I bought 2 items from this company. I was very happy with one item (a TV stand) that although not perfect was absolutely fine for its intended use. This review concerns the company's approach when I tried to return a faulty item.

The second item was a coffee table that was sold as having a lift up lid. I paid someone to put the table together as I have a broken shoulder. The table wasn't the best quality but I would have been happy if it functioned as sold. The lid simply would not lift up unless a huge force was applied.

I contacted the company to let them know I was really happy with the TV stand but had a big problem with the coffee table. Their response? They completely ignored my feedback on the TV stand and sent me the most offcious reply I have ever read from a company, in which they included the following sentences:

We acknowledge the receipt of your email which you have sent in reference to your order (number) in which you have CLAIMED that you have some issue with the Raymond Coffee Table.

However, we will investigate your issue with our relevant department but we would require some video of the product showing issues as CLAIMED by you.

Then right at the end of their email they wrote:

We apologize for the inconvenience caused and will try to get this resolved for you IN LINE WITH OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS; WHICH YOU HAD ACCEPTED PRIOR TO PURCHASING.

So, imagine getting an officious, defensive response that only at the end pays lip service to an apology but then takes the apology back by reminding me that they were only going to sort this out if it was within terms and conditions, and also reminded me that I accepted these terms and conditions (just in case I was in any doubt that I had to work within their terms and conditions!)

What would have been nice to receive was something along the lines of 'I'm really sorry you have a problem, we'll do our best to help you'. So they don't go overboard to instil customer confidence!

Back to the coffee table, as required by Furniture in Fashion, and to demonstrate exactly how difficult this coffee table lid was to lift up I made a video comparing two lid lifting experiences (!) One of our monks bench - a way better quality item, 4 foot wide, made of thick and very solid wood. The other video showed the coffee table (just less than 3 foot wide, made of thin MDF). The force required to lift up the monks bench lid was 11 pounds. The force required to lift up the coffee table lid was over 48 pounds - at this force, the whole table lifted up, but the lid still wouldn't budge. So that means to lift up the coffee table lid, we needed each time to pick up a 6 or 7 year old child!

You would have thought that this video would be enough for a company to realise they'd sold a duff item, not fit for purpose, but oh no... not Furniture in Fashion. They wrote back to say

Thank you for your email with the video,

We will now investigate this with our suppliers and will get back to you with an update.

Please allow us some time to proceed with your request.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a "NO-Reply email" so please revert to (email address quoted)

We apologize for the inconvenience caused and will try to get this resolved for you IN LINE WITH OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS; WHICH YOU HAD ACCEPTED PRIOR TO PURCHASING.

Yes it's those dreaded terms and conditions that creep into every communication that Furniture in Fashion send. I am reminded again that they're only going to help me if it's what they deem to be appropriate. No mention whatsoever of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 that mandates a supplier must refund goods that are not fit for purpose.

You see if a company sells something that is not fit for purpose they are required by this law to refund the money. I clearly demonstrated this in the video and any issues that Furniture in Fashion have with their supplier has nothing to do with me or the sales contract I had with Furniture in Fashion. They do not need to make me wait - they are obligated to refund my money. In their attempts to scare customers into submission by quoting terms and conditions of sale they have forgotten to abide by the very laws they are so insistent on appearing to follow!

So this making me wait for the supplier business has made me curious - I wonder if they are hoping that the supplier tells them that it is perfectly normal for a coffee table to require the weight of a child to be exerted every time it is used!

The other issue I have with Furniture in Fashion is that they keep reminding me with their terms and conditions that all goods have to be dismantled before returning. Now, I already told them that I'm not prepared to pay another £35 to have someone dismantle this faulty coffee table. I am also not obligated by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they have completely ignored this issue.

Overall a dreadful company that I do not recommend.

