written by WilliamCarpenter on 22/02/2024
We ordered 2 seat and 3 seat Abbey sofas online. They were delivered on time and initially we were pleased apart from the incorrect dimensions of both sofas. After 3 months of arguing with M&S, the manufacturer (Westbridge) and 2 visits by their inspection company Castellan we've ended up with sofas that do not measure as shown on the M&S website and M&S consumer services are no longer interested. M&S came up with a hitherto unpublished "industry tolerance" which incredibly enough was the same as all the errors in the measurements or our sofas. I expected better of M&S but as I said in my title, I won't be ordering any more furniture from them and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone I know.
written by Maynard382 on 12/02/2024
Although the Jayden sofa bed looks lovely on the M&S website, in real life it is pretty, but as HARD AS A ROCK. The day it was delivered, we immediately realised - after sitting and lying on it for just a few minutes – that it is so uncomfortable that you could neither sit nor sleep on it. So. An initial phone call to M&S 'customer services' gave us two choices: either pay £25 to have the item collected, or have a 'technician' visit us to assess whether it was 'faulty' and could be collected for free. I explained that - as the sofa bed was in no way fit for purpose - I felt it was unfair to expect us to pay to have the item collected. It was not like we had just changed our mind. But I felt it was unlikely that an M&S technician would deem it to be 'faulty', so there was little point in wasting time with a visit. I asked to talk to someone more senior, but the customer service operator refused. I tried again a few minutes later and insisted on speaking to someone more senior. The (different) customer services operator put me on hold and obviously had a long chat with their supervisor, resulting in an agreement to collect the sofa bed without the £25 charge. Lessons learned. 1. Don't be put off trying to get the unprincipled 'collection charge' waived if your item doesn't do the job it's supposed to do. 2. Never buy a sofa bed without actually trying one out in a showroom. 3. Don't trust the M&S brand - at least not when it comes to furniture.
written by CREASERELEASE on 04/01/2024
Ordered Conway chaise sofa and was delivered 10weeks later in October. Had spent almost a year searching for a sofa and finally found this one where I could choose fabric, seat firmness and colour of feet. Was so excited counting down to delivery date but when it arrived, my disappointment was evident. Loved the style, colour and size but the chaise base cushion didn't lie flat on base and was 3cms longer!!! Spoke with customer services and sent many photos and the best they could offer was a return for a full refund. They stated the photos shown on the website were for 'illustrative purposes only' although how you are expected to buy a sofa from an inaccurate illustration when there are no display models in any store is now beyond me. They stated that as there was no 'technician' in my area, they could not determine a manufacturing fault and could therefore not fix the issue!!! As Christmas was approaching, customer service promised a call back to finalize my decision - needless to say, no call back!!!! This sofa cost over £1500 so not a cheap purchase!!! It looks cheap and irritates me every time I walk past my lounge room. No wonder there is no place on M&S website for reviews - reading the reviews here, they would never make any sofa sales!! I will never buy from M&S again and will never recommend them to anyone - just wish I'd read these reviews first
written by MontyPorterfield on 28/12/2023
We purchased an Abbey sofa and Loveseat in 2021 and within months flagged a problem with creaking and squeaking. A technician was dispatched who said there was nothing wrong. Here we are two years later and literally everyone who visits almost falls through the sofa when they attempt to sit on it. There is a chasm in the middle and the noise is awful - we apologize to everyone who visits and ensure they sit on the loveseat and we perch on the arms of the sofa. I reported this again to M&S and all they offered was for us to contact the Ombudsman. I even offered to pay for the repair but was told that the repair company Castelan would not repair it. We’ve always been the strongest advocates of M&S but no longer. When I look at all of these one star reviews of sofas, something is clearly wrong with the construction and with the customer service. We are embarrassed by the sofa now and must have apologized to over a hundred visitors to our home. Needless to say, I don’t think any of them will be buying furniture from M&S. So disappointed. Sofas should last for many years. This one was defective from the start and we are now saving for another. We will also have to replace the loveseat as it won’t fit with any new sofa.
