dibby v Exclusive Leather Sofas

[dibby]

Firstly well done to Sharon1t for securing a refund from Exclusive Leather Sofas. :grin:

 

I'm having a similar problem with ELS. I bought a sofa and chair back in September 2006 - paid for up front and in full (£2700 for the furniture and an extra £50 for delivery!). I was assured by the 'friendly' salesman that delivery would definiately be before Christmas. Of course this did not happen. I get a telephone call from them just before the holidays to tell me that the furniture would not be arriving before Christmas. OK!

 

I hear nothing further from them. I rang them 12th January 2007 to be told that 'the person dealing with this' was not in the store and that she would call me back. Of course she never did.

 

Prior to this, on 8th January 2007 I had spoken with a guy at this store (Cannock branch) who said that upon looking at the paperwork he could see that the sofa and chair had indeed just arrived in the UK that morning and that he would call me in a couple of weeks with a delivery date. This was not acceptable to me and I guessed that I was being told lies. So I called the store back a couple of days later and spoke to another person. I asked whether or not she could 'see' if the furniture was in the UK from her paperwork (not mentioning that I had been told this). She said she couldn't establish this unless she called the manufacturers. So, one person told me the furniture was here, the other person contradicted this information. So, I'm worried now.

 

I told the person on the phone that I intended to cancel the order. She informed me 'the manager' was out but that she would pass on the message. Of course nobody called me back. I wrote to them expressing my disatisfaction and outlined the reason for wanting a full refund. I heard nothing from them.

 

I got in touch with Consumer Direct (linked to Trading Standards). I sent ELS's a 'Time of The Essence' letter saying that I would agree to accept delivery by 26th January 2007. After that, they were in breach of contract. Again, no response from them. I next called them on 2nd February 2007 to be told that they were NOT going to give me a refund. The 'manager' said that she didn't know what the problem was because they were 'trying to organise delivery'. In effect, they are totally ignoring my letters. I told her that unless I am refunded, that I will take them to court. She sarcastically informed me that that is my perogative.

 

Basically, they have had £2749.99 of mine for over five months. I hav no furniture and they refuse to refund me. I've paid for their credit details online which shows several name changes and CCJs, although their credit worthiness is good, apparently.

 

My next step is court. I suspect that they will take me to the brink before issuing me with a refund - that's if they dont go pop in the meantime.

 

So, be warned. Avoid EXCLUSIVE LEATHER SOFAS at all costs.

 

I'll keep you all posted. Sorry for the lengthy post.

[rosiecotton]

No further advice as everything you've been told and done so far is spot on, but do keep us updated.

[dibby]

Received a call from ELS this afternoon from a very angry and aggresive manager. She has seen my posting and basically rang to give me a grilling. She tells me that all they have ever done is try to organise delivery of my furniture. But that I have refused delivery. It really does astound me. For most of the the past 22 weeks I have been waiting and chasing up delivery of this furniture. My calls were not returned, and when I DID eventually speak to the manager a couple of weeks back she was unhelpful and sarcastic.

 

She has informed me this afternoon that they are sending me a letter informing me that delivery will take place this month (I believe she said). I told her I gave them a deadline and that deadline has passed. But she didn't particularly want to hear what I said to her.

 

My claim form has been returned to court today and I will let a court decide this outcome.

 

She claimed that she is unable to post up a comment on this forum because it would 'just be deleted'. But I'm not sure if she has tried. I for one would welcome any comments made by ELS. This is an open forum and I would like to think a fair one.

 

I dont think my complaints and my request for a refund is unreasonable. In fact it's five months tomorrow since I paid for this furniture.

[dibby]

I have began court proceedings on this one which has cost me a further £120 so far. Exclusive Leather Sofas are defending the claim and have filed an Acknowledgement of Service. Basically this gives them 28 days to provide their defence details.

 

Referring back to the abusive telephone call I received from the store 'manager' in Feb, she informed me (or should I say spat at me) that they would be delivering my furniture on 27th February. And that she was sending me a letter confirming this (prior to this when I complained that they never communicated with me by phone or letter, she had told me that it wasn't company policy to send out letters).

