I ordered a £1,400 sofa, from the popular Chester range, in the sale at Habitat’s Tottenham Court Road store in London in July this year, but it has yet to arrive. I was initially told that if it was not already in stock I would get it by September at the latest.
Since then I have had to repeatedly chase the order and have been given several dates when it was due to arrive in the warehouse – but there is still no sign of it. There appears to be a problem with the supplier, but that’s all I can establish from customer services.
The three most recent dates were in November. I have yet to receive a phone call from anyone senior to explain what is going on. I would like to warn people not to bother ordering sofas from Habitat which, to add insult to injury, has just unveiled a £1m makeover in this particular store.
JC, London N2
Sofa and furniture problems increasingly appear in our postbag. The fact that you bought the item in a sale does not affect your statutory rights.
Habitat, now part of Home Retail Group which also includes Argos and Homebase, has investigated and apologised, promising that your sofa will be delivered before Christmas. It said: “We apologise to JC for her experience and the significant delay in receiving her bespoke order which was, unfortunately, caused by a system error.
“We acknowledge the service she received was not to the high standard we expect, and are due to discuss appropriate compensation once this order has been delivered in early December.”
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