OakFurnitureLand – your sales experience utterly sucks
By: Date: July 13, 2014 Categories: Business,Other

Updated Sun 20th July (see red update at end)

We needed some new bedroom furniture. We had an oak bed custom made by a carpenter, and we are pleased with that, but needed some other pieces to match. So we looked on Oak Furniture Land’s website, and found a range called “Windsor” which looked perfect.

Bad experience #1

We travelled a thirty six mile round trip to visit the Tunbridge Wells branch of OakFurnitureLand. On arrival we asked if we could see the Windsor range. “Oh that’s a new range, it’s not in our showroom yet”, “it might be by next weekend”. Fantastic. Thanks. Undeterred we looked around anyway, and didn’t see anything that really appealed. So we went home. What a waste of time and fuel.

On the following Friday we rang them to ensure they had the range in the showroom! They did! So we made another trip on the following Sunday. Another 36 mile round trip, again, at our expense.

Bad experience #2

We visited the store, we looked at the Windsor range. It was a totally different colour to that shown on the website. The website shows it as a mid to dark brown. The actuality is dark grey to almost green. The guy in the shop said “well you can never really tell by the website”.

We looked at the website on multiple devices; an iPad, a MacBook Pro, and an iMac. Apple Macs generally have fairly good colour rendition (a lot of professional photographers use them). Although none of my equipment is pantone calibrated, it’s not bad; I do photography myself. I do realise it is a bit subjective, but I am going to say the colour was not the same. The guy in the shop commented that “we were all surprised by the colour when it came in”, so that suggests that they also had different expectations.

A more general point about the OFL website: It is shit. It’s really really busy. Evidently the photography is also suspect. It’s difficult to navigate. It looks like something from a bygone age.

Anyway… So – The Windsor Range was out.

Bad experience #3

We eventually settled for something called the Quercus range. Although we’d seen this before, we’d ruled it out, perhaps slightly hastily. We selected two bedside cabinets, a chest of drawers and a bookcase. I asked the guy to price it, and he said he could throw in a free oak framed mirror. We don’t really need this, but as it’s “free” how can you argue?

His total price was something like £1168. I attempted to negotiate; I would generally aim to pay something closer to £1000 in this situation. No. Flat no. No discount – oh, unless I was in the army (!) But no room to haggle at all.

As any half decent negotiator should do in this situation, I walked away.

We went home, somewhat pissed off that we still had no furniture, but resolved that perhaps we’d see if OFL are on QuidCo, and maybe a second measure and check sizes wouldn’t be a bad idea anyway.

It turned out that OFL are on QuidCo, at 6% cashback. So – hooray, there is a 6% discount right there. Straight away. But that is not all …

Bad experience #4

We checked measurements, decided that, yes, what we had seen was what we wanted, and although the salesman and the store wouldn’t see our purchase in their figures, the company would still get our order. So we placed the order via the website.

Shock horror, it comes out cheaper if you order online anyway! So far from the store refusing to negotiate, the website was cheaper anyway.

Arse, meet elbow.

This is basically dishonest on OFL’s part. How receptive would they have been had I *not* walked away, placed my order in person, then got home and discovered I could have had it substantially cheaper from their own website online? My bet is, not very.

So the same items we’d been quoted around £1168 for in person, came out at £1009 and a few pence online. And that does not take into account the QuidCo cashback, which will amount to a little more than £50 off the effective price.

Absolutely disgraceful experience #5

A small number of hours after I placed my order online, and surrendered more than a grand of my money to OFL, I received a telephone call from a freephone number. It being a Sunday, I answered it, unsure who it might be.

I was impressed and amazed that it was OakFurnitureLand – how amazing that they’re so on-the-ball as to even deal with new orders after 5 pm on a Sunday! Particularly as their website gives their customer service hours as not even open on Sunday!

But my amazement at a brilliantly run business soon melted like the snow in Siberia where their oak trees are grown (you didn’t think it was English Oak did you?!). Here is the best précis of the opening of the call that I can offer from memory :

Him: Hello Mr Bloor, this is Oak Furniture Land here, we’re just handling the order you placed with us online.
Me: Wow! Ok!
Him: Is this your first order with us?
Me: Yes, it is.
Him: OK well what I’m going to be able to do for you is give you a free tin of the wax polish – which you should do as soon as your furniture arrives, and free express delivery which is normally £39 and you can have your furniture as soon as this coming Wednesday!
(at this point my girlfriend and I were incredulous – what an amazing company!)
Me: Wow! Ok great!
Him: And we will cover the furniture for five years for accidental damage if you crash the hoover into it, or scratch it, or spill anything on it and stain it, we can send someone out within two days to do a repair on it, and if it can’t be repaired drop in an identical brand new replacement. No excess, no charge.
(penny starts to drop that this call might be about to change direction)
Me:
… 
Him:
For just £101 you can have all of that, and really, as I’ve thrown in the wax and the express delivery, it’s only about £46 that you’re having to pay for five years cover!
Me: No thanks. (you’ll have to take my word for it, I was totally polite, at this stage)
Him: But why not? It’s for five years! That’s only one pound a month!
Me: No, I don’t think I need that.
Him: (starts to protest and do a pushy sales speech again)

Now I will admit, that at that point, I started to swear and raise my voice. I had politely declined twice. The guy would not go away. I do not like to do this, but I felt I’d given ample opportunities for this unwarranted, and unwanted, *SALES CALL* on a Sunday to be stopped, and he had not listened.

He tried to tell me there was no need to swear, and I pointed out that since he had ignored my two polite rejections, there really wasn’t a clearer way of indicating my lack of interest in his “furniture insurance”. He then said he had to run through the order details, including, strangely, how I might cancel the order (which I confirmed I didn’t want to do). Once done, we ended the call. He sounded upset. I sounded angry.

Message to Oak Furniture Land

There was a perfect opportunity for you to upsell to me when I was in store. But you squandered it for all the reasons above. Just because I have formed a contract with you to supply me furniture in exchange for me supplying you money does not mean that I am now fair game for agressive telesales on a Sunday evening. That is not OK. My view of you as a company is worsened for this bullshit “rinsing” tactic. Concentrate on selling oak furniture.

Update: I tweeted my annoyance to them about this unpleasant business technique and got told in no uncertain terms that rinsing their customers for insurance is “an integral part of their business”. Goodo! I shall not expect it to stop anytime soon then!

_1__Twitter

It will be interesting to see what the furniture is like, once it turns up. I have to say, my expectations are lower now than before I’d dealt with this company, but I am openminded, and we do actually need the items… So here’s hoping they are OK.

Update 13:45 Mon 14th July

So, I’d say on balance, OFL do care. I had a callback from David, indicating that he saw my point of view – particularly around the nature of the unsolicited sales call. We talked briefly about it, and I got the sense that he could see why it might be a bit “cheeky” to ring up customers who’d just spent money to try and get them to spend more. That being said, I don’t doubt they’ll carry on making the calls; but the approach might be done in a different way, and perhaps a “no” will be more readily accepted. He referred to it being used as an example in a weekly meeting.

I explained that I’d had similar calls from AO.com (Appliances Online) before basically selling the same thing for a dishwasher, but when I’d politely declined, that was an end to it. I said I thought it was still a bit cheeky, but I didn’t really object since AO immediately accepted my “no thanks”.

2014-07-14_13_51_09More usefully and relevantly, he was able to book in my delivery for this Friday, which was actually quite impressive; I do not generally expect managers to be directly empowered to arrange things like deliveries. But sure enough, mere seconds after the call completed an SMS arrived on my phone confirming the delivery. So far so good. If the furniture is decent, I think they’ll have redeemed themselves.

