Next Sofas - Going to Furniture Ombudsman

[DBD1975]

Very unhappy with Next sofa, I have exhausted the complaints process and I am now thinking about going to the furniture ombudsman.
Please could I ask if anyone has any experience of doing so and the outcome?
Furniture ombudsman decisions aren't published so no way of knowing if I am wasting my time.

What’s the issue with the sofa? How long have you had it? What did they say when you tried to return it?

Can’t really advise on whether it’s worthwhile going to the ombudsman without knowing details about the case to assess prospects of success!

It is very uncomfortable, had a technician out who advised we needed to remove from covers and plump on a regular basis, he was here nearly an hour doing it.
I don't have the time, energy or physical strength to be able to do this.
Next have offered new sofa cushions which I do appreciate and feel is fair but it is the ongoing regular maintenance I cannot sustain.
The cushions are foam chips and if I don't do this then the sofa cushions will impact again and we will be back to the same position.

You've already posted threads on this.

You're not going to win a case because the cushions need plumping and you find them uncomfortable.

Can you replace the cushions with a different filling?

Thank you so much for your comment, I will be going to the ombudsman, I will provide an update in terms of the outcome.
I appreciate you won't be interested but possibly others might.

I'm pretty sure that you said in a previous post that the instructions that came with it state that it needs plumping daily. If that's the case, I think you're going to struggle.

Unfortunately, uncomfortable doesn’t mean the sofa is faulty. If Next have a technician’s report, your only option would be to commission a separate independent report yourself and see if it finds evidence of fault. If there is no fault, I’m afraid it would be a waste of time and money.

Please could I ask if you think it is reasonable to expect someone to do this regularly by removing the cushions from the covers? They are an extremely tight fit.

But it’s your responsibility to check what care your sofa needs….

This seems pretty OTT because you regret your sofa choice. I remember the other thread about this too. Why waste so much energy on this

It sounds not fit for purpose to me!

Good luck

LOL theres a furniture ombudsman???

No it's not reasonable for you to have to do that. Sounds insane.

The cushion filler is not fit for purpose if this is the case.

It doesn’t sound fit for purpose. It’s reasonable for a consumer to expect not to have to remove covers daily to plump.

I don't think the furniture ombudsman are going to side with you because you noticed your sofa was uncomfortable 11 months in.

It was your mistake.

I was going to post exactly that, who knew😂

I wonder if that's a full time position, sounds like it would be an interesting job

We had uncomfortable sofas (not from Next) and really disliked them. After trying to live with them for a while, we decided to sell them on Gumtree and buy different ones. We didn’t get all our money back, but it was worth it to stop living with sofas we hated. We would never have complained to the retailer, especially since we had tested them in-store and just found them too firm when we used them at home.

Did you try your sofa in-store, or was it an online purchase? How was it described? Did any leaflets mention the need for plumping?

The reviews of the Furniture Ombudsman are mixed, and you may not get far, especially as your issue isn’t really a fault and Next have offered to replace the cushions. Could you consider a chargeback on your credit card? There's also the small claims court but you would need a really strong case and I'm not sure yours is.

Depending on the sofa style, material, and filling, some maintenance and plumping are usually needed to keep them looking good. A friend of mine bought a lovely feather-filled sofa but found the cushions needed constant plumping. They eventually had the feathers replaced with foam (one solid piece per cushion). This might be an option? We now have power recliners with fixed fabric seats, so no plumping required.

Not sure if it would be interesting, probably just a lot of sitting around all day 🤔

OP has posted before and she’s had the sofa almost a year and other commented that the fact it needs plumping is advertised on these sofas. They’ve also offered replacement cushions already.

Hope he's not having to sit around all day on a Next sofa! They're very uncomfortable apparently.

I’m not sure what posters who post numerous threads on the same problem they have expect us to do , especially when they seem to be looking for one person to agree with them . Our opinion doesn’t matter , the only person whose opinion matters is the retailers … if they found 1 person to agree with them would they then quote them to the retailer … “well Littleredridinghoodscoat on Mumsnet thinks you should give me my money back” 😂😂

I don’t think posting numerous threads on this is going to help op ? Maybe you need to just accept it’s been 11 months and move on and either accept the sofa or sell it .

Could you consider a chargeback on your credit card?

There is zero chance of a bank doing a charge back nearly a year later!

I posted a specific question at to whether or not anyone had experience of an ombudsman ruling with Next so, whilst still on the same topic, totally different question.
Do you work for Next and are you the person who has advised me to go to arbitration? If you are I would appreciate a response to my most recent email which you are ignoring.
I can post as many questions as I want, if you don't like it, don't respond.

I didn't notice it was uncomfortable 11 months in.
I think it is unreasonable to expect people to have to maintain the comfort of their sofa by regularly removing from the covers, which are extremely tight, and basically pummeling them to within an inch of their life and then have to try and wrestle them back into the covers.
Some people think this is reasonable and some don't, I don't.
We shall see what the Ombudsman thinks.