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Having spent good money on Laura Ashley's Kingston Sofa and a matching arm chair, in Caitlin velvet fabric, it's disappointing that after only one year of use (based on a single person's use) that all the seat cushions have lost their "guts" in the middle and sag.
On contacting Laura Ahsley's customer service department, the initial response was "we don't guarantee the quality of our sofa cushions beyond 4 months"! after my horrified response in return, I escalated my complaint through to supervisor level.
After many more calls and chasing up and finally getting a supervisor to take ownership of the problem, their best suggestion was for me to send a seat cushion to them in Wales for weighing and checking! at my inconvenience and hassle... they reluctantly agreed for me to take it to a store who would then spend a week sending it to customer services and I'd wait a further week for it to be sent back to me.. that would equate to 2 weeks without use of my sofa... I could see little value in doing this since the review of the product would not be independant and on asking how many "cases" result in "inferior" quality, the response was, rarely.. so clearly there was little point in going to all the hassle.
I took the time to take some close up photos of the seat cushions and emailed over to the supervisor on my case... this didn't seem to help my cause, even though she thought it woudl be worth doing...
After further complaining, they reluctantly sent their "own" inspector out to look at the cushions and weigh them on site to ensure that the cushion fillers were of the right material in the first place and to the required weight.. naturally as you can imagine the response was that they were to spec and the inspector filed his report. I refused to sign the paperwork to accept this decision and their response to this end is that they are not obliged to assist any further.
After 6 phone calls, a number of emails later and the visit to my house, i embarked on moving house so had to leave the matter disappointedly.
I have since been to an upholstery and soft specialist in Fleet who has re-filled the seat cushions and transformed them.. they confirmed that the filling laura ashley use is not fit for purpose and they have to re-fill more from Laura Ashley than any other sofa retailer!
A no win situation... lovely looking sofas and chairs.. but quality not there sadly.. and NO customer service after care!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I can absolutely understand where you are coming from. We recently purchased two Laura Ashley sofa and after just 4 weeks have complained. the standard and quality of what we have received here at home is totally different to that in the showroom. we to have had the standard man out to weigh the cusions and yes according to him they are within the industrial requirements. However the sofa are uncomfortable and the material creases and stay creased even after puffing as they suggest. we are going into the shop tomorrow, who have washed their hands of us even though we chose this well known name. I am thinking of contact watch dog.
I am glad I am not the only one who is completely disappointed with their Laura Ashley sofa! I wrote to them to express my disappointment and got a reply which was an attempt to wash their hands of the situation, it just infuriated me even more as they clearly had not read the contents of my letter! I have written to them three more times and no reply!
I also do not see how weighing a cushion achieves anything, surely it would weigh the same regardless of where the stuffing has moved to?!
My sofa is crap too, they included a note telling me to plump the cushions every day. I have ajob already thank you. Will be complaining
I bought a leather chesterfield from Laura Ashley and complained to them after seven weeks of use as the wadding/stuffing is inadequate. The sofa has therefore sagged already and the buttons on the seat are almost invisible due to the flattening of the leather. Because of the lack of filling, the wood at the front seat of the sofa can be clearly felt. So not only does the sofa look bad but it feels bad too. I have had their technician out who has clearly noted all the above faults but has recommended "no further action as it is the nature of the product". I take this to mean one can't plump it up as it does not have cushions. Laura Ashley as usual refusing to do anything further. This cost £990 in their half price sale. What a crock! The sofa is not fit for purpose and I am trying to get my money back using section 75 which holds my credit card provider jointly responsible for the sale of this sofa. I also think its time Laura Ashley was highlighted in the press for their appalling stance on this issue. I will do my utmost to get a settlement and will write an update to this blog. Thanks for listening.
I eventually had resolution where Laura Ashley replaced all the seat pads for our three piece suite. They didn't admit there was a problem though. The suite is a million times better and looks smart again although not exactly comfy. Pursue your complaints. Their sofas are unfit for purpose and they know it!
