Leather problems after 3 years

MrMelling10

Our leather sofa colour has started to go lighter than its original colour in places after purchasing it 3 years ago paying £2,400.

The seller arranges for an expert to check it.

Result he mentioned Heart/Diabetes Medication/body oils can cause problems.

could there be a breach of the Consumer Act on these grounds of Durability?

1)Every contract to supply goods is to be treated as including a term that the quality of the goods is satisfactory.

(2)The quality of goods is satisfactory if they meet the standard that a reasonable person would consider satisfactory, taking account of—

(a)any description of the goods,

(b)the price or other consideration for the goods (if relevant), and

(c)all the other relevant circumstances (see subsection (5)).

(3)The quality of goods includes their state and condition, and the following aspects (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—

(a)fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are usually supplied;

(b)appearance and finish;

(c)freedom from minor defects;

(d)safety;

(e)durability. 

I have found this

The reason for this is, in its simplest explanation, that many medications or vitamins add a potency or acidity to our sweat and body oils. When this sweat and body oil are exposed to leather, they work quickly to break down the top coat seal of leather surfaces.

Body oils and perspiration are made up of lots of salts, enzymes and fatty acids, which can amount to a pH level that is adamantly not leather’s style. Chemical reaction ensues any time your sweat and fingerprints touch your leather. Unfriendly pH oils penetrate and build up, and leather fibres weaken as they keep building. Eventually, body oils affect leather by eradicating it. Adding to your woes, you probably won’t even notice this is happening until a lot of oils have already soaked in

Never knew that and what's more, there are millions out there who don't know that.

So my question is this, as a reasonable person.

(1) I would expect sellers should inform customers of these problems by way of being more informative before people parting with thousands of pounds of their money.

(2) Would it be fair to claim the goods do not conform to Durability conditions of the Consumer Rights Act 2015

durability | ˌ the ability to withstand wear, pressure, or damage: the reliability and durability.

We are awaiting the seller's response to the expert who they sent out.

I am aware that they have the right to repair, but the expert said they could take the section that has shown the worst colour deterioration away to respray, which is unacceptable to me as this would stand out against the rest of the sofa.

born_again

Are you also aware that sunlight can fade leather? 
As to the products mentioned. Often covered in the "Care for your product guide"

You will just have to wait & see what they say.

mr_stripey

after three years it is not surprising that the leather doesn't look the same when it was brand new.

Alderbank

I'm a graduate chemist and I didn't know any of that marketing tat.

I must have skipped the lectures about vitamins adding potency to your sweat and about unfriendly (or friendly) pH oils.

Yes, you might have a claim on grounds of durability. However the onus is now on you to show that (on balance of probabilities) that the fading is due to a manufacturing defect, such as the choice of an unsuitable colour pigment or not carrying out the leather treatment properly, rather than factors since you bought the furniture such as exposure to excessive UV radiation from sunlight.
The sofa should be manufactured to be reasonably resistant to body oils and sweat, whether friendly or not, because this is an entirely foreseeable factor in normal use of a sofa.

Did the sofa come with maintenance instructions, such as how often to clean it and what you should or should not use?

Your next step might be to get an independent specialist to look at you sofa and write a report for you. There are several small businesses near where I live who advertise leather repairs and restoration, I am sure you have similar.

LinLui

I didn't know that. But if I were buying a leather sofa I would do due diligence - a quick google just brought me up loads of sites telling me exactly this, plus all sorts of other things that cause fading. With respect, this is a retailer not a parent, and you have some responsibility here. If you are angling for a refund or a replacement I think you are being very unreaosnable after 3 years

redped

There are plenty of creams & balms available to restore leather, so I'd try one of them first before sending anything off to be resprayed.  I've used them on my car seats and they definitely made them look much better.

sonearandyetsofa

It's well known throughout the leather industry that certain medications will cause damage and break down the finish causing it to discolour, stain, the colour to wear off or fade or the finish to fail. I think OP will struggle to argue that it's not durable when the item in question is behaving the same as any other leather sofa would under the same circumstances. I also don't think you can argue that it's the job of the company selling the product to tell you all of the reasons why it might not work for you.