Update 21:08 Sun 20th July 2014

The furniture arrived as promised on Friday 18th. Extra messages were received improving the accuracy of the timeslot from 2pm – 5pm. Earlier on in the day I received a call from the delivery driver, and then again a little before 1pm, asking if it would be convenient if the delivery actually arrived at about a quarter of an hour before 2pm. I said this was fine, and sure enough it arrived bang on time.

The two delivery chaps were friendly and helpful. They explained that the reason the stuff was *so* well packed was that it had been held in quarantine for quality control in Swindon! And holy cow it was well packed. On five items of furniture; a chest of drawers, a bookcase, two bedside tables and the packaging material, once removed, was too voluminous to all fit in my 3 series BMW saloon! Two trips to the dump! But, the packaging did its job; not a mark on any of the furniture.

David from OFL called just moments after the delivery had arrived to check all was well. It is clear he “took ownership” of my case.

Friday evening and Saturday morning we unpackaged and arranged the furniture. This took a while because most items were replacing other items – so there was a pile of stuff to migrate. We are very pleased with the quality of the furniture. It is solid and heavy, and, fortunately, matches our custom made bed extremely well indeed. You would think it had all been made as one set.

So this is a story with a happy ending. Well done Oak Furniture Land. Just try to make the “rinsing” a bit less pushy and intrusive yeah?

82 thoughts on “OakFurnitureLand – your sales experience utterly sucks

  1. Interesting!

    I’m thinking of ordering some furniture from here, so this post was very useful. I’ve been into the store before and had a feeling it had a “hard sell” culture….namely loads of not busy sleazy salesman waiting to pounce on people walking through the door. There is nothing I hate more than the hard sell; I get overcome with rage when I feel like they are putting pressure on.

    Also interesting you mention AO. I had the exact same thing. But he didn’t accept my first decline. Were it not for the fact I was at work, I would have definitely resorted to bad language.

    What annoys me most about these calls is the dirty tactics they employ to try and manipulate you – i.e. starting off by saying they are gonna give you free stuff, then mentioning how they will protect your purchase, but initially saying it in such a way that it sounds free so you are agreeable, but then at the end asking for payment as if its part of the small print. It’s not so much a problem for me because I’m fairly on the ball and won’t get duped; but I’m sure there are plenty of people who are more vulnerable to these ‘tactics’ and end up with a direct debit they don’t need, didn’t want and can’t really afford.

    Anyway – thanks for the heads up about the call. I’ll brace myself if I end up placing an order.

    1. Just to add, we’ve had the furniture for a reasonable length of time now, and it does still seem decent. On the whole I am pleased with it.

      Thanks for commenting!

    2. I just like to say my partner works for this company as a salesman on the shop floor and you have no idea of the stress this company puts on its employees to sell these add ons insurance wax delivery etc etc. This company treatment of its employees is appalling with a culture of bullying and threats of loosing your employment on a near daily basis being referred to as fuckwits and arseholes and being told if you don’t like it you know where the door is. Next time before you start shouting and swearing at someone just take a moment to think how much pressure is being put on them to “GET THAT SALE OR ELSE” and maybe say no thank you for a third or fourth time

  2. I’m off to their Speak (Liverpool) branch on Tuesday;I’ve bought quite a few pieces off them,and the furniture has been top class. I’ve never visited their show room as I’ve always bought on line,and now I’m a little sceptical after hearing about their overzealous staff. I can’t stand being hounded by salesmen/women,but I need to check the colour and the finish as I’ve got young children who care not a dot for French Polish (I don’t either to be truthful),so I need rustic furniture that can take a beating. I find OFL reasonably priced,I just wished they’d stop with the half-price sale bullshit. I hear they have a sister company that sell at the top valuation and that’s how they get round the trading standards rules.

  3. I just received a a 3 draw wardrobe from them and it’s broken, straight out the box my son called them and was told to take a picture and email them only their fecking site the Phoenix Shabby Chic Solid Mango Triple Wardrobe 2 Door Top, that’s the two door part of the 3 door set will not allow you to put in the one to say you have that part damaged. so has I believe I have their email address I am going to email them and not go through their poxy site

  4. We bought from them two years ago. Transaction smooth & despite small wait they delivered a well packaged lot. The problem started with the quality of what we received. Huge dents in almost everything, multiple scratches & poor workmanship. They told us this was the rustic look so what did we expect. We had to fight for a replacement. Eventually replacement arrived & it was the same. Shoddily made. Huge dents. They didn’t evenbother claiming the delivery company. They refused to replace for a third time & refused to discount. They said we had to return our entire order or accept what we had. We had to get a consumer expert involved whereupon they offered a small discount but wouldn’t provide the wax we needed to repair the damage as long as we promised not to contact them again. This was about six months after the second delivery. We were entirely civil with them (no swearing) but they weren’t civil in return. I will never recommend them & am shocked when I see so many favourable reviews. We can’t be the only ones who had such a hard time.

  5. Great blog this and one I can relate to.

    The furniture is indeed solid, unpacking it was akin to me wrestling the entire WWE Federation it took that long, it also put up a hell of a fight when I tried to remove its packaging.

    Took a good few weeks to arrive from order and you need to be careful of the right delivery option that you select too. This gear was heavy even for a two man lift let alone the one man option I plumped for (I’m not paying an additional £45 for two of them when I can put my back out for free).

    Would I order from them again? Probably not in all honesty because I think I can get better quality from local stores but so long as you are careful you’ll get an okay deal from them.

  6. Be very cautious about their returns policy, we have ordered a number of items from them and they are good quality for the money. Recently we ordered another wooden box and when it arrived it had a black mark on the lid – we contacted Oak Furniture Land and were asked to send photos and their representative, Hannah, who is clearly targeted on avoiding agreeing that it is a fault so they can charge £50.00 collection came up with a explanation that it was sap and refer to the owners manual etc. I will never deal with them again and I would warn everyone to read their terms and conditions of sale. Such a shame that a great British Success story is ruined by poor customer service.

  7. Sales Team fine, Quality of £1,800 worth of oak furniture, so far so good.
    But the delivery drivers were so rude and obnoxious, an absolutely disgraceful service and for that reason I would never order from OFL again. Granted, it was a tricky staircase to manoeuvre the wardrobe up but the delivery driver took one look and the look on his face and attitude towards was absolutely appalling. Then the other delivery driver joined in! Sarcastic, cocky and insulting. I couldn’t believe it. I actually felt threatened in my own home. In the end I asked them to leave the rest of the furniture in the the dining room and leave my home. (& I’m no wallflower!!)
    Absolutely disgusting service in which I paid for. Even forgot to deliver an item (which I didn’t notice as in a tizz from experience) and had to come back 20 minutes later.

  8. Ordered a small bench for £300. Got it and the colour wasnt what I expected. Rang to return it. Was told I couldn’t return it to store 2 mins away but they had to collect it for £25 no buts. Won’t be going there again. Then phoned later and said ring back a week after collection to claim back the money or it won’t be returned.

  9. My parents purchased a table from oak furniture land just before Xmas, after opening and putting the table together they noticed large parts of what is supposed to be the grain were white patches, clearly can see there something wrong so they went back to the shop who told us to email customer services. Had nothing but snotty customer service team fob us off and won’t send anyone out to have a look even after the staff in the shop have seen the damage and they paid a five year insurance. Very disappointed with the service and lack of interest in replacing the product which wasn’t cheap. If anyone has any advise please can you get in touch as this is very poor customer service and ripping off the British public.