written by on 02/12/2023
Ordered the new Ferdale sofa, chair and love seat in the August BH promotion. Delivery took 6 weeks as stated and was delivered on time. The delivery crew where great but they struggled when fitting the feet as they did not have any instructions and this was a new furniture range. Their first fit did not look right so they changed the angle of the feet. The furniture was turned upside down whilst fitting the feet and this highlighted the cheap build quality. The furniture was custome made with our choice of fabric and does look great. My gripe however is the quality of the build. The fabric is stretched so tightly over an mdf frame and held together by what looks like fuzzy tape. The underneath is just bare mdf and the padding on the frame is quite sparce. I doubt this furniture will last the 24 years the previous furniture lasted.
written by DeeWhiteHicks on 01/12/2023
Worst service I've ever known. I'd give zero stars if I could. I had to take 3 mornings and 1 afternoon off work for the delivery of a poor quality Hastings wardrobe. The first wardrobe delivered was damaged (split wood on two pieces) so they told me a 2nd full replacement would arrive. I had to wait almost a month for the replacement, and when the delivery men who were supposed to replace it arrived, they refused, and said they didn't have time to as they had so many deliveries to get through, and then proceeded to stand inside the thin wardrobe with their work boots on, hammering the top of the wardrobe off and pulling off the sides to replace the 2 split pieces. In doing so they damaged the wardrobe even more by splitting the wood of the front piece and from standing inside and hammering it made the wardrobe lean to the right so that the doors wouldn't close. I literally could not believe it, and politely asked them to leave. I was then told a 3rd full replacement wardrobe would arrive - this arrived 3 months after I first ordered it. Unfortunately they didn't turn up in the morning as I was informed, and called 1 hour after their delivery slot time to say they could rearrange for the end of the day. As pleasant as these two delivery men were, they again tried to ask if they could just replace the faulty sections, which I had to be adamant about and say no to as the wardrobe was so rickety and damaged by this point. They did fully replace the wardrobe which I have to say is quite cheap and flimsy for the price. I was told on one of my many phonecalls to M&S that I could receive up to a 50% refund, but all they would offer me a small voucher to spend on furniture with M&S, why would I want to order anything again with them, plus it's such a small voucher there's nothing I could spend it on without incurring delivery charges! Very poor.
written by Janeclark on 30/11/2023
Within weeks of ordering 2 loveseats from M&S, the relaxed fibre cushions started to develop creases down the centres. This despite the fact that I followed the ‘plumping’ and care regimes specified from day one. M&S sent a technician from Castelan when I insisted that there was a real problem.She agreed that I had cared appropriately for the cushions yet the response to my complaint was that as there was ‘no manufacturing defect’ nothing could be done. I complained to the furniture ombudsman but apart from getting confirmation from Castelan that the technician agreed that I had done everything I could to avoid the problems, nothing could be done because there was no manufacturing defect. There was no attempt to find any kind of resolution. Apparently poor appearance does not signify! I have subsequently found a number of similar stories going back to 2016 yet M&S continues to sell these cushions. The quality, durability and the dreadful appearance of these cushions demonstrate to me that M&S doesn’t give a damn about customer care. I will never buy anything from them again and am posting this in the hope that it will prevent others from doing so.