 

When I tried to explain that the deadline had passed, she ignored me. I did receive a letter from her in the post the following morning - the one and only ever. But it was addressed to someone entirely different. I returned the letter to them (keeping a copy) and heard nothing further.

 

I cant fathom WHY they are operating in this way. You know, if they'd only kept me abreast of the situation and been honest with me, I would probably have chosen another suite from them. But when my calls and letters were not answered, I knew something was very wrong.

[biffa99]

Dibby

 

We have almost exactly the same situation and the manager (boulton) has informed me that she looks forward to recieving the court summons and that as we are not listening to her(!) she has ordered me a new sofa anyway. We had a sofa delivered in February but it was so poorly made it was dangerous, especially with kids around. Our initial rejection was made on delivery to a chap at the store who seemed quite helpful. He was then sacked according the the manager for stuffing up the order in the first place.

 

We have filed court papers and will be looking forward to taking this one to the wire.

 

Biffa99

[love2]

I wish I knew were ELS find the time to play games with people, and having to go in and out of court. from what I have read, they should be in court 7 days a week for ripping people off like this. I must print off some of these comments to show Trading Standards when I visiit then next.

[dibby]

Update on my dispute with Exclusive Leather Sofas.

 

My court papers were sent to ELS on 27th February 2007. ELS immediately defended the claim on the same day which gave them a further 28 days to file their own particulars.

 

I was informed by the court on 6th March (one week later) that they had received a cheque from ELS for the full amount of my claim, plus court costs of £120. I received a cheque from the court on 31st March 2007.

 

I am happy to say that this vile experience is behind me now - despite suffering considerable stress and having to wait 7 months for my refund.

 

I knew this company was going to take me to the brink before paying up. This appears to be their method (see other posts). I would urge anyone having similar problems with ELS not to give up and to pursue your claim to the end.

 

I would like to thank Consumer Action Group for enabling us (the consumer) to post up our experiences with this particular store. I hope that it helps other members of the public avoid such experiences - if they have the foresight to do a search on this company before parting with any money.

 

Good luck to everyone else who are sadly having to fight with this company. I wish you well.

[DivineRetribution]

Hi there,

 

Welcome to some exciting news. I, up until recently, worked for ELS. What do you guys want to know. i will tell you no lies, but WILL tell the truth

 

DivineRetribution

[Darren]

Well done Dibby

 

Another win for the consumer, lets show these companies that we cant be pushed around. I'm currently in battle with Land of leather, usual rubbish - made a complaint two days after delivery and told it was 'wear and tear' they have until 14th or they'll be getting a court summons as well.

[biffa99]

Well done dibby - once again this supports the fact that Exclusive Leather Sofas in Cannock operate in this manner as a norm as a really shoddy trader.

 

Divine retribution I hope you are relieved not to be working for this company anymore. We did have dealings with a nice bloke there who got the sack shortly into our dispute. ELS staff blamed him for the errors (completely untrue and we did discuss in the store our dismay at this sacking) and I really knew then the business ethics of this company were gutteral when I found out what had happened!!!

 

I am most interested in:-D ELS pseudenoms on these sites. There have been Loby Lou and DFSSALES as well as others on the click2complain site - (make sure you put lots of thumbs down postings for ELS). They really should not get any positive air time at all and in fact this sort of spineless pretence speaks for itself. Loby lou never did take me up on my offer to meet up........

 

As dibby puts so well.... dealing with this company was traumatic to say the least and I would hate anyone else to have dealings with them. They should either change their trading practice or be forced out of business - either of which will stop it happening to anyone else. I tell everyone I know about this company and in my line of work I meet a lot of people.