    1. Hi I bought 2 side tables from them on the 31 dec 2016. After waxing one,the wax dried white in the grooves of the wood grain. I paid for the 5yrs insurance. I phoned customer service to no avail. They tell me I have damaged it by over waxing so will not send anyone to check. And insurance void. Had you waxed yours. They said they had not heard of this before

        1. I have over waxed my dining table and they said it will go if I keep buffing it. So far, no good! I’m so disappointed in them, my table looks awful. I said lucky I have paid for the extra guarantee and she said it won’t be covered for over waxing!!!

  10. Andrew above mentioned the OWNERS MANUAL and the Oak Furniture Land T&C’s, READ CAREFULLY, dissect every little piece of it because here’s how my wife and I go screwed over this New Year.

    We purchased a Super King bed with mattress on the 29th Dec 2015, spent over the amount which entitled us to a free wall clock, all sounds great. Salesman tried to sell us their 5 year care nonsense and went through it all in great detail, we declined and also declined their furniture wax. We were also asked if we’d like to pay for their express delivery which we declined, which was a good thing because we received a text msg later that day to say the bed was being delivered the following Wednesday, great news!

    On Wednesday 6 Jan 2016 while I’m away on business my wife is at home when the delivery arrives. 3 guys arrive to delivery the bed and walk into our brand new house with the bed without removing their shoes (It’s wet and muddy outside, new houses), so now we have wet muddy carpets!

    Then it turns out the mattress won’t fit up the stairs but after some messing about they manage to get it up to the first floor, our bedroom is however on the 2nd floor, same stairs with the same dimensions as the ones below but it won’t go. The 3 guys fail at every attempt to get the bed up the stairs to the top floor.

    What now? My wife asks the guys what happens now, “Oooh we don’t know”, so they’re given the invoice and asked to contact OFL to find out. The hand the phone over to my wife and the lady asks if we’d like to keep it for 7 days and my wife says there’s no point, it won’t fit and we have 2 little kids running round, we can’t have something like that lying around, so OFL agree to take it back.

    At NO TIME did the salesman or the women on the phone from OFL mention that if they have to take the furniture back that we’re liable for 30% OF THE COST OF THE MATTRESS!!!! 30%!! That’s £300 on a mattress like that + £50 for the bed! It wasn’t mentioned once!

    We only found this out though after returning to the store yesterday to buy a King size bed instead of the Super king and some bedside tables and dressing table when the same salesman looked into our account and saw the notes about the 30% charge for the return of the mattress. He spoke to head office and was not able to help any further, so we took the contact details and left so we could phone customer service when we got home, which we did.

    Fair enough we should have read the “Owners manual” but we weren’t just sending the bed back, fair enough if we were I’d expect to pay for the delivery and some additional fees but 30%! We’d in fact returned to the store to change it and buy more furniture! The person on the phone from OFL however just kept referring to their Owners Manual “Well it’s clearly stated in the owner manual we gave you that there is a return fee” and around and around we went getting nowhere fast so I asked for a manager to phone me back to discuss this further which I was told would only be Monday as they don’t work on Sunday.

    Imagine my surprise when the phone rings at 18h30’ish last night and someone from OFL is ringing to discuss the problem so I explain everything and say we want to buy a king instead with additional furniture but I’m not happy to pay the 30% return fee for the mattress and £50 for the bed. Round and round we go and I’m just told that we should have read the owners manual.

    So at this stage my only options are to pay £350 (The bed itself was £549.98 by the way, so we’re talking about more than 50% of the cost of the bed here!) and have nothing to show for it or have them bring the bed back which I tell them to do, furious at this stage on the verge of losing it with the person on the phone completely!

    So now we wait to hear from them regarding the return and we commence with round 2, this time I’ll be there to see it all but I will NOT pay a 30% fee like that, that’s daylight robbery and it’s DISGUSTING! How can they justify a cost of £300 for the return of a mattress that’s going to most likely be sold again because it’s new and unused.

    Oh and it’s unlikely I’ll get any compensation for the damage the delivery guys did to my carpet, walls and front door, I’m sure that’s also in the “owners manual” that they take no responsibility for anything they damage while delivering!!!!

    Never again, Oak Furniture Land you disgust me!

  11. Hi, I thought I’d post in this group:

    Hello,

    I purchased the Tokyo Lamp Table from them which is just 11 months old and they have refused to correspond by email or letter and they state it’s their policy to only discuss such cases over the phone which I can only conclude is because nothing would be documented.

    I have today had a phone conversation with them at their request and they are refusing to offer any form of service whatsoever that being, a repair,replacement,collection,or full refund as they state that if the issue was due to manufacturing issues it would have occurred much sooner than 11 months after purchase. I have waxed the product in question every 3 months as per the advice given so I am very confident that this is not something that I have done. They are confident that they have made the correct decision in rejecting my complaint and not progressing it any further. It seems that their recent exposure on Watchdog has not made them improve and they are still treating customers horrendously.

  12. Bought 3 items from Oakland furniture and one side cross member on the bedside cabinet and the Chest of draws is so different in colour both items look awful and if these were in the show rooms they would sell nothing. Oakland furniture state colour variations in the oak or something you will have to accept even though at a glance you would think they had inserted a piece of pine it looks so bad.

    1. Oakland Furniture might be a different company from Oak Furniture Land? Just wanted to check!

  13. We spent over £1000 with them on new bedroom furniture. The sales guy was nice enough and the purchase and delivery were all straight forward, he made out that if there were any problems they would easily be dealt with. Unfortunately not the case, one item was dented, i did the whole send them photos etc, just to be fobbed off with a “this is a feature of handmade furniture” since when is a clear single dent, somewhere it shouldnt be, a feature?? Absolute shocking attitude from the customer services, no interest in being helpful no offer of any help / discount etc just fobbing me off and treating me like i was an idiot. Luckily, although the dent is visible, it is livable. This would however put me off using them again or recommendig them. Shame i didnt listen to my friend who had a bad experiance too…

    1. We are now having the same experience just received coffee table and lamp table we ordered from the shop, we were shownan oak table but we wanted the Victorian wood (dark wood). Never were we told it had a distressed look The man said it had a smooth top when we unpacked it had a mark 4half inch long which looked like a fork had been scapped along it so I took photos like they said only to be told it’s not faulty it’s the distressed look i said I didn’t want them so I need to send the two tables back as I am not satisfied only to be told it cost me me £75 to send them back I have had numerous phone calls back and forth but no luck ,now coming up to 7days later I am told I cannot send them back its now to late I will never shop there again disgusted

      1. Just had the same from these jokers. Ordered (online) a display cabinet from the Victorian range and it is just what I wanted, and includes some small subtle dents to give the “distressed” appearance. Few months later ordered (online) a TV cabinet from the same range. After waiting 2 months for delivery was shocked to see a series of deep gashes about 4 inches long and 2mm deep – and this was on an otherwise pristine top. I was convinced this was unintentional and caused by a power tool. No one would do this on purpose. Called CS who said this is the distressed appearance and they sent me images from the website which were now removed. I checked all images and don’t remember seeing anything like this. In any case creating a distressed appearance requires small, subtle dents not huge gashes on an otherwise unmarked top. When I first spoke to CS they said I could return it but would cost £50. Even that option was withdrawn a few days later. OFL have confirmed the level of quality they find acceptable – won’t be going back there again. Give the local independent traders a chance first. OFL are amateurs.

  14. I have just recieved a bedside cabinet.
    Damaged on delivery. Not serious but enough to
    have the technician call as per the warrenty I paid for. No I must send pictures first ad per the owners handbook, I did not have said book. All customers have book. No I did not. There followed a 12 minute row before store confirmed I did not have book. Technician to call in 1 week. Never again OFL.

