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A fed up couple have hit out at a furniture retailer after after having to dig out deckchairs to sit on following a five-month wait for their new £2,000 settee.

Victoria and Jason Barber splashed out on a new corner sofa from Harveys Furniture in October 2018, and were told they would have to wait 12 weeks for it to be delivered.

Mrs Barber, who lives in Bilton, said: “They said they ordered it from Asia and said I had a 12-week wait. They said I might get it for Christmas which I said was fine but that has not happened and I’m still waiting now.”

The 39-year-old fell in love with the sofa after seeing it on display at the St Andrews Quay store, and was under the impression it would arrive in January 2019.

(Image: HullLive)

She sold her existing sofa to a friend in preparation for the delivery but was a dealt a huge blow when the store delayed the distribution of the item.

“They’ve just kept postponing it,” Mrs Barber said. “They sent a text message saying the order is not ready for delivery and asked me to ring them to sort out a new delivery date.

“When it got nearer and nearer to each new date I would ring up because knew it wouldn’t happen and that they wouldn’t have it in the warehouse and that they wouldn’t be able to deliver it on that date.

“It has gone on like that six or seven times and we’ve been sat on sun loungers that my mum has given us.”

Watch: The Barbers speak of their frustration

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Mr Barber, who works as a builder, has found it difficult sitting on the garden chairs due to back pain. The doctor has had to increase Mr Barber’s morphine intake and after contacting Harveys to complain, the furniture giant sent the Barbers a loan chair to use until the sofa was delivered.

The couple are in the process of redecorating their home and have been able to refurbish nearly every single room of the house apart from the lounge with redevelopments stalled until the sofa is delivered.

“It hasn’t been great at all,” Mrs Barber said. “My husband has had to have his morphine increased and his back is really bad.

“I said all this to the store a few weeks ago and they sent us a loan chair. It’s just an armchair for my husband but I’m still on a deckchair.

(Image: HullLive)

“We’ve not been able to relax. I sold my old sofa to a friend because I thought I would be receiving this brilliant new sofa from Harveys about four or five days later.

“I thought it would save me advertising it and I was expecting it to be delivered in January.

“They then told me it wouldn’t be until February 28, then it was March 14 and there have been just so many cancellations.”

After a series of postponements, the Barbers said they offered to drive to the warehouse to pick up the sofa themselves and even to buy a bed from Harveys as a way to speed up the process.

(Image: HullLive)

However, both of these suggestions were vetoed and Mrs Barber was compelled to put her foot down when Harveys said the sofa would not be delivered until the middle of April.

After wrangling on the phone with the store she was able to secure a new delivery date for March 26.

However, she feels Harveys needs to be more upfront with its customers about when items will be distributed, with Mrs Barber keen to speak out after a great-grandma from Hull was forced to sit on a dining room chair following her lengthy wait for a new sofa from Harveys.

“They just need to be honest with their customers and not give them a 12-week date if they are having problems and issues with the distributor in Asia,” Mrs Barber said.

(Image: HullLive)

“They need to have better communication or they will be closing down through the amount of compensation they are dishing out.

“It’s frustrating because you go to the store and you get excited to buy the sofa but then they keep you hanging on. They can’t have so many sales if they can’t keep up with the amount of orders.”

After friends of the Barbers were able to purchase the same Brooklyn corner sofa for a cheaper price, Harveys knocked £243 off the £2,000 fee as part of the company’s Price Match Guarantee.

The couple have also been told they will be awarded £200 compensation.

Harveys said a “delay in the supply chain” caused issues with the delivery of the Barbers’ corner sofa and the firm has “sincerely apologised” to the couple for their wait.

A spokeswoman for the firm said: “We were very sorry to hear about the delays with Mrs Barber’s order.

“Unfortunately, a delay in the supply chain meant that her sofa should have been delivered on the January 19 and will now be delivered on March 26. An offer from the store to loan her the missing goods was rejected on March 4 and we have since been in touch with Mrs Barber to agree a solution.

“As her sofa is now in our warehouse, along with the media unit later ordered, we will be delivering both of the items together on Tuesday 26th March.

“We additionally offered £200 of compensation, along with a £243 price-match reduction off the total cost of her order. This offer of a total of £443 has now been accepted.

“At Harveys we take customer service very seriously and always aim to make our customers happy. Our customer services team will be in touch with Mrs Barber after her delivery to ensure that she is satisfied. We sincerely apologise for this delay.”

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