written by Ethan81 on 18/11/2023
I can say without any hesitation that buying a settee and armchair from M&S has been one of the worst purchasing experiences I have ever had and I do not say that lightly. The detail will take far too long to set out and I will not bore you with it but suffice to say that it has taken four months to get the matter sorted. The fact that I am writing this review at all is purely because I feel that potential M&S furniture customers should be aware of the problems that they may encounter when there is a problem. We ordered a Lincoln two seater settee and armchair with firm fillings as both my wife and I have back issues. When the items were delivered it transpired that the armchair had bounceback filling which was way too soft for us. The settee was fine. I contacted M&S and it was then the problems started in earnest. Firstly they insisted that a Castelan technician had to come to confirm it was bounceback filling. After three calls to them common sense prevailed and they agreed my suggestion that I send a photo of the label to confirm it was bounceback. A new filling was ordered and took an unbelievable eight weeks to arrive. When it did arrive guess what? Yes, another bounceback had been sent instead of firm! After another couple of weeks a filling alleged to be firm arrived and was fitted by a Castelan technician. After a few days it became apparent it was still not a firm filling. Another technician came out and confirmed that it was, indeed, softer than the settee. I decided to give them one final opportunity to resolve the matter and set a deadline which, if not met, would involve me taking the case to the Small Claims Court. Another filling was ordered and on my deadline was met. On arrival it seemed to be firm but only time will tell how long it remains so. Yet another visit from Castelan to fit it so another day wasted for us waiting. All in all six days wasted waiting for delivery of fillings or visits from Castelan. We received a £100.00 voucher for the inconvenience. When I tell friends of the problems we have had in simply getting a solitary cushion filling replaced they are incredulous that it has taken four months, innumerable emails and 'phone calls. M&S have constructed an impenetrable triad of themselves, Castelan and the manufacturer which conspires to give the customer the worst possible level of service. Issues are batted around from one to the other and it seems to me that neither of them has the slightest concern for the amount of the customer's time being wasted or the stress caused. I have been a customer of M&S for five decades and I have to say that the days when M&S excelled in quality and customer service are a distant memory. My experience with them has ensured I will never ever buy furniture from them again as I simply would not be able to take the stress of getting any issues resolved. Ask yourself if four months to replace a cushion filling is reasonable and if the answer is yes then buy without hesitation otherwise avoid them. To be honest even if the latest filling softens over time I simply will not pursue the matter. It has worn me down getting to this point and enough is enough. Life is too short.
written by Jaylanx254 on 15/11/2023
Ordered a sofa and stool early Aug 2023 Delivery date given 27/9/23.Cancelled New date 6/10/23 again cancelled Received a text 11/10/23 advising 13/10/23 and also gave a time slot. Only had 2 days notice so had the previous sofa removed. Unbelievable late on 12th received notification that the delivery was cancelled no explanation. 14th Received a call from customer services claiming issues were between manufacturer and logistics and would give me an update as soon as possible. I have made several calls to try and get information but still nothing would have appreciated an honest answer so cancelled the order 15 Nov. Couldn't care less Absolute disgrace. They have totally disregarded the fact that this has caused me no end of stress or acknowledged my lack of furniture for over a month due to their rubbish organisation. No surprise the company has struggled to attract customers for years now Don't buy from them unless it's off the shelf
written by GailKM23 on 24/10/2023
Sofa ordered 5th September, delivery arranged for 24th November. I have been contacted today to be advised delivery now 31st January!!! Basically doubling the original delivery time. What a shambles. How can they get things so wrong.
written by JeezyPeepsMan on 23/10/2023
Ordered a sofa with the promise of 6 week delivery window. "Delayed" 3 times now. Each person spoke t to had a different reason for delay. So unprofessional and shockingly terrible service. Original delivery date 13/10/23. Delayed 2 weeks, then 4 weeks then again now until 31/01/2024!!! Have now requested a refund and will continue to make sure people avoid this absolute nonsense I've been through. I have now been stuck with camping chairs for furniture for 9 weeks. A joke.
written by UK_Sgt_7094 on 20/10/2023
Bought furniture online, was redirected to creation finance for payment, went through no problem but the M&S website did not pick it up within 30mins so they did not provide us with a delivery date. Phoned customer services, spoke to the advisor and explained, she then put me on hold for 10mins then hung up on me, next advisor also hanged up on me, spoke to a third advisor who would not raise a complaint or talk to a manager, the solution was to cancel the finance, re-apply (and go through a second credit check), and hope the M&S website worked, she then hanged up on me also. Is this really the customer service we expect from a brand such as M&S?
