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Bought a sofa back in november 2005 from land of leather. Within 6 months there was a noise coming from the framework. They sent someone out who fixed it.
When the sofa was 1.5 year old, the problem came back. We rang the insurance company who said it was a recurance of a previous problem, and we had to speak to land of leather.
We spoke to land of leather, they sent a man out who fixed screws into the joint, but he couldnt fix it.
They send someone else out who jammed bits of plastic between parts of the framework...it didnt fix it.
We sent a letter to land of leather saying the problem still hadnt been fixed, and that we'd spoke to trading standards who advised us to give them one last chance to repair the fault before getting a second opinion.
They sent back out the first man who put more screws into the joint. THat still didnt fix the problem.
We arrange for an independant specialist to have a look at the problem, who wrote a report confirming that it's a manufacturers fault, but now there had been a number screws put in the joint there are rails which are split and now need replacing.
We wrote them a letter and gave them to report, and said we want to arrange to have the problem fixed ourselves and for them to pay. They've said they want to send someone else from another company out to have a look, and if that doesnt work then for us to take it up with head office.
Now, I've spoke to trading standards, and after speaking to them we have these options...
1) Reject the sofa and get back about half what we paid for it.
2) Arrange to have the problem repaired and then take land of leather to small claims court for the repair.
3) Allow land of leather to attempt to resolve the problem, and if it doesnt work take it to their head office...and probably go through more procedures.
Which options best, would we stand a chance in the small claims court?
My partner wants a full refund on the insurance and the and sofa, but I keep telling her we don't stand a chance, and they we'll have to pay usage.
Then if we choose to go to the courts, do we have to pay their legal fee's if we were to lose?
We spoke to land of leather, they sent a man out who fixed screws into the joint, but he couldnt fix it.
They send someone else out who jammed bits of plastic between parts of the framework...it didnt fix it.
Sounds like a bodge job
Originally Posted by littlened
They sent back out the first man who put more screws into the joint. THat still didnt fix the problem.
another bodge job
Originally Posted by littlened
We arrange for an independant specialist to have a look at the problem, who wrote a report confirming that it's a manufacturers fault, but now there had been a number screws put in the joint there are rails which are split and now need replacing.
You can ask for the cost of this report back
Originally Posted by littlened
We wrote them a letter and gave them to report, and said we want to arrange to have the problem fixed ourselves and for them to pay. They've said they want to send someone else from another company out to have a look, and if that doesnt work then for us to take it up with head office.
Did you get a quote for the repair?, and why would they want to send another repairman of their own when they only cause further damage
The person to deal with is:
Kevin Maguire
Company Secretariat
Units K1-K2 Lower Road
Northfleet
Kent
DA11 9BL
Copy all correspondance to Kent Trading Standards
Kent County Council
Consumer Advice
PO Box 71
Ashford
Kent
TN24 8WB
Apparently they have a large file on LOL
Originally Posted by littlened
would we stand a chance in the small claims court?
Yes
Originally Posted by littlened
My partner wants a full refund on the insurance and the and sofa, but I keep telling her we don't stand a chance, and they we'll have to pay usage.
Just to update everyone on this. We agreed for land of leather to send out another engineer, this time from another company. Previously they used EcoMaster but this time they used ServiCo.
The engineer was polite and helpful, and spent 2 and a half hours trying to rectify the creaking problems, but was unable to do so. He's sending a report back saying this.
I've got 3 letters ready to post, 1 to the store manager, another to Kevin Maguire and the third to Kent County Council.
I've said in the letter that we have no other option but to request either full refund or a replacement sofa, and said that we'd prefer to resolve this out of court, but are more than happy to proceed with court proceedings should they be necessary.
I've got 3 letters ready to post, 1 to the store manager, another to Kevin Maguire and the third to Kent County Council.
