Peter J.

I ordered a Citadel 27 Stone Heavy Duty 24 Hour Leather Faced Manager Chair from OfficeFurnitureOnline via Amazon on 28 Spetember 2019 (order number **************127). It was delivered today on 1 October 2019. I have spent an hour unpacking it and then carefully (more carefully than OfficeFurnitureOnline) repacking it for return. Here's the Amazon review I have just posted (check out the photographs I took):

I can't speak as to the comfort, as I never got to assemble the chair. It arrived today 1 October 2019, in a very large box delivered by courier. It was visibly obvious that the box was badly packed as it was bulging and had several puncture holes in it caused by the badly packed contents pressing on the cardboard.

I unpacked the chair in its component parts only to find that all of the fixing screws and bolts were missing. I also found a large pink square of foam packing rattling around free in the box. This was obviously meant to be wrapped and fixed around the steel seat support, but was not. That would explain why the leather of the seat had a big slash gouged in it.

I am returning this product. The way it was sent to me was totally unprofessional and unacceptable. I will not be replacing it with another Citadel 27 Stone Heavy Duty 24 Hour Leather Faced Manager Chair. Instead I will be going to a retail store and finding a suitable chair for my home office that I can try out and examine first.

My advice is avoid this company and avoid their products. They don't give a damn about the customer or the quality of their products. Check out the photos. Despite their unprofessional behaviour, I have taken the time to repack the chair PROPERLY in the box in was delivered in, using the packing materials AS THEY WERE MEANT TO BE USED. The way it was packed when I opened the box looked like they had given the job to a badly trained chimpanzee. In the photos you will see that I have actually wrapped the pink foam square around the steel support. Pity they didn't when it was originally packed!

If they don't come and collect it and give me a full refund, I will put the transaction into dispute with Barclaycard. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (incorporating the Sales of Goods Act) covers this and I am protected in law. I will enforce my rights if I have to.

I purchased this from Amazon on the basis of the 2 other customer reviews. I'm seriously wondering if they were genuine and whether Amazon are doing enough to verify reviews and to ensure the quality of the products sold on their site. Wake up Amazon! You need to police this, NOT wash your hands of sellers who ship damaged goods!

Our experience in the Hull store in June 2019 was excellent. Melvyn Hammond really looked after us, offering us a choice of hot drinks, and helping us navigate around the store as my wife suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair. We found all of the staff to be polite, friendly and knowledgeable. The actual sales process with Melvyn was easy and stress free, and we give the Hull store a maximum 5-star rating. However, we would have to rate the after-sales service as truly appalling.

The delivery came on time. The men who brought our new dresser were polite and friendly. The dresser came in 2 parts, packed in very large JB Global boxes. I had to unpack the furniture myself. The driver suggested that I open the base of the box and then tip the box base down so that I could lift the box off, as the delivery staff didn't unpack items. They left and I began with the dresser unit. I'm pretty fit and strong, but I have to say it's a tricky, awkward job that requires some strength.

Once the dresser was unpacked, I discovered that its left hand door would not close. On examination it appeared that the magnetic catches were faulty and the door appeared to be warped.

I telephoned the Hull store and spoke to Gavin. He was very apologetic about the faulty door, but he couldn't do anything about it at that time as the store's computer system was down. Gavin gave me the number of the Oak Furnitureland service centre, *******254 and told me that they would arrange for a replacement.

I rang the service centre. After a 10 minute wait I finally managed to speak with a member of staff. I explained the problem. The man I spoke to told me that in order to have the faulty product collected and replaced I would have to take pictures of the fault and also of the labels attached to each unit of furniture. I told him that meant I would have to unpack the sideboard and then repack it, but he insisted that that was what I had to do.

During the call the man told me the label in question would be stuck to the back of the dresser. I checked and there was no label. Following his instructions, I checked inside the drawers, underneath the drawers and in the cupboards. I even lifted the unit up and checked underneath, but found no label. In doing so I found a 1 inch brass screw rolling around loose inside the left hand dresser cupboard. Thankfully it hadn't caused any damage.

The man I was dealing with came across as uninterested and, frankly, not very bright. He said all he could do was to email me a link to arrange the return online. I was by this time extremely angry, and I informed him that I was legally trained, and that if the matter wasn't dealt with quickly, I would be taking legal action. I also explained to him that as my wife has multiple sclerosis, having all the packing materials strewn around the floor was a very serious trip hazard for her. He told me there was nothing further he could do and the call ended.