Order Number: *******
Unique Transaction reference: *********************-*******
Item Ordered: Daytona Round Glass Dining Table With 4 Collete Black Chairs
Order Total: £354.96
Order Date: 11th July 2018
Delivery Date: 17th Sept 2018
Delivery Company: Furdeco Home Delivery

I called Furniture in Fashion when enquiring about the Daytona Round Glass Dining Table With 4 Collete Black Chairs and was confidently informed that it was in stock. I was advised that the items delivery is 8 - 10 days.
Having discussed this with my other half, I later proceeded by ordering the items on line and once the order was confirmed, hell broke loose! I was informed that the Collete Black Chairs were no longer in stock and that the delivery will now be in Mid-August. I was instead offered White, Cream and Red colour Collete Chairs that were in stock or alternatively I should choose from Vesta' range or Opal' range in black colour. By no means I was ready to accept items that were not popular or have been in stock for ages. I raised various complaints based on the misled information when enquiring about the items (the initial delivery date of 8 10 days was a lie indeed) and since I was stuck between a hard place and a rock, I had no choice but to accept the offered 10% discount (instead of full cancellation) based on the revised delivery date of Mid- August 2018.
Time came and went by and was again informed that due to manufacturing delays in Germany (another lie), the items will be delivered in early Sept. At this stage I had enough really as I was travelling to and from overseas for work and had no energy to argue due to time difference and restricted means of communication. Eventually the items were delivered on 17th Sept 2018, i. E. more than 2 months down the line!
Furdeco Home Delivery are not the best to deal with and seems not to understand logics at times. I was abroad and requested them to deliver the items to my work place which is open Mon Fri from 0800 hrs to 1700 hrs. They still bombarded me with various messages to confirm availability, etc. All they needed to do was to drive to my work place and deliver the items, very simple in deed unlike for home deliveries where there is a need to confirm if the individual is at home or not.
When assembling the furniture, I discovered that one of the rivets joints for the chair frames was not welded in one end correctly. Again, I raised further complaints and was offered a discount after I corrected the fault myself (this was an easier and faster option than going through the pain of a new delivery).
I would summarise Furniture in Fashion as follow:
Pros:
Easy to communicate with, by phone and emails.
Will send you regular email updates.
Can offer discount for late delivery, faults, etc.
Cons:
Items delivered more than 2 months after the actual order date instead of 8 10 days as initially promised.
I strongly feel they were dishonest by giving me incorrect delivery dates and failure to declare that the items were actually not in stock to begin with.
Even though they will update you regularly, you will end up being bombarded with many automated messages. This can be minimised to avoid further annoyance.
You have to fight for the discount and the initial offers are so low it just ends up upsetting you further.
I believe the items were not manufactured in Germany due to the faults I came across (another false information, I think items were made in China).
When accepting the compensation, I was told that there will be no further opportunity to raise any other complaints due to my acceptance this was a bit cheeky and unnecessary really!

Conclusion:
If you have patience and can cope with late delivery and email flooding, then you may buy from Furniture in Fashion. At least they will not take you to the cleaners and the item will eventually arrive albeit in a condition that may require rectification.

Just in case FIF is reading this, do not post a generic response after this review like you have done with so many other complaints on here claiming you cannot find my order details as here they are... order number: ******* ticket number: 7387.

##This is an updated review to show what happened after my last reviews were completed.
Sorry that this is a little long winded but it will show you what this company is like.

I ordered the milana high gloss coffee table at a cost of £449.50. Absolutely loved the look of the table and the price comparing it with other sites was quite reasonable. Table was despatched and received very quickley... all good so far.
Upon opening of package and taking table out of the box I noticed the table was damaged, some deep scrape's and scratches around the bottom rim as if it had been dragged along a hard surface. Package completely intact so not damaged during transit. So I phoned customer services and was told they couldn't do anything over the phone and I had to raise a ticket on there website (turns out the system one of the most annoying and difficult things I've had to deal with In a while). First response was I needed more pictures... fair enough... second response accusing me of dragging the Item along the floor during the use of it and offering a 10% refund if I keep the damaged item. How dare they accuse me of that why would I do that with something I've just purchased. So I wrote them a colorful response and told them to send a courier as per there terms and conditions. Nope turns out they will not do this so I just wanted to put and end to the whole thing and sent it back via TNT. This cost me £150. So I got my next response saying that they received it and it had extra damage on it so they were deduction £100 from my refund and i would have to claim this from my courier. This sounds like complete bulL# to me as the package was completely shielded from damage like the pics they sent me showed. Asked them for more pics so I could make a claim with TNT and said flat out no they weren't sending me what I required.

