We purchased 2 Supreme leather sofas from DFS in November 2016, and within 12 months the painted coating on the leather had removed from several areas at the seams, mostly on the side of the seats which are seldom used or areas that do not come into contact with the person sitting on them. We reported the problem to DFS and they sent out a DFS manager whom cleaned the areas and repainted them with touch up paint. The workmanship was very poor, the colour of the paint was not the same shade and the repair lasted no more than 5 weeks before it had worn off.

The problem with the painted coating coming off has progressively got worse and now we have the paint peeling off one of the head rests. As the 2 year guarantee is up this November we contacted DFS again to come and see the problem.

To keep this story short DFS has said that the painted coating on the seams is due to abrasion and the leather peeling on the headrest is from oils/grease from the scalp. After several telephone calls, emails and letters requesting a refund (reasoning that leather shouldn’t wear that quickly in these areas and not being fit for purpose if you put your head on the head rest), the current position is that DFS are saying that my rights to a refund or replacement ceased after I had these sofas 30 days, but they would come out and touch-up the paint as a goodwill gesture.

We have since gone back to DFS and offered them an opportunity to repair the sofas, but with the following guarantees;

1. The work is carried out by a professional repair person, as the repair carried out previously was unacceptable (different shade, poor, and lasted approximately 5 weeks)
   
2. The paint/dye is mixed to correctly match the colour/shade of our Sofas.
   
3. The paint/dye is applied in the required number of coats to the correct thickness.
   
4. The repair areas are sealed after coating.
   
5. The repairs are guaranteed for a minimum of 1 year and any other areas of the Sofas that show similar signs of peeling in the next 3 years will also be repaired free of charge to the same standard.
   

Early indications are that they are not going to agree to this and also not give me any guarantees.

Since researching leather finishes I have discovered that these sofas are pigmented leather (painted and lacquered) and that oils from the scalp can cause peeling. As putting your head on the headrest is a natural thing to do and as I was never told this when I purchased the sofas, can I request a refund or replacement under them being not fit for purpose? The sofas have been cleaned exactly to DFS’s requirements (dry wipe once a week and a 6 monthly clean with the leather cleaning kit supplied by DFS.

If DFS are not going to budge on their goodwill gesture, I would like to take this further and I am prepared to take it through the small claims card, but I am not sure if I have a case. Does anyone have more details on similar cases that have successfully gone through the small claims courts that I could cite in further correspondence to DFS?