    1. Wish I had seen this! Just been told that their 5 month old TV Cabinet cracked because we used Mr Sheen…Has anyone ever told this company that cracks in wood like this caused by polish don’t happen if the wood is dried out properly! DO NOT USE OAKFURNITURELAND….£500 TV Cabinet, 5 months old being used as firewood!

  15. I bought a mattress 2 and a half years ago with a 5 year guarantee. It has sunk at edges and these tossers are blaming me for not turning it every week when we werent told to! This mattress weighs about 8 stone how can my 8 stone wife possibly turn it i would not buy anything off this company for as long as i live and you should take my advise and do the same!

  16. I bought a nest of coffee table 7 weeks ago from oak furniture land , my friend noticed a big crack on the side of the unit. I rang their customer service immediately thinking that they will need to sort it out. They asked me immediately if I use any cleaners on it, I said no. They told me that I invalidate any warranty because I didn’t wax it immediately on arrival and hence cause the crack. I told them that the sales man did not told me about that, but I was told I would have read the owners manual that I’ve signed. I think it’s disgusting how they treat customers who genuinely have a valid complaint. I have been warned about this company but I like they’re coffee table and I though it wouldn’t happen to me… Well it did! Lesson learned albeit an expensive one.

  17. Having purchased two quality sofas from Oakfurnitureland which we were very pleased with everything with after care went downhill from there.
    We had the sofas delivered in two large boxes and dumped on my driveway, the drivers were ever so apologetic but they informed us it was company policy not to enter customers properties. Indeed after reading the “small” print it is OFLs company policy.
    Being a pensioner I was left with two large boxes which I could not lift with the rain starting to come down, luckily I have some good neighbours who helped me in the rain to get the boxes opened and get the sofas in.
    On finally opening the boxes I found one of the leather sofas to be scratched in several places, I contacted OLF who informed us we needed to take photos and send them of and they would send someone round to get them repaired to a show room standard.
    Quality products from OLF yes, after sales service pathetic, would I buy from OLF again a definate NO, would I recommend OLF to any pensioner who is going to buy a large product no, your on your own from your front doorstep.

  18. Yes the staff are treated like dirt. You have to work extra hours for no pay. Change your shifts with a days notice. lump it or leave. No regard for lively hood or family’s, just shear greed to make the few at the top even richer. The owner wants to squeeze every penny from every store, if you cant hit your targets your out.

    You are very lucky if your order isn’t damaged when you unpack it, if it is damaged, well good luck with the worst Customer Service department in the world.

  19. Paul Burgham is the retail sales Director
    Jason Bannister is the MD

    These two clowns have NO idea how to treat staff or run a business.

    Retail sales staff are put under so much pressure to sell or be fired, in ends in a culture of doing anything to get the sale (lie, cheat, mislead, pressure, exaggerate, etc). Hire and Fire – look how many jobs are advertised on their on website.

    They employ a team to scour the internet and remove bad reviews (trustpilot, ciao, etc).

    They break the new consumer protection laws.

    They miss sell finance – (pushing customers into 9.9% APR finance, because sale rep get paid extra commission, instead of offering 0% which is available. This is against FSA regulations of treating customers fairly)

    1. That last comment is very interesting, the original anti Oak Furniture Land problem page has been blocked to anyone visiting the page from the UK, if one uses a VPN and routes from the USA, the page is visible.

      I have noticed that a new Anti Oak Funiture Land Page has been created which seems to be a replica of the last one.

      https://www.facebook.com/Oak-Furniture-Land-Problems-1718193778435729/

      Bravo to the admin and I encourage EVERYONE to like and share!!

  20. I have been into one of their showrooms today and purchased a nest of tables. Got the hard sell to buy the insurance and the wax but politely declined.
    Received an email soon afterwards that they would delivering next Thursday, which is great.
    Just reading through the owners manual and it says we have to wax the item immediately on arrival.

    Do I have to purchase the Oak Furnitureland polish or will any clear furniture polish do?

    1. My furniture also said that.

      In close to two years now, I’ve not wax polished it once. It may be “good advice” or it may be a tenuous way of attempting to evade warranty claims “oh the handle fell off? ah well you didn’t wax it so it’s invalid”.

      Point being, it clearly isn’t as important as all that.

  21. Hi Alex,

    Reading some of the comments on here does lead me to suggest that they would look for any reason not to pay out. The tables are not a high value item so did not think paying out for their own polish would be good value.
    I have read elsewhere that the wax is a rebranded Fiddes and Sons clear wax, however not sure if this is true.

  22. Bought a dining table and chairs last August I payed an extra £53.90p for a five year guarantee for accidental and structural damage after nine months the joints started to open up I contacted them even sent photos and they told me because I had it longer than 6 months I had to prove it was the manufacturers fault this meant I would have to take it to an ombusman this was going to cost me £150 on top of the £639 I’d payed for the goods whats the point of having a guarantee if they will not honour it.

  23. My wife and I purchased £1800 worth of bedroom furniture including a wardrobe which the delivery men refused even to try to get up the stairs. I was annoyed at their unhelpful and surly approach. Admittedly the staircase has a 180 degree bend in it but I knew that with a little application the box would go up. I was proven correct the following day when a local removal firm got it up the stairs in five minutes but at a cost of £80 to us.

    Unfortunately this wasn’t the worst of the problems. Our order included two mirrors which we were told were in the “long box”. When we opened this the following day there was only one mirror. I had signed for the furniture having been told that the box contained both mirrors. OFL’s delivery men won’t wait for you to check the contents. I won’t bore you with the detail of the horrific conversations with after sales who insisted that as we had signed for it that was confirmation that it had been delivered. The attitude of the after sales people (who were basically calling us cheats and liars) took my breath away in it’s rudeness and lack of customer empathy. We have never experienced anything like it before. After a prolonged period waiting for a “senior person” to give us the promised call back which never arrived I rang my credit card company and they refunded the value of the mirror and submitted a claim for non delivery of goods to OFL. Now it’s up to them. I wouldn’t go anywhere near this bunch of arrogant, rude amateurs again.

  24. Interesting reading…

    I run a company – http://www.oakea.co.uk selling oak furniture and rattan furniture which we design and have made exclusively for us (and our customers). We can relate to every one of these stories and must say that selling wooden furniture isn’t as easy as it seems – and very competitive indeed. For us the slightly frustrating thing is that OFL is better at the execution and the marketing than we are and they are about 200 times the size of our company as a result. This is despite the fact that we offer much better solutions – based on the same business model – And this goes for both price, quality, service, absence of pushy sales and all risks removed (pay on delivery). You can read more on our website.

  25. Very interesting to read all these comments. A few weeks ago, I went to have a look at some computer desks in the Oldham branch of OFL. The sales assistant was pushy, following me around the store and when I stopped to look at one particular desk, I was told “the sale is going off this one tomorrow so if I were you, I’d come back tonight and buy it”. It was £399 in the sale and was told it was going back up to £599 the next day. I won’t be pushed into making a snap decision so I left it and spent the next week looking around at desks in other companies but didn’t find anything I wanted.
    I checked the OFL website and saw the desk was still at the old price of £399 so visited the store on the same day to buy it and found it priced at £599 ! I walked away and tried another branch in Manchester and found the same desk priced at £399 ! What is going on ? Are different stores of the same company allowed to sell the same product at different prices ? I thought great, so bought the desk at the Manchester branch. However, I was the victim of a pushy sales assistant again, who tried several times to sell me furniture guard. Told her politely that I didn’t want it a number of times. I have owned oak furniture for several years without any mishaps and it is still in a perfect condition so have no need for furniture guard. She then tried to sell me a tin of wax for £15. Told her I already owned wax (which I have used for years) and then she said to me “but, is it OFL wax ?” Furnture wax is furniture wax to me and I don’t pay £15 for it. I don’t think customers should be made to justify themselves when they decline other things the pushy assistants try to sell. If I had taken the express delivery she also tried to sell me, the furniture guard and wax, it would have added another £95 to the cost of the desk.
    I love the furniture at OFL but I won’t be back to buy anything else. A little advice to Head Office – stop training your staff to stalk customers around the store who are looking. If they want assistance, they will ask for it and for God’s sakes, no, means no. Stop continuing to attempt to push extras on customers when they decline and check stores are actually selling items your website is advertising them for and not £200 more, as in my case.

