It has now been confirmed hundreds of customers are to share a £20m payout for injuries and burns sustained by ‘toxic sofas’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/apr/26/toxic-sofa-customers-compensation. This must have been a traumatic time for the people concerned but unfortunately for those who purchased from Land of Leather the battle continues as their claims have been rejected. This is due to a clause in the insurance policy Land of Leather had http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/mar/19/land-of-leather-toxic-sofa-claims-rejected
Although we can’t take away the pain and misery caused by this, here at Lefton’s http://www.leftonsgroup.com/ it has been decided to offer those customers who have lost out by this ruling a special discount of 10% on either a leather http://www.leftonsgroup.com/website/living/sofasFabric.php?catID=7&page=1 or fabric suite http://www.leftonsgroup.com/website/living/sofasFabric.php?catID=7&page=1 . Proof of purchase and injuries sustained will be required but after this has been confirmed you will be able to choose from any of our suites and you don’t have to be worried about purchasing leather again, there isn’t any Chinese leather in our store and the use of DMF http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyl_fumarate the cause of the skin irritation is now banned. We have never stocked furniture treated with this but as retailers we are really pleased the decision was taken by the EU to ban this http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/consumer/dmf-guide/.
Compensation is a very over used word these days but in this case it is totally justified.
If our leather suites are not manufactured in the UK , they are from well established European companies, mainly from Spain and Italy . As part of our buying process and staff training visits are made to the factories to reassure ourselves of the quality of the product. Leather is a complicated product, however all our staff have had leather training and can discuss any queries with you and explain all the different types of leather. It may all come from a cow but, depending on how it is then treated can alter the feel and texture and durability. It pays to know what you are buying.
We are hearing more and more from customers their sad tales of how they have lost money by purchasing goods over the internet. Just last week a couple came in saddened by their experience but it is a cautionary tale. They had shopped around and eventually seen a dining table they liked in a store. They then took all the measurements and details of the furniture, went home and trawled the internet, when they finally found it at a cheaper price they ordered it and paid in full. However, the internet company then ceased to trade and the customer was left with no furniture and severely out of pocket. Whilst there are genuine companies selling via the internet there are also many who are there only to fleece innocent people of their hard earned money.
Is it not better to purchase from a local well established store where you can see the type of company you are buying from? Even Amazon, one of the largest internet retailers can see the benefit of ‘real’ stores http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article6945922.ece .
It’s well worth thinking about the ‘what if’ when purchasing on the internet because even if the company looks good
What if
The goods are damaged in transit? Who is liable? Are the goods delivered by the companies own staff or are they delivered via a courier company?
What if
Something goes wrong? How will the problem be dealt with? Will the company be able to deal with it?
What if
the goods need to be repaired? Who will cover the cost if goods need to be returned for repair? How will they be returned? How long will you be without them? Does the company have the ability to loan you something in the meantime?
And in this day and age the main question should be will the company still be around to deal with any future problems?
All these questions need to be considered. Many customers research the goods they want to purchase but don’t research the company they are purchasing from. We are all too quick to use the internet in our everyday lives but many fail to use it for proper research purposes when it can be a very valuable tool. As much time should be spent on making an internet purchase as is made when shopping from a proper bricks and mortar store. You wouldn’t walk into a store, take a quick glance at something and buy it immediately. In the case of furniture time is taken to discuss fabrics, leathers, colours and of course how the furniture feels to sit on. Of course, we all know there are customers who use ‘real stores’ as showrooms and then use the internet to save a few pounds but do they really consider the ‘what if’s’? Those few pounds saved could turn into a very costly experience if problems arose.
When we are all watching what we spend a little bit of reassurance about our purchase goes a long way!
Friday, 30 April 2010
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Feeling The Heat
Welcome to the first blog from Lefton’s Furniture Group, Blackpool
We’ll keep you up to date with our special offers, promotions and anything any furniture buyer may need to know. It’s also our chance to showcase manufacturers, our new products and along the way we’ll introduce you to our staff members. In fact anything we think you should know, we’ll tell you. There may be weeks when we have a rant about things happening which affect us and in turn you, the customer, but hopefully there will be good times along the way which we can share with you.
Manufacturing in the UK has taken a severe beating during the recession with even the oldest furniture manufacturers suffering. One which certainly pulled at our heart strings was the loss of H J Berry & Sons. They had traded since 1840 and were the oldest chair manufacturer in Britain. Their product was made by skilled craftsmen and was high quality. It’s a sad loss for our store display and also to the local area as they were based not too far from us. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/8511825 We can only hope the election will invigorate the economy a little here in the UK .
Bad news from America shows many importers and manufacturers think the rising cost of raw materials will result in higher prices for finished goods and they are forecasting price increases of anywhere between single figures up to 15% within the next 12 months. As we all know what happens in America follows through to the UK . Although we held off as long as possible, once the VAT increase came into force together with all the notifications from manufacturers of their price increases we have had no option but to increase our prices. We do our utmost to offer the best possible price and are keeping our prices as low as we can whilst still offering good quality items, drop into the store and see for yourself or visit our website at http://www.leftonsgroup.com./
So after months of waiting the election was finally called for May 6th. Over the weekend support for the Lib Dems grew after the performance of Nick Clegg in last weeks first debate and after subsiding slightly in polls earlier this week they now have their highest support so far with 34%, a gain of 3%. The Conservative party has lost 2% of the vote and now has 31% with Labour trailing on 26% after a loss of 1% www.ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog. It’s interesting to see a report on www.google.co.uk/election2010 shows Gordon Brown and his Chancellor Alistair Darling are the most googled leader and Chancellor, however it is the Conservative Party with the most hits. Nobody seems to be doing much searching for Nick Clegg but his Chancellor Vince Cable is ahead of George Osborne for the Conservatives. Peter Mandelson was here in Blackpool last week on his campaign trail but he found time (or was it a charm offensive?) to stop off for a twirl around the dance floor of the Tower Ballroom and an ice cream at the end of the pier http://www.guardian.co.uk/. He would certainly have had his work cut out as Blackpool is very much, or at least was at the last local elections a Conservative stronghold with a majority of 27 seats to Labour’s 12 and Lib Dem’s 3.