written by Gook00 on 26/09/2023
An Abbey leather three seat sofa and matching armchair were delivered 19th April 2023. Having tested the in store furniture which had only medium seat filling and which felt firm enough we decided to upgrade, at extra cost, to the firm seat filling. I have spinal problems and it is vital to have firm support. This we wrongly decided would be perfect. Within less than a month it became apparent that the seat filling was already softening and also seemed to tilt the sitter to one side. This meant I could only use the sofa for a few minutes before sciatic pain kicked in. I then moved over to the armchair which, although firmer as it had hardly been used, began to be uncomfortable for me. I now am using a chair provided by a friend. She advised me to get in touch with Marks and Spencer which I did. They arranged for an “independent” assessor to come and inspect. This he did last Friday and reported back to them. I received what seems to be their standard response that as there is no manufacturing fault they could do nothing to help and they gave me a link to the Ombudsman. I contacted them to say how disappointed I was and pointed out that under the sale of goods act as a customer was entitled to expect a level of comfort and durability for a reasonable length of time. When reporting our problem the furniture was just under four months old and I do not consider that to Bea reasonable period of time. The seat leather has wrinkles and gives the appearance of lots of use over a number of years. Although I agree the framework is fine I would argue that the seat filling is of a very poor quality and not fit for purpose. I received a reply to this mail saying they could no longer discuss this with me as my name wasn’t on the order form. My husband had to contact them to say who he was and that he totally agreed with all I had said. He also pointed out to them that we had contacted to Ombudsman as we felt the furniture we received bore no relation to that in store regarding comfort. Their response was to say all further correspondence was to be through the ombudsman. They then hoped we enjoyed the rest of our day. This did not help our annoyance. Our only contact with the Ombudsman was to see what steps if any are available to us within the Sale of Goods Act that was all, but they obviously just wanted rid us. Having read another review it suggested that the Ombudsman is non other than Castilian the independent assessor who Marks and Spencer sent. What this has taught us is never to buy any further furniture from them. An expensive, disappointing and very annoying lesson.
Written on: 18/11/2023
Your review makes very interesting reading and you have my sympathy. I have posted a review myself following the four months it took me to simply get an incorrect cushion filling replaced. It seems to me that the standard of fillings used during manufacture is very inconsistent. I reached the point where I felt the only way forward was through the Small Claims Court. I actually went as far as filling out the forms but did not send them as the matter was eventually resolved. I fully agree your penultimate sentence in that I will never use them again.
written by Chavezrx28 on 21/09/2023
After approximately 2 1/2 years our oscar sofa developed a fault. Part of the frame snapped and the sofa now sags and nearly touches the floor. M&S sent out a technician from Castelan who took some photos of the problem. M&S then responded to say the damage was accidental and there is nothing further they can do and we should take matters up with the furniture ombudsman. I tried to respond to the email but it’s an unmonitored address. I then called the customer services number but again I was told there was nothing they were prepared to do and my ONLY recourse was to the ombudsman. Shocking response from a retailer I have been loyal too all of my life - not any more!! ! No right of reply or consideration of their obligations under the Sale of Goods Act.
written by fbByrd215 on 20/09/2023
Ordered TV unit and matching side table. The Delivery is outsourced to a company who only offer 2 days each month to deliver meaning I waited over 7 weeks after paying for the items to arrive. The TV unit is missing parts on the draw (the last part of the build... typical!) and the side table has paint chips to one side. The complaints procedure is a joke. As the items are out of stock M&S will collect and refund leaving me with no furniture. Eventually agreed a part refund after multiple emails and calls. Inflexible service procedures and poor treatment of customers. I wouldn't ever recommend.
written by Dom6265 on 13/09/2023
Bought sofa and loveseat over a year ago and from the first month nothing but distress and heartache.customer service is a total disaster and incompetent constant emails photographic evidence.even the person from castelan they sent out to repair the sofa’s actually made them worse but put in his report the sofas were fine spent over an hour on the four times he was sent out to fix sofa’s just plumping up and dressing the sofas then took photos to state all was fine.I hope and advise people please avoid M&S sofas as your just creating a nightmare and continued grief for yourself.to this day still nothing has been done and now my scatter cushions are a mess as feathers are everywhere thus having two sofas with no cushions.the repair guy told me he sends off reports and then it’s up to Marks and Spencer’s to deal with it which to this day sofas are still not repaired if I could I would have given zero stars as it’s a very bad company to deal with and get your problems resolved…….customer service is appalling
written by Jackreviews on 06/09/2023
8 months later, we are now on our second faulty ashton 4 seater sofa. The first arrived ripped, and with a snapped frame. After failed attempts to fix it, a replacement was organised. 4 months later it arrived and aside from not being ripped creaks worse than the first. Customer service has been appalling. No compensation for the numerous appointments, redelivery and failed repairs plus time spent on the phone. They use third parties for both deliveries and repairing furniture and seem to have zero ability to influence these. Would never but furniture from them again.
