I was interested to read in Retail Week that the founders of collapsed retail chain Land of Leather, Paul Briant, Steve Dowdall and Peter Ling, are launching a new furniture chain called World of Sofas. Sensing the possible scepticism with which his plans might be met, Briant confessed that the venture was: “Very opportunistic”, pointing out that shipping rates had never been lower than they are at the minute, and that since the demise of MFI there was market share up for grabs. They aim to have ten outlets by the end of August 2009 and 60 across the UK in the next five years, but Shop isn’t convinced the market is there for big ticket items, what does everyone else think?
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on Mar 25th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Well as a former Land of Leather employee, I think it is a sick stunt, As I mentioned to my former manager back in July 2008 that I thought back then that Mr Briant and his cronies where planning to jump ship and wait for it to sink, before opening up new stores.
People thought I was talking non-sence back then!!
Well suprise suprise!! Land of Leather suddenly wobbles(considering ScS was in a much worse state) and they go under, well it cant be nothing to do with the impending court action over the toxic sofas(which continued to be sold after the scare under the name of Soffine) You would’nt believe the the sort of things we where asked to cover over.
And also the company had thousands of sofas from Eurosofa that were splitting due to rubbish workmanship. Leather match products were the worst thing we had to sell knowing full well they won’t last no more then 18 months if your lucky!
The ONLY thing our big bosses wanted from us was to sell the extended cover,this is what they made the most profit on. Salesmen were often threatened with the sack if they fell below targets.
It was a shame because ALL the people I met/worked with 90% of them were very nice people, that were treated like animals. Also it was very hard to motivate yourself whilst having to sell returned stock that I personally would have thrown in the skip!!
*This comment has been edited for legal reasons
on Mar 25th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I sympathise a lot with what you are saying here. Over the years since I’ve been working with retailers and manufacturers I’ve seen quite a few businesses go bust owing small fortunes, only to set up a short time later as if nothing had ever happened. A lot of high profile retailers have hit the buffers recently and administrators have come in for a lot of flak over the way things for handled - so often in life it seems as if those who are most deserving come out of situations like this the worst off.
It’s no wonder people are so angry when their whole livelihoods are jeopardised or even thrown down the pan, when some people just get richer by being totally unscrupulous. I think next week’s G20 summit is going to see one heck of a protest about the laws and regulations surrounnding this kind of thing. This country just doesn’t seem to be well run anymore, it hasn’t done for a long time, and as for ‘Sir’ (ha, what a joke calling him sir!) Fred G of you know where, words fail me…..
on Mar 28th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Mr Briant had actually retired from his position long before any of the signs of the company going in to administration, he was staying with the company for 12 months to help out before he left for good.
As for Delloite the administrators, Paul Briant offered 40p in the £ to buy Land of Leather but was turned down? Was Land of Leather worth more while just about to go to court regarding Eurosofa issues about burning people? Land of Leather owned no property that any of the stores were in so why were the administrators after so much money for it? Greed that is the problem here, rather than sell and keep jobs and the name of Land of Leather it’s the same old thing.
What was Paul Briant supposed to do?
on Mar 31st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Paul Briant only wanted to ‘cherry pick ‘ some sites. he did not want the whole lot as he knew alot of the ones he had opened were not making money.
He says that the ‘new company’ will trade with the former suppliers of Land of Leather,these are the ones that made such a rubbish product!. The issues with Linkwise that were found out and the way we told the public that we no longer traded with them was a total lie , we just called them another name , ie ‘ Soffine ‘!!.
I also know , as other former employees will confirm, that some of the leather used was not ‘ cow ‘ hide , but from another farm yard animal !!
Yes , the only thing that Land of Leather was interested in was selling more Extended cover from Homeserve .
on Apr 23rd, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I have come across you post in a quest to find out about the on going claim re toxic sofas. My husband had a really bad reaction to our sofa and had weeks and weeks off work we had what should have been a holiday of a life time for our 25th wedding while he was so ill but it was ruined due to the reaction. We have now been told that he will get nothing due to land of leathers actions causing Zurich to be able to pull out of the insurance agreement. To find that these people may now open a new company and get away with what they have done is shocking. I could really cry.
on Apr 23rd, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Dear Anne
I’m so sorry to hear of your terrible experience - life really is unfair at times
The credit insurance problem has been a huge issue for retailers, and one of the few positive measures for the trade announced in yesterday’s budget was related to this, although it’s come to late for you. In fact, the measure has been described as ‘too little too late’ by the British Retail Consortium, and that analysis seems to be born out by what you’re saying here.
