To assume Loaf is no longer a trusted brand?

[Rakeymistress]

I have always loved Loaf. I am so disappointed in them now. I have just had an experience with them that left me in floods of tears and without a bed to sleep on for the night - on the day before my birthday!

Sorry, this post is long but I just wanted to share the full details so prospective Loaf customers understand what they might be getting into - particularly anyone who needs a cast-iron guarantee for delivery.

We moved into our new home 3 weeks ago and have been sleeping on our old bed until the new custom made Loaf one was scheduled to arrive yesterday. It’s not a large house and we don’t have outbuildings or a garage. So we arranged for disposal of the old bed yesterday morning to clear the space for our new Loafi one. We were so looking forward to the first good night’s sleep (the old bed was not great) in our new home.

However…no bed came!

Loaf’s delivery service Wincanton did not contact us on the day to set a precise arrival time or to check for any potential issues ahead of time.

We simply waited at home all day. Then at around 4.30 hubby got a call from Loaf to say the bed wasn’t coming. It wasn’t even a whole phone call because the woman who rang got cut off and didn’t then call back.

I then spent some time working out how to call back. Then Loaf’s automated phone service put me through to Wincanton. I asked them where our bed was and was told the driver didn’t deliver because he couldn’t park.

Our house has a double parking bay and we have had two enormous removal vans in them. We’ve had multiple other large items delivered such as a 10-seater garden furniture set - and even a big shed!

Wincanton said they couldn’t deliver because our house is near a zebra crossing. That is true, but the house is far back from the road.
No other delivery service has had an issue with this. As I was on the call hubby even saw the house opposite taking delivery of what looked like a really big sofa.

So I called Loaf again to inform customer services about Wincanton’s non-delivery and share the baffling explanation they provided as to why.

The woman who answered the phone was extremely apologetic but utterly inequipped by Loaf to do anything to help.

She said she was manning customer services all by herself. She revealed she had been given no process to follow in a case like ours of being left with no bed for the night.

We felt so stupid but also very let down. Our prior experience with Loaf had made us believe they would deliver without any issues. Wincanton told me their policy was not to stop vans near zebra crossings. But no-one at Loaf or Wincanton told us this beforehand.

And this is how we found ourselves building an IKEA bed from scratch until 01.30, having just about got it in the car (lovely journey scrunched up on the passenger seat with a metal bed bracket weighing on my neck).

My birthday has been wrecked too. We canceled the dinner with family last night and had meatballs in Wembley IKEA instead.

Silver lining: The IKEA bed is really nice and comfy actually, and looks good in the room. As long as the Loaf refund does arrive in time - before we have to pay a fee for taking our credit card over its limit in IKEA- we have saved £1200.

Makes me think Loaf’s high prices - partly for great customer service?? - just aren’t worth paying now.

AIBU?

This is very over dramatic. Loaf didn’t do anything wrong.

Totally agree. Frankly OP you sound a bit wet.

Good grief, why didn’t you just sleep on a mattress instead of putting the bed up at that time of night? Also if I was that close to my credit limit I think I’d have gone for an ikea frame or something off eBay with a new mattress in the first place. Appreciate you’re stressed but this all sounds a bit OTT.

Yes not great service, especially from Wincanton, but why did you cancel your birthday? And why the floods of tears? It sounds rather dramatic to me.

Not sure I understand your parking arrangements. Sounds like you have a double driveway but they didn’t use it? Was the driveway clear or were you already parked in it?

Obviously they won’t stop on a zebra crossing. Not only illegal, but very dangerous.

Why did you go and buy another bed? Couldn’t you have slept on the floor or on the sofa while you waited for re-delivery? Or a £50 air mattress from Argos?

Its sounds like you went out of your way to be a martyr rather than deal with a relatively minor hiccup.

Pick it up from where? Its not a click and collect grocery type situation

Its an online furniture store.

My thoughts exactly. Inflatable mattresses are about £20 in Argos, maybe £5 for a pump for it.

Beautiful Beds | French, Wooden & Upholstered Beds | Loaf

Update: it has been a week and Loaf has not refunded the bed. I am now almost at my credit card limit because we had to go and buy a second bed (to have something to sleep on). They confirmed a refund a week ago and then offered a goodwill payment over the phone on Tuesday, but nothing in writing so far.

Can anyone advise how I should pursue this? I assume the credit card provider can help? Getting worried.

I know it can take five working days to process a refund but I was first told the refund would be actioned last Saturday.

I was then told a different story on Tuesday - no refund until the undelivered bed is booked back in the warehouse. I have no idea why this is the policy.

Please advise. Hubby is an accountant and he says Loaf's latest finances show they did make a profit but also there was a restructuring and impairment charge of almost £80m, on sales of about £90m.

Should I be worried?

Phone them and ask. If they’ve agreed a refund then you’ll get it, but no one here can tell you when.

Do you have it in writing that they agreed the refund? And what was the “goodwill payment” they agreed on Tuesday?

As ‘hubby’ is an accountant I’m sure he’s well placed to pursue your refund and/or will know how the credit card company can help get it.

Sorry OP, but I find this thread a bit strange.

First of all the delivery was not messed up by Loaf at all, it was Wincanton’s fault. Secondly, Loaf’s restructuring and impairment charge of £80m is of no relevance to anything at all. It’s almost as if you are trying to spread negative stories about Loaf. You’re just not doing it very effectively.

We’ve had bad dealings with Loaf recently too. Ordered a sofa bed, only to discover they forgot the mattress. It was lucky we noticed. They eventually sent us another one out but chucked it in the hall, which I found hard to move after recently having surgery. I complained and they offered £100 refund. Fine. Except they could only issue as a credit. There’s barely anything under £100 on Loaf so I would’ve had to spend more money to use the credit. I finally found some bedsheets in the sale under £100 and went to use the credit, only to be told I couldn’t use the credit online and I’d have to call them up and manually order over the phone. What a joke!

I love Loaf products but I’ve seen so many complaints now I wouldn’t shop there . Graham and Green are fabulous on the other hand .

Sorry for your nightmare and thanks for sharing. We paid a premium for a sofa that turned out to be very poorly designed. After just one use, all six cushions lose their shape and need constant re-plumping—including a long chaise cushion that’s especially difficult to deal with alone. You have to drag it to the floor and stomp on it just to get it back into shape.
Because of our work schedule, we didn’t raise the issue immediately. When we finally did, the company dismissed it, claiming there was no manufacturing fault and refusing to acknowledge any design flaws. While the problem is clearly with the design, none of this was mentioned at the time of purchase.
Bottom line: once you’re past the statutory return period, you’re on your own—no matter how much you’ve spent. If you're considering buying, ask detailed questions and proceed with caution. Seems Loaf doesn't do service and quality like it used to.

Hmm. Lots of anti-Loaf threads about today.

Curious.

She was very badly treated by the firm. I understand her anger and disappointment.

It’s pretty obvious in the showrooms that Loaf sofas will need constant plumping if you don’t like a slumpy look.

We also had a very bad experience with Loaf’s customer service recently and will never use them again (the quality of finish is also not that great for the prices they charge).

Hubby's an accountant but has never heard of making a chargeback on a credit card?

I'm stunned that they refunded for a bespoke bed that was delivered a day late. No wonder their profits are down.