Land of Leather

[JunipaJen]

I am surprised to learn that others have had a similar problem from Land of Leather, can I ask which sofa it was?

 

I purchased a Land of Leather, three piece, brown leather sofa called Margaret last year and it was delivered on 23rd Dec 2006. (£799 deal). After (roughly) 6 months I noticed that the three seater's frame had dipped in the middle. Only now at the 10 month stage did I learn about this 6 month rule of refund on workmanship. I am unsure of the first date when I reported the fault. The couch has not been miss-used in any sense. It is used by 2 adults, no kids.

 

I have had three repair men out and I am still not satisfied. The first repair man put a foot in the middle that didn't even touch the floor. (I was not present at this repair). The second man gave the frame a foot in the middle that did push the frame up wards which was ok for a while but then became like a see-saw. Now that the frame is bent, I think that the couch is unrepairable, this was admitted by the last repair man, although he said that my floor surface did not help the problem. He says that because my floor is uneven (not my fault - in a brand new property with new flooring) this has resulted in the couch frame dipping in the middle, which is rubbish, the matter of fact is that there was no support in the middle of the couch and that is why it has dipped.

 

I am still awaiting a reply from Land of Leather and it is coming up to the 12 month stage (Dec 23rd), then they will not want to know. I would be happy with a replacement but I would only be happy with the same model (with support in the middle), however, I know that they do not make this model anymore. I don't like any other styles from the store and would only be happy at this stage with a full refund, however, I think my chances are really slim.

 

Does anyone know where I stand or how I can get help. I have tried going to the store but the staff are really snotty and the Manager is NEVER available. If this couch had support in the middle from the start I would never of had any problems. I don't understand why they make them like this.

 

Can anyone offer any advice of anyone who can fight this battle for me as I feel I am getting nowhere and I am not strong when it comes to complaining.

[Malsan]

I also bought my suite from LOL and took the Homeserve £200 warranty. All was well until my husband accidently ripped the leather when moving the chair. I contacted Homeserve who came out and removed the cover so that it could be repaired. Couple of months went by and I chased and was told that they couldn't get replacement navy leather but would give us money to go and buy a new chair. After much haggling they finally agreed to pay out just over £1600 to replace the £4000 suite but said that they would collect the furniture that we currently have. We refused this offer as unable to replace the 3 seater and 2 armchairs for that amount. Finally agreed on £500 settlement and the return of the original cover and we would get someone else to repair. Technician returned to replace cover but couldn't do it as the cover should have been returned to us by Homeserve via post. Phoned them up to chase and was told that they had lost the cover a few months ago! Any advice as to what to do now?

[JunipaJen]

The BEST advice I can give anyone is steer clear of LAND OF LEATHER and spread the word to everyone! However, like myself upon purchasing a suite I was unaware of their bad reputation. If you continue to complian and threaten them they will carry on doing their best to ignore you, give you excuses and blurt out all the usual crap about company policies.

 

So, as I was in your shoes feeling like there was no where left to turn when someone recommended to me my local radio station (BBC Radio Merseyside) they have a team of experts and volunteers called the A-Team who offer consumer advice.

 

As soon as I emailed them with my problem, they called me asking for a few more details and they called Land of Leather and within a few days I had a full refund. I don't know how they did it but I guess the legal knowledge and threat of exposure (bad press) helped!

 

So, I would highly recommend looking into your local BBC radio station or citizens advice beauro. These companies think they can do whatever they like to rip us off and think we will back down when they quote their company policy to us. But don't despair there is always a local organisation who can help and it is the best way to fight back these big rip-off bullies!

 

Good Luck and let me know how it all works out!

[lisac1836]

Hi everyone I am new to this site and may have posted in the wrong spot, I am fed up with land of leather my 3 seater sofa bows in the middle and all the seats have gone flat (lost all resiliency) it is 2yrs old. Could you tell me were I can get template letters to threaten land of leather and homeserve, as i just arent getting anywere they keep passing the buck.

 

Lisa:mad:

[JunipaJen]

Hi Lisa,

 

As I mention above there is no use arguing with Land of Leather, you need a greater force on your side. They will just ignore your threats.

