DFS-an ongoing situation.

SofaSoBad

Good afternoon,
We have purchased new furniture from DFS. A 3-seater electric recliner and a 2-seater manual version, in a style called "Logan". These items were delivered at 15:00 on 28th January 2015 and assembled by the deliverers. They were NOT
used at all on the day of delivery because on returning home from work, my wife informed me of problems with both sofas. The 3-seater powered version had a distinct "gap" at the point where the 3rd seat had been added on (we could get our hands through this gap and the floor was clearly visible). The 2-seater version backs appeared to be misaligned and both recliner sections did not activate properly when tugging on the side handles. Further to this, it was not possible to get the reclining foot sections to go back into their recesses as they continued to spring back outwards. A large amount of force is required to get the footrests to lock in place, and one of the activation handles works intermittently.
I called DFS immediately and informed them of these snags and was told that it takes "time for the fibres to settle...hence the gap", and that a rep from DFS would call to inspect on the 9th February 2015.
This visit occurred today at 13:00 and all the problems were duly pointed out.
My wife and I both have disablities and having showed him that we cannot close the footrests on the 2-seater, he promptly demonstrated a novel way to ensure the problem sections remain shut and locked in place.....this is to bend our legs at 45 degrees, lean forward and kick the footrest unit for all it is worth, thereby ensuring that the locking mechanism works correctly. We both explained that his method of closing the foot rests is a non starter because we both have arthritis and I have two artificial knee joints, and we simply do not have the strength to make the things work in the manner he demonstrated. In fact, my wife heard the noise of the DFS rep from upstairs and came down to enquire as to what all the noise was.
One hour after the DFS person attended, we had a telephone call which stated;
"You evidently need a powered version of the 2-seater, however there's a £250 Useage Fee, and a further £200 is required to convert it into a powered version".
Useage Fee??? Had it 11 days (not used on day 1), so that's £25 per day charged for something we have not sat on! As Mrs Brown would say, "That's nice!".
So, that's another £450 to find, and we do not intend to find it.
My wife has now requested that a female representative from DFS visit and attempt to operate the 2-seater manual recliner in the manner previously described by the gentleman who first called round. It will be extremely unlady
like and will prove that the recliner is not suitable for anyone, let alone people with mobility issues.
Further noises will be made in the general direction of DFS if they drag this situation out for any longer than is necessary.

alun4

Were you able to use the manual recliner when you tried it in the showroom?
With this type of furniture, I believe the cutting of frames and the manufacture of mechanisms should be exact and a "science". On the other side of the coin, upholstery is still done by a person who is left/right handed and is more an "art". Obviously, within the bounds of expected skill levels.

pendragon_arther

Also were the (probably not properly trained) staff aware of your mobility problems?