Advice on terrible sofa from Harvey Norman

barryjarcher

I purchased a sofa from harvey norman which arrived December 2015. almost straight away the recliner function was catching so raised a fault and technician came out no hassle he agreed nothing could be done to fix so was replaced about a month later.

Now 10 months after the replacement arrived one side of the sofa has started to sag to the point its uncomfortable to sit on. Call HN who sent someone out. They looked at the reclining mechanism & springs and reported nothing was wrong but he agreed that it had sagged and was included in the report as such.

HN then came back saying as no fault found they were closing the incident! As you can imagine I'm not too happy that I've spent over £500 on a sofa that has lasted 11 months surely I am entitled to at least a replacement as it cannot be fit for purpose?

Appreciate advice you can provide.

Oakdene

Have you mistyped your dates?

Dec 15 to replacement arrival was a month
10 after replacement arrival takes you to Oct/Nov 2016...

barryjarcher

Yes sorry years are wrong. ignore the years..

Replacement arrived in Feb 2017, sagging presented itself Novemeber/December 2017.

[Deleted User]

So when exactly did you originally buy it?

If you've had the replacement for almost a year and you originally purchased in 2015, I can see you struggling to get anywhere with this especially as they've looked at the item and apparently found no fault.

You'll need to arrange and pay for an independent inspection which will only be refundable if it finds in your favour..

barryjarcher

Found no fault with the mechanism or springs but its the foam has completely crumbled and the engineer admitted this so there is fault.

I'm not being difficult for the sake of it I paid over £1000 for the set I think £550 for this sofa and its not lasted a year (replacement cover would start from when that arrived not original purchase) and besides the consumer good act requires goods are "fit for purpose" I would argue that 10/11 months use of sofa would fall into the not fit category.

SuperHan

barryjarcher wrote: »

(replacement cover would start from when that arrived not original purchase)

No it wouldn't. It would be from when you originally purchased.


When did you originally purchase? If you are out of the initial warranty period, you are relying on CRA (and given they have denied your claim, you may be relying on CRA anyway).


As you have had the product for more than 6 months it is up to you to prove there is an inherent fault with the foam. They clearly don't think that the report so far states this.


You could therefore argue that a) it does, or b) that you have another report which does say this (which you would obviously need to commission).


Once the fault has been deemed inherent, you are entitled to a remedy. Given that you have already had one repair, you could request a refund, but this could be partial to reflect the use you have already had.

askmeaboutsofas

the foam has completely crumbled and the engineer admitted this so there is fault.

Does it say the foam has failed in the report? If it does, does the report give a reason?
£500 for a brand new sofa with recliners is pretty cheap, so it won't last as long as somethign that costs twice that, but it should still last a couple of years under normal use. The question is whether they'd class your usage as normal.
Please don't feel you have to answer this here, but does anyone in your family weigh over 18stone? That's about the weight limit for most high end recliners, I don't know what the limit is for cheaper ones but possibly a little less. Kids jumping on the seat, pets sleeping on it or just using it a lot more than the manufacturer's expect could all cause this. If you don't think you've had any of these problems it's worthwhile getting your own independent report from an upholsterer to prove it is inherently faulty.

Greta_Sharbo

barryjarcher wrote: »

Found no fault with the mechanism or springs but its the foam has completely crumbled and the engineer admitted this so there is fault.
.

Worth bearing in mind that an engineer in your house doing an inspection has got a few options.

a) tell you that the product is faulty and they will definitely sort it.
tell you that it's not faulty and they won't help.

Option b) will more often than not result in the customer whinging at them so they will often always imply option a) when I reality they have no intention of putting that on their report.

barryjarcher

Greta_Sharbo wrote: »

Option b) will more often than not result in the customer whinging at them so they will often always imply option a) when I reality they have no intention of putting that on their report.

I think that is exactly what has happened here, he agreed with me that there was something wrong with the foam but it wasn't put in his report.

I keep missing their return call, hopefully I can negotiate something when I do get to speak to them.

[Deleted User]

barryjarcher wrote: »

he agreed with me that there was something wrong with the foam but it wasn't put in his report.

Understandably not wanting a confrontation in your living room.

barryjarcher wrote: »

hopefully I can negotiate something

You still haven't said when you took delivery of the original item that this one replaced?

I can't see you having any negotiating power if their inspection found no fault?