 

Just put in writing exactly what has happened (include all dates etc) and contact your local newspaper or radio station. They will be able to fight the case for you. It worked for me!!!

 

good luck!

 

Jen

[seylectric]

Well surprise surprise, 2 years on and the repair agents, Homeserve, have now been out no less than FOUR times for FOUR seperate but similar faults - collapsing seats - and the barely-used middle seat of the three-seater has now gone for the second time (when I say barely used I'll bet it isn't sat on once a month!). Add to this one missed appointment, no reason or apology given, for which I waited in all day.

 

Because of other, far more serious issues in my life I haven't got around to doing anything about this yet, but because the suite is uncomfortable and unusable and we both suffer from back problems (perhaps unsurprisingly), I now have to.

 

So I rang LoL yesterday and asked to speak to the manager. The girl who answered simply told me to ring Homeserve when given details of the problem. I said that wasn't good enough, I can't keep taking a day off work at my own expense every time the suite develops the same fault, and that it clearly wasn't going to stand the test of time once the paid-for 5 year warranty ran out. At that point she simply asked me to contact trading standards and hung up. The whole conversation lasted less than 20 seconds!

 

I did contact Trading Standards, who locally I have always found to be, well not particularly helpful shall we say (they once told me that there was nothing I could do about it when I bought - and paid cash for - a display-model washing machine then was told I couldn't collect it for three weeks by the store as they needed it for the display). In the case of LoL, Trading Standards said there was nothing I could do now "after all this time".

 

So I'm now going to be filing a claim against LoL, as per Legal Bob's post earlier in the thread. I will post the eventual results here.

[Trav]

Hi Lisa - did you get anywhere with this ? My LOL sofa is also sinking in the middle and homeserve have said it's normal wear and tear and they only cover excessive loss of resiliency (sofa is about 2.5 years). They refuse to send anyone else out. I am now going to request the technicians reports. The letter I got back talks about softening of the cushions when you can actually feel that the frame is warped. Call centre referred to a manufacturing defect but it's not mentioned in the letter.

[JunipaJen]

Hello Trav,

 

Have you seen my previous posts regarding this problem. I had the exact same problem but got it resoved. I had 3 different technicians out and they all said that a 3 seater should have support in the middle - which most 3 seater sofas do, however mine from LOL didn't.

 

It would be helpful to you to read previous posts and maybe print out as evidence that it is happening to other LOL customers to help your case. you need to prove that it should have had support in the middle of the frame to stop it bowing!!!

 

My advice is to go to local BBC radio station (like I did) or Citizens Advice or Consumer Helpline (08454 040506)

 

The faster you do it, the better as you have had it for over 2 years, my case was just over 6 monhs which helped in retrieving a refund.

 

Good Luck with your case!

[star2]

hi bob

just wondering if you could give me some advice as i bought a leather suite in november 2007 and in november 2008 it started coming away at the seams on several cushions it is hardly used as we r mostly at work. I took some photographs of this fault and took them in to land of leather i paid on a buy now pay later it was in the sale at £1800 i also took out the gold insurance which meant it is covered for this problem but when the technician came out to look at it he said it wasnt the seams as it was a leather match what had come away from the suite and there surance wont cover this as he told me to go back to land of leather as they would have to sort it out but as you no land of leather of gone into administration i have been told that the finance company creation are equally liable for my claim i was wondering if you could help me draft a letter to them to get a response as i am just being passed from pillar to post we cant afford to get another as i struggled to get this one and thought it should last longer than it as i would be really grateful for your help thankyou janette

[edwolf88]

have been having very bad experiances with homeserve for the last eight months. i get the same answers as everyone else on these diffrent forums not covered through bad workmenship or wear and tear. my sofa is 2 year old and we cannot sit on it as the springs on two cusions have gone. they say its not extensive enough for a repair. we have a small room wich can only fit a 3 seater sofa and a chair. so with 2 seats unusable on the sofa is not good enough.

im going to contact consumer program on tv advise u do same.

[martinwhite]

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