We’re fed up with long wait for sofa
COUPLE SITTING ON GARDEN CHAIRS DURING DELAY
A FED-UP couple have hit out at a furniture retailer after having to dig out deckchairs to sit on following a five-month wait for their new £2,000 settee.
Victoria and Jason Barber splashed out on a new corner sofa from Harveys Furniture in October 2018.
Mrs Barber, of Bilton, said: “They said they ordered it from Asia and said I had a 12-week wait. They said I might get it for Christmas, which I said was fine, but that has not happened and I’m still waiting now.”
The 39-year-old fell in love with the sofa after seeing it on display at the St Andrews Quay store, and thought it might arrive in January.
She sold her existing sofa to a friend in preparation for the delivery, but was a dealt a huge blow when the store delayed the distribution of the item.
“They’ve just kept postponing it,” Mrs Barber said. “They sent a text message saying the order is not ready for delivery and asked me to ring them to sort out a new delivery date.
“When it got nearer and nearer to each new date I would ring up because knew it wouldn’t happen and that they wouldn’t have it in the warehouse and wouldn’t be able to deliver it on that date.
“It has gone on like that six or seven times and we’ve been sitting on sun loungers that my mum has given us.”
Mr Barber, who works as a builder, has found it difficult sitting on the garden chairs due to back pain. The doctor has had to increase Mr Barber’s morphine prescription. After the Barbers contacted Harveys to complain, the furniture giant sent them a loan chair to use until the sofa was delivered.
The couple are in the process of redecorating their home and have been able to finish every room of the house apart from the lounge, with work stalled until the sofa is delivered.
After a series of postponements, the Barbers said they offered to drive to the warehouse to pick up the sofa themselves and even to buy a bed from Harveys as a way to speed up the process.
However, both of these suggestions were turned down and, after wrangling on the phone with the store, Mrs Barber was able to secure a new delivery date for March 26.
She said: “They just need to be honest with their customers and not give them a 12-week date if they are having problems and issues with the distributor in Asia.”
After friends of the Barbers were able to purchase the same Brooklyn corner sofa for a cheaper price, Harveys knocked £243 off the £2,000 fee as part of the company’s Price Match Guarantee.
The couple have also been told they will be awarded £200 compensation.
A spokesman for Harveys said: “We were very sorry to hear about the delays with Mrs Barber’s order.
“Unfortunately, a delay in the supply chain meant her sofa should have been delivered on the January 19 and will now be delivered on March 26. An offer from the store to loan her the missing goods was rejected on March 4 and we have since been in touch with Mrs Barber to agree a solution.
“As her sofa is now in our warehouse, along with the media unit later ordered, we will be delivering both of the items together on March 26.
“We additionally offered £200 of compensation, along with a £243 price-match reduction off the total cost of her order. This offer of a total of £443 has now been accepted.
“We take customer service very seriously and always aim to make our customers happy.”