New Sofa Delivered Damaged

[The Brummie]

Not sure where too post this so I’ll try here.

I bought a new sofa last December, cost me just short of £3k, & recently discovered that some of the legs are broken.

Contacted the sellers, a well known furniture chain, who initially refused to do anything saying that because we had signed for sofa we had accepted it no matter what fault might be found so they refused to do anything.

Now the sofa is big & heavy & as far we knew it was ok on delivery - we only discovered the damage when we tried to move the sofa, discovered that the sliders didn’t work & ended up with a big fk off gouge in our wooden floor.

I responded asking if I was meant to inspect every leg when the sofa was delivered? The response was, simply, yes.

Anyway after much argument over the phone they Reluctantly agreed to send out a service engineer who subsequently discovered that four of the legs were either snapped, cracked or broken.

He was not impressed & emailed the supplier saying that in his view the sofa was of unmerchantable quality & should be replaced.

The response?

An envelope arrived today containing four replacement legs & sliders.

No apology, no offer of an engineer coming back to fit them. Just new legs.

So I called them up this afternoon asking when I would be receiving a visit I from the engineer to install the new legs.

I was told that it would not happen & that it was up to me to fit them!!!!

So my question is this - should the retailer fit them or should I just suck it up & do it myself?

I feel that spending £3k on sofa should give me some form of satisfactory outcome & I am not inclined to accept being fobbed off like this.

Would be interested in some feedback & advice as to what to do next - I am considering Trading Standards but not sure how my complaint would be viewed by them.

[The Brummie]

Thales said:

2 GKC said:

How can a leg of a sofa be snapped or broken without you noticing? Wouldn’t it be a touch on the pish?

This. Sounds to me like the legs were broken when the sofa was moved.

The sofa was delivered fitted & installed flush with the wall. The legs (onto which sliders had been fitted before delivery) were broken on the end of the sofa that hasn’t yet been sat on.

It’s a big 5 piece interlocking unit. The legs were fitted into sliders to ease moving the sofa - hence you should be able to move it around easily on the sliders.

As soon as we started to slide the sofa it collapsed due to the legs snapping off.

The engineer said he thought that the legs had been damaged in transit & that moving the sofa simply snapped the legs.

I wasn’t allowed to see that report, i have asked for a copy, however the engineer said that he thought the sofa needed to be replaced.

[The Brummie]

kiethton said:

Do you have a copy of the report mentioned?

How did you pay?

If yes and a credit card the cc company will likely reverse the transaction. That’ll prompt the shop to either replace the sofa, fix it (if you’d prefer that) or take it back.

Interest free credit (I could have bought it outright but decided to shove it on finance).

I have been in contact with the finance company. Currently waiting for them to get back to me on Monday.

[The Brummie]

I don’t believe that a £3k sofa should be delivered with damaged legs & I also don’t think that after spending £3k I should have to do the repairs myself.

Seems a cop out by the retailer & takes the p155 to be honest.

[The Brummie]

Alucidnation said:

What else is broken on the sofa apart from the legs?

Just the legs - but on a £3k sofa should I not expect them to be perfect? Or am I expecting too much?

[The Brummie]

Sheepshanks said:

kiethton said:

If yes and a credit card the cc company will likely reverse the transaction. That’ll prompt the shop to either replace the sofa, fix it (if you’d prefer that) or take it back.

Your going to say you’ve done this loads of times but credit card issuers are extremely reluctant to do it and even if they do, might still put the charge back on again if the retailer puts up a defence.

Already said I bought the sofa on interest free credit.

[The Brummie]

Sheepshanks said:

The Brummie said:

Already said I bought the sofa on interest free credit.

Did you pay a deposit?

Yes. £240 on debit card.

[The Brummie]

Aluminati said:

Do you not have the ability to fit the legs ?

Why should I?

At £3k I don’t expect to have to undertake repairs.

Would you spend a large amount on a new car, find out it was broken & repair it yourself?

I doubt it.

[The Brummie]

Rewe said:

Algarve said:

I'm amazed that anyone would value their own time at so little.

For the time you spent on that phone call, you could have "installed" the legs. What are you possibly going to win by arguing with them over this? How many minutes would it take to do it yourself and get on with your life?

This.

Assuming you are not disabled, tip the sofa on its back, change the legs, have a celebratory cup of tea and cuddle with the Mrs and still spend less time than you have chasing this.

Having suffered from a brain tumour & a stroke in the last 3 years I am partially disabled - right handed & lost mobility in my right hand/arm.

But as I have already said I do not expect to spend £3k on something that is broken.

Also - no buyers remorse & to those who assume that I broke the legs myself - I paid for sliders to ease moving the sofa.

Sliders should do what it says on the tin. Slide. Not break the legs.

The legs were broken/damaged before I took delivery.

[The Brummie]

Tony1963 said:

OP,

No need to keep mentioning how much it cost. People spend far more on all sorts of things in life and suffer greater failings.

Do you have any friends who could help out fitting the legs etc? If so, get them round, keep them fed and watered, and have them do the job.

Otherwise this could drag you down emotionally, and I’d guess that’d be the last thing I’d need after having a stroke.

My point has always been this - spend a lot & you expect the item to be more or less perfect. My sofa isn’t perfect & I don’t see why I should have to drag mates in to repair someone else’s fk up!!!

It might only be legs however it isn’t one that is broken. It’s four & to me that is unacceptable.