###Update (below are the emails they sent me trying to blackmail me into removing my reviews in order to get my refund)

Dear Steven #####,
This email is regarding.
For your order no: - *******.
We have receive a review from Trust Pilot regarding that you have faced some hassles for your order item while return the same and we are sorry to hear for the same.
Allow me to introduce myself, hi Iâm Amelia from Furniture in fashion customer support and I have gone through the history of your order and from the same I found that we have try our level best help you to resolve the issue for your return damage item. We have provided you the clear images from the same you can claim from TNT courier, as from the image I can refer that the item is damage with packaging image.
If still you want the images we can provide the same and from the same you can claim with TNT courier, packaging image in close-up the damage. If TNT is not accepting the claim then kindly let me know at *******@furnitureinfashion.net I will discussed you matter one more time with our management and do the needful accordingly.
We shall wait for your response.
Kind regards,
Amelia.
Furniture In Fashion.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Steven ##### (Client) Posted On: 21 September 2015 12:23 PM
First thing to say you DID NOT send me my requested pictures where I asked for a close up of the damage AND the internal of the package. You did not provide these. I will not be making a claim with my courier as I do not believe the damage was caused during transit as the table was completely encased in polystyrene and the damage shown to the box would still not damage the table.
I have spoken to citizens advice and been advised to take your company to the small claims court where I will receive a FULL refund for the table, and also the courier costs I incurred due to you not honouring your terms and conditions to send a courier to retrieve damaged goods. You will also be liable to pay the full court costs for this.
However, I'd like to resolve this fairly and give you a chance to reimburse me for all my costs incurred in dealing with Furniture in Fashion, before I take this matter further.
I would like refunded to me the deduction to my refund of £99.95 and also my courier costs of £146.45. ( I can supply the invoice for this)
If this does not happen I will be raising a small claims against your company, also I will be reporting this to BBC watchdog as a clear breach of trading standards.
If you give me a full refund of everything I have lost dealing with your company I will consider this matter closed and remove my review from trust pilot, Google reviews and SiteJabber.
I await Your response.
Steven Wilkinson
--------------------------------
Nick FIF (Staff) Posted On: 21 September 2015 01:09 PM
Dear Steven ####,
Thank you for your reply.
We would like to inform you that we have tried our level best to resolve your issue at the earliest.
Moreover we have also provided you with the photographs you have asked for whether they were of internal packaging or of external packaging to make yourselves comfortable to claim for the damaged item with your courier, please find the images which are attached again for your ease.
However, as per your grievances we are sorry to hear that your claim has been denied by the courier for the damages caused by them.
We have raised your case to upper department and we have been informed that we can refund you with £50.00 to resolve your issue and to remove your review from every review website.
We appreciate your co-operation and understanding in this behalf.
Thank you,
Kind Regards,
Nick.
Furniture In Fashion
----------------------------------------------------------
Steven ###### (Client) Posted On: 21 September 2015 03:10 PM
Hi
Please read my previous Email again as I don't think you have understood it.
I am currently £250 out of pocket dealing with Furniture in Fashion. You did not comply to your own terms and conditions by having to arrange my own courier to return damaged goods supplied by yourselves.
The claim was not denied by my courier as I didn't submit a claim to them due to you not providing me of what I had asked for, this is stated in my first E-mail.
Frankly a £50 refund is an insult considering what I have lost. The reviews will stay online until a satisfactory conclusion has been reached.
If you do not refund me the total amount I have lost (I have proof of this) then I will be filing the forms and I will take FiF to the small claims court.
-------------------------------------------
Nick FIF (Staff) Posted On: 22 September 2015 12:06 PM
Dear Steven ######,
Thank you for your reply.
As per your query we would like to inform you that in the first instance you have informed us that you don't like the item and you would like to return it to us, moreover as per our provided Terms and Condition which you have accepted prior to purchase of the order you have to arrange your own courier to return the item back to us.
However, we would like to inform you that we have again discussed your matter with our Management and they have informed us that we can provide you with a best possible refund of £99.95 to resolve your grievances and to remove feedback but we cannot provide you with the courier charges that you have bear to return the item back to us.
Lastly, we are sorry to inform you that we cannot provide you with the refund of the amount which is about half of the cost of the item.
We appreciate your co-operation in this behalf.
Thank you,
Kind Regards,
Nick.
Furniture in Fashion
--------------------------------------------------
Steven ###### (Client) Posted On: 23 September 2015 01:42 PM
First of all I did not inform you that I did not like the furniture in fact I loved it, I informed you that the furniture was damaged and as such from your own terms and conditions you were to provide the return courier not me. If you had have stuck to your own terms, provided the courier and gave the refund (like a reasonable company) then we wouldn't be going through this whole circus.
I have now had enough of this whole saga and would like to put it to an end,
Therefore I will accept your refund offer and will change the review when the refund clears.
If I do not receive the refund agreed by you right away, then I will have no hesitation in taking this matter further.
-------------------------------------------------
Nick FIF (Staff) Posted On: 23 September 2015 03:22 PM
Dear Steven ######,
Thank you for your reply.
We are happy to know that you have accepted our offer for refund for the amount of £99.95 to resolve the matter.
However, we request you if you can please provide us with the screen shot of the changed review as a loyalty so that we can process with your refund amount.
We assure that once that once the review gets changed on review centers we will process with your refund on the very same day.
We appreciate your co-operation in this behalf.
Thank you,
Kind Regards,
Nick.
Furniture In Fashion
-----------AT THIS POINT I REMOVED MY REVIEW SO I COULD GET MY REFUND-------

