Furniture store says sofa bed cover is removable, customer says no: ‘You have to unscrew’

How do you define “detachable”?

One furniture store said its sofa bed cover is detachable, but one customer found that removing the cover required the sofa bed to be unscrewed.

Stomper fran Said the seller didn’t mention unscrewing it when she and her husband purchased the sofa bed on Dec 6, 2020.

She shared, “I purchased a Lottie sleeper sofa from Star Living and was advised by the seller that we can top up $299 to get another fabric cover set so we can wash the sofa covers and get a yearly refreshed look.

“When we wanted to change the covers, we realized that it was impossible to remove two of the four pieces of fabric without unscrewing the sofa bed.

“I called Star Living because I thought it was a mistake (the salesperson told us the covers were easily detachable as they are just velcro). Star Living said that for the two pieces of fabric on the side, they used a machine to screw the fabric on the sofa They claimed that it is possible to unscrew the sofa to change the covers and then screw it back on.

“Who will go so far as to unscrew the sofa bed (perhaps risking the safety and durability of the furniture) just to change the covers? For me, it was a clear no.

“I told Star Living that this was not disclosed to us. The salesman told us that it is easily detachable – all by velcro. He was the one who convinced us to buy the covers.

“The manager proposed to send an employee to help us change the covers (unscrew on the machine and screw back), but we had to pay for the services. I told her that I had no intention of unscrewing the sofa. … Even if they did If they sent an employee to change the couch for us for free, I wouldn’t want that either.

“During the conversation, there was no apology for the ‘wrong sale’.”

In response to an inquiry from Stomp, a Star Living spokesperson said they were aware of the issue as the customer had contacted them on Jan. 3 to ask how to change sofa covers to the Lottie Sofa Bed.

“Our sales colleague verbally explained to the couple but they didn’t accept that they had to unscrew some parts of the sofa bed to put the covers back in. We even offered to do a video demonstration but this was rejected as they insisted on not unscrewing the sofa bed for fear that stability would be affected, despite our repeated reassurances.

“To clarify, the Lottie Sofa Bed is a popular model and we have sold over 140 units since its launch in 2019, and this is the first such complaint we have received to date.

“The Lottie sofa bed actually has fully detachable velcro covers. The user only needs to unscrew a few components when changing covers and screw them back on when finished. This is a common fabrication for detachable upholstered furniture, especially sofa beds due to to its functionality, as long as the user does it correctly, the durability of the furniture will not be compromised.

“Therefore, the information listed on our website and in our showrooms is accurate and not misleading.

“In our stores, when customers ask about changing caps, our sales colleagues clearly explain.”

“We tried to check with the sales colleague if he really forgot to point out to the customer that it is necessary to unscrew when changing the cover, but we regret that he also forgot what exactly had been communicated, considering that was more than two years ago.

“However, we still wanted to help the customer with their problem. But as the customer rejected our suggestion to send a video demo and refused to unscrew the sofa bed, we also proposed to do this service at a cost, but that too was totally rejected.

“The customer insisted on a refund, but we are unable to honor this unreasonable request as the sale was over two years ago and we have not provided misleading information in any way. So the customer referred the matter to Stomp.”

Asked by Stomp about Star Living’s response, the customer said: “If a consumer has to unscrew the sofa bed to remove the covers, I question whether it is ethical to say they are ‘fully peelable Velcro covers’.

“Would someone go so far as to unscrew the sofa that is screwed to the machine just to change the fabric? We didn’t want to unscrew the furniture, as we believe that by screwing and unscrewing the furniture, it will undermine its quality and stability.

“While Star Living can assure us that the quality will not be affected, we also cannot guarantee that we will not damage the sofa during the unscrewing process. FYI, we tried to unscrew the sofa bed, but it was very difficult. That’s when Star Living told us to use a lot of force as it was bolted to the machine.

“They said they sold 140 units of the sofa bed. We have no problem with the sofa bed.

“What bothers us is how the fabric covers were sold. We only wanted to buy the sofa bed. However, the seller told us the covers were fully detachable. At $299 (approximately half the cost of the sofa bed) , we can get a fresh look every year.It would be like having a new daybed every year for just $299. He was the one who convinced us to buy the extra set of fabric covers.

“We rejected the suggestion that they send us a video demonstration to unscrew the sofa bed ourselves and the ridiculous proposal to charge us a service fee to help us change the covers, as we wouldn’t want to unscrew the sofa bed. had we known we needed to unscrew the sofa bed to change the fabric, we would not have bought the extra fabric set, so the extra fabric set is now wasted.

“Although the purchase took place in 2020, we only realized it when we wanted to change the covers for a renewed look. We had repeatedly mentioned to the manager that we were not after the refund.

“What we dislike is the unethical sales tactic. Today, it still states that they are detachable fabric sofa covers on their website, with no mention of needing to unscrew.”