I am seeking advice regarding the following:

My girlfriend and I were shopping for some leather sofas for our new home last month. We tried all of the typical furniture retailers and made comparisons in price. We then walked into Land of Leather where they had a special offer on a particular 3 & 2 seater recliner set. The price was £500 for the pair so we thought it was a good deal and was keen to question the sales assistant.

We mentioned that we were interested in the sofas and it seemed like a good deal which he assured us it was. We asked why they were so cheap and he told us they were advertised on TV and it was an incentive to get people in the store, which he said had worked. We then mentioned that the new house we were moving into may not fit the 3 seater sofa to which he said this wouldn't be a problem and that the 3 seater could be changed to a 2 seater if it didn't fit.

With this assurance we then went and setup the one year interest free credit on the sofas and we also took up the 5 year insurance plan as the sofas were so cheap anyway. However after checking the measurements at our new house and calling to check sofa sizes we confirmed that the 3 seater would definitely not fit into our lounge. I suggested that I wanted to change the order so that we would receive 2 x 2 seaters. They said the order cannot be changed. When I spoke to the sales guy who sold them to us he said that the 3 seater would need to be converted to a 2 seater by one of their furniture specialists and that this would be an additional charge, We've also got to wait around 3 months for the sofas so what I don't understand is why they can't just change the order. Besides surely the 2 seater is cheaper so they would make more money!

Has anyone had a similar experience to this and how did you go about correcting this?

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Joe Burns

Know your enemy - Knowledge is power... This Google search may interest you. I couldn't find anything under Land of Leather searching this site.

Now I assume you have nothing in writing and other than you no one witnessed what the salesman said. You didn't measure up at home before you went on your expedition, a point a manager with disengenuous hearing would probably wangle into the conversation - we advise all our customers blah blah

The CAB will arrange for you to see a solicitor for haf an hour free.

Er... that's it from me. Good luck.

Yes you are correct in that nothing was put in writing to the effect that they would change the order and you are also correct in saying that it was just my girlfriend and I along with the salesman who were involved in the conversation. I have also looked at Consumer Direct and I believe that the Sales of Goods Act of 1979 will not help us to much because of the size aspect. So legally I think we're stuffed. Just looking for any other suggestions.

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Joe Burns

I am very disappointed in the sales executive I dealt with at your store (addressed to someone very senior)because he said one thing and then reneged on his word. I don't expect this from LOL a well respected household name. I would be most grateful if you would put this matter right asap.

As things stand I would not feel confident in recommending LOL to a circle of friends and acquaintances I have some sway over. Additionally whatever the outcome, for better or worse, I am obliged to post the salient points of this matter on an influential online forum with many thousands of members. Posting can lead to media attention as I have found in the past.

I very much hope that we can sort out this matter out amicably and that I will be able to recommend LOL with a clear conscience once this matter reaches its conclusion.

High quality letter beautifully laid out, not a mistake in site and RD. PLUS relevant info in date order. Eg made contact with salesman at 10:00 on... left at 10:30

Brilliant TY,

No charge either.

Thanks, I will give it a go.

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Joe Burns

Hi Joe

Sorry to hear about your experience, but me and my partner have had exactly the same experience too in the last fortnight at their Bolton branch.. so you arent alone in their dealings. We also want to drop the 3 seater for a 2 seater as it wont fit in the room. We ideally want 2 x 2 seaters. It seems I will have to have the 3 seater "modified" into a 2 seater, and at the back of my mind is the question of "How does this affect any future warranties if the product fails?"

Trying to discuss the problem with the Store manager is a total No-No as he has been one of the most unhelpful, rude guy I have ever met.. He certainly skipped class when they were teaching "Customer Satisfaction" classes.

I have changed my order now for a 3 + 2 seater which isnt as deep (3' instead of 3' 5") but the 3 seater will still need the mounting rail "modifying" to make it a 2 seater.

