who don't want you to cause them any grief. Lost the will, i hope you have some success soon too

DirectDebacle

Well done katherinelc and thank you for the updates. Hadn't heard of bicast/bonded leather before so thanks for the heads up on that stuff too.

judyb

Well done on your result. It is illegal to sell Bicast or Bonded leather in the UK as 'leather' so they would have been in trouble for doing so.
Judyb