NEW GPLAN SETTEES AWFUL - Advice please

plumduff55

I had a three seater and a two seater settee costing £3,500 bought from Gplan and delivered in September. Within 1 hour of delivery I noticed that whenever you got up from the settees there would be wrinkles on the seats. I reported this immediately and 3 weeks later an inspector contracted by Gplan visited and reported that this was not a manufacturing fault but a dressing issue. It seems that every time I get up from the settee I must use both hands to spread the excess fabric to the side and tuck down the side.

During this time I wrote to the online shop where I bought the settees advising that I wanted to reject the settees are they are not fit for purpose or as described. The shop say they are unable to take any action as the Gplan report states there is no fault.

I have now had a local Master Upholsterer look at the settees and he states that there is excess fabric on both settees and the foam padding is of questionable quality. To repair the settees they would need to be stripped back as the cushions are fixed and cannot be removed. An extra layer of memory foam would have to be fitted. This would cost £1,728. I have advised the shop of this report and they will still not take any action.

I recently looked at reviews for the Seattle range on the Trust Pilot website and there are numerous complaints of creasing issues. In February 2022 Gplan admitted there was a problem with this range but said it had been fixed.

Please can anyone give me any advice on what to do next. 

BUFF

How did you pay? Hopefully you put at least £100 on a credit card so that you could invoke Section 75 ...

DanDare999

BUFF said:

How did you pay? Hopefully you put at least £100 on a credit card so that you could invoke Section 75 ...

A penny would do it as the item cost over £100.

bob_a_builder

Who was the G-Plan inspector from ?
When we had a number of similar issue with a 3 piece  suite bought from BHS
They commissioned a report from FIRA who sent out an inspector
https://www.fira.co.uk/
That report went in our favor and  BHS returned our money
but that was back in 2008

plumduff55

BUFF said:

How did you pay? Hopefully you put at least £100 on a credit card so that you could invoke Section 75 ...

Yes, I paid the full amount by credit card. I was just thinking that as the Gplan report said it was not faulty the Section 75 rule would not apply. I shall look into this. Thanks

plumduff55

bob_a_builder said:

Who was the G-Plan inspector from ?
When we had a number of similar issue with a 3 piece  suite bought from BHS
They commissioned a report from FIRA who sent out an inspector
https://www.fira.co.uk/
That report went in our favor and  BHS returned our money
but that was back in 2008

The online shop ( Clayton's Carpets ) informed Gplan who then sent an inspector from Castelan - Furniture Care Network. Clayton's Carpets are now saying it is out of their hands due to the Gplan report. Thanks

Apjs87

Escalate to the furniture Ombudsman. They will appoint a tech to inspect. If they rule in your favour then the retailer will have no choice but to collect or rectify. If there is no fault found, then its full and final.

plumduff55

@Apjs87 Thanks, I've just completed a Section 75 claim form as I paid by credit card so shall see how that goes.

Belenus

We had a similar problem with a G Plan sofa two years ago.

Link.

We got nowhere with the supplying shop.

We had a few local furniture people check it out and they recommended having a layer of Dacron added to the foam inside the removable cushions. That helped but did not completely solve the problem.

I will later send you more details by private message as I do not want to post publicly on here as the matter may yet end up going legal.

plumduff55

@Belenus Thank you, my sofas are the exact same. I live alone and usually sit in the same seat yet all the cushions are the same even after sitting on them for 5 seconds. This is my third Gplan suite and I've  always been happy with them in the past. I gave my previous settees to a charity and they were in better condition than my new ones. I never for a moment thought I'd have this problem.  It's just so maddening that Gplan can manufacture these settees knowing there is an issue and yet get away with it.  The shops are also at fault for hiding behind Gplan and neglecting their responsibility. How many other customers are having the same problem and just get so fed up that they give up. 

As my settee cushions are fixed it would be a major job doing anything to improve them. I've had a quote of £1,728 but I can't pay that.