Furniture Village - Preston — Hotel in South Ribble

We ordered a 4 seater sofa from Alison over a video call during the lockdown. We were introduced to her, following an online viewing of the sofa. Alison was also adamant that we only ordered from her as she gets commission, even though we were unaware that all our dealings would need to be with the Preston branch. We live in Slough, and now this will be a huge inconvenience to me.

We made Alison fully aware that the delivery address was a flat and that we live on the 5th floor of the building. We recall our call very well, where we informed Alison that we will be living in a new development and it may be difficult to find, so we can leave notes to help the delivery drivers. Alison re-assured us several times that the delivery team are ‘great’ and they will be able to deliver the sofa with no issues. We also asked if there would be any issues with the sofa being delivered upstairs, and again she confirmed that the team are experienced in delivering into flats so they will be able to fit the sofa. We were re-assured and quite happy to hear that.

The delivery drivers have now attempted to deliver this sofa twice to our address and have not been able to fit the sofa into our flat due to its size. In fact, they were unable to make it above ground floor. The delivery men refused to use the staircase and informed us that we are responsible for measuring the passages and doorways of the building, which was something we were not informed by Alison.

We fully appreciate sales teams are focused on sales but this is appalling customer service on Alison's side. Not only did she mis-advise us, but she also did not feel the need to tell me or at least warn us that the sofa is large and that there may be issues with delivery into a building of flats. Not only this, but Alison could have offered us a split-sofa initially which we would have happily purchased, had we known this would have been easier to transport.

To express our disappointment and frustration we decided to call Alison and discuss the unfortunate situation we found ourselves in. We were shocked with the tone and attitude Alison had in her voice. Instead of apologising to us for the trouble this has caused us, she ignored our complaint, even after we told her that we had to take time out of work for this delivery only to be disappointed. When we asked Alison why she re-assured us that the delivery would take place easily, she implied that we were lying and that was shocking to us as a customer.

To escalate this matter we raised a complaint about Alison's poor customer service and the situation to the Preston General Manager - Chris, who did not seem too concerned about the mishap and did not even bother to speak to us over the phone to resolve the situation. Instead he chose to communicate with us via email with a vague and unapologetic tone. Similarly to Alison, Chris tried to push the blame on to us as customers for not measuring our building, instead of trying to find a resolution. He did offer us the split version of the sofa, at no extra cost, but continued to refuse our request to have a conversation over the phone. All we wanted was a sincere apology from Chris or Alison and for our sofa to be delivered to our address as a priority (whether that was the split version or the non-split version). The lack of communication from the Preston branch is so poor, it has been more than a week since this incident and no one has been in contact with us to inform us what is happening. Furthermore, no one seems to answer my phone call either so I am unaware of what is going on with my order. To escalate this matter further we contacted the general customer services who were not much...

We bought the Ottoman bed from this store in a Superking size, the sale and delivery went smooth, the guys turned up and built it within an hour and left, no issues except they couldn't get the bottom lining on properly due to restrictions moving it around in the room, not fussed by that we continued to use the bed, 5 days later we were sat up in bed and I moved to adjust myself and the base collapsed with a clunk, me and my pregnant girlfriend had to pull the mattress off to find there was a 5-6 inch little piece of wood supporting the entire base? I called to complain and was told that someone would contact me regarding this, that was 2 weeks ago, weve had to shove a pillow down the back of the headboard to stop it from flexing and pulling the little piece of wood away from the base, not what you expect for £2000!! Now the bed base has a dip in it which is giving me back ache, the whole reason we bought a new bed was because the old one was hurting my back, bit not as much as this is..£2000 for worse back ache? 😕..We just want to return it but they are now shut for Christmas..Nice one 👍

Update.......09/01/2020

We've tried ringing several times but nobody answers the phone, I left a voicemail with my order number and telephone because the answer machine said they aim to reply within 48 hrs but nothing? I then used the chat function on the website and was given the store managers email, I emailed him and waited a few days with no reply, I went back on chat and the agent said they would esculate my email to the regional manager, that was over a week ago, still nothing. Looks like I will have to go in the store because calling and emailing doesn't seem to work!!!

I know people have given them 5 stars for great service etc but wait until it breaks, you'll soon change your mind!

14/02/2020

So we had the new general manager call us to say how sorry he was and how the old manager had left or been sacked and he was going to put everything right, we thought about it and decided to give them a second chance, we went down to the store and chose a different base and mattress, everything seemed ok..A couple of weeks passed and we got a call from the delivery warehouse in Preston saying the bed would be delivered on the 31st Jan...Great we thought...we then got a call saying actually it won't be delivered because they don't actually have it at the warehouse???? We spoke to the Preston store and they said silent night don't know anything about the order? We was then told that they won't send it untill we had paid for it but nobody knew how much it was going to be? What the hell is going on in that store? Fast forward to today after trying to cancel the finance for the original order which hadn't been done yet we get a phone call saying that unfortunately the mattress we chose in store was dropped up in a puddle and it's been written off and it won't be delivered on Sunday? What a load of rubbish, we was then offered a choice of two other matresses and was asked to go into the store for a 3rd time to try them out?

This is an absolute shambles of a place.

We are now in a finance agreement for £2000 for a bed we don't even have and £788 down for a bed and mattress that now isn't being delivered as we asked.

All this is happening whilst my 5 month pregnant girlfriend climbs up and down off an old matress on the floor which is putting strain on her stomach.

To say I'm fuming is an understatement!!!!

And if the general manager makes any more sexual comments regarding our bed I will sue him for sexual...

AVOID, or use at your own peril.

Placed an order around Febuary time with Furniture Village. We found a sofa online that we liked the look of, whilst me and my partner was discussing the various options live chat popped up and before you know it one of their assistant was on the phone to us offering a little discount and to get the order in. We went ahead and was told it would be 12 weeks. At this time I did clarify with the agent that we could exchange or return the item should it not be suitable.

Fast forward to 12 weeks later. Our new sofa turns up. Unfortunately, the colour isnt an accurate match, much lighter than we expected and its is not comfortable at all.

We decided the very same day that we wanted to return it. This is where everything took a turn. No answer on live chat, repeatedly. When I eventually get through to someone they tell me my order was placed at the Preston store and to call them. I try ringing the store, no answer (it has been this way for two weeks!)

I then write on twitter and tag the official page, someone reaches out to me fairly quickly but once again directs me to the Preston branch, I explain no one is answering. Lewis who did try and help via twitter said he would arrange a callback within 72 hours. Nothing.

I then tried the contact form on the website, again promised a callback within 72 hours. Nothing.

I explained all this to live chat, after a substantial wait, who again directed me to the Preston branch and arranged a callback. Nothing.

Today I called the main number, I explained the perdicament and before I could finish saying "please don't just transfer me to Preston" they put me through to that same number that rings out.

I have now exhausted all avenues bar writing a letter and contacting our credit card company to get involved.

Unfortunately, it appears too late for me, I am now a victim of the Furniture Village customer service scam, where you are left to ring out until the end of time. Save yourselves, buy somewhere else.

EDIT 14/06/2021

Our sofa was collected on 22/05/2021. We heard nothing for 2 weeks, so I endured the horrendous customer service once more to be told that they have been hacked and cannot perform refunds. Funnily enough they're still able to process NEW ORDERS and after requesting a callback, someone called to arrange delivery of my new sofa??! but we still cannot get a refund. Systems have now been down for 3 weeks, apparently. This is the scammiest of scam companies. DO...