  26. Ive just ordered a sofa and accent chair ……. that was before i read anything on here!
    I hope i don’t have any of these problems but if i do ……. ‘I’ll be back’ :0

  27. The treatment of sales staff is really bad. You are targeted to upsell everything. Customers must hate us.
    We have now brought in an external HR Consultant to deal with the problems.
    For the OFL staff that read these forums just email her direct roisin@fullcirclehr.co.uk
    You can be anonymous – but tell her the truth on how you are treated

  28. Bought a TV cabinet in January 2016. By July 2016 it had a massive crack. Called customer service and they blamed it on furniture polish. What a laugh. They refused to fix it. DO NOT BUY FROM Oak Furniture Land. Poor company and their quality and customer service is much to be desired!

  29. we ordered £1500 worth a table 6 chairs and various other pieces of furniture. looks good well priced. until we noticed saw dust piles on the chairs and leaves of the table. we were asked for photos which we duly sent. told someone would come round in two days.nothing then asked to resend photos. promised they would replace the table. they sent four legs, i refused them, they have denied that we contacted them we told them we can prove when we first contacted them. 5 months later we are still trying to resolve this problem, worried the woodworm might spread to our house really need to get legal advice but from where

  30. Dining table just turned up with no bolts – just an empty back that says “hardware”. Great.

  31. Oh dear…! We just bought some furniture from there, over £1000’s worth, and yes I was asked probably about 5 times on the warranty, and even given a leaflet to read on what is covered and what is not etc. I have bought lots of furniture before, from different shops, and never been asked about a warranty, so alarm bells went off – is this a get out as they are selling sub-standard stuff?
    Overall good shop floor experience. We had the hot drink tactic even tho it was very hot yesterday..!

  32. Have just purchased some bedroom and nursery furniture from OFL and wish I’d read these reviews beforehand so I wouldn’t have wasted my time!!!

    I have to caveat this with the fact that the salesman in store was excellent and I couldn’t fault him, he has been an absolute star in helping me with the problems I came across when dealing with the aftersales team.

    So… Furniture is delivered on a Friday, I happen to be 7 months pregnant and my other half is away so I can’t actually unpack anything until he is back on the Saturday, still, signed the forms to say everything delivered (by the way, bloody rude delivery men, not taking shoes off, traipsing mud through my house, one even opened up a storm lantern candle I have by the front door to look inside because “he had never seen one before”) urgh!!!

    Anyway, other half gets home on Saturday and we start opening everything up. See that in the triple wardrobe and the cotbed we have ordered there are ridiculously large cracks and the paint is flaking off on one part… Anyway, we go to call the customer services to let them know and they are closed sat / sun. So can’t report it. Try to go online and report via the website but it doesn’t accept our order number.

    End up calling the store and they say, thats okay, its only in an ideal world that you open & check within 24hours, you actually have 7 days to tell us about faults so give them a call on Monday and they will get it sorted for you.

    Call the aftersales team on Monday to report the faults, am told that I should email the pictures across to them (which I do) and they will be in touch within 24 hours.. Nothing heard back within 24 hours.

    Called on Wednesday, yes they have received the pictures but because I didn’t open the box on the same day and tell them, they aren’t actually going to do anything for me. I subsequently highlighted the fact to them that their “BOOK” states that in some circumstances, we can report faults within 7 days and this was also confirmed by store. Also reminded them that the phonelines weren’t open on Sat / Sun and their shitty website didn’t accept my order number so I couldn’t submit details on Saturday. Plus being 7 months pregnant, and having 2 delivery drivers move all the stuff, I wasn’t really in a position to open up and lug around heavy oak furniture by myself.

    Was told they would refer my case to complaints team and they would call me next day…. low and behold, no call. So I called them again.

    This time after throwing the most almighty of hissy fits and posting all over social media about what crap service I had received so far, they agreed to replace the furniture, all good, this would be delivered the following friday morning. Received the text message to confirm this.

    Following Friday turns up, I get a call at 12, oh, hello! This is the OFL driver. I’m really behind this morning and won’t be able to get to you till about 4pm, is that okay???
    REALLY?? OFL??? REALLY?
    No, it isn’t okay. I’ve taken a morning off of work to receive the furniture replacement you promised me, I now have to go into the office and do some work to help pay for the crappy furniture I bought. I will not be around this afternoon.

    Anyway, get to work, call OFL AGAIN. Turns out, the furniture, which they can’t deliver till this afternoon, which this morning was on a lorry on its way to me can’t be delivered until mid august?!? By now, I am literally going orbital with rage. How can something which was on its way to me, not be redelivered for another 4 weeks?

    I am still waiting for a call back from OFL to explain this. I am still dealing with their lacklustre complaints team. My baby will probably arrive before his cot turns up! But the moral of the story is, don’t waste your money on them.

  33. This firm has the worst customer service I have ever experienced. We ordered £1500 of furniture. Most of it was fine but the nest of tables were full of marks all over the legs and the seam on the table top was full of putty. We sent in photos and received a phone call saying there is nothing wrong with it, it is normal marks in the wood. We explained that the rest of the furniture had normal wood marks but that these tables had very poor workmanship and were well below satisfactory standard. They just refused to accept it. They would not allow us to take the tables into the store to show them how bad they are and just basically said that they look fine in the photos so you’re stuck with them.

  34. I spent 1700.00 on furniture which was delivered on 5th August , the video cabinet was damaged on arrival , the delivery guys took in back and a replacement was then delivered on 10th August ( I took the day off) when I asked for compensation I was fobbed of . I tried to speak to a manager but was repeatedly told we don’t pay compensation. I found the customer service staff rude arrogant. When I asked to speak to someone in the managing directors office was told ” he does not told to customers”
    What a Joke I would recommend that people take thier business elsewhere.

  35. What a truly despicable company Oak Furniture land are.
    Problems placing the order, unwanted/unsolicited phone calls, then they lost the order, broken promises, inept, incompetent, uncaring and unhelpful staff.
    A failed delivery leaving us waiting around for 4 hours. Eventually when the order was received over half the items were either broken or damaged.
    We just got a call saying we have to ‘return’ the (damaged) free gift as the order is not over £1500.
    Avoid this company at all costs.

