furniture village

[katiesmiles]

hello I bought a sofa in February and it arrived in June. a bargain modern style sofa and it was half the price. The material began to come apart at the seams and I claimed under guarantee. I did not want a new sofa but this one repaired or just recovered in same or similar as upholstery etc.., was fine, matched the room and we really liked it. FV offered a third less than I paid which was two thirds less than hat it was worth but only towards one of their sofas and to be bought within next 28 days. They cited wear and tear despite the fact it was faulty for the reason for the lower price. I had expected the sofa to last for years as It should have been around £3000 not to have to fork out each year to make up for the deficit on their workmanship. This is very wasteful and environmentally unfriendly

[katiesmiles]

sorry re above just to clarify. I paid £1980 in Feb 2014 and it arrived in June 2014. I made the claim in early October 2015 as both sides of the couch were splitting and I was offered £1026. That is £900 + deduction wear and tear for their faulty goods!!!!!!!!!!!!. Does anyone know how to resolve this or had similar experiences?

[wowfudge]

Social media - publicly name and shame on their Twitter feed/Facebook page. What exactly is the wear and tear which has caused this? Sitting on it?! Unless someone has been using it as a trampoline.

That kind of tearing is caused by one of three things (separately or in combination): 1) an inappropriate fabric being used for upholstery so it's not robust enough; or 2) the seam being along the grain rather than at right angles; or 3) the fabric being too tightly pulled over the filling. There's no give so the fabric has ripped at the seams.

You can get advice from Trading Standards but they should be offering a repair or replacement on a like for like basis, not a lower value product. I don't think they can argue wear and tear after just four months on a sofa. What is their guarantee?

[katiesmiles]

thank you for this. the guarantee is two years plus I took out the guardmanship guarantee so if it had been caused by another cause other than faulty materials I am covered plus I have accidental on my home insurance too!!.
Fv are not saying wear and tear caused this but they have reduced the amount they will pay for wear and tear. Clearly not like for like. I will contact trading standards and thank you for your advice.

[wowfudge]

Fwiw I think they are being arses (technical term ) and there's just no way sofa upholstery that does that in four months is fit for purpose. That would be the specific phrase I would use. I bet if you read their guarantee it's for the frame, etc and doesn't cover the covers. Whatever - there's no way a sofa cover should rip like that. A deduction for wear and tear after a year or so I could understand, but they are taking the mick imo. I wouldn't have the same fabric again on a replacement if at all possible.