How long should a sofa last?
Discussion
If this is the wrong forum, apologies!
Bought a sofa when we moved into our flat about 4 years ago. It wasn't cheap, at around £1700 and it's made from leather.
The company in question is a relatively small British manufacturer, not someone like DFS and they say that they focus on quality.
The leather on most of the seat cushions has cracked and peeled, leaving the sofa looking like it's 50 years old rather than 4.
We've contacted the manufacturer who say that it's not their problem and that we should be £75 per cushion to get them replaced.
Am I being unreasonable here to think that this is not on and that a leather sofa should last longer than 4 years before it falls apart?! They don't mention anything on their website about cleaning the leather, applying anything to it etc so we haven't. The leather hasn't visibly dried out, it's just split and delaminated.
What are my options, if I have any?
Thanks
Bought a sofa when we moved into our flat about 4 years ago. It wasn't cheap, at around £1700 and it's made from leather.
The company in question is a relatively small British manufacturer, not someone like DFS and they say that they focus on quality.
The leather on most of the seat cushions has cracked and peeled, leaving the sofa looking like it's 50 years old rather than 4.
We've contacted the manufacturer who say that it's not their problem and that we should be £75 per cushion to get them replaced.
Am I being unreasonable here to think that this is not on and that a leather sofa should last longer than 4 years before it falls apart?! They don't mention anything on their website about cleaning the leather, applying anything to it etc so we haven't. The leather hasn't visibly dried out, it's just split and delaminated.
What are my options, if I have any?
Thanks
Well if you're right then DFS will be getting my money next time!
It's a shame as we like to support British companies but the quality just isn't there!
For some context, I work for a company that sells very high end table lamps (£1500+) and if any part of them breaks (wiring, top comes off etc) we will essentially replace forever, until the glass breaks.
It's a shame as we like to support British companies but the quality just isn't there!
For some context, I work for a company that sells very high end table lamps (£1500+) and if any part of them breaks (wiring, top comes off etc) we will essentially replace forever, until the glass breaks.
My fabric GPlan ones are about 12 years old and in good condition, my leather Stressless chair I inherited from my grandfather must be getting on for 20 years old and still fine, although you've just reminded me I really should give it some leather treatment as I've not done it in ages.
I would definitely expect a decent quality sofa to last longer than 4 years, but it really should have a bit of tlc occasionally.
I would definitely expect a decent quality sofa to last longer than 4 years, but it really should have a bit of tlc occasionally.
We bought a leather sofa from a small indie and it has lasted about 15 years so far. Still in good condition as well, it was about the same price as yours too. I'd certainly expect it to last significantly longer than 4 years. Can you post photos on their Facebook page to see if that gets a better response.
thecremeegg said:
Well if you're right then DFS will be getting my money next time!
It's a shame as we like to support British companies but the quality just isn't there!
For some context, I work for a company that sells very high end table lamps (£1500+) and if any part of them breaks (wiring, top comes off etc) we will essentially replace forever, until the glass breaks.
having had dfs sofas that were only fit for the skip are 6 months i went to a uk firm sofasofa that had apparantly great reviews, spent a lot only to find it was just as cheap and nasty as dfs, if not more so, a child could pick up one end of the 3 seater with a finger ...It's a shame as we like to support British companies but the quality just isn't there!
For some context, I work for a company that sells very high end table lamps (£1500+) and if any part of them breaks (wiring, top comes off etc) we will essentially replace forever, until the glass breaks.
thecremeegg said:
The leather on most of the seat cushions has cracked and peeled, leaving the sofa looking like it's 50 years old rather than 4.
Where's Fermit?He can explain at length, but AIUI it's nothing to do with the sofa manufacturer, and everything to do with modern cheap leather. It's basically the bovine equivalent of chipboard - mince and glue - not the actual skin of a real live dead cow. Finding somebody who uses real hides (which will cost far more), or sticking with fabric, is the only solution.
RizzoTheRat said:
My fabric GPlan ones are about 12 years old and in good condition, my leather Stressless chair I inherited from my grandfather must be getting on for 20 years old and still fine, although you've just reminded me I really should give it some leather treatment as I've not done it in ages.
I would definitely expect a decent quality sofa to last longer than 4 years, but it really should have a bit of tlc occasionally.
To be fair, we did give it some leather feed a few times and it's been regularly brushed, cushions rotated etc. I would definitely expect a decent quality sofa to last longer than 4 years, but it really should have a bit of tlc occasionally.
My gf is actually quite upset as £1700 is a lot of money for us and we'd bought it expecting something vaguely decent. They offer a 25 year warranty on the frame, seems they don't give two hoots about the actual fabric!
TooMany2cvs said:
Where's Fermit?
He can explain at length, but AIUI it's nothing to do with the sofa manufacturer, and everything to do with modern cheap leather. It's basically the bovine equivalent of chipboard - mince and glue - not the actual skin of a real live dead cow. Finding somebody who uses real hides (which will cost far more), or sticking with fabric, is the only solution.
Yea I would assume it's this crappy leather rather than the actual nice stuff - can see that now it's splitHe can explain at length, but AIUI it's nothing to do with the sofa manufacturer, and everything to do with modern cheap leather. It's basically the bovine equivalent of chipboard - mince and glue - not the actual skin of a real live dead cow. Finding somebody who uses real hides (which will cost far more), or sticking with fabric, is the only solution.
The issue here is one of use.
You could have had 7 dogs sleeping and running over your sofa over the last 4 years and the manufacturer wouldn't know about it so being miffed that they won't repair it is odd.
I would expect a decent, multi-thousand pound sofa to last 5-10 years, depending on use.