  36. Bought £1000s worth of bedroom furniture .On inspection there was no hanging rail for the wardrobe.To cut a very long story short 3 weeks later I am still waiting.They have lied multiple times telling me they’ve sent them out 3 times and UK Mail have lost 2.UK Mail are livid as they were never picked up.Apparently now they are making some more and will be sent next week.Not holding my breath

  37. Interesting…
    I shall certainly not be buying furniture from OFL. We went into our Taunton store today to just have a quick browse of their sofas. We were immediately greeted by a sales man, he asked if we were looking for anything we said no just browsing, giving off a clear signal that we didn’t want to be hassled any more. He continued on to say how they were different etc etc. Ok fair enough he’s had his say, we looked at sofas. As soon as we’d gone around a bit he found us to ask if we saw anything we liked, we said no not really and continued to wonder around. Two minutes later he approached us again to ask if we’d now seen anything we liked. No we hadn’t! We then wondered upstairs. Literally less than a minute later he also came upstairs and watched us walk around while standing by the escalator. This meant we again were hassled before being able to leave the shop.
    I cannot stress enough how this was the most uncomfortable shopping experience in our lives, we felt stalked and attacked from all angles with all salesmen strategically positioned. Horrible!

  38. My experience was diabolical. I ordered a bedroom suite at £2640 which I made the mistake of paying cash up front for. The delivery happened on time, but the drivers literally offloaded the furniture in the hall and shot off saying, we’re only allocated 12 mins for a delivery, we can’t put it in your bedroom, it’d take too long. When we started to unpack we found that one part of one of the wardrobes was missing (the Base unit of a three door wardrobe (it comes in three parts)!) and the doors were scratched and chipped when we took off the polystyrene packing. We rang the shop – nothing to do with us, ring head office. So we did, we’ll have to order it in from the manufacturer it’ll be about 12 weeks – oh that’s Christmas, well probably a bit longer then but we can try and match the paint for you to touch up the scratches … I’m a solicitor: I’m not waiting 12 weeks and I’m not having it touched up with a paintbrush. See you in court Oak Furnitureland.

  39. Not Recommending………… Spent £600 on a coffee table and TV table. Coffee table has a hole on the surface which “stands out a mile”as the color is light oak. When I contacted Customer services on two occasions each time they described it as “just a pin hole”. This hole must be 5 times the size they show as a “pin hole” in there booklet.
    Their reply was to repeat a response which must appear on the telephone operators screen because it was repeated again and again without any change.
    I made many attempts waiting to speak to a manager each occasion I was told they were too busy ……I wonder with what, presumably handling other customer complaints.

  40. A bad experience for us with OFL. We ordered a dining table and 6 chairs online, paying the total of £829 up front. Initially we were very happy with the fast free delivery and it was delivered dead on time. The delivery driver looked at our dining space and asked whether I had measured it for the table (of course we had!). I assured him the one we had before was much bigger and wondered whether he would’ve asked my husband that. Minimal assembly means joining the table top to the legs but there were no bolts provided to do so – a very basic requirement indeed. We’ve now spent a miserable and stressful three days calling after sales customer service, being told that the legs are, in fact, wrong, and we need new legs and fixings which can’t be delivered until next week. No courier service, can’t just send fixings because they won’t work, lorries are full (hey, it’s four legs and a few bolts and washers). Meanwhile, we’re sitting with a huge amount of packaging (no packaging, no return) and furniture bits lying around. Customer service agents have all been polite and sympathetic, but don’t seem to have the authority to make things happen. I will never recommend this company, nor will we buy anything from them again. Finally, as mentioned before, read the manual beforehand – if the packaging is not reusable, you could find yourself paying a lot of money for some cardboard and polystyrene.

  41. Please be aware Oak furniture seem to have in my opinion serious security issues with there website. I will explain, i ordered approx £1300 of furniture this morning from the website. I filled in my current address details and ticked the box so that my billing and delivery address were both the same, however when my order was confirmed the confirmation email was for my previous address and that this was my billing and delivery address. For some IT technical issue the system had allowed me to place an order and then link my email address to a forgotten account that i must have set up 5-6 years without me entering a password and giving access to my previously set up account. Naturally i was concerned that after authorising this amount of money the system ignored the address that i have filled in and used my previous address, i contacted OFL to discuss and met with a sales person who would be best described as useless and shambolic, given the security issue i asked to cancel my order, i was told that i would have to contact them in the week to cancel my order, i challenged this and after lots of exchanges i received a very swift call back from a senior manager who was actually somewhat better, details were taken however no reassurance was given about the security of details, so we will see what happens. PLEASE PLEASE BE AWARE !

  42. I have spent literally thousands in this store. One of the items I bought was a computer desk for my study. Right at the front of the desk was some wood filler where a knot had been filled in. It didn’t look too bad and the sales bumph that I received with the desk stated ‘Woodfiller is a commonly used product that is applied to achieve a smooth finish by filling natural timber: It is typically applied at the time of manufacture and in no way undermines the look or structural integrity of the item’. I took this as a reason not to make a fuss. However, just over a year later, the woodfiller fell out and I’ve been left with a big hole right in the front of the desk! It looks awful. Rang customer services and they can’t do anything as its over a year old. The guy on the phone was totally unhelpful, sounded surprised that Id even called to point this out and told me to get someone in to fill it for me!! Disgusting. The desk (Orrick Rustic Solid Oak Computer Desk) cost £438 and I don’t want it in the house. It will probably end up in the shed as a work bench! When will stores like this realise that bad workmanship is bad workmanship and the customer shouldn’t have to put up with it.

  43. Simple question: is it really necessary to wax ALL surfaces of OFL furniture? I just got several bedroom furniture items with painted surfaces (but tops are not painted). Tried to apply their wax to one of the items and it’s ruined the finish. Reluctant to continue. Any experiences with the recommended waxing?

  44. Diabolical company to work for – I worked at their head office – no idea how to treat staff . So many things that I think you cannot agree with. You place an order and get the upswell for wax and delivery – customers often mislead at showrooms regards what they can and can’t do. Once you get passed that you then get contacted re delivery if you have not opted for a delivery option yet. This is what is where it gets interesting – if you don’t want delivery in 7 days they offer you 2 dates if neither are suitable – you are advised you have to pay £39 to choose your delivery date. Customers often advised items not ready for delivery for 2-3 weeks and yet to drlivery if you’ve not opted for their speedy delivery – again you are advised you need to jay £39 to have delivery outside of 14 days despite the showroom and website sayingvuems not ready for delivery for 2-3 weeks.

    You are required to ensure that all items will fit through your door up your stairs and into your chosen room. Upon delivery day should items big fit the customer is charged for items to be taken back to the delivery depot.

    Sofas are the biggest con as you are given 48 hours once placed and confirmed to make changes – I.e checking it will fit thru the door, happy with colour and to make shy changes. After this customer is charged a 30% of sale price of the order despite items the order at this stage not being passed to their supplier and over 50% of their sofas are not madd to order – they are bulk made and stored in a warehouse facility in Swindon. The way this company misleads sbdvthen musctreats customers amaze me. Never have I felt so bad working for a vompabbbsho does not understand the concept of good customer service. Theifbiwwners Manuel is a get out of jail free booklet designed to cover them and not the customer. Appalling company.

  45. Do you have to throw the packaging away if the furniture is not damaged? I do have a 5 year warranty with them.

  46. Oak furniture land are the pits in terms of service delivery, actual delivery and quality. We order examining room suite prior to Xmas 2016, it was promised and duly turned up damaged. The table was split the sideboard, plus the display units were also damaged
    After several phone calls emails and mistakes we were promised a replacement, which arrived after Xmas and that too was damaged, Oaklands response was we can send a man out and you can start your insurance. We pointed out that the furniture wasn’t out of its packing for 2 mins. We cancelled the order and they collected the useless rubbish and we got a refund. DONT go there, the stuff is cheap, trashy and sub standard.
    Customer service inept, drivers useless, product rubbish

  47. Many thanks for all the comments here I nearly made a big mistake today and spent £4,000 in this place. Although I did not get to the £15.00 tin of wax but I was offered two free mirrors. I found the sales staff pushy and only interested in getting their commission. Reading about the way the staff are treated and the damaged cracked good’s put me off. Cheers!