If you trawl the net Joe, you will find a host of horror stories from people dealing with Land of Leather (or LOL for short... hmmm who's Laughing Out Loud??) but also people who have been happy with their purchase too.

Swings & Roundabouts I guess..

Im not sure if you have sorted this but i will put this response in just in case you have not.Firstly thank god you signed a credit agreement. You have right to cancel they can not enforce that agreement if you have not recieved the goods and you have right to cancel that agreement.I had problems with this company. They use bully boy tactics to get you to accept your order. Tell them to take a hike. Their contract (not sure if it has changed) says if they cannot deliver it inside your property you have right to cancel. Easy thing dont open the door dont accept delivery. Write to the company head office and send the letter recorded delivery with your complaint and cancel your order officially in writing. Also write to the credit company again cancel it in writing. You can not enforce a credit agreement if you not have the goods. Land of leather dont get paid until that agreement is in force. Under the financial act you have rights of cancellation. THATS THE LAW. Im not sure but its up to 14 days after the agreement comes into force i believe.Write to them both an cancel. Say in your letter if you do not recieve a full refund and a letter confirming the cancellation you will put this matter in the county court without further reference to them.If they dont respond put it to the county court. IT Will cost them more time and money to defend this than to cancel it. It means their lawyers travelling to you. The court will side with you because as a corporation they know the law you dont.NEXT Go to the site companies house put In the name of the company your going to sue in county court. GET Their registered office address. WHY If they loose and the judgement goes against them. THIS will hurt them dearly.Next take court proceedings from the chair you are sitting in reading this.HOW. CLICK HERE. moneyclaim This will issue proceedings to their registered address you wont even have to leave home. Yes it will cost you but in the claim you ask for the cost of the whole agreement and you put in two co defendants.. ie. you put in land of leather and the credit company. You petition for the cost of the whole agreement plus any court costs. You will have that cancellation letter and your cheque faster than you can say JACK RABBIT. For them to defend this action will cost them more money and time etc than just to cancel the order and pay your court cost. ie. £50. I have taken on my house builders (laings) they settled out of court fixed my problems with my house and paid me £5k compensation.Ive taken on Currys this same way. They refunded my cheque for a vacuum and surround system and let me keep the goods after they could not deliver them in time and me chasing for nearly 1month. Ive also won against my old company For failing to pay my commission. THEY just send a cheque for £5k.The approach here is attack first ask questions later. THE WORST you can come out with here is to loose the court cost which is £50 and i will say it will be much less than the addional cost of cutting up that sofa a riddiculous thing to do.

From experience, I can advise you that you have had a lucky escape and saved yourself £500.

We bought Sofa's from Land of Leather last winter and just 5 months down the line the dark colouring
started to lift, I have been offered £100 compensation if I keep these sofa's or they take the sofa's immediately and deliver new ones in the next 3 months? and in the meantime we have nothing to sit on and we get charged £85 for usage!

So, I suggest that you spend a little more and buy from a reputable company and save a lot of head and heart aches.

Best of luck

I dont know if any one can help me i also purchased the £500 brown sofa from lol 26/4/07 we had the cash to pay but the sales assiatant told me to pay £100 dep £59 to the driver and then the balance to come in store and pay off he said we could have 12months interest free and we said great im sure we signed a credit agreement although we dont have it i can only find the sales invoice. We have phoned lol many times and been told its still not in stock. So its 31/8/07 and i have phoned them today to be told we have had your sofa since 15/8/07 and we could get in touch (well they have the right numbers for us) then i was told i need to come in store and pay the full amount before i get the sofa. I argued my case he said well i cant find a credit agreement the manager isnt in and the bloke who sold me the sofa doesnt work there anymore i rang consumer direct who said with out a credit agreement theres nothing you can do. I am so mad i had the money there any then to pay and we did sign a agreement i remember but we only have a invoice. Any ideas what we should do next? Thanks Lisa

We've had similar problems with LOL, we ordered two sofas at the beginning of June and we're still waiting for them. We went in on the May bank holiday and saw a really nice 3+2 combination that we really liked. We were told that that particular set was instock and could be delivered within a fortnight.

