DFS sofa query

Jo1red

I wonder if anyone had any advise. We purchased 2 sofas from DFS Dec 2024. Delivery was April 2025. Within a week the sofas were creaking. I contact DFS and they said they needed to settle in. Within 30 days I contact them again and an engineer came out. He strengthen the frame with screws and said they dont really put enough in.

The problem didnt stop. Out they came again. Same again, more screws in the frame. In Nov 2025 they came out again. Always the same issue since day one. This engineer told me i was within my right for a replacement. I have contacted DFS for this. The Reading store manager called and has said they would suggest a different sofa so it doesnt creak. He said the style of our can creak as its on narrow legs. he said its not manufacturing. He suggested 7 styles, none of which are anything like what we would want. He has said 'the business doesn't like to offer the same replacement as if theres a fault or sqeak with the new one, your brain resorts to the original creaking and you think its as bad as the first one'. When i say creaking this is the whole sofa creaking ever time you move, not just a squeak. He said because the 3 engineers couldn't find a fault, so they cant put it down to being faulty. So they know there's and issue but because they cant find it, they have said its not faulty.

After several phone calls and more emails he offered us a replacement but a different style. I have requested the same, like for like sofa that we have. He has to 'put it back to the business', otherwise we have 3k to look around their other sofas and pick new ones.

Am i silly to insist on a like for like replacement. Surely if it arrives and it really creaks then its obvious that they are all going to but a new sofa shouldn't really creak all over when you sit on it so the new one shouldnt. Any advise welcome

eskbanker

The explanatory notes to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are clear on replacements:

Section 23: Right to repair or replacement

This section details a consumer’s right to insist on repair or replacement of faulty goods, the cost of which must be borne by the trader. This includes the trader bearing any costs involved in the removal of an installed item and reinstallation of a replacement. A replacement would usually need to be identical, that is of the same make and model and if the goods were bought new then the replacement would need to be new.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/notes/division/3/1/3/4/5

Alderbank

Am I silly to insist on a like for like replacement?

I'm sorry but from what the manager has told you I think you would be silly to insist on like for like.

He has given you clear advice that the squeak is not a manufacturing fault but is inherent in the design (some people wouldn't be bothered by the squeak) and would be the same in like for like.

If you previously ordered in store (as opposed to on-line) he is being quite generous in offering you a refund. DFS don't usually do that. Certainly if you insist on like-for-like and the replacement also squeaks, after his explanation you would have no grounds for any further replacement or refund.

Grumpy_chap

This engineer told me I was within my right for a replacement

They might have said, or you might have heard, what you wanted to hear.

An individual attending your property is very probably not the decision maker and will take a compromising approach to avoid conflict.

sheramber

You have been told it is due to the design so a replacement of the same design will probably squeak.

Is there one of that design in the shop that you can try to see if it squeaks?

Grumpy_chap

How loud is the squeak?

It may be that a squeak that you notice in the living room is not noticeable in the store with the background noise.

sonearandyetsofa

Okay so first thing, sofas should not make any loud noises if all you're doing is sitting on them. If it's a recliner, it might make a little squeaky rubbing sound when the fabric or leather rubs against the rest of it. It might make the same sort of sound, or an annoying farty kind of noise, when you sit down as air is forced out of the cushions or as fabric/leather moves. If you've got excellent hearing you might hear springs move. It should not creak. Creaking is not inherent to the design, unless the design is poor or you're sitting on some part of it that's not supposed to be sat on. In my business I've sold plenty of narrow legged sofas, none of them made creaking sounds and if they did I'd expect to get them right back.

If I were you, I'd get an independent report and, assuming that report states that it's faulty, tell them you're rejecting it as their repeated attempts to repair have not fixed the problem. Threaten them with small claims court, and if they don't follow through, take them to court. Get a refund, go somewhere else. When you do, be sure to ask them if squeaking is an inherent property of the new sofa, and watch their reaction because they are going to be confused as heck.

sheramber

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81884689#Comment_81884689

The OP had had a report and DFS have accepted it

They want to supply a different sofa , which will not squeak, but the OP insists she was an identical replacement, despite being told it will also squeak.

She does not want a refund.

sonearandyetsofa

OP has not had their own report that I can see, unless that's on another thread? I see them discussing an engineer visit but that appears to be an engineer sent by DFS so obviously not fully independent. While they obviously want the same sofa without the noise, it looks like DFS are refusing to supply that because they cannot guarantee that a replacement will not make the same noise. That does not speak well for the quality of that model, and neither does the engineer saying it doesn't have enough screws in it, or DFS saying that's not a manufacturing fault. It's poorly made, and they are clearly saying they cannot guarantee to make it better.

I, personally, would not opt for a replacement item from a company that is claiming that making loud squeaking/creaking noises is an acceptable thing for a sofa to do. I would recommend getting a refund and taking that money to another company, to spend on a similar style sofa that will not claim squeaking is an inherent feature of the design.

sheramber

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81888331#Comment_81888331

Which was already suggested to the OP but thery are insistent that they want a same replacement.

That is their choice even if it nobody else's.