Oak Furniture Land - Refusing To Refund

Wright49

Hello All :-)

I am new to this forum and have joined in the hope that I will come across others who have been in the same situation that I have and are able to give advice as to how they dealt with it and what their outcome was.

I purchased a set of leather couches from Oak Furniture Land (OFL) just under 6 weeks ago and soon after we started using them, I noticed the cushions were slightly misshapen and the material was becoming very baggy.

After only 16 days I got in contact with OFL customer services dept. via phone and was told to send them pictures of the set. After doing so, OFL agreed that some sort of repair would likely be necessary (such as re-filling the cushions) but this would need to be accessed. A representative for Homeserve (a company who is paid by OFL to carry out any inspections or repairs) came to view the set and ultimately decided that there was no fault and instead we were advised to regularly ‘plump’ the cushions – one customer service rep backed up the report and suggested we plump the cushions using a ‘karate chop motion’. Based on the report findings, OFL have decided that a refund will not be provided.

I disagree with the findings of this report and have continued to keep in contact with OFL via phone, email and letter as I believe my consumer rights should entitle me to a refund as I have not owned the furniture for a very long time and with further usage, the issue is only worsening (I can now literally grab hold of a handful of material).

OFL continues to maintain that there is no fault with the set and the item is as described – but just recently, the description for the set on their website was completely changed.

I have also been in contact with Trading Standards, the Furniture Obudsman (OFL are not a member and they are unable to intervene) and Citizens Advice and none of them seem to be able to provide any help or advice (T.S suggested I speak to the F. Ombudsman and C.A said I need to exhaust the OFL complaints procedure) and it’s becoming apparent that the only remaining option is to attempt to take OFL to the small claims court.

I have tried to keep my post as brief as possible and I am hoping this will kick start a discussion with the hopes of receiving some useful advice as well as creating a place for others to vent who may have been through the same thing with OFL or other furniture companies.

Thanks in advance!

hollydays

Firstly , search the forum for posts about oak furniture land.

unholyangel

Secondly, how did you pay for them?

Wright49

I paid in full via debit card

unholyangel

May be worth contacting your card company and see if they will do a chargeback - if they reject your claim then you can refer it to the financial ombudsman.

It would have been preferable had you paid on credit card as then the card company is jointly and severally liable, but debit card still offers some protection, just its via visa/mastercards own policies and is only available in limited circumstances.

But at least you have 2 possible avenues to get a remedy before having to resort to small claims!

Fosterdog

Are they fibre filled cushions? If they are then what they have told you may well be correct. How often have you been plumping them?

My sofa has foam seat cushions but fibre back cushions. The backs really need plumping every time they are sat on, we don't always but at least once a week we take them all off and give them a good beating to bring the shape back.

Do some research into fibre filled cushions and see if it does sound like the issue you are having.

visidigi

when you say the description changed, can you provide a before and after example of the description?

eclectic58

What a truly despicable company Oak Furniture land are.
Problems placing the order, then they lost the order, broken promises, inept, incompetent, uncaring and unhelpful staff.
A failed delivery leaving us waiting around for 4 hours, eventually when the order was received over half the items were either broken or damaged.
Now we have to ‘return’ the (damaged) free gift as the order is not over £1500.
Avoid this company at all costs.

JEN22

avoid OLF AT ALL COSTS

DoaM

Thanks for that.

PS - who are OLF?

shaun_from_Africa

DoaM wrote: »

PS - who are OLF?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oromo_Liberation_Front ?