I checked my inbox and located the email. It was no help at all. The link supplied me with a one-time password that didn't work. I tried to register and found I already had an account, which I then recalled Melvyn had very kindly set up with me in-store. I clicked on the Forgotten Password link but that didn't work either. I would add that I have over 30 years of in-depth IT experience.

I decided to unpack the sideboard and try to locate a label on it, but yet again I couldn't find it. I rang the service centre a second time. After another long wait I spoke to a woman. She informed me that I would need photograph the fault on the dresser and the labels on the outside of the boxes. I said I would do that.

I explained to the woman that I would need a Saturday delivery. I informed her that I had taken a day's leave to receive the delivery and that I now only had 2 further days of leave until November. Looking after my wife, who suffers with multiple sclerosis, meant I could not afford to take another day of leave. The woman was as unsympathetic as the first person I spoke to at the service centre. She informed me Oak Furnitureland do not make Saturday deliveries and that I would have to arrange a week day delivery. She then said "Have a nice day". I was astonished. I asked her if it sounded like I was having a nice day, and told her that her comment was unbelievably stupid in the circumstances. I ended the call.

Once I calmed down, I decided to check the faulty dresser door again, this time with a powerful torch. After 10 minutes of careful examination, and by comparing the faulty door with the one that closed properly, I discovered that the shelf in the dresser cupboard was misaligned by approximately 1.5 millimetres. That was the reason the door wouldn't close.

I checked the brackets holding the shelf in place and discovered that they were adjustable. I carefully unscrewed the brackets so I could adjust the shelf and align it correctly. The door then closed properly. I tightened up the screws and was able to mount the top of the dresser on the base and complete assembly.

Our experience of the after-sales service of Oak Furnitureland is that it is truly dreadful.

It is inexcusable that the dresser was sent out in that condition, and with a loose screw rattling around in side it. Your quality assurance process is clearly inadequate. The team that packed the dresser cannot have failed to notice that the door kept swinging open, and they must have deliberately packed it knowing it was defective.

The Oak Furnitureland service centre was laughable. Both people I talked with were uninterested and unhelpful. Your returns process is flawed and of poor quality. The packing around the furniture was very good, but it appeared to have been done with the aid of an industrial packing machine. The packaging was so complex that it would have been virtually impossible for me to repack the items in the same way, particularly as my wife is physically unable to assist me.

I telephoned Melvyn at around 11:15 am on the delivery day and explained what had happened and that I had, eventually, managed to do what the quality assurance checker at the factory should have done, and repaired the fault. I also told him about our experience with the service centre. I thanked Melvyn for the excellent service we had received in the store, but I explained that the dreadful after-sales service we experienced meant we wouldn't be buying anymore furniture from Oak Furnitureland or recommending them to friends and family. It was a shame to have to tell Melvyn that and he was clearly unhappy for us and what had happened. It's a shame that Oak Furnitureland employs such good quality staff in the shops but then backs them up with such a sub-standard after-sales service.

I did eventually find the labels on the furniture. I had to use a torch, put my head inside the cupboard of each piece of furniture, twist around and look at the inside corner of the roof of the compartment. The labels were so well hidden that I only discovered them when I gave the furniture a thorough waxing. It seems incredible to me that the service centre staff would not know where the labels are located.

From the perspective of my wife's condition it also seems to me that Oak Furnitureland may not be satisfying the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 for some of its customers.

Providers of goods, facilities and services must not treat you less favourably than they would treat a person who is not disabled. Service providers must make 'reasonable adjustments' to allow a disabled person to use their services. If they don't do this, they must be able to show that their failure to do so is reasonable.

We fail to see how someone like my wife, or an elderly person, would be able to deal with a delivery from Oak Furnitureland if they live on their own.

I wrote to the Chairman, CEO and COO of Oak Furnitureland. All I received back was a call from a fairly inept complaints department operative who admitted that the customer supprt team had totally mis-informed me. I should not have had to repack the furntiure and they should have just arranged a pick-up and redelivery. We have not had any sort of written apology from the firm as of end of July 2019, and the Board really don't seem to give a toss. I have several work colleagues who have also experienced similar problems with Oak Furnitureland.

Our advice? DON'T USE OAK FURNITURELAND! THEY DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE ONCE THEY HAVE YOUR MONEY AND THE BOARD IS ARROGANT AND DISINTERESTED!

Regards,

Peter Jones.