Furniture Village

Lizzie2995

Wonder if anybody can help with problems I am experiencing with sofa from Furniture Village. Not sure where I can go next with this.

we bought a corner sofa in October 2021. The seat where my husband sits has developed a huge sag which is very uncomfortable, we are not sure if its the seat cushion or the actual structure. I phoned FV expecting them to send someone out to assess the sofa, but they asked me to take a photo and send it. I thought that was a ridiculous way to try and assess a problem, but did so. The reply came back that it was normal settlement and they would progress no further.  We are reaching retirement age and have had a fair few sofas in our time, I have never had one that did this before and it is clearly not normal settlement.

I found details of the furniture ombudsman on line and approached them to intervene. They asked me to send a photo, which I did, they came back with “normal wear and tear” and as the sofa was over 6 months old, it would be up to me to provide evidence that the sofa had manufacturing problems.

As we are paying for this on interest free credit, I have also contacted the loan company to ask them to investigate, but to be honest don’t really hold out a lot of hope that anybody will actually come round and check the sofa to see what is actually wrong.

It now seems that we may well be left with a sofa that is partially unusable and still not paid for. I don’t really know where to go from here. Who would we approach to get a report if we wanted to claim against Furniture Village ? 

Any advice would be appreciated from anyone who can help.

screech_78

It’s not ridiculous to ask you to send photos. I don’t have any experience with FV, however my company have product technologists that can tell a crazy amount from a photo. 

I’m guessing it’s out of warranty as it’s true that as 6 months have passed, the onus is on you to prove the sofa has failed due to an inherent fault and not normal wear and tear. Remember that someone sitting in the exact same chair every day (how many hours per day?) means that it will wear quicker. You should have received care instructions with it (may also be attached underneath) as most sofas need dressing and maintained. What are the fillings made of? 

You’ll need to find a company that can do a report for you. The finance company will most likely ask for the same thing. I’d suggest a google search but Ecomaster and Homeserve spring to my mind. If the report confirms a fault, you’re entitled to a repair, replacement or a partial refund (to account for the use you’ve had). It would be the retailer’s choice of which they offered.  

Lizzie2995

Thanks for that Screech_78. I’m not sure how a photo of a cushion could show if the structure underneath was faulty. Tbh when they asked for the photo I didn’t even realise this was to assess the problem.  I’ll check out Ecomaster and Homeserve, I guess I’ll have to take this route, lesson learned to never buy from this chain again.

Clarification1

Furniture Village after care service is almost non-existent.  Basically they don't admit there are problems - they put everything down to that is how they are, that's normal. The firmness will give in 6 weeks or so.  Being retired we aren't always in a lot and spend more time in the conservatory. Our suite was 1 chair, 1 2.5 seater sofa and a 3 seater sofa and arrived in mid April 2023.   Eventually Homeserve (sent out by Furniture Village) came to my G Plan Seattle suite and said there was nothing wrong - didn't line up, large v shape at the back of both sofas which didn't but up in line, extremely firm - not as seen at purchase point.  Said it was all normal - a vshaped gap had  at the back of one sofa was described as 20mm normal tolerance without measuring it and it is now in fact 45mm min! Here about 20 mins. They wouldn't send me a copy of report, as I was not their customer.  I had to request from Furniture Village and there was incorrect information on it - Homeserve said they must have ticked the wrong box on the mobile phone on which the report was done!  The Finance Company were involved but said as it wasn't faulty they couldn't do anything. Since then I found one of the metal frames to be damaged - something we could not possibly have done without severely damaging the leather and that some of the stitching had been missed on the chair arm. Also some of the leather is sagging   Have since paid for a report from an independent company Furniture Reports (they do cover the majority of England, even though based in the South).  They came this week and I am awaiting the written report (approx 4 weeks) ; there were lots of other issues found on inspection.  Very professional and thorough; their view was it is certainly faulty and should have been sold as a "second". They were here almost 2 hours. The report will be going to the Finance Company under Section 75 (if £100 paid on a credit card, can also go to Credit Card company) when it arrives. You can also go through Citizens Advice website for help - furniture should last 6 years or it is not fit for purpose - but you will have to prove the fault. I have also found loads of useful info (the same suite that I am complaining about also)  on Facebook - Let down by FV Have your say.  Would advise to keep logs of all calls  - dates, times, who spoke to, what said and confirm everything in emails.  Will update when we have an outcome.

Ksw3

Do you know what filling your sofa has? When we bought ours we were told fibre filling requires daily plumping else it will sag in the middle and be uncomfortable. Did they mention this at all? I'm guessing not.