My 89 mother invited a company to quote for a reclining chair after seeing advert in National Press. The company is Orchid Mobility and not the company recently featured on tv’s rogue traders. She ordered a chair and unfortunately paid by cheque as they wouldn’t accept a card. They said she would get priority delivery if she paid in full which she did (£1395). I was on holiday by the way and was unaware of this. The order was placed on 19th Feb with a 4 week delivery promised. The chair has yet to be delivered and now we are in May. Numerous phone calls have resulted in blatant lies telling us the chair is finished but too busy to deliver. Delivery dates given but never met etc. I have sent recorded delivery letters giving ultimatums but they have never responded or returned calls. They are still answering their phone and hence still taking orders from old disabled people. I rang citizens advice and they said police not interested and they said after the recorded letters follow up with small claims court. I have traced the company directors name from Companies House but can’t find his residential address or I would ring his home. Cannot definitely find him on Facebook but I think I know who the culprit is. Any advice welcome to get the money back and get this lowlife stopped.

HSL Chairs market mainly to the elderly, the shops are friendly , staff all teddy bear types, furniture delivered promptly. Where is the snag? Have a problem and the image crumbles. Given that delivery is four weeks on new goods it took us five weeks of constant calls and hassle to get a faulty chair repaired. They refused to replace this chair despite a serious fault appearing after only one day. No one came out to inspect. The shop staff passed our complaint to the factory who did call and make promises to do something then totally ignored us. The usual runaround begun, telling us one thing and a different person then telling us something else. They do not return phone calls and totally ignore emails . Repairs were eventually done but after a couple of weeks the fault is gradually reappearing. How they could judge what repairs were required without inspection is a mystery. No follow up to check if all OK. Elderly folk generally don't make a fuss and are often unwell and reluctant to complain too much due to the stress and upset. I reckon they play on this as most will just eventually give up and be held to have accepted the goods by default. A little research shows that a lot of HSL furniture is in fact made by Celebrity Furniture where the same models are sold under different names at about 25% less. So save your Grandparents a few quid and a load of stress by letting them know this. HSL make a lot of fuss about their service both in shops and on the net. Just hot air .Furniture retailers? Why am I surprised. Any suggestions welcome.

Looking for some help with a complaint for my parents. In February 2011 my parents bought 2 Restless leather chairs and a matching stool. 16 months later they noticed that there was very distinct colour fading on both chairs. After informing the company where they bought the chairs, someone from FIRA was sent out in October 2012 to inspect the chairs. His report stated that there was colour fading on both chairs and if you wiped a cloth over the leather colour from the chairs transferred onto the cloth. A repair was then authorised and replacement parts ordered. In January 2013 someone from FIRA arrived to do the repair. He replaced all of the leather parts on one chair - ie back, seat and two arms. However the other chair just had the back and one arm replaced. Whilst he was there my mother pointed out that the other arm was showing signs of colour fading and having looked closely he agreed. He would report this back and my mother was asked to inform the company that she bought the chairs from. My mother is basically unhappy that only one chair has been fully repaired, with the other only half repaired and her having to point out the fault on the other arm. The company in Glasgow where she bought them has not been good with its Customer Service as they haven't returned phone calls and has had to chase up everything to get where she has got so far. Now they are trying to say that the Manufacturer will not repair the seat part as it's not faulty in their opinion. My mother feels that the colour match is not perfect and there is an obvious difference between the replaced parts and no replaced parts. She is also unhappy that, although not fading at the moment apparently, that it may not happen in the future as all the rest of it has done so far. What are her rights on this? Can she insist on a full repair as opposed to a part repair? If so how she she word the letter of complaint to the company?