Freaked out, over a sofa?

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Hi,
Me again, anyway my new sofa arrived on Tuesday and I freaked out.
It's one of the most comfortable sofas I've ever sat on, but all that black leather in such a small space is just too much for me.

I purchased a 3 seater (7x3x3 feet) and 2 single chairs (3x3x3 feet) my living room is 17x10 feet. The sofa shop refuses to take it back and selling it would be a nightmare. I no longer feel calm in my own home.

I've had to resort to cutting my arm again, something I have not done in 7 months. It may sound crazy to hurt myself over a sofa, but that sofa cost £2000, I searched and saved for years so I could get the right one. This is my first flat and my first sofa, the living room is the most important room in the house, and the sofa is the most important piece of furniture in that room.

I need to feel cosy in that room so I can entertain friends and woo a potential girlfriend. Fabric is friendly, leather is efficient.
I let my head rule my heart, now I'm stuck in Darth Vader's livinng room!

Some words of comfort would really help right now,
Thanks

Wow. Can't you take any of them back?

Try ordering slip covers. I'm not to sure how well they'd work on leather couches, but it would allow you to have fabric cheaply, and leather under it.

Though there may be a sensory issue if the cover isn't snug and slips a bit.

Oh s**t!

I would have thought the shop should be willing to help make sure you speak to someone with the power to help not one of the minions it looks good for them if they help. Don't expect something for nothing the will almost certainly need to charge delivery and handling but it is certainly if the suite is new and undamaged it is certainly not unreasonable for them to take it back.
£ 2000 is a lot of money and if they take it back you may well still spend it with them.
If they won't a letter to the local paper saying what a bunch of ****s they are is always an option.

And don't phone, go to the shop preferably when they are busy. Disgruntled customers in the shop is not good for business.

Wow, I really have to ask, Why on earth did you pay £2000 for a couch you didn't really want? I just got a similar set of furniture for my house and paid about $800 for the whole set - and I thought I was being ripped off. Anyhow, if you used a credit card you can have them make it right.

But as an aspie, I kind of know where you are coming from. It took me about 3 days before I would sit on my new furniture that I just bought. Its a change and aspies have a low tolerance for change.

But still, I think you were ripped off and taken advantage of. If you paid £2000 for a couch then that's about $4000 USD and that's just plain nuts.

I don't know how the law works over there, but in the US you can be arrested for trespassing if you make a scene in a place of business. So beware of that. Usually, the credit card people can do a good job adjusting the store's attitude. You should go that route.

Hi,
It looked so different in the show room, but in my living room it looks cold and unfriendly!
I've tried using throws but they keep slipping.

I wonder why you bought the sofa in the first place? Did you even sat in it first before you bought it? Why would selling it be a nightmare? What do you mean by the leather in a small space is too much?

Some nice soft throw pillows and a soft chenille type of throw draped over an arm, maybe a soft area rug...

Should soften the look right up...

I've lived with used or second-hand most of my life...sometimes it isn't exactly what you want, and alot of times it looks better in someone else's house than it does when you get it home in yours... but there are normally ways to make it fit.

Try using a couple of throws - one over the back tucked in behind the seat cushions, and another over the seat cushions. The extra weight down the back might keep it in place better. You may even be able to weight the edge of the throw - or maybe attach little velcro pads to the back of the sofa to keep it in place, if you don't mind sticking them on?

But definitely give it another try with the shop, it happens sometimes, that people get furniture and find it doesn't fit in the room. I know people who have put back furniture for that reason, although legally the shop doesn't have to. Try pushing them a little harder, if you're that unhappy with it. At the end of the day, you will probably get used to it with time.

This is silly. Why suggest writing a letter to a local paper saying what a bunch of ****s they are?

It's not the fault of the shop or its employees that Bester changed his mind.

Lots of furniture stores don't keep lots of stock. Lots of furniture stores make to order, so that when you go in and 'buy the sofa' and they give you a delivery date of two or three weeks or whatever, that's because in that two or three weeks they actually make the sofa for the customer. So it's not necessarily a matter of sending it back to the warehouse to sit on a shelf till someone else buys one. It may have been specially made to meet Bester's order.

Legally speaking, stores don't have to accept returns unless there is a fault with the goods, just because their customer is a f**kwit who changes their mind, doesn't mean the store owners or employees are bad people. FFS!