I really hope your husband has recovered his full health and that you can enjoy a much better Pearl anniversary celebration.
on May 8th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Didn`t this Paul Briant retire from Land of Leather in July 2008 when it`s share price had collapsed and he had been fined personaly by the FSA? Also wasn`t he the buying Director as well who bought the toxic sofas and took so long to admit there was a problem, well after Watchdog programme?
on May 21st, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Duped customer.
I bought a sofa from land of leather a year ago. The salesman said I could pay the cash amount in 1 year, as I didn’t want a credit agreement. He said the amount (£1200) would be deducted from my account on 11.05.09. I signed on the dotted lines. Little did I know I had to pay the amount before 11.05.09. I am now bound into a 3 year credit agreement which will cost me £2800. Moral of the story..don’t believe salesmen, read before you sign! He’s obviously lost his job and I hope he’s out of work for a long time, Nick hope you’re listening.
on May 21st, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Hi Andy,
You said that you didn’t want a credit agreement, so why on earth did you sign one?. YOU Know that what you took out was a credit agreement. I also note that because you could not be bothered to read what you were asked to sign , it’s all the salesmans fault !!!!!.
All the sales people i worked with made it VERY clear the type of agreement that was being offered and ask them to read to details.
I also hope YOU find your self out of work through no fault of your own, The sales staff in the stores did a great job , and have all been treated very badly by those at the Top
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Paul Briant was also head of Suite Centre/Suite Shops and funnily enough he retired before they went bust and started Land of Leather with his brother Jerry Briant as the puppet front man (Jerry was good for shifting furniture about but not much else) I knew the minute it was announced that he was retiring that it was going to be the same scenario as with Suite Centre oh and fancy that he’s going to start up again as “World of Sofas!) now there’s a surprise. Yes we were treated unfairly and took all the flack we knew the sofas weren’t fit for selling but as it’s been stated before we were just threatened by the ‘big boys’ I would never work for them again and would advise anyone buying a leather sofa to do a lot of checking before buying.
on Jul 24th, 2009 at 8:44 am
referece ‘Andy” as an ex-salesman I am sure you would have been infomed to settle your finance within 12 months !! there is no reason for ‘Nick’ to advise you otherwise ??? sometimes customers hear what they think they want to hear, really unfortunate situation for you to be in, hope you where lucky enough to select one of the many quality sofas that where available not the tatt
on Aug 16th, 2009 at 2:56 am
Former Admin’s categorisation of Jerry Briant as “good for shifting furniture about but not much else” and “puppet front man” is a long way wide of the mark. In fact, Land of Leather grew out of an independent business which Jerry had started some years previously when he had split from his brother as a result of a desire to go it alone. He was an extraordinarily talented retailer, extremely hard working with an exceptional ability to manage people and with a real eye for detail and skill at managing business finance and costs. As time went on Jerry continued to run the business albeit with his brother Paul again involved in a buying capacity, however Jerry pulled the strings. The beginning of the end came for Land of Leather when in 2004 SB Capital purchased 50% of the business, including all of Jerry Briant’s shares. Jerry went into (very) early retirement and from then on it was only a matter of time before the business ran aground and so it proved.
on Aug 18th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I reckon there are a lot of sour grapes here by previous Land of Leather employees I notice not one of them had the nerve to give their full name and the store they worked in. I bet if they were offered a job with World of Sofas today they would jump at the chance. Could the reason they did not reveal their names be they knew that by doing so they would have ruined any chance of ever being employed by the new company? If you can’t name the author don’t tell the story!
As for the customer who was sold finance and went over the due date - all customers were advised by the sales staff that the finance had to be paid in full 12 months exactly to the date the agreement was signed and even if they went over by one day they would still be liable for all interest charges due. This customer obviously forgot and went over the due date.
on Aug 21st, 2009 at 3:04 pm
The opening of World of Sofas has been put back as the owners continue to negotiate with landlords. The retailer is expected to open its first shops in September.
on Aug 28th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
being former employee of land of leather ,i personally feel its one of the best company ever to work for.i am sure given opportunity all former employees will rush back to get job in land of leather.land of leather sold all sorts of sofas from £499 a pair to £5000 a pair.we never had a trouble with reasonable price sofas ,only had trouble with £499 pair one.you get what you pay for.what people are expecting from £499 a pair sofas?