written by Kidd240 on 02/09/2023
Order £3k worth of Copenhagen sofas in house leather - steel. First delivery - red mark on a cushion - they wouldn’t just replace a cushion so waited weeks for a replacement - replacement delivery then delayed. Eventually it came and OMG what a total mess - lumps, bumps and can’t even stitch straight wherever they make these ! Delivery man was totally shocked at the state of this sofa and he agreed with me it simply was not up to standard or acceptable ! Got £150 compensation - really pathetic given poor quality delivered / and I don’t think the leather itself is very good at all. A few weeks in and they look a mess - where I have sat on very few occasions this summer looks like it’s been sat on regularly for 5 years - will never buy furniture from M&S again ! If I hadn’t binned my old ones these would certainly have been returned in full. I’ve had cheaper sofas from places like DFS much better quality in the past - won’t make this mistake again. I wish I could post photos to show future customers what to expect !
written by agWeaver81 on 11/08/2023
Saved hard and ordered 2 Nantucket leather sofas from Marks and Spencer, delivery had to be rescheduled a couple of times and when it was finally rebooked they didn’t bother to shop up. It took numerous calls and emails to eventually get a new delivery date. The sofas arrived and noticed some damage to the leather on the back top corner, delivery guy said it had been stored incorrectly upright on that end. Reported it to Marks and Castelan came out and repaired to an acceptable standard. I mentioned that the seat on the same end seemed to dip a little and was advised to let it settle in. Big mistake. The seat is very uncomfortable and under the cushions looks different to the others, Marks and Spencer sent out Castelan again who looked at the sofa, under the cushion and stated it wasn’t a manufacturing fault. This meant Marks washed their hands of it, directed me to the furniture ombudsman whom I stupidly asked to look into it. Six months have been wasted, Ombudsman arranged an ‘independent’ service company, no it was Castelan and they were paid and reported back to Marks, not independent at all. So now my sofas are six months older and I’m needing to look at other options. So beware, apparently it’s normal now for their sofa to dip down in the corner and be extremely uncomfortable. Interestingly this hasn’t happened to any other seat, nor on other older sofas I have and nor did it happen to my 20 year old leather Marks and Spencer sofa these replaced. Standards and quality have dropped and customer service is non existent.
written by Fahmeeda on 29/07/2023
Mark and Spencer's, I recently purchased a teal Jaden sofa from your website. After using the sofa for a few days, the bed extension started tilting to one side simply due to the stress of my weight. After going through such a long process and experiencing a very rude encounter with the technician, He got back to me through an email saying that there was no manufacturing issue with the sofa and there was nothing they could do. It doesn't physically make sense for a sofa to break when it has been sat on, I am no designer, but a product should fulfil its required function. What good is an M&S sofa when the sofa cannot even be sat on? After paying £1300! for a product that doesn't even function as it should, I'm left with a faulty, damaged sofa that is useless to me. The quality of that product is inferior and not up to M&S standards.
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As rated by our community of reviewers
Maju's Response to Janeclark's Review
Written on: 30/12/2023
I am going through the exact same situation. I purchased a three seater Rochester sofa with relaxed fibre cushions last year and was very pleased with it, so decided to buy another two for another sitting room. Despite being barely sat on , and following the care instructions, as soon as they are sat on unsightly lines appear. I have had castelan out yesterday and have just received the same response from them as they sent to you. I can’t understand how one sofa does not get the lines and another does. I will also refer this to the furniture ombudsman, but I am not holding out much hope.
Janeclark's reply to Maju's Comment
Written on: 30/12/2023
So sorry for you. I hope that the ombudsman will actually try to help you, maybe if everyone else who has the same problem also complains then attitudes will change. I was just stonewalled, closed the case down in spite of my protests. The rhetoric is all about fairness but it wasn’t attempted at all - the appearance and durability of the fabric were not considered to be material reasons for complaint. I find it amazing that the care instructions do not mention how to prevent the fabric from creasing - probably because it’s impossible!!