Steven ###### (Client) Posted On: 24 September 2015 11:02 AM
Not sure how I can take a screenshot of something that is deleted as it won't prove anything... but my review has now been deleted as you can see from the following link showing your company reviews on trustpilot.
Https :// (link deleted but check truspilot you can find a million other bad reviews)
So please refund my account today and we can call this matter finally closed.
-----------------------------------------------------
Nick FIF (Staff) Posted On: 24 September 2015 03:32 PM
Dear Steven ######,
As per our previous mail we would like to inform you that you need to provide us the screen shot of the changed review as a loyalty so that we can process with your refund amount.
Can we please confirm that the Positive review has been left for us before so we proceed with the refund
We appreciate your co-operation in this behalf.
Thank you,
Kind Regards,
Nick.
Furniture In Fashion
--------------------------------------------------
Steven ###### (Client) Posted On: 28 September 2015 07:51 AM
Hi,
I'm not sure I fully understood your last message, could you please confirm that in order to receive my refund you require me to leave a positive review on trust pilot?
Thanks
Steve
----------------------------------------------------
Nick FIF (Staff) Posted On: 28 September 2015 03:12 PM
Dear Steven ######,
Thank you for your swift reply.
As discussed earlier, we would like to inform you that we can provide you with refund of £99.95 provided that you will remove the negative review from all the review centers and turn them into positive review.
However, we request you to please provide us the screen shot of the changed review as a loyalty so that we can process with your refund amount asap.
We appreciate your co-operation so far...!
Thank you,
Kind Regards,
Nick.
FurnitureInFashion
-----------------------------------------------------
Steven #####(Client) Posted On: 29 September 2015 07:17 AM
Hi Nick
Thank you for confirming your threat and providing me with evidence of how FIF conducts it's business.
I wonder if you even realise that you have committed a criminal offence and tried to blackmail me into leaving positive feedback by witholding an agreed refund.
I am now informing you that I am going to submit court papers and take FIF to the small claims court where I will get back every penny that you owe me.
In addition to this I will be posting an updated and honest review of your company, which will include the transcript of this conversation and your underhand tactics to extort positive feedback from your customer.
------------------------------------------
Nick FIF (Staff) Posted On: 29 September 2015 03:33 PM
Dear Steven #####,
Thank you for your reply.
We would like to inform you that we have provide you with the refund of £99.95 to resolve your issue as a final settlement and also to remove the negative review and to change it in positive one as a loyal customer.
However, we would like to inform you that we do not force any customer to accept the amount from us and put positive review for us.
We have provided you with the refund offer as you have informed us that you were facing issue with claiming damages with your courier as the item was damaged by your courier.
Moreover, we would like to inform you that the offer made to you for the amount is only a gesture of goodwill to resolve the issue.
We will now wait for your reply for our provided offer.
Thank you,
Kind Regards,
Nick.
Furniture In Fashion
------------------------------------------------
Steven #### (Client) Posted On: 30 September 2015 08:45 AM
Are you for real, you have just repeated the same thing back to me.
I accepted your offer last week and removed the review and now you are still demanding I leave a positive review or you will not process the refund.
Why would I leave you a positive review after the way you have conducted this process. If you had have stuck to your own terms and conditions when I first reported the problem to you then we wouldn't be having all this trouble.
So I can tell you in no uncertain terms that not in a million years will I leave positive feedback and I am certainty not a loyal customer as I would never buy from you again.
Please read my last message again as I am not going to repeat myself, I have given you every opportunity to refund me and put an end to this but clearly you will not, so as far as I am concerned our discussion is over and I will be filing court papers on Friday when I return to the UK.
--------------------------------------------------
Dear Steven ####,
Thank you for your reply.
As per your previous we would like to inform you that you have agreed and confirmed with us that you will remove your negative review and amend the review for us on review center.
However, we have discussed your case with our relevant department and we are pleased to inform you that we will proceed with your refund for the amount of £99.95 via PayPal and it will take 3-5 working days from the mode where we have received the payments from you for your order.
Please allow us some time.
We appreciate your co-operation in this behalf.
Thank you,
Kind Regards,
Nick.
Furniture In fashion.
----------------------------------------------------
Steven #### (Client) Posted On: 07 October 2015 04:11 PM
It is now day 5 and no refund has found its way to me.
You have until the close of business tomorrow for the refund to be in my account or I will be filing my county court papers against you.
--------------------------------------------------
Dear steven ######,
Thank you for contacting us back.
We are extremely sorry to know that your refund of £99.95 has not been process and we really apologize for that.
We had had the status of your order with our relevant department and found that due to some errors with our Paypal account from last few days, we were unable to process the refunds of our customers and can only apologize for that.
However, we had again transferred your request to our upper department and we assure that your Refund of £99.95 will be processed by the end of tomorrow via Paypal.
Please allow us some more time.
We will appreciate your patience, understanding and cooperation with us.
Thank you.
Kind Regards
Furniture In Fashion
Support Team