I do think it's good form to tell the customer if it's obviously a problem that they personally are going to experience, for example "This white velvet sofa probably won't work for you with your twelve dogs" or "It is lovely but the low back design probably isn't suitable given you've said you have a bad back", but what is the salesperson supposed to do in this situation? "Hello sir, you look like you take heart medication?". It's difficult enough trying to find polite ways to tell people what the weight limit is, and that's a problem you can usually see coming.

A skilled leather repair technician should be able to match the current colour perfectly with no visible difference, or you could ask them to take the entire sofa to ensure it's all the same. The materials they use for the repair shouldn't be any different to the ones used in the construction originally, meaning if the damage is caused by medication and you're still on the medication you're probably going to have the same issue in the future.

DullGreyGuy

Ultimately none of us here can see how badly faded it is, how blended the fading is, if the sofa sits in bright sunlight etc. I would argue it's generally well known that leather gets lighter over time and as a consequence there are a host of products out there to counter it. 

You'll undoubtably have seen from the notes that durability is relative to the nature of the goods, price and other factors. The law doesn't require all goods to all last the same duration. So the question an expert will have to answer is if the level of fading you've experienced excessive or not for the price point of the item and the answer to that will have to consider its location relative to windows etc etc. 


Do you know what type of leather has been used? £2,400 isn't a small sum of money but certainly on the lower end if its full grain leather and fairly expensive if bonded leather. For many its the variations in colours, scratches etc that a decent full grain leather picks up over the years (the patina) that makes it so appealing and many pay a premium to fake these details (which is a bad idea as they never age well) 

MrMelling10

Mr Stripey

The Sofa hasn't changed it still looks the same but for a Dark grey going lighter in a roundish section of a 9-inch circumference.

Alderbank

Now that is interesting regarding your take on marketing tat.

My complaint as a reasonable person after paying £2400 for a Top-Grain sofa from Costco would not expect the protective cover coating to start to go a lighter grey than that of its original Dark grey.

Just for the record, the sofa is not exposed to direct sunlight. Also, sweat/body oils after researching cause the leather to go a Darker colour than the original colour not going lighter colour like ours.

Alderbank regarding the onus I am prepared to pay for an independent expert to see what their opinions are and is it unreasonable of me to expect the leather to last longer than 3 years before experiencing problems

Linlui

No, I am not angling for a refund or a Replacement, as to being unreasonable in claiming Durability I don't think I am, you may disagree.

Sonearandysofa/Dullgreyguy thanks for your imput.

I would accept a repair but it would have to be the full sectional sofa if Costco cannot guarantee a complete match with the rest of the sofa the sellers advertised it as top-grain leather.

MrMelling10

TYPO 

Alderbank regarding the onus I am prepared to pay for an independent expert to see what their opinions are and is it reasonable of me to expect the leather to last longer than 3 years before experiencing problems

Alderbank

Whether or not you are reasonable isn't the point.

What matters is whether the fault for which you are claiming with your specific sofa has arisen because of something inherent in the leather when you bought it such as an unstable dye or inadequate treatment of the leather before the pigment was applied, or whether the issue has arisen after purchase.

Some leather specialists say that leather needs regular maintenance to keep its appearance and expecting it to look like new after 3 years use without suitable maintenance is unrealistic.

Your expert's report needs to say whether the fault is due to a manufacturing fault or due to lack of appropriate care in use.
Leather upholstery is coloured by one of two methods, either by dying the skin or by applying a coating, a sort of paint. Dying gives the most hardwearing result but it is a skilled job to get all the different pieces to match. Spraying with a coloured coating is cheaper and easier and looks superb when new but suffers more with subsequent wear and tear.

See what that report says and take it from there.