Sooo glad I read these comment!. We had our Kendal (fabric upholstered) sofas in the autumn of 2010 and quickly realised their "plumping"" instructions only half solved the problem. Incidentally, these instructions were stapled to the back of the delivery paperwork which meant that we had no prior warning. We soon realised that although we are both fi, we are OAP's and the plumping is nothing short of a vigorous "workout". When I searched the type of filling (Dacron Quallofil) in order to obtain some more to top-up the seat pads the search came up with "... filling for cushions, pillows and duvets! ... " Again, Laura Ashley customer service denied all knowledge, but did ask that we send a seat pad back (at their cost) which we did. Result -" nothing wrong, all as it should be". We have since purchased a quantity of filling and have topped up the departmentalised cushion pads. We shouldn't have had to do this with furniture as costly as it was. On reflection, we definitely would not have purchased them if we were aware of the "weekly plumping" exercise beforehand.
Totally agree with all comments. I've had my Laura Ashley Kingston sofas for 2 weeks and they're without doubt the most uncomfortable sofas I've ever sat on. You feel like you're sliding off them! Haven't bothered to complain as their customer service is appalling. Wish I'd read these reviews first. DO NOT BUY!
I bought two Hudson sofas in caitlin off white velvet chenille. They arrived with very creased areas where something during transport had pressed against them - surely the most expensive range of upholstery fabric should not crease like this - the seat cushions were like rock I have sciatica and my left leg went completely dead with pins and needles after sitting on it for 20 mins - within one day I realised I had made a terrible mistake buying two sofas I could not sit on without pain. I rang LA and and they sent an unpleasant man came round who said this type of fabric creases and remains creased - and the seat cushions would soften eventually - I explained I could not sit on them to soften them up so how would they soften - he advised me to put (my off white velvet cushions) on the floor and walk on them to soften them ! Eventually he agreed I could send the creased cushions covers back and LA would make new ones - I decided I would pay whatever it costed to get an upholsterer to refill the new cushions with something softer. But amazingly LA lost my cushion covers and could not guarantee new cushions would match my sofa so after I burst into tears when they told me it was the happiest day when then offered to collect both sofas. Tears turned to joy. They have both gone and I am looking for new sofas I can actually sit on,
Just going through a dispute with LA over seat cushion quality now, Lyndon Sofa, not even a year old and the seat cushions look like a some sort of cheap supermarket duvet, that if you catch your finger on will easily tear. Disgusted at the quality when I chose LA for quality in the first place, over the cheaper sofa suppliers. It was not cheap. Customer service so far (one call) has been very questionable - looks like I have a battle on my hands!
I also have problems with my Laura Ashley sofas...I have two! I saw those of a friend in Surrey and couldn't believe how much better than mine hers were. My sofas are not even two years old and the seat cushions are sagging. I came on here thinking that I would get some advice and am dismayed to find the array of complaints against these products. I only wish I had checked prior to buying! Yes, I have been plumping the cushions and this makes a difference but only for an hour or so.
I had the same problem with my sofa. Seat cushions sagged as soon as they were sat upon. I was also told to plump everyday! Two sofas and an armchair with back and seat cushions! How much time do they imagine I have to remove cushions, plump and reassemble? But I have also had problems with painted furniture. A white desk was delivered with a poorly painted and damaged top. They asked me if it showed. I said 'Yes, it's the top!' Presumably they were going to suggest it doesn’t matter if the damage is not immediately visible. Unused bedside tables in a guest room developed hard, raised blisters from underneath the surfaces. I was told I had damaged them but they couldn’t tell me what I was supposed to have done to create these hard raised lumps. (The lumps are equi-distant from the edge of each bedside table. Caused by screws fixing the top to the frame?)
Laura Ashley customer service is the worst I have encountered in my life. (And I used to head up a national customer service centre so I do know my subject.) It's as if they have been trained in 'How to be obstructive and save the company money'. I find that even more offensive than selling poor quality, defective furniture at extortionate prices.