Finally received my refund:-) still £150 out of pocket:-(

Please do not buy from this company or you may have the pleasure of talking to Nick for a couple of months.

Useless company - unreliable communications & untrustworthy service & 10 pound cancellation charge – avoid at all costs!

I ordered a coffee table from this company over the web and got an email receipt but then heard nothing back from them. So 2 days later I got in touch to find out what was going on with my delivery. I was told they had checked their stock and found one in the warehouse but it had a scratched glass shelf so they would have to backorder a new one which would take 5-10 days. Fair enough I thought, I would rather wait a week for a new item then get a scratched one.

So the following week I still had not heard anything so I got in touch again. I was then told it would take 10-15 days plus another week for delivery. OK I thought I'm gonna have to wait because I don't seem to have much choice.

Finally after waiting for 3 weeks I phoned again. I was then told that item was on order and would be arriving in another 5 days and would then be sent out. At this point I told them I wanted to cancel my order as I was sick of waiting and being fobbed off. They then made it clear that they couldn't take cancellations on the phone and I would have to raise a ticket which I duly did, but then didn't hear anything again for another 2 days! So I phoned them up feeling pretty angry and asked them to cancel my order and send me confirmation by email. Eventually someone said they would do this and issue a full refund.

Later that day I received another call from a desperate sounding salesman – lo and behold - they'd looked in their warehouse and found the glass shelf for the coffee table. Apparently it had been missing all this time and was not, as I was previously told, so scratched that they couldn't send it out. Hmmmm, this bunch of liars can't even get their story straight!

Anyway eventually I received a refund, minus 10 pounds as a standard cancellation fee.

So my experience of this company is that they make no effort to keep you informed of what's going on, they make it difficult to get a refund and they make stuff up to keep you happy. All in all a very stressful experience which resulted in me being 10 pounds poorer.

Happily though after all of this had happened I then found another store (quatropi.com) which was selling the same item at just over half the price (189GBP vs 335GBP). I ordered and had it delivered within a week:-)