Splitting and Pealing Leather Suite

[bugged lady]

My mother bought a three piece suite from an independant local furniture store, who are well known in our area and generally have a good reputation. They normally sell good high quality furniture (with price tags to go with it!!!!).

 

About 15mths after purchasing the suite the chair she sits in began to crack, peal and then spit altogether on the back of the chair (where you would rest your head) and on the arms (where you would rest your arms.

 

I contacted the furniture store for her and asked them to come and look at it. I accepted the fact that the suite was past the 12 mth warranty but felt it was not fit for purpose. Added to which my mother spends several mths of the year away with friends and family etc and therefore the suite would never have been subjected to the normal amount of wear and tear that a 'normal' household would give it.

 

Their man from the store said he would contact the manufacturer, it came back the manufacturer were not interested - it was passed the 12mth warranty. However, the retailer would not give me the name of the manufacturer.

 

Then they sent a 'leather expert' out to look at the suite. He charged my mother £30 for turning up, said it was wear and tear and probably body fluids and/or hair products (my mother is in her 70's and doesn't use hair products and furthermore kept a light cotton cover over the back of the chairs to prevent any soiling from dirty hair). He then said that it would be £1,000 to repair.

 

Having spent over £2,000 on the suite my mother decided to leave it and purchased a new and completely different chair from another retailer to sit in.

 

However, we are now 2.5 yrs down the line and the other chair in the suite has developed the same problems. Splitting firstly on the arms. Now this is very interesting because that chair is never used as a rule. It sits in the wrong part of the lounge to be used frequently (you cannot see the TV from it and it is 'out' from social group). It has been used probably no more than 20 times in all the time my mother has had the suite and then only for an hour or two at the most.

 

My mother cannot be bothered with it - if I can do something okay, but she doesn't want the hassle. I did happen to watch part of a programme by Dom Littlewood a couple of weeks ago which featured settees and chairs that were either pealing or splitting the same as my mothers. After getting independant reports I believe one got a full refund and I don't know what happened with the other one as I missed that bit. I know Dom was going on about the Furniture Ombudsman and these independant reports (which I understand can be quite expensive).

 

This retailer my mother bought the suite from says he is a member of the furniture ombudsman and all the other organisations (what I do not know because none of his paperwork has anything on and I cannot find his company on the furniture ombudsman's website. I also can't find a place to lodge a complaint on the website.

 

Any suggestions how I could take this further, or what I should do next? They have sent mother a compliments slip with three pages of printouts from the Furniture Ombudsman's website regarding a Smart Report, an Independant Consultant Report and an Ombudsman Opinion Letter.

 

When my husband took my mother down there last week they told him they would arrange to take the furniture away and get an independant report done (which my mother would have to pay for). When this letter (sorry comp slip) arrived she asked us what she was supposed to do with it. Good question!

 

There is a contact telephone number for the Ombudsman which I shall phone tomorrow for more info. However, I wonder how independant they are????? I have read other threads on this site where people have not been happy with the Ombudsman's report and indeed seem to feel they are 'in league' with the retailer. It is a possibility I suppose as the retailer does have to pay to be a member. I don't honestly know but it does make me cautious.

[Dragons Dennis]

Look at last weeks BBC watchdog on Iplayer. Sounds identical to me.

[bugged lady]

Ops sorry typo at the beginning! The Chair started to split not SPIT!!!!! A spitting chair? Now that would be one to get confused over - wonder how the retailer would deal with that one!

[beachbird]

i watched that perticular one as well Dragons Dennis, it was very interesting and the same problems as Bugged Lady, dont let it go, watch the progarmme and give them a call they may be able to tell you what to do good luck