A cheap, couple-of-hundred pound sofa from DFS - 2-5 years.
If you're making table lamps at £1500 each then that's the equivalent of making sofas at £20k. For a £20k sofa, I'd expect the manufacturer to be more sympathetic than your £1700 one.
You could have had 7 dogs sleeping and running over your sofa over the last 4 years and the manufacturer wouldn't know about it so being miffed that they won't repair it is odd.
I would expect a decent, multi-thousand pound sofa to last 5-10 years, depending on use.
A cheap, couple-of-hundred pound sofa from DFS - 2-5 years.
If you're making table lamps at £1500 each then that's the equivalent of making sofas at £20k. For a £20k sofa, I'd expect the manufacturer to be more sympathetic than your £1700 one.
We bought a leather sofa from Harveys which is a chain similar to DFS. I had just moved in with my then GF and we bought mainstream cheap as you do for a starter home. Think it was £800 for a 3 seater and a 2 seater black sofa. 15 years on and it's still going strong.
We have 3 kids now so get more abuse than ever. We probably need to upgrade them as they are starting to show their age a bit, but that's only after 15 years a hard life.
Certainly from a leather point of view ours is looking nothing like you have described....You could probably argue that as ours wasn't 'premium' it wasn't particularly soft leather. My wife has a 'premium leather purse' and the leather on that looked destroyed in 18 months.
I believe most of the mainstream sofa places seem to offer long warranties on their products.
We have 3 kids now so get more abuse than ever. We probably need to upgrade them as they are starting to show their age a bit, but that's only after 15 years a hard life.
Certainly from a leather point of view ours is looking nothing like you have described....You could probably argue that as ours wasn't 'premium' it wasn't particularly soft leather. My wife has a 'premium leather purse' and the leather on that looked destroyed in 18 months.
I believe most of the mainstream sofa places seem to offer long warranties on their products.
We are using a Multiyork sofa that we inherited, it has been recovered and the new covers are showing signs of wear after only five years so are nothing like the quality of the originals which lasted over a decade.
Multiyork went out of business late last year, whether they were still the same quality or not I don't know, but they were still expensive to buy compared with DFS. I think people are happier buying cheaper stuff because they want and expect to replace it after a few years.
We have a fifteeen year old Ercol as well, it was in pretty good nick until we got a puppy a couple of years ago, worth re-covering and a bit of a sand and varnish, probably after we move in a year or so though.
Biggest mistake was buying a leather sofa in a sale that looked like it was made out of decently thick leather polished like an old satchel. Turned out it just had a plastic coating over the leather, the underlying leather was tough but the coating started to flake off the arms in less than a year, the company had gone bust by then though.
Multiyork went out of business late last year, whether they were still the same quality or not I don't know, but they were still expensive to buy compared with DFS. I think people are happier buying cheaper stuff because they want and expect to replace it after a few years.
We have a fifteeen year old Ercol as well, it was in pretty good nick until we got a puppy a couple of years ago, worth re-covering and a bit of a sand and varnish, probably after we move in a year or so though.
Biggest mistake was buying a leather sofa in a sale that looked like it was made out of decently thick leather polished like an old satchel. Turned out it just had a plastic coating over the leather, the underlying leather was tough but the coating started to flake off the arms in less than a year, the company had gone bust by then though.
We have a DFS leather sofa coming up on 10 years old now and it's still in pretty good condition (despite having had cats on it in the past, and our dog is occasionally allowed up as well). Plus it's survived a move. And IIRC when we bought it we paid a small fortune for some special lotions and potions to care for the leather... which are still sitting unopened in a cupboard.
Although for balance, the SiL's sofa looked f
ked after about 3 years, but then she has young kids 
Although for balance, the SiL's sofa looked f
ked after about 3 years, but then she has young kids I agree with the above, 4 years for £1700 worth of sofa is not good enough.
We have a 14 years old suite from Natuzzi that is still going strong, proper real leather hide and a very good frame. Just spent a few hundred having the seat bases re-stuffed as they were oinga little flat and the upholstery firm we used praised the build and materials used.
However, we've seen the same model sofa recently from Natuzzi in the shops, cost is more than we paid (£2700 14 years prior) and the build quality and leather quality are way down on ours.
We have a 14 years old suite from Natuzzi that is still going strong, proper real leather hide and a very good frame. Just spent a few hundred having the seat bases re-stuffed as they were oinga little flat and the upholstery firm we used praised the build and materials used.
However, we've seen the same model sofa recently from Natuzzi in the shops, cost is more than we paid (£2700 14 years prior) and the build quality and leather quality are way down on ours.
Depends how big it is, but four years isn't long for a leather sofa.
We have just bought our long term family home and having previously always bought reasonable second hand stuff, that typically lasts but always always priced a t a point where it can be temporary, we're really struggling to find places to be good quality stuff. Not just furniture/chairs/etc, but also basic household items like a dust pan and brush, microwave, laundry basket.
Anyway, I would push hard for answers, and then consider getting it recovered locally.
I don't know where you are, but my parents last sofa came from these guys, in Nantwich (Cheshire) and seem to know what they are talking about and stocking.
https://miastanza.co.uk
Daniel
We have just bought our long term family home and having previously always bought reasonable second hand stuff, that typically lasts but always always priced a t a point where it can be temporary, we're really struggling to find places to be good quality stuff. Not just furniture/chairs/etc, but also basic household items like a dust pan and brush, microwave, laundry basket.
Anyway, I would push hard for answers, and then consider getting it recovered locally.
I don't know where you are, but my parents last sofa came from these guys, in Nantwich (Cheshire) and seem to know what they are talking about and stocking.
https://miastanza.co.uk
Daniel
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