dinesh verma
on Aug 30th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
I am a former employee, and from an employee perspective in a sales environment. If tough sales targets and high insurance conversion rates isnt what your out to get then yes land of leather isnt the company for you, but for those who were the high achievers and met company benchmarks then they/we were rewarded in our paychecks. A generous 2% on product is well above the industry standard of 1%, they gave 1% on advertised lines as apposed to other retailers offering 0.5% on advertised lines. If only world of sofas was to offer this pay structure then yes the old staff would flock back, but no staff in their right mind would accept the package their offering at this time with higher basic lower commision, and very low customer expectations. but lets be frank all staff new that this company was due to close in the january of 2009 and that is why most of us jumped ship in october, as staff recieved commision for 3 months after they left. a marvelous company to work for if u were a salesman, a bad company if ur an order taker try a check out at tesco. Consumers this firm advertise low end ranges and this is what they sell in high volume, although their top end product to a much higher specification than all other retailers such as scs and harveys and i have worked with both. As for salesman tricking customers on finance, he would not profit from doing this and if your stupid enough to sign a financial contract without reading this agreement then you deserve it, thats a no brainer read it! its a law abiding contract. Yes as individuals towards the end we were a demoralised company with returned stock left to sold off, and knowingly selling a rebranded product to mask the media coverage on the rash ordeal. it was an uphill struggle and this is why all other furniture retailers will/have lapped up all the good staff as to be able to sell under these conditions, provides the proof that performance could be optimised in better working conditions. consumers you can not get something for nothing full leather sofas for £499 is an advertising ploy and they never expected to sell the volumes they did.
on Aug 30th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
I am an ex employee of land of leather and have to say it was the best company I have ever worked for. I was always treated fairly and even given promotion.
I am now going to work for World of Sofas and am looking forward to it imensley.
When LOL went down I started with Dreams not to be recomended,on leaving they are not paying me my commission due for start of August which is part of your salary and they have deducted £100 from me for my uniform which I returned washed and Ironed only to be told that because I was not with them for a year it would have to have been returned new and in original packaging for no deduction of monies,I dont know how you are expected to wear a uniform still in the packets do you?
There is the difference.LOL or World of Sofas 10 Dreams 0
on Aug 31st, 2009 at 2:23 am
I was a former employee as well and have no sour grapers whatsoever Valerie….. all my fellow work colleagues and myself loved our jobs and I can honestly say most of us would be back there in a shot if we could
Andy I hope you find yourself out of a job one day blaming someone else for your own inaptitude, read your agreement it is all on there and probably highlighted in several different colours and written all over your invoice.
As for shoddy sofas why is it then when you walk round retail parks in different sofa shops most of the retailers have LOL suites, can’t be that shoddy can they.
on Sep 2nd, 2009 at 10:01 pm
I was a delivery contractor for land of leather. If you paid over£1000 you was guaranteed to get a nice sofa. It was all the other crap at £599 that caused all the problems. Many times i called the shop to inform them when i delivered a sofa was damaged. many of them just said “try to hide the damage”.
on Sep 7th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
I worked for LOL for 4/5 years, it was good company. it was only the £499 Leather match sofas which were problem lines. some of the commets of high sales targets and high warranty targets are unbelievable. most of the staff that sold furniture (with some exceptions) achieved 30-35% warranties and had no hunger or focus for success! I cannot remember any names of dismissal over poor performance! LOL just went to cheap on the price and quality! there was absolutly no sales focus on the business, all the time was spent using that crap service program (SMRS) and cleaning the shops. The focus should of been serving the customers they had in there shops!
on Sep 9th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
y is it that ppl have an opinion on world of sofa wen the stores havent even opened yet! GIVE THEM A BLOODY CHANCE!! it is not lol with a name change it is a private company selling both fabric and leather. the stock they have in there is from diff manufacturers to lol and the quality and look is fantastic (i have seen many of the ranges). i really do think ppl need to give world of sofa a chance, ok some old lol ppl are back but hay ppl learn from their mistakes an with fresh blood in the mix things couldn’t be any different!
when the stores open i suggest ppl go along and have a look only then does that give anybody the right to judge!! wat chance do they have wen they are being slated and compared to land of leather already!!
on Sep 22nd, 2009 at 11:19 am
to all ppl on here the end of one era is only the beginning of a new one with more and more experience and new ideas i really think that world of sofas will fly and i think that harveys and scs have only survived through a trickey year on the back of land of leather demize!!! i’m sure they will be watching with great interