Poor Fabric Quality
Complaint
Lance Cluster
Country: United States
I purchased an England Furniture Sofa on Dec 19th. Already the fabric on the cushions is splitting in several places. Obviously the fabric is really poor (although it seems ok in the store). Now we are stuck in a cycle of replacing cushions over and over again. The attached back cushions are also starting to have issues. I wish I would have done some research before I bought this POS. I relied on it being part of Lazboy. England Furniture does not list contact information (phone) on their website, I did some research and got a phone number 423 626 5211 and have left messages with Bill Woods (I believe that this is a dummy voice mailbox that no one ever listens to - at least no one calls back). It appears that there is a history of this company selling poor quality products, hopefully posting this will help someone else making the same mistake I made.
Comments
Bill Woods does work at England and if you left a message, I will make sure he returns your call in the morning. We strive to build a quality product and do our best to make things right when a customer reports an issue. We manufacture over 7,000 pieces of furniture a week and occasionally have defects. This pains me greatly because I don’t like for any of our customers to have a bad experience.
Unfortunately, this web site does not give us contact information, other than your name, so, we are unable to address any complaints posted on the site unless the consumer contacts us. I will personally follow up with Mr. Woods in the morning to see that we take care of your issue.
Otis Sawyer
Perhaps while you're at it you might want to address the 8 PAGES of complaints about your furniture from people all across the country listed on this website at
https://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/rC6LNWRrmAAbkQjKTc76Ug/8.
Or are you going to pretend you are unaware of these problems, which your company systematically and routinely ignores?
England furniture is junk. Period.
Please contact me directly. I will be more than happy to address any concern you or other readers have and help you reach am amicable resolution. While open, public websites are great for exchanging information, this site lacks the "other side" of the story and fails to provide contact information for consumers who post information. I do not have the luxury of contacting a consumer when I do not have their contact information. For a more efficient and effective means of handling true product concerns, I encourage you to visit our company website, www.englandfurniture.com. Rest assured any inquiries sent to our company website are reviewed and addresses promptly. England, Inc. provides some of the best warranties in the industry to help consumers when and/or if they encounter a manufacturing defect. We are very diligent in assisting consumers and resolving any issues as they arise. Please notice that I provide my name, telephone number, and email address in many of the replies that I personally post. I encourage consumers to contact me when they have issues. As for the 8 pages, we have not actively ignored any posting, in fact, if the consumers will contact me directly, we can help them resolve almost any issue or concern.
thanks,
Philip Arnold
philip.arnold@englandfurniture.com
423-626-5211 ext 1306
More details of the process below:
Mr Woods did get back to me and indicated I had to work with my dealer and that they would stand behind their 1 year fabric warranty by replacing cushions etc.. during the 1 year fabric warranty period. I was not satisfied with this. The entire sofa is covered in the same fabric, the fabric has a problem. Replacing the cushions 1 at a time was not a long term option. I was concerned that other portions of the sofa that experienced less wear that the seating areas would start to fall apart after the 1 year warranty period has expired. My concerns regarding this were responded to by saying that England would stand by the 1 year fabric warranty.
I escalated the problem. I posted my complaint on this website, I filled out the email contact form on England's website (I had called initially), and I contacted the Better Business Bureau. Mr Sawyer from England did send me an email indicating that my problem would be resolved.
Eventually I was given three options: keep getting the cushions replaced as they developed issues during the 1 year fabric warranty period, get an identical replacement sofa covered in the same fabric, or get an identical sofa covered in different fabric. A refund was not an option. We choose option 3: identical sofa, different fabric. Our dealer showed us the available fabrics and narrowed our choices down to roughly 20 as the rest were deemed to be "for pillows" or he did not believe that they would hold up to use on a sofa. Perhaps our dealer wanted to make sure that there was as small a chance as possible that we would have another fabric issue, but having your choice of fabric's narrowed from approx 360 to 20 due to concerns about the fabric holding up was surprising and also really limited out options. We did pick out a fabric, and will be getting a replacement sofa.
It does appear that England is responsive to complaints. I am surprised that they read the complaints on this website. While England Furniture has indicated to the Better Business Bureau that they have resolved my BBB complaint I have not yet accepted the case being closed - I as of yet do not have a sofa.
An issue with many purchases that you expect to last for several years is that it is very difficult to determine good quality from bad quality. So while it was easy to see the poor fabric quality of the initial sofa I received, it will hopefully take a few years to determine that it's replacement is a quality product.
I hope my issue has been resolved. I do believe that this website played a part in it's resolution.
I will be contacting my dealer shortly.
As a representative of the furniture manufacturing company, please accept my apology on behalf of the entire company for the experience and inconveniences you have experienced. I have personally read through your postings on this website and with the BBB. I understand the frustration you have be dealing with, the level of customer service you have received, the attempts at resolving your issue, and the limitations the store placed on you in reselecting another sofa and fabric combination. All of this goes against what our company has strived to achieve and maintain over the past 45 years of operations. We pride ourselves in offering a quality built, affordably priced product, supported by some of the best warranties and customer service in the industry. We offer choices in excess of 50 different styles and over 400 fabrics and leathers. It greatly concerned me that your satisfaction was not being reached and that restrictions were being imposed on your reselection. It was based on the idea that I did not want you to be further upset or confined to settled that I made the decision to authorize the store to refund your money. You are welcome to use the refund to select the perfect style and fabric to meet your needs or any in other fashion you so choose. I encourage you to follow up with the store soon. If I can be of assistance, please feel free to contact me at 423-626-5211 ex 1306.
Thanks,
Philip Arnold
Chris is a very nice young man but seems overwhelmed. I hope to hear from you that you will take care of the problem for me ASAP. My phone # is 703 998-543
All I have been told is that the fabric is no longer available. My husband and I paid for the "Extra protection warranty," but apparently that company is defunct. The chaise cushion has split the width of the seat and looks terrible. I really don't want to replace furniture we bought only three years ago.
I would really like to know if there is any way I can either get the couch recovered in the same fabric, or if there is any way to fix a couch that is only three years old.
Also, while I have a heard a whole lot about fabric problems, can someone who has purchased leather furniture provide me their feedback. Thx.