Sofa tale sparks new complaints

10:26am Friday 9th May 2008

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MORE dissatisfied SCS customers have contacted the Shuttle/Times & News following last week's story that a peeling leather sofa was blamed on the owners' sweating.

Worcestershire Trading Standards also got in touch to advise people to contact Consumer Direct if they were unhappy with the response from any company from which they have bought goods which, they believed, were not fit for purpose.

Five readers posted comments of support for John and Carol Allen's battle with SCS of Crossley Park, Kidderminster, on the Shuttle/Times & News website after they were told their sofa was peeling due to perspiration.

One said: "I hope that SCS are sweating over this bad publicity and their diabolical public relations. I'll certainly never buy a product from them because of this."

Another said they, too, had experienced problems with SCS after buying an upholstered suite and vowed never to buy from the company again.

Two customers who had also bought leather suites contacted the Shuttle/Times & News to complain that they had been given what they believed were "inadequate" reasons for problems occurring shortly after purchase.

One case was from 2001 and the second from last year and both sets of householders had eventually "given up" trying to obtain any recompense from SCS.

In the more recent case, Margaret and Edward White, both 66, of Hayes Road, Wolverley, bought a sofa and chair for more than £1,000 only to find after just seven months that the chair seat was peeling.

SCS sent a technician to examine it but he concluded there was no manufacturing defect and that the peeling was "due to the general conditions in the home".

Mrs White said the phrase was not explained and letters went back and forth until the couple finally gave up their fight.

Her call came in support of Mr and Mrs Allen, of Marlpool Lane, Kidderminster, who were told the problem their sofa was due to perspiration and SCS has denied liability.

Mrs White said: "I just wanted them to know they are not alone - but I think they will have a fight on their hands to get SCS to do anything."

Meanwhile, Kidderminster couple Rob, 56, and 51-year-old Sheila Mayson have been waiting more than two months for SCS to decide what action, if any, will be taken over their complaint that two year-old fabric sofas are fraying.

The furniture, including a chair, cost £1,500 and Mrs Mayson said the backs of the sofas had worn - one worse than the other, making it "unsightly".

She added: "Although we are out of the 12-month guarantee period, I would have expected furniture of that price from a reputable store to be better quality."

The couple, of Barnetts Close, have been awaiting a response from SCS since February 29, when a representative from the company examined the sofas.

The Consumer Direct number, which comes under the Office of Fair Trading, is 08454 040506.

SCS failed to respond to Shuttle/Times & News requests for a comment on the latest complaints.