advice about a faulty suite please

carla40

Hi, I hope someone could advise me, my in laws purchased a new leather suite in February last year, they took out a 5 year guarantee on it, however, the three seater sofa has peeled on the headrest and the 2 seated is starting to do the same, they contacted the company, who sent out someone to look at it last week, who also took photos of it, they have received a letter this week saying that as they didn't get in touch within 10 days they would not persue it, I am very angry with them as my in laws are pensioners and they don't know what else to do, in my eyes they took out a 5 year guarantee and the company will not honour it, can anyone advise me as to anything I can do for them,
Many thanks in advance :beer:

paddyrg

5 year guarantee side, 14 months seems a very short time for a sofa to last, and they still have rights under the sale of goods act. Advise the vendor if they won't honour the warranty you'll pursue this under SoGA giving them the options of refund, repair, replace (their choice) as the quality of the lamination of the leather is clearly an inherent issue at time if sale.

Vendor will probably prefer to repair or partially refund, but the expected lifespan of any goods takes into account the amount paid for them.

oldoakey

If the pieces are peeling then its not real leather its called bonded or Bicast leather this is made from leather fibers which are then covered with a PU coating so its not really leather at all.

Peeling is a common problem with this type of cheap imitation leather. You might be able to look at the details on their order to see what covering was stated to see if its been mis-described as some retailers will not give the full picture when they are selling them making people think that they are buying real leather when in fact they are not

judyb

Sorry oldoakey but that is just not true. Pigment coated leather (there is a massive amount if this out there) is leather with a pigment top coat and then a clear coat finish. This certainly is leather but can peel for all sorts of reasons.
Retailers have a duty to cover 12 months manufacturers warranty and then a 'fit for purpose' cover which I think is up to 7 years. Whether your 5 year guarantee covers it will depend on the cause of the peeling and whether it is covered by the small print of the guarantee.

Hope this helps
Judyb

carla40

Thanks all for you're replies, the latest they have said is that my in laws have got to get an independent upholsterer to have a look at it and they have to report back to them, I think its disgusting that they will do nothing to help them, I am really annoyed at them.

judyb

If you can post some pictures I can take a look for you.
Cheers
Judyb