[The Brummie]

CRA1G said:

KungFuPanda said:

£3k isn’t a lot on a larger sofa really.

But if he'd have waited for the "sale" "last chance" "offer must end monday" it would have been £999.99... inc "free dilivery" and "legs" all "Interest Free"....

Actually. Incorrect. Same price now as before Xmas. Smart arse.

[The Brummie]

Algarve said:

The Brummie said:

Why should I?

At £3k I don’t expect to have to undertake repairs.

Would you spend a large amount on a new car, find out it was broken & repair it yourself?

I doubt it.

Come on man, the 'why should I' is pretty clear. It'll take you minutes, far quicker than you could possibly hope to spend dealing with arranging them to come do it.

If a brand new car was broken in a comparable way to your sofa, say missing an arial or a button that just screwed in then sure I'd 'repair' it myself, you'd need to be quite mental not to. I've got better things to do than chasing dealers about or having to wait home for them to come collect etc.

That’s your choice - if I had paid £30k or whatever for a new car & it was delivered broken I sure as hell wouldn’t attempt to repair it myself.

That is what a warranty etc is there for.

As Already stated I have limited use of my hand/arm so lifting a heavy unit, balancing it & replacing broken legs is not easy for me.

I get that you think I am being petty. Your prerogative. I don’t think I am. We will have to agree to disagree.

[The Brummie]

For those who seemed convinced that I somehow managed to break four of the feet this is what the feet look like intact.



And this is what the broken feet look like.



Clearly been broken/smashed in transit.

So perhaps you clever buggers can explain how the feet can be broken this badly by moving the sofa a matter of 8 inches - on sliders - because I can’t & neither could the technician.

[The Brummie]

fesuvious said:

It wasn't delivered with broken legs though was it?

You're suggesting the delivery team washed their hands of 4 snapped legs and walked out?

No.

I prefer back to my first post.

OP, you have more than one reasonable option to resolve this. You're being difficult.

It clearly was delivered damaged because as per my post above moving the sofa on sliders would not cause this amount of damage.

Acceptable? To you maybe but too me.

And I am not playing on any disability. I have mates who would lift the sofa. Just don’t see why they should have too when I have a warranty which should cover this type of damage.

[The Brummie]

Not one leg - but four.

All broken. One I could sort of accept but four?

Anyway. You have your opinion & I have mine. It might appear petty too you but to me it’s an issue & a matter of principal.

[The Brummie]

14st. So no way could I have broken one leg alone four.

And as I have already said, assuming you have read my posts & not just dived in with a smart arse remark, the unit in question has not been used since i5 was delivered.

Thanks for your input. Muppet.

Edited by The Brummie on Sunday 19th January 17:49

[The Brummie]

garyhun said:

When in the world of all that is fking holy did screwing four legs on a sofa become such a massive undertaking that someone would bh and moan about it on the Internet rather than screwing them in and enjoying said sofa?

Pathetic.

Whatever. I forgot that I wasn’t allowed to moan about something costly being ste. I assume that you will now be trawling PH & giving everyone who moans about shoddy workmanship the benefit of your wit & repartee.

If not. Goodnight.

[The Brummie]

Algarve said:

The Brummie said:

It might appear petty too you but to me it’s an issue & a matter of principal.

Sometimes its worth doing something on principal if you can cost the other side more time/money than you'll need to waste yourself to cause them the losses. If you're going to waste more then its not principal, its cutting your nose off to spite your face.

If you force them to send someone out for this "repair" as you call it, what's the loss to the company? time taken to/from your house, a bit of diesel and 5 mins in your house laughing at you while he puts the legs back on.

Whats it costing you? Right now you're spending your Sunday afternoon sitting on the floor, arguing with people on the internet because of it. Every reply is telling you you're being a stubborn fool, I think you should probably start listening.

Firstly I’m sat in the pub & frankly I don’t give a st.

The sofa legs are crap & that has been my point all along. I simply want what I paid for. A sofa with legs & not stty pieces of crap plastic.

Maybe I am being stubborn however as previously said it’s the principal. Supply shi5 goods & i5 should be sorted under the manufacturers warranty.

That’s all I want. I don’t want compo, a free footstool, free whatever. I just want what I paid for. Which I haven’t got.

Simple really.

[The Brummie]

Algarve said:

The Brummie said:

garyhun said:

When in the world of all that is fking holy did screwing four legs on a sofa become such a massive undertaking that someone would bh and moan about it on the Internet rather than screwing them in and enjoying said sofa?

Pathetic.

Whatever. I forgot that I wasn’t allowed to moan about something costly being ste. I assume that you will now be trawling PH & giving everyone who moans about shoddy workmanship the benefit of your wit & repartee.

If not. Goodnight.

You're completely missing the point, again. Nobody is having a go at you for moaning about the shoddy workmanship / delivery damage / whatever has caused the problem in the first place.

What we're all laughing at is you getting yourself wound up over it rather than just screw the free replacements on yourself.

Laugh away. I don’t give a st.

[The Brummie]

funkyrobot said:

Algarve said:

You're completely missing the point, again. Nobody is having a go at you for moaning about the shoddy workmanship / delivery damage / whatever has caused the problem in the first place.

What we're all laughing at is you getting yourself wound up over it rather than just screw the free replacements on yourself.

Op can't screw them in. He bought some screwdrivers and they snapped too.

You just can't win sometimes.

I could, with a little help, replace the feet. Again my point is this - don’t see why I should when I have a warranty.

Anyway. Thank you all for your input.