Dreams PLC Review

Overall Rating

None

The beds are more expensive then elsewhere and quality is very low. There is no after sales service.

I went to Dreams because (let's face it), I was lazy. They are in most high streets and you can try the beds. However, what you try in the shop and get at home are different things as I came to find out.

My mattress is a Chaucer with latex top and pocket springs in a super king size. It cost '£1478 which is a lot for a mattress. I was told that if I had any problems to come back - but I wouldn't want to as this would be exceptionally comfortable. I tried it in the shop and it was supportive and comfortable.

I received the receipt by post. I found that the "comfort Guarantee" had been cancelled because I asked for a '£100 discount and a 10 year Guarantee added for '£32. Since I was traveling, I did not see this until my bed arrived.

I was surprised when my new bed arrived after just 3 weeks. I had started to read complaints on other web sites where people waited months for delivery. I noticed on my first nights sleep that it did not support my back properly but my wife was OK. After 10 days I was in pain and my wife also started to feel uncomfortable. Before 30 days was up I complained to customer services. Over 2 weeks later I got a reply to my letter. I tried the call centre but it cost real money to wait an hour on the 0870 premium line and the young person on the other side told me that I should try the bed a longer.

Three weeks from my letter a person came to inspect the bed'€ from Homeserve. I was told this person is hired by Dreams' key manufacturer which is KingKoil. The person looked at the mattress and admitted that it was severely dipped on one side but that was because I was hotter than my wife. He also said that my contract (if I had read it) covered dipping and this was not a manufacturing issue.

I received a letter from Dreams 3 weeks after the visit telling me that the problems I was experiencing were'"typical of a quality mattress'and'"you should not worry ' . If possible'"turn the mattress over ' . I would copy the template letter out but its too cheesy.

I replied saying the mattress is a non turn mattress and there clearly is a fault if the bed cannot be slept in. I put the bed to one side, and called Which? Legal. They told to'"reject'the bed in a formal letter and complain to the credit card company. They said I have the option to also complain to the furniture ombudsman. The web sites claim that 60% of complaints are found in the customers favor but I don't believe in anything connected with Dreams PLC anymore.

I then sought an independent specialist to assess the bed. He had 25 years of experience in bedding and furniture. His report claimed that the bed had no support left in either side. He suspected it had been used by another customer and damaged or worn out. He said it was impossible for any bed to lose this much support in 8 weeks. I sent the report and a letter to the credit card company. They are evaluating the claim. The story is far from over'€ I hope it ends well.

Do not buy from Dreams. They are a shabby outfit with no customer service and poor quality products. There are plenty of small independent bedding companies around that offer customer service and don't have high pressure sales people on the floor. Honest companies live and die by their customer reputation. Dreams survives on deception and opportunity'€ not repeat sales!

Did you know, the best night's sleep I had since this experience was in a bed from Argos (SilentNight Miracoil) for '£250. That's what I sleep on now.

Good luck to all of you who are in complaints proceedings or litigation against Dreams PLC. (Spread the word and save others from this company).

Members' Comments onbowmangreg's Review

• purplebird on 24th Apr 2008

  We are going through the same heartache with Nightmares, sorry Dreams PLC

• R Ghosh Roy on 11th May 2008

  I was planning to buy a Chaucer mattress from Dreams. Thanks to this article that I am now looking elsewhere for a reliable outlet. Thanks again, RG-R

• bowmangreg on 24th May 2008

  Since complaining to Dreams PLC and getting nowhere, I made a claim online using https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk. The site allows you to being a small claims procedure for £80 - excellent. (However, watchout - you only have 2000 words to describe your case and the only characters you can use are A-Z, 1-10, and comma and full stop. Took me 2 hours of frustration to realize that).
  
  The defendants had 14 days to reply and both said they would defend the claim but I received a phone call within 24 hours from the credit company (Goldfish) that they would pay me in full including all expenses. Fantastic news.
  
  Although Dreams had eventually offered me a replacement (3 months after my first complaint and threat of claims action) - I refused it. The basis of my claim was a full refund because Dreams had taken so long to offer any kind of replacement.
  
  I received a letter from Goldfish this week confirming the call and will now abandon the claim.
  
  Good news for me but note that I bought my bed in November but it took me until May to get a refund. Dreams never offered a satisfactory resolution - the credit card company resolved it under threat of small claim.
  
  Sincerely
  Bowmangreg

• SteveK47 on 24th Feb 2009

  We bought a Chaucer Divan set at Christmas which was delivered on time - but that's when the problems started. The qualityin our opinion, was very poor for a premium priced product, and we formally rejected the bed before we used it and politely requested our money back. It took two weeks for their Inspector to turn up and he totally agreed that the bed was faulty, and he wrote his report to that effect whilst at our house. Dreams response was that they could not action his report for a week - even though they had it within 24 hours. They then said that when a decision was made that it would take a week to process the refund. Guess what, we are still waiting having now shelled out for another bed (not from Dreams of course)
  
  We are getting seriousely annoyed and are looking now at compensation, although no doubt Dreams have a policy to make that very difficult.
  
  If you want a laugh, ask their delivery teams to wear their Dreams slippers when they come into your house in accordance with Dreams' policy, but do not expect a polite response !!

• Simple Bart on 21st Oct 2009

  I was on the verge of buying a Chaucer mattress but thanks to these reviews I shall now but elsewhere