  48. Bought two lots of nest of tables&tv bought there wax &coated them after two months two of the tables were patchy & looked as if there peeling when complaned was told to send photos there reply was must have spilt something on them I said I hadnt they just did not want to know as far as im cconcerned conser

  49. Sorry never finished above dont know what happened as far as im concerned solid wood dosent peel would not have anything off them if it was free my Daughter bought same .same prob and two leather sofas within a month one was coming away plus nearly sitting on floor and different colour they did repair it but the second sofa went it was 3months old they wouldnt do nothing and as you can imagine it wasent cheap I cant understand how there still allowed to stay opened

  50. This company are a joke. They push people to buy their insurance which is a total waste of your money.I bought a wardrobe and two bedside cabinets. When they arrived I noticed a few days later that one of the doors. on the wardrobe looked warped.After contacting the company and eventually managing to get someone to come and have a look at the problem I was told that the floor in the bedroom was uneven and this caused the problem.I have never heard such a load of rubbish.They put something under one side of the wardrobe which made it look lopsided and told to continue waxing it and that would cure the problem. TOTAL RUBBISH. Just didn’twant to replace the door. I continued waxing the furniture as requested which made no difference. This company are a joke and I wouldn’t recommend them to my worst enemy.Beware DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON TAKING OUT THEIR INSURANCE IT IS NOT WORTH PAPER IT IS WRITTEN ON.

  51. I bought a bed and mattress earlier this month. It was delivered at the time arranged and, as requested, put in my bedroom. The delivery men were fine. I unpacked the bed the following day. In the process of assembling it I found that one smallpart (a bolt) was faulty. Everything else was fine and the bed was exactly as I expected it to be. I phoned Customer Services. After a wait of about ten minutes I was connected to an operative, explained the problem and was told a replacement bolt would be posted that day by forst class post. Several days later it had not arrived, so I repeated my call to Customer Services. Another few minutes spent in the queue before I was able to explain the situation. I was told the part had been sent as requested and that another would be sent that day by first class post. This didn’t arrive either. Eventually I improvised the part concerned and completed the assembly. I wrote a letter to the Chief Executive of OFL describing my experience. I have had no reply.
    The bed is fine. The mattress is fine. But I will never deal with this firm again.

  52. If they are selling things at 50% off in the sale surely this shows that it was grossly over priced in the first place. Nearly £500 pound for a sideboard that means it was nearly £1,000! In their dreams maybe

  53. I almost cancelled my order after the hard sell insurance person told me that it was Siberian oak and likely to warp in the warmer UK climate. However, I must say it was delivered on time – they rang an hour or so before to let me know they were on their way. The delivery men took pity on me and for the price of a drink they unpacked the dresser and assembled it for me. What lovely men! As a woman of a certain age living on my own I don’t know how I would have done it otherwise. The dresser looks fine, and I’ve ordered some wax from Amazon in the hope that it will stop any warping. So, my thanks to the delivery men for their good service despite the company they work for. I hope I haven’t got them into trouble.

  54. Do not buy from these Idiots . Went to there showroom in loanhead. And was hounded from the minute we walked in . We have just bought our first house and need loads. We only just opened the door and got attacked by a young lad that has pink hair. Very over excited. He would not allow us to walk round the shop on our own. Everytime we stopped to look at anything he was there like a bad smell. With some stupid useless information. In the end we just left. Bought from Ikea and Harveys instead.

  55. Why oh why oh why, did you STILL shop with and purchase from them? Knowing their manifest failings, you nevertheless ploughed on. Totally your bad. They are the worst furniture joke after DFS, lighting the new Sale from the fag end of the previous Sale. A PERMANENT sale, with no veneer, but iffy quality and jobsworth customer service. Steer clear if you read this

  56. I ordered a couple of sofas and tried to cancel within 2 weeks (still 5 weeks until delivery was due owing to a change in circumstances. Have just been called and told there is a charge of £400 for cancellation (30% of the order)!!! How can you possibly justify a cancellation fee this high!

  57. I’ve read through these complaints and did not see anything about the problem we are having. Last fall we bought two bedside tables from this company. They look fine and delivery, which was by a local company, was excellent. This is not a year-round home, so the tables were in the bedroom over the winter with the bedroom unused. This spring we started sleeping there, and my husband woke up with headaches, nausea, and dizziness, which lasted for the several days we were at the house, and got better when we returned to the city. I also was a little dizzy and nauseous. We removed the tables from the room–problem solved! We felt fine. The tables, which were made in Vietnam, are outgassing, and I don’t know what to do about this. They have been here for over six months. I never put on the wax they sold me, because when I read the label it looked too toxic to use inside. The “Made in Vietnam” label surprised me, because somehow I thought the furniture was made in England.

  58. MY DAUGHTER ORDERED 2 BEDSIDE TABLES AND A CHEST OF DRAWERS FROM THEM ONLY BECAUSE THEY ASSURED HER THE FURNITURE WOULD BE PUT INTO THE ROOM OF HER CHOICE AS SHE IS ON HER OWN.WHEN THE DELIVERY DRIVERS ARRIVED THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT PUT THE ITEMS IN THE BEDROOM AND IF SHE UNPACKED IT ALL SHE WOULD FIND IT EASIER TO HANDLE.SHE ASKED IF THEY WOULD HELP HER ONCE IT WAS UNPACKED THEY REPLIED WE CANT TOUCH IT ONCE ITS UNPACKED.MY DAUGHTER LIVES IN CORNWALL 5 HOURS FROM US I THINK THIS IS APPALLING SERVICE AND I HAVE TOLD EVERYONE I KNOW ABOUT OAK FURNITURE LAND.

  59. DO NOT BUY THE 5 YEAR PROTECTION FURNITURE GUARD PLAN – It is not worth the paper it is written on. In the shop, they kept pushing it on to you and make promises like ‘no nonsense protection, unlimited claims for stains and accidental damage for 5 years. When you phone they can only speak to my husband because this policy is in his name. Therefore they cannot sent me the form to fill in online. When he did get a chance to phone them and fill in the claim they denied it because now the accident has happened more than 7 days ago.

  60. Oak Furniture Land…Buyer beware!!

    Visited local store on 20th August looking to buy new TV cabinet and nest of tables. Staff all very friendly and helpful. After finding what we would like decided there and then to purchase. All good so far.

    Guy at the store went through all the usual sales pitch, said if we took out 5 year insurance we would get a free tub of wax. Mmmm? That’s when the warning bells should have at least given a little ring. Why would we need wax if it were brand new? Said something about it had to be waxed straight away and then done around every six months (on their website it says every 3?). Strange for new furniture but ok will go along with this, that is until you read all the T&Cs and owners manual in the comfort of your home and then look on their website about how to care for your furniture.

    Then it was a case of paying the full amount and wait for a text or call to arrange delivery. Reading the T&Cs again I pointed out that it said up to three months? Guy in store said to take no notice it will be with us within 7 to 10 days. He asked if there was parking outside the property and if there was clear access into the house. Said yes to which he then said they would deliver into the room of our choice. Asking if they would they take away the packaging was told, “No that’s up to you” But what if anything is damaged or missing was the next question. “You have to ring this number”. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and despite his sales pitch red alert klaxons really should have been going off by now.

    As you can imagine this is where it all goes wrong and you get nothing but crap from this company. 10 days later, nothing. Not a text or call. Rang store to be told yes, the order is in place and we should get a text or call within the next few days.