Whatever happens on May 6th and whoever comes out on top after all the shouting is over we can only hope the voting public are rewarded with a Government who delivers the promises they were elected on.
Good news for us – none of our staff are trapped abroad due to volcanic ash, although if the disruption carries on until weekend we may have a certain member of staff who will be having an extended holiday due to Eyjafjallajokull http://blogs.news.sky.com/theweathergirls/Post:d0cf7a8b-c0ba-493f-8aa0-f4159cc4780d
Furniture is usually transported by land and sea so hopefully no deliveries will be delayed by this but if you are expecting furniture from us we’ll keep you informed as usual. If you are looking to furnish your home abroad you don’t need to worry when buying from Lefton’s, we use the best carriers and shipping etc so there will be no delays for any international orders due to volcanoes!! In fact we have just made a successful delivery to Marbella in Spain and the customers are delighted with their purchase of Holtkamp Moreno http://www.leftonsgroup.com/website/living/multimediaCabinets.php?catID=10&page=1
So with the UK feeling the heat of recession, the politicians feeling the heat of the election campaign and it seems a lot of the world feeling the heat of the chaos caused by Eyjafjallajokull, whatever the weather there’s certainly plenty of hot talking points at the moment.
We’ll keep you up to date with our special offers, promotions and anything any furniture buyer may need to know. It’s also our chance to showcase manufacturers, our new products and along the way we’ll introduce you to our staff members. In fact anything we think you should know, we’ll tell you. There may be weeks when we have a rant about things happening which affect us and in turn you, the customer, but hopefully there will be good times along the way which we can share with you.
Manufacturing in the UK has taken a severe beating during the recession with even the oldest furniture manufacturers suffering. One which certainly pulled at our heart strings was the loss of H J Berry & Sons. They had traded since 1840 and were the oldest chair manufacturer in Britain. Their product was made by skilled craftsmen and was high quality. It’s a sad loss for our store display and also to the local area as they were based not too far from us. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/8511825 We can only hope the election will invigorate the economy a little here in the UK .
Bad news from America shows many importers and manufacturers think the rising cost of raw materials will result in higher prices for finished goods and they are forecasting price increases of anywhere between single figures up to 15% within the next 12 months. As we all know what happens in America follows through to the UK . Although we held off as long as possible, once the VAT increase came into force together with all the notifications from manufacturers of their price increases we have had no option but to increase our prices. We do our utmost to offer the best possible price and are keeping our prices as low as we can whilst still offering good quality items, drop into the store and see for yourself or visit our website at http://www.leftonsgroup.com./
So after months of waiting the election was finally called for May 6th. Over the weekend support for the Lib Dems grew after the performance of Nick Clegg in last weeks first debate and after subsiding slightly in polls earlier this week they now have their highest support so far with 34%, a gain of 3%. The Conservative party has lost 2% of the vote and now has 31% with Labour trailing on 26% after a loss of 1% www.ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog. It’s interesting to see a report on www.google.co.uk/election2010 shows Gordon Brown and his Chancellor Alistair Darling are the most googled leader and Chancellor, however it is the Conservative Party with the most hits. Nobody seems to be doing much searching for Nick Clegg but his Chancellor Vince Cable is ahead of George Osborne for the Conservatives. Peter Mandelson was here in Blackpool last week on his campaign trail but he found time (or was it a charm offensive?) to stop off for a twirl around the dance floor of the Tower Ballroom and an ice cream at the end of the pier http://www.guardian.co.uk/. He would certainly have had his work cut out as Blackpool is very much, or at least was at the last local elections a Conservative stronghold with a majority of 27 seats to Labour’s 12 and Lib Dem’s 3.
Whatever happens on May 6th and whoever comes out on top after all the shouting is over we can only hope the voting public are rewarded with a Government who delivers the promises they were elected on.
Good news for us – none of our staff are trapped abroad due to volcanic ash, although if the disruption carries on until weekend we may have a certain member of staff who will be having an extended holiday due to Eyjafjallajokull http://blogs.news.sky.com/theweathergirls/Post:d0cf7a8b-c0ba-493f-8aa0-f4159cc4780d
Furniture is usually transported by land and sea so hopefully no deliveries will be delayed by this but if you are expecting furniture from us we’ll keep you informed as usual. If you are looking to furnish your home abroad you don’t need to worry when buying from Lefton’s, we use the best carriers and shipping etc so there will be no delays for any international orders due to volcanoes!! In fact we have just made a successful delivery to Marbella in Spain and the customers are delighted with their purchase of Holtkamp Moreno http://www.leftonsgroup.com/website/living/multimediaCabinets.php?catID=10&page=1
So with the UK feeling the heat of recession, the politicians feeling the heat of the election campaign and it seems a lot of the world feeling the heat of the chaos caused by Eyjafjallajokull, whatever the weather there’s certainly plenty of hot talking points at the moment.
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