Hi,
I bought it because leather is an efficient material, easy to clean and long lasting.
Fabric is more differcult to maintain, but is cosy to the touch. I sat on it before I bought it, but in my imagination it looked nicer.

It wasn't made to order, and I don't consider myself a f**** for changing my mind. I just wanted to chat, sometimes it's really difficult for me to overcome my need for perfection, but I do try. Sometimes my head rules my heart and I make bad choices based on logic instead of feeling. I bought this sofa because it was efficient when I should have bought it because it was cosy.

I'm not a spoiled brat even though sometimes I sound like one. Sometimes my mind argues with itself and I have no idea which side will win. Do you think I enjoy being like this? I hate myself. I can't get anything nice spontaneously, I have to justify it logically, even then there's no guarantee I won't go Jekyll and Hyde a few days later.

I just thought someone on this forum would understand. My cousin said this need for perfection was common among Aspies. I thought I left all this crap behind when I moved in to my first appartment. I thought I could make my home, my sanctuary. However I got so obsessed about making my home cosy for other people I forgot to make it cosy for me.

I cut myself because I'm in control. I may not be able to control my own mind but at least I can control my own body. My family think I'm nuts, I think I'm nuts! What wrong with me, why am I so uptight?

I'm not angry, just frustrated.

I would expect that often large furnishings are found not to fit or to be of the wrong style when they are actually arrive on site and I would expect any responsible retailer to have contingency for such an event. I would not expect something for nothing but I would expect whatever assistance they can reasonably offer. To turn around and say 'your stuck with it' is in my opinion out of order although I would expect to be somewhat out of pocket by the time things are resolved.

Don't cut yourself. It leaves scars. I use an electric fence charger. It does the same thing without scars. I always feel better after I use it.

Hi Bester,

What about the sofa bothers you? Sight of it, feel? I would definitely add some throw pillows & a throw or two, to soften the look of the black leather. Also, give it some time. Right now, it's brand new & hasn't been broken in yet. Efficiency is not something I would have thought of as far as a reason to purchase leather. My living room set is also leather. I love it. It is easy to care for...I clean & condition it about once quarterly. Fabric gets dirty pretty fast, & it's harder to clean. I've had some fabric furniture that was too "nubby," & I hated the way it felt. Leather can be kind of cold, but it can also be warm. Slip covers can also help with that issue.

Most stores rely on customers to know what they want. The sales personnel write up the order, but they aren't mind readers. They can only make suggestions if they spend enough time to get to know what you're looking for. Most can't afford for customers to return the furniture.

What you expect actually has no basis whatsoever in consumer law.

Under consumer law, once you've purchased something that is it, you are stuck with it. You're not entitled to just change your mind because you no longer like the colour.

You're only allowed to return goods if they aren't fit for purpose or they aren't as described, for example you buy a computer that says it has 4GB of memory but you get it home and find out it only has 2GB or something like that, or a sofa has a tear in the fabric, or whatever (in England and Wales there's something called... erm, vague recollection from contract law 101... The Sale of Goods Act and the Trades Descriptions Act) Depending which country the OP lives in there will likely be similar legislation.

Lots of stores have very generous exchange terms, they will let you return goods if you change your mind, but they are under no legal obligation whatsoever to do so. They do so simply on the basis of good customer service and because it generates goodwill and good PR.

Seriously, do a quick Google for consumer rights before you start spouting off about what you expect to happen, when it has no basis in actual law.

And I can give you a direct example of this kind of thing happening. A friend of mine went along to this second hand charity furniture project to buy a sofa and chairs and she ended up getting an absolute bargain. A brand new three piece suite still in its plastic wrappers, at a bargain second hand price. The reason? Because the person who originally purchased it hadn't measured their sitting room, and when it was delivered, they realised that it was too big for their room. They asked the delivery guys to return it, but they refused because there weren't any faults with the sofa and chairs. So they ended up giving it to the furniture project, and had to buy a new, smaller suite. And my friend bagged a bargain, because her room was big enough.

Like I previously explained, a lot of these high value items will be made to order. No company could function if all their customers were allowed to buy goods worth a thousand pounds, two thousand pounds or whatever, accept delivery, and then try to return them. The company could potentially end up broke if it had to offer a no quibble returns policy on all their high value products. Your assertions are totally nonsensical.