    Guess what? Sweet nothing. This time after nearly three weeks went back 20 odd miles to store with irate wife. Asked the guy if we could cancel order and get full refund. No problem sir he said. Great thinks I, nice and easy. WRONG, he then points out I have to ring the “after sales” number and they will deal with this. I politely (just) point out that they took my money via their card machine so why cant they refund using same machine? “Cant do it” “Not company policy” was the reply.

    Ok, out of store to car, on mobile phone to number given. “Please select one of the following options”, which clearly stated lines open 9am to 8pm, 7 days a week only to be continually cut off. “Ok, you don’t get away with it that easy”. Selected the phone line for new orders. The guy was helpful but did say that I should ring option 2. When I told him I did he said they were only open Mon to Fri. I am now sitting 20 odd miles from home, not able to get my money back and losing patience. Explained I was sitting outside the store after being told to ring and get my money back and not in the mood to be messed about. To his credit he said he would mark this on the system for someone to ring me Monday morning to sort out the refund.

    Without sounding like a long-playing record, yup you guessed it. Nothing, yet again that is until late in the day when one young lady (who is the only one in the company who can deal with refunds ???) rang me back. We then to proceed in having a debate on why I wanted my money back. Was offered the cost of the insurance cover knocked off to keep the order but firmly refused. Told money would be refunded within 3-5 working days. Thankfully this happened and can now stop holding my breath.

    I am not the sort of person to use profanities or swear words on web sites but Oak Furniture Land comes exceedingly close to me bursting a blood vessel and coming out with an utter tirade of bad language.

    First: In brief, they say half the weight of wood is water and it’s important that it is thoroughly kiln dried to a perfect level. Don’t they make sure this is already done? What sort of processes do they or don’t they use? Once you have your furniture has arrived help it to acclimatise by treating with oil or wax. They then go on by instructing how to do this BUT when applying a new wax (the one they supply) try underneath or somewhere not in plain sight. Why out of sight? Don’t they trust their wax products? Or more readily, don’t they trust their products? Just what are they selling?

    Second: Why pay in full when most companies only ask for a deposit? The main reason I can think of is because they have your money and can then proceed to stall you regarding delivery dates. That is unless someone can think of anything else? Use a credit card and if they mess you around get your card company involved.

    Third: Their T&Cs & Owners Manual. Read carefully; go through every little piece bit by bit. Get them off the web, ask for a copy in store but do this before you part with your hard earned money, as you will have to sign that you understand it all. It will save you a lot of grief.

    Steer well clear and read the T&Cs & Owners Manual thoroughly unless you want headaches.

  61. Just had sofas delivered from Oakland at a cost of over £2000
    They are clearly both substandard and also not the colour we saw in the showroom

    They are reclining sofas.the material is so skimpy you can see the metal mechanism underneath at all times and at the back are flaps of material that cannot be adequately fixed
    I have spent an hour on the phone trying to get through to Customer Services and the website would not recognise my order number
    I have finally spoken to them and sent them pictures.their response is to say they are exactly what I ordered and that I should have seen these things in the showroom!
    I cannot believe that any company can get away with providing shoddy furniture then claiming you should have seen it was shoddy in the showroom!!!!
    I will be raising a dispute with my bank in 28 days unless I hear from them again ( which I doubt) They might think this is clever sales technique but I won’t be buying anything from them again – and nor will others by the sound of it

  62. This lot make Ryanair’s customer service seem 5 star. Buy at your peril. I was sent a damaged bedside cabinet, (the delivery driver refused to take it back saying I had to contact customer services. I explained that as I had ordered as a pair I wanted the same batch number, stressing that I appreciate that it is a natural product and there would be grain and shade discrepancies, but these would be limited if the batch numbers matched. This apparently is impossible according to customer services. A call to Head Office and was told that it wouldn’t be a problem and then a call to the head of customer services who also said ‘not a problem’. But 3 deliveries later and they still cannot match two simple batch numbers. The CEO does not reply to letters of complaint. It has got to the stage where I am assuming the employees of this company are either incompetent, lazy, useless, numerically dyslexic or are now just taking the p+ss. I have seriously had enough

  63. BUYER BEWARE – In Tunbridge Wells we bought 2 grand’s worth of sofas from them. They were evasive about repairs blaming misuse and after 2 years of sitting on a collapsed sofa, I decided to take a look inside by removing the stapled material on the bottom.
    THE MAIN FRAME SPARS ARE CHIPBOARD that had cracked because the narrow struts attached to them with staples didn’t continue the full length. Where they didn’t the chipboard cracked right through.

  64. I have to say I’m beginning to regret buying anything from this company. I went to their Speke retail branch to buy a single oak bed. I needed to buy a bed fast, as the old one had started to fall apart.

    The ones I saw on their website seemed okay for the price, and although I did go to some other furniture stores, I couldn’t find a decent oak bed that was in a single anywhere within my local area. However, when I went inside the store I was bombarded by a young saleswoman, who followed me around the entire time I was there. She constantly kept asking me if I was interested in anything yet. I found this really off putting, and to be honest, I probably would have gone somewhere else if I hadn’t needed to buy a bed as soon as possible.

  65. I have to say I’m beginning to regret buying anything from this company. I went to their Speke retail branch to buy a single oak bed. I needed to buy a bed fast, as the old one had started to fall apart.

    The ones I saw on their website seemed okay for the price, and although I did go to some other furniture stores, I couldn’t find a decent oak bed that was in a single anywhere within my local area. However, when I went inside the store, I was bombarded by a young saleswoman, who followed me around the entire time I was there. She constantly kept asking me if I was interested in anything yet. I found this really off putting, and to be honest, I probably would have gone somewhere else if I hadn’t needed to buy a bed as soon as possible.

  66. So on Sunday 14th July I ordered a sideboard online for £400.

    I get an email saying thanks, another confirming my order, another confirming my websie account, and another stating “what happens next”.
    Then I receive an sms saying the Sideboard would be delivered between 4pm & 7pm on Wednesday 18th July, and that I would receive a phone call from the driver beforehand.
    At 2:50 pm I receive a call to say that “we are 30 minutes away mate”. So much for the 4pm to 7pm slot, and me being over 40 minutes away at work.
    So I leave early, get home, to find the driver struggling to park, as we are adjacent to a School….rush hour, Moms, kids, mayhem – hence the 4pm to 7pm slot.
    Eventually he drops it off, with his young mate, and races off up the road to find a place to park.
    They bring the box in, “be carefull of the laminate floor says I, as they drag the box in, with a screw stuck in the cardboard packaging, which has now scratched my floor. “Sign here” was the command, and off they went.
    I unpacked the box, and there you have it, the top of the sideboard is split, with a dent in the top too.
    I phone customer service 20 minutes wait. (by which time I had phoned the sales number on a different phone, which was answered more or less imediately – says something that eh?)
    So Customer services say I need to upload 3 photos to the linl that I have been emailed, and then I have to call back.
    The next call was priceless. “We will send someone out to repair it”.
    “No you wont, you will replace it. When I pay £400 I expect it to be undamaged”
    “Ah but the repair will be fine” says the girl.
    “No,” says I, “I want a new, undamaged one.”
    Then the girls states, “If you bought a new car, and there was a dent, they would repair it”.
    “Are you serious?” says I, “wtf has a car got to do with my bloody sideboard !”
    “Well all I am saying is that if the next sideboard comes to you, and it is damaged, you will have to have it repaired”.
    “No” says I, “you WILL replace that one too”
    So now I am awaiting an email/sms to confirm my next delivery.
    I really can’t wait.
    Will update you.

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