When we went home we realised that the 3 seater would be too big for our room so we decided to go for 2 2 seaters. When we went in to order the sofas we were then told that if we wanted 2 2seaters tyhen it would be classedas a special order and we would have to wait 14 weeks for them!

We ordered them thinking that they might come early, as we know other people who had been told it would be a long wait and they got them earlier than expected. But low and behold we are still waiting!! we moved into our first house and for the first month were sitting on fold up picnic chairs!

We spoke to LOL back in July and they told us that the sofas were coming into the country on th2nd August. When we spoke to them last week we were told that they missed that shipment and were waiting for a shipment in September!

The whole thing seems ridiculous to me, surely if they have 2 3+2 combiniations in stock then they have 2 2seaters in stock - all this because they wont split them up - stupid!

Hi, We saw the special offer for the sofas and I took my mum to Lol stockton to have a look. However, she didn't find it very comfy (she's disabled). She ended up buying a more expensive 3 seater and 2 seater both with recliners. This came with a special offer of a free dining table and 6 chairs and we made the purchase a few weeks ago. Mum paid for the settees there and then and they were delivered about a week later. When the delivery driver took the 3 seater out of his lorry, he dropped it on the road (he was seen by my mum who then lived next door but was in the throws of moving into my home). He never mentioned this to me when he delivered and because he was in such a rush (I now know why) I only had time to check the other settee over. Luckily I put on the delivery note that I had accepted the goods without checking for damage.

Just as the delivery driver was leaving, Mum phoned me to tellme he had dropped the sofa, and on checking I found a scuff mark on one of the arms where it had scraped the road. I immediately rang Lol where the woman who answered the telephone was of no help at all, so I asked to speak to the manager but was told he wouldn't be in until Sunday and I should ring back. When I did, he said he would send out a technician to repair the sofa but couldn't guarantee him coming for a couple of weeks. I declined this offer and stated that I wanted the sofa replacing immediately. The manager told me he would have to contact the delivery driver and his regionalmanager to see if they would allows this. I explained that my contract was with him and his store at Stockton and not with the delivery driver (to whom we had to pay £70 cash for deliver) or with the regional manager and that the onus was on him to replace the sofa. He said he would telephone his regional manager and get back to me.

However, he did not get back to me so I again telephoned him and was told he was busy. I told the lady who answered the phone that I too was busy and that if he didn't speak to me then I would be contacting Barclaycard (we had paid by Barclaycard) to get them to refund the transaction and they could collect both settees from my front garden! The woman from Lol to whom I was speaking then asked me to hold on as Paul (the manager had just come into the office (convenient!). She thenproceeded to have a conversation with the manager that went something like this:

Woman: "I've got this Mrs. Cave on the phone again about the damaged settee and she wants to speak to you now" Manager: "Oh God, tell her I'm still busy" Woman: "I already have but she still wants to speak to you" Manager: "I'm much to busy to speak to bloody customers! Can't you sort it!" Woman: "She's threatening to contgact Barclaycard to cancel" Manager: "Bloody customers!" Slight delay. Woman: "Hello? I'm sorry but the manager ............. ME: "Would you mind firstly telling the manager that I heard every word as you forgot to put me on hold! And secondly tell him I would like to speak to him now!!" Manager: "Er hello .... er sorry about that,but I'm very busy as we have just got a new regional manager ... and I have to get my weekly figures in - and ... ME: "If it wasn't for us 'bloody custers' you wouldn't have any weekly figures to put in!" Manager: "All I can do it apologise for what I said - but I am under a lot of pressure" ME: "Stop jerking me around and give me your decision on the sofa!" Manager: "I'll get on to head office first thing in the morning when they open and order you anolther sofa as a replacement" ME: "Thank you - that's all I wanted. Telephone me after you have spoken to head office"

