Oak Furnitureland - Sofa bobbling and pilling

Niknak50

I purchased a sofa from Oak Furnitureland 14 months ago and the fabric has started to bobble and fray. I contacted OFL to raise a complaint but was told because the sofa was over 12 months old that the only thing I could do was contact Homeserve, the company that OFL appoints to cover the extended warranty that I purchased as an extra. Homerserve visited me to inspect my sofa but said that my extended warranty would not cover it as it was not a manufacturer fault and that it had been caused by us sitting on it with clothes on! I disputed this as i explained that all sofas are designed to be sat on whilst wearing clothes and that the materials made to upholster the sofa should be tested to ensure they meet the standards required (something that Oak Furnitureland advertise and pride themselves on on their website). They still refused to do anything about the situation, and advised me that I could get an independent report if I wished to do so and pay privately. I contact Creation Limited as my sofa is under finance and logged a Section 75 claim. I asked them when I logged the claim if I should go ahead and pay for an independent inspection but was advised that as part of the Section 75 claim that they would do this on my behalf, or advise me to get one if needed at a later date. I have today received the final response from them to say that they are rejecting my claim based on the Homeserve report. However they have not sought to get an independent inspection, nor asked me to provide one, so I feel they have not investigated my complaint properly, as the report provided by Homeserve is not independent (Homeserve is the company that OFL pay to carry out inspections and repairs). The chap that visited my home from Homeserve tried to fob me off at the time and say the bobbles were clearly from black clothing, I asked him to take the cushion into the light where I showed him that the bobbles were blue and from the "fleck" in my sofas pattern. He advised me that he had seen this happen many times and that he believed that sofa companies should advise customers that the fabric is subject to this type of wear, and that he felt it shouldn't be used. He also advised me to "shave" my sofa, which I said I was unhappy to do as nowhere on the care label does it recommend or advise this!! When he emailed me his report several days later, none of this conversation was replected on the report, and he put it down to a "characteristic" of the sofa and not a fault!! Since the finance company has based their whole investigation on the homeserve report and not sought an independent inspection, I feel they have not acted properly on my behalf. I am now at a loss, as I am left with a sofa that can only be described as looking like a tired old jumper after 14 months, and to add insult to injury I am still paying for it!!!