M&S sofa online - good idea?

[loobs2]

Have searched everywhere for a blue small 2-seater sofa and only one I can find is on the M&S website. Has anyone bought a sofa from them online? Are they reliable? Are the pictures on the website true to the real thing?

Haven't bought a sofa from them, but just bought some lovely garden furniture on line and am absolutely delighted. It looks as good as it does in the picture and delivery was very quick and straight forward as well. Didn't check it out in the showroom first, just thought if it was m and s it would be good quality and it is.

Don't forget to check if you can get a discount code first. I googled on the off chance and saved ten percent.

I bought 2 leather sofas from M&S 3 years ago and when delivered, there was a cut in the back of one of them right through the leather and the upholstery underneath. I didn't find it for 2 weeks, until one day I moved the sofa to hoover behind it, and M&S would not do a thing about it. They were rude, unhelpful and basically accused me of taking a knife to it and doing the damage myself. I got Consumer Direct involved and they wrote a letter to M&S saying that they had to deal with my complaint but they STILL weren't interested, so I sued them. It's fortunate for me that I am a solicitor and so I issued proceedings etc myself and they offered to settle more or less immediately and I got a new sofa and the costs back, but I would never ever ever buy furniture from them again. I got a call from someone in Head Office a couple of weeks after their in-house paralegal had discussed the settlement with me and she said basically that it should never have got that far and that I had been dealt with very poorly and that it would be investigated etc and she would ring me back with her findings - then I never heard from her again.
Avoid avoid avoid

Never buy a sofa online unless you've seen it and sat on it in a shop first. How will you know if it's comfortable and fits 'you'?

We have 2 Abbey sofas in leather that are about 10 years old now and still look new. They are very comfortable. I had really good customer service from M&S when we bought ours. The sofas were reduced 2 weeks after we bought them and I phoned up to see if I could get the reduction even though I had already ordered them and they said it was no problem and refunded me an extra £300 without any hesitation.

my parents bought a corner unit and a chair from M&S last year in a kind of linen weave-type fabric. Within a few weeks the fabric had started fraying along the front seam. Customer service sent out an 'engineer' to have a look and they were sent a full new set of seat covers without any fuss. So they are currently wearing out the old ones and saving the new ones for another day. TBH I'd avoid the lineny-type fabrics as IMO they do tire quickly.

yes if the price is reduced between you buying it and it being delivered then they will refund the difference no problem.

customer service is usually good. we do our best to put things right. sorry that didn't happen in your case emsyj. you should always inspect the item when you receive it in case of any faults or damage. otherwise you're left trying to prove the fault was there when you got it and not that you damaged it.

OP - M&S almost always do offers on furniture over bank holiday weekends (usually 20-30% off) so don't order until next wk - the offers usually start the Thur before the bank hol.

I have two M&S sofas that are over 10 years old and they have been fab. I would like to replace them but with 2 ds's under 3 it seems foolish to buy new ones now

rosina is never reduced though as it's already heavily discounted as an entry level sofa. even if they did, you'd get the difference back anyway.

"customer service is usually good. we do our best to put things right. sorry that didn't happen in your case emsyj. you should always inspect the item when you receive it in case of any faults or damage. otherwise you're left trying to prove the fault was there when you got it and not that you damaged it."

I can see why you might say that ruddynorah, but the legal position is not as you describe. The burden of proving that the fault was NOT there at the time of delivery in fact rests with the seller, not the other way round: i.e. I was not 'left trying to prove the fault was there when I got it'. The guidance on this on the Consumer Direct (part of Trading Standards) website is quite clear, as was the letter they wrote for me to M&S. I am not a consumer law expert (I do employment and pensions) but see clear statement on Consumer Direct's site:

" If you make a claim for a repair or replacement of faulty goods within six months of purchase its up to the seller to prove that the goods were not faulty when sold to you. "

Generally the Courts will not consider a delivery note to be proof that goods were perfect at the time of delivery, simply because people tend not to inspect them before signing and so they are pretty meaningless.

Perhaps if M&S customer services don't appreciate this, that would be why they have a policy (so they told me) that if you fail to complain about an item of furniture within 3 DAYS of delivery then they assume you have damaged it. This is clearly contrary to the correct legal position, which is why I pursued it. They rolled over as soon as I issued proceedings, but it is very unfair that there are probably dozens of customers being told 'you have to prove it was faulty at the time of delivery' and believing this and not taking matters further. I am fortunate that I have legal training and could stand up for myself against M&S, but many people wouldn't and would just accept what they were told because M&S are a big company and very much seen as 'trustworthy' because of this - their image is wholesome and they are long-established. I do think that is very very wrong and they should review their policies.

ok

It disapoints me to say I would avoid buying any furniture from M&S. They used to be very good. But the last Sofabed i have purchased (Abbey - in Boston Leather). has failed due to the frame collapsing. M&S have fobbed me off, passed me through to FIRA, who appear to have the sole aim of rejecting claims. The experience so far from M&S has been a policy of "frustrate & conquer ". Reading through these threads I am not alone.

If you buy a sofa from M&S and have problems, then I genuinely wish you "good Luck", your in for a rough ride.

I have set up a seperate thread here if you would like to know more or respond to my comments.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/1642131-Never-buy-a-sofabed-or-sofa-from-Marks-Spencer-M-S