Help! Terrible Laura Ashley Sofa - any rights?!

Hastilow

Last year, at 6 months pregnant, we ordered a new Laura Ashley sofa, just before the first lock down started. A month later, they went into administration and despite sending various emails and hanging on the phone, we heard nothing. Then, 2 days before my daughter was born in mid June, I had a call telling me our sofa would be delivered in 5 days time. When I said it was bad timing I was told it was now or never and I’d lose our money if we didn’t accept it. So, at 6.45 in the morning, the day after our new baby had arrived, our sofa did too! 

We ordered online with confidence as we have previously owned two Laura Ashley sofas which have been wonderful. Clearly this was our first mistake! We bought the sofa on a credit card incase anything went wrong. 

Less than 8 months down the line, the sofa is truly awful. The cushions have actually got lines and rivets in them where we sit and no amount of ‘regular plumping’ has solved it. We can feel the hard edge of the seat through the cushions. On top of that, I don’t think the the stain guard we paid for was even applied as a small amount of beer spilt on it, hasn’t come off and I can’t get an answer when I call the helpline. 

We spent our hard saved cash paying for the sofa, knowing that with a new baby on the way it would be years before we could afford a replacement. 

Do I have any rights as a consumer? I know it’s been 8 months but it is truly terrible and I wondering if I have any options? 

Thanks!

Aylesbury_Duck

You do have rights, but you will probably have to put in some work (and money) to exercise them.  I suspect you will be asked to get a sofa expert to inspect your sofa and produce a report.  If that report shows the sofa is not of acceptable quality, the retailer will have to do something.  You might try giving your credit card company a call as well, since they are equally liable.

MattMattMattUK

Most of your rights died with with Laura Ashley's demise, however you might have some rights against your credit card company. You will need to have an independent expert examine the sofa and if they conclude that the defects were inherent at the time of delivery then you would be able to raise a Section 75 claim against your card provider. You will have to pay for the expert yourself, in normal times you would be able to claim back that cost from the company, but I am not totally sure how that works in relation to a S75 claim. 

unholyangel

MattMattMattUK said:

Most of your rights died with with Laura Ashley's demise, however you might have some rights against your credit card company. You will need to have an independent expert examine the sofa and if they conclude that the defects were inherent at the time of delivery then you would be able to raise a Section 75 claim against your card provider. You will have to pay for the expert yourself, in normal times you would be able to claim back that cost from the company, but I am not totally sure how that works in relation to a S75 claim. 

(1)If the debtor under a debtor-creditor-supplier agreement falling within section 12(b) or (c) has, in relation to a transaction financed by the agreement, any claim against the supplier in respect of a misrepresentation or breach of contract, he shall have a like claim against the creditor, who, with the supplier, shall accordingly be jointly and severally liable to the debtor.

Paraphrasing - whatever claim you have against the trader, you have an idential claim against the creditor

Hastilow

Thanks so much - now to research a sofa expert who would come in and look at the sofa! 

ivavoucher

Keep trying to contact staingard, I have recent dealing with them and they were slow at first but ended up replacing the sofa because they could not remove the stain and the manufacturer did not make the sofa range anymore, my sofa was nearly 3 years old.