The next day I spoke to the manager again as follows: Manager: "I can arrange a replacement and have ordered you a new sofa and will advise you of the deliver date." ME: Thank you, how soon can I have it as my mum is about to move in with me in the next few days" Manager: It will be towards the end of October, and I have ordered you replacements for both sofas" ME: "That's fine, it's a pity you couldn't do that in the first place" Manager: "Well at least it is sorted out now. We will pick up the other sofas from you in a day or two" ME: "Pardon?" Manager: "I have to return the sofas first" ME: "And in the meantime - what does my mother sit on?" Manager: "Well I said I could get it repaired but you refused" ME: "We are not paying £2000 for a new sofa that needs repairing through no fault of our own!" Manager: "Then I will go ahead with the order, delivery will be towards the end of October and we will pick up the damaged sofa together with the other one within the next few days" ME: "Not good enough! You have two options. Either leave the sofas here until the others arrive or, you can give us some discount on the ones we have including the one that was damaged." Manager: "I'll have to speak to my regional manager and get back to you" ME: "My contract is with you!" Manager: "How much were yhou thinking?" ME: "£500" Manager: "My regionalmanager won't allow that - I can go to £25" ME: "£250" Manager: "£50" ME: "£250" Manager: "£150" ME: "Done! Refund it immediately onto my Barclaycard! Oh and by the way - when will the free dining suite be delivered?" Manager: "End of October and there'll be another £70 deliver to pay the driver"

! I'm not quite sure who got the best deal there!

But I will say that I will never again step foot in a Land of Leather shop as I think their customer relations and after sales service is second only to a sewer rat posing as a con man!! Pity though because they have some rather niced leatherf beanbags for sale! Shame! By the way - still waiting for the freeby dining suite - but at least Mum's sitting comfortably, - and I have managed to disguise the scuffs with brown shoe polish!

I seem to have had a good experience with land of leather. We ordered our suite and paid a deposit. We were told delivery would be 16 weeks. It turned up after 9 weeks. Paid the balance. The suite was delivered. The guys brought one sofa in, fine all ok. The second sofa came in and was broken. They went and got the Armchair. That was OK. Without me saying a word they took the broken sofa out to their van saying they would be back in the afternoon with a replacement. They were back by 2 pm, checked it over, paid my £59 delivery charge and they were gone. I have to say I think the suite was very good value for money. We've had it 6 months now. We did go to the shop with the measurements of our old suite and made sure we bought the size that would fit our room. We would use them again. I do not work for them or have any involvement with land of leather other than as a happy customer! Kevin

just wanted you to know my experiance of land of leather, my partner daughter and son-in-law and i went to lol lakeside ,last night because they had a one day mega sale or so it would seem, as i suffer with a bad back i asked an assistant to help us choose a sofa to my needs, he gave me some advise and then told me i really needed to sit in one for 20mins and choose what would be suitable for me, there were hundreds to choose from, and given him a price range he told me to go upstairs as there is loads in the sale that i could choose from, after spending 2 and half hours sitting on sofas getting up and down on chairs i was exhausted and my back really was hurting. finally we found the one we wanted i was over the moon and much to my familys relief so was they, we then called another shop assistant over and told him we wanted the one we were sitting on only to be told ' im sorry madam but the soffas up here are all being ready for the january sales, i could buy it know but i wouldnt get it till january or feb. at the latest' I was devestated to say the least and annoyed we had wasted so much time. the only ones really on sale were 3 that they had advertised on the t.v so the ad was misleading as well, coming from kent we had travelled over there in bad traffic, walked around for 150mins with no toilet or anything to drink only to be told this and drive home not purchasing anything.

before going to lol we went to scs furniture and i must admit the customer service there was excellent the man took the time to talk to me show me around help me with sofas and even offered us a drink, but alas to say the sofas were a little out of our price range and those we could afford were to soft for me for my back otherwise i would have definatly brought from them, and after reading your experiance with lol im glad i didnt buy from them.

Still waiting for my 'free dining table'!