.. (sorry accidentally pressed post) so i got up early, which is hard for me cause im still jetlagged from a several month miami holiday and sat and waited till 11am. I then proceeded to call them, continuously untill 2pm. My father called to ask how the sofa was and i explained the situation, by now my temper getting the best of me. He suggested they had gone out of business or by now after i had checked the internet and read the reviews, they were ignoring the phones because of too many disgruntled customers. Despite my fathers suggestions to stay at home, Im the one who gets 'ass into gear' and things done as i can negotiate to get what i want. So i hopped into a taxi, while being hopping mad. Got there to see the shutters down. I instantly left and decided to wait till my father returned home. We then both drove up there after calling the credit card company to cancel the payment so that my father could get as much information as possible to put on the claims form. My father stayed in the car while i went into Harveys next door. They instantly remembered me (even though i hadnt spoken to them when i had looked around their showroom). Their faces told me i wasnt the first person of the day to come in not to buy one of their sofas. I asked, you wouldnt happen to know what happened next door would you? "yup they've gone bust" "I thought so, Ive just notified the credit card company" "Wow you're lucky, you're the first person who's been in here today who's said they paid in credit card" - (i feel so sorry for all of you who have lost money through paying by cash or debit or cheque.. Its awful! I would be reeling and feeling to burn down their showroom but that would be no help, ill explain why.. My sympathy goes out to you, however my father informed me buyers will be at the bottom of the list of those to pay back and you should prepare yourself that its going to be a long battle to get it back... sigh... smh) Anyway , I then said " I think I might just break in and take my sofa since theres no way they're bringing my money or my sofa to me, you wont say anything will you?!" "I dont think you'll have much luck, they were emptying the place out all of last night, there is nothing left!" they then went on... "The daily mail (i assume they mean birmingham mail) were around this morning to collect 10'000 pounds for advertising." I said, "If only they had delivered the sofa to me yesterday" "They weren't making any deliveries yesterday. The delivery men were in and out but they told them no deliveries were to be made yesterday." They then said " the staff and delivery men hadn't been paid for months, they were working on promises. Any company that changes their name 3 times in one year, they're no good! Didnt we warn you?" "Ha! I wish you had!" Reflecting on it, the guy will probably drop 'ELS' and walk away leaving all debt and customers behind and open up a new one with a new name. Beware! He could even have the nerve to open it in the same building. He isnt liable with a Ltd. comany for any expenses of the company owed to customers or problems that arrise, the company is liable but if he gets reported enough times, the police will prevent him from opening any more businesses. Everyone persue him to the furthest extend you can! Fraud agencies and court proceedings. Im going to write to every newspaper I can and I advise you do to the same! This man has to be stopped! My heart goes out to all that saved and put their heart into ther new sofas, people like gary should be rounded up and put somewhere far away from england, Somewhere like antartica wearing only a pair of pink flowery panties, so they can freeze to death. Them and the big issue sellers, one who i heard discussing to a friend of mine (a friend of his) that he was taking a holiday to spain next week - I didnt know the big issue was that profitable! In reflection we are extremely lucky, We didnt get stuck to a loaned sofa, we didnt pay by cash, we had the insurance of the credit card. We didnt get stuck with the showroom model only to find it collapses next week with no company to get a refund or repair from. The money has been suspended and pending investigation, we'll have our money back to go shop somewhere else. Its a life lesson for all of us, i guess we just have to count our losses and be weary and spread information so that it doesnt happen again. I really am sorry people, my heart goes out to you! Spread your story on here, i found writing helps getting my frustration out knowing it can help others.

What can I say? If only I had known how crooked the company was before I bought my sofa from them. Heres my story. Ive just got my first place, an appartment in birmingham city, (Im currently doing my A-Levels) and am in the process of kitting out the flat. I can usually see through BS and read people before they open their mouth but being with my father and being my first time buying something significant independently , we let our guard down. After tediously walking through showroom after showroom we drove into ELS parking lot, empty, on bank holiday weekend... Alarm bells. Walked in and only one salesman was present, 'Gus', who didnt smile. We walked around and I and my father fell in love with a cream 'L' shaped soft leather suite for £1199 - sofa, chair and footstool-showroom ex-model. Went home and came back to buy it the next day. Paid with credit card, the only good decission but its something he swears by when buying expensive items. They told us it would be delivered wednesday , free of charge. Great! I documented and took pictures of all current marks and scratches incase a few more turned up in the moving process. Wednesday afternoon came , and sure enough there was our sofa! We had informed 'Gus' that it may not fit through the hallway because of its elbow shape, and he reassured us if it didnt we could come straight back and chose another - weird! why so friendly and helpful? sure enough it wouldnt fit, and i was heart broken. Went back to the showroom later on that day and theres Gus half grinning, half shocked. "Hey, I just heard it wouldnt fit! no worries, just spoke with the boss, hes just been in, and he must be in a good mood but he said its not a problem, we'll order you the exact same one in sectional form which will take 12-14 weeks and in the mean time we'll lend you this one and we'll deliver it tomorrow all for no extra cost" he said as he lead us over to an even bigger sectional showroom model. We thanked them but i quickly pulled my father aside. I said " the one we bought was a showroom model and was reduced from 3000 something pounds, how is it they can lend us a bigger one and order a new one for such a low price! Ive lived in the caribbean and miami and those experiences have taught me the hard way, people dont do something to help you or go out of their way for you unless it benefits them more than it does yourself. I told my father this but we said, oh well, they delivered the other one, must me true to their word, and put it down to a huge markup on factory items. The whole way home i was getting more and more suspicious as i thought it through and my father and I had a long conversation. We concluded we would see what happens when they brought the loan-a-sofa and then get them to confirm that we wouldnt be liable for any marks or damage as this was the only benefit I could think the boss would get out of it. This never happened, I sat on my ass all day, on the floor cause we have no chairs, while my father was in london, waiting for them to arrive.At 11am we called and asked for an approximate time for delivery, we were told mid day, the delivery men were at a house somewhere taking out a window to get a sofa in. At 4pm, both myself and my father got a call from 'Dave' saying the men were still at the house getting the window out (5 hours later? i dont think so) and the delivery would either be late or early in the morning today. I told the man no, I wanted it tonight! I dont care how late, ill wait up, i wanted it tonight because the red flag had been waved infront of my face with them being at the same house for 5 hours. Unfortunately, I didnt relay this info to dad and he told them , morning would be fine..