Send a copy to your local Trading standards too
Originally Posted by littlened
I've said in the letter that we have no other option but to request either full refund or a replacement sofa, and said that we'd prefer to resolve this out of court, but are more than happy to proceed with court proceedings should they be necessary.
Hi I tried to post this but am new to the site. Can somebody please help me. I purchased a 3, 2 and 1 seather leather suite from Land of Leather in July. It is under 6 months old. The suite was sold as seen because it was an end of line. The suite was delivered and there were many faults caused by the delivery drivers. I called LoL who sent out ecomaster to repair. The faults were put right apart from one wooden foot which was split. I was told that LoL would pop the part in the post to me. 4 months down the line I reported that the arms of the sofa were making a clicking noise, there was general creeking on all 3 pieces and that my daughter had sat down and a huge dip had formed in the 3 seater where she had sat. After 5 minutes the sofa went back to normal. My daughter who is 13 did not jump but sat down properly when problem occurred. I phoned lol who advised that i should keep an eye on problem and ring back if necessary as it costs them £60 to send ecomaster out. A month later when the problems were still present i called lol. They sent out ecomaster. The man was suprised at the quality of the suite and advised me that he didn't know how long it would take for him to repair. I advised him that i was not happy with suite and he said i should not get it repaired and that i was within my rights to get a replacement or refund. I have chased lol only to receive a call from manager advising that somebody will be calling to fit the feet as the feet design has changed and they do not hold the old design. I was quite taken in as he did not mention the problems with the suite. I asked him if he was calling from my local store and was he aware of ecomaster visiting, he then replied yes and said they would get the furniture repaired. I refused and quoted it was not fit for the purpose it had been made for. The manager advised he would be seeking advice from the regional manager and would come back to me. Can you please tell me how i should handle this and what my rights are. thank you.
Land of Leather arranged for the MD of Servico and his head technician to come and have a look at the sofa. On the day of their visit the noises we were complaining about simply were not there, not matter what we did we couldnt get the noises to appear.
The engineer left and told LOL that it was our wooden floor which was making the noises and that it was a wasted trip. He also said that he sofa is solid as a rock and that it's a 100% natural product and so it may make some noises.
After they left the noises returned in two specific places, one a squeeking noise and the other a creeking noise.
We're going to get another specialist to come out and make a report saying that the noises are coming from the sofa and not the floor, but we're worried that if this goes to court LOL have a report from the MD of a furniture company stating that the sofa is rock solid and theres absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Are we starting to lose the battle? or is there still a chance of getting something out of this?
Don't bother with another independent report, you already have 1.
Send them an S.A.R.
they are now saying its your floor making the noises, so why have they tried to repair the suite before?
did they really think that a repair to your furniture was going to stop your floor creaking?
or are they trying to fob you off now?
I think its the latter, and you should write to Head Office asking for a refund including insurance and delivery costs.
The S.A.R. should be sent to the store where you bought the suite, ask for everything: telephone call recordings, copies of all letters sent, copies of any internal memos/notes and most importantly copies of the reports from the technicians they sent.
We had an engineer out 2 visits ago who rectified the original fault were were complaining about, but since his tinkering we've got other noises which is what we're trying to get fixed now. So LOL have been trying to fix a fault.
I will try and request a SAR and see what's on them.
I've spoke to land of leather again tonight who have said they are drawing a line under our case and closing it. To put it simply they have a report from a independant specialist saying that there is no problem and that's enough for them.
What option are we left with now?
All I can think of is getting another report from another specialist which comfirms there is a problem with the sofa and taking LOL to court, but if we do that what chance do we have of winning anything?
Your chances are pretty much 50/50. It will depend on which report the judge is going to believe, so you want to get as much evidence as you can. I think if you plan to go down that route, a video of the sofa making the noise would help, for example. In the end, the judge will decide on the balance of probabilities, so anything to tip the balance in your favour will help.
Apologies to people who I was in the process of helping, I may be gone some time.
Land of Leather, what should we do?
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Originally Posted by littlened