[DivineRetribution]

LoubyLou worked for the company for years. Had a really good relationship with the owners dad (the original owner who is a nice enough bloke), but a ****e one with the current owner (the owners arrogant son). i worked at the Cannock store, Lou worked at Bham. Not much difference. tho' i was surprised she was so nice after the way she was treated at the end. dont know the full story but she was well slagged off all over the company. Sad really. i had the impression that she did loads of work at Bham trying to keep things going..... But after the way i was treated i am not really surprised at the reaction she got after she left. I will go and have a look at click2complain and may join in the action there.

 

As to the general comments about customer service its mostly down to arrogant and selfish management practices. The workers are under so much pressure to lie to customers that its a wonder they hold on to any staff at all......

 

yours honestly

DivineRetribution

The Truth, The WHOLE Truth and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH>>!!!!!!!

[DivineRetribution]

Hi, be warned. Retribution is a wonderful thing, but only if you are careful.

 

ELS was a shocking place for me to work. If anyone has anything to ask about this company just let me know and i will help any way i can. Having worked at the heart of the company i know how it works and can answer most of your questions.

I will say this in fairness. In my time there hundreds of orders passed through the company and although the service departments were always busy there were never that many comaplinants. You always do get a few who will do nothing but complain from the begining.

HOWEVER, that is no excuse for the attitude i saw used with customers, both directly and over the telephone. The management practices were severe, both for the customer and staff alike. The staff work on one principle alone, and i doubt it will ever change. that was:

"I am the boss, you do it the way i tell you to do it and that's it. Your thoughts and opinions on my practices are irrelevant. Do it this way or dont come to work".

That about sums up working at ELS.

 

Your truly, awaiting questions.

Divine Retribution

[dibby]

Hi DivineRetribution

 

I'm not entirely sure what you mean when you say:

 

"Hi, be warned. Retribution is a wonderful thing, but only if you are careful."

 

I think you are the only person here who has used this term in conjunction with ELS. I dont quite know why you are warning us either (?).

 

Thank you for your offer of information on this company DR (you obviously feel slighted by the treatment you received whilst working there), but there is nothing further I wish to know about Exclusive Leather Sofas.

 

I hope you have found another job that you are happier in.

 

Dibby

[Exclusive Leather Sofas]

To all concerned,

 

After being recently notified of the contining threads on this, and other web sites, we have decided to give our email users a point of contact that they can use directly within the company to air their views and otherwise get resolution for their problems. We are a family run business and greatly value our clients and are dismayed by the reports on this, and other web sites, that have recently appeared.

If you have any queries regarding an order or enquiry with our business then please feel free to email your grievances to the following email address and we will be only too happy to do our best to help you.

 

 

Thank you

Exclusive Leather Sofas

[biffa99]

Please see other threads on ELS. Do not let ELS divert their bad press off this important advice website.

[dibby]

"If you have any queries regarding an order or enquiry with our business then please feel free to email your grievances to the following email address and we will be only too happy to do our best to help you."

 

Hmm, I suspect ELS would rather any 'problems' be kept private and away from this site.

 

Note to ELS. I would assume that the people who have posted on this website have indeed tried to sort the problem out with your first - before having to resort to posting here. If you value your customers, as you say you do, then you have to act as though you do.

 

And that's where a website such as this comes into it's own. It highlights bad business practices.

 

ELS, your business IS your customers and you cannot continue to treat even 1% of them in this manner.

 

As I've said in a previous posting, if your store had kept me informed and explained the situation, I would have happily chosen another sofa that WAS available. Instead, my calls were never returned and I was lied to time and time again. I was screamed at by your store manager when asking for a refund. It was disgusting. Perhaps you ought to start by rectifying your staffing situation at Cannock Branch.

[scooby123]

I totally agrre with the previous two comments.

It is important to let other unsuspecting people know the problems that they may face when purchasing from this company.

It is interesting to see ELS that you say you are a family run company, we were also told this when we made our purchase from you. I would just like to point out that we have a family company and if we treated our customers the way that you do then we would be out of business very quickly. Word of mouth is the best advertising for a company such as yours, you need to work hard to make sure that 100% of your customers will pass on positive recomendations about you.

Luckily sites like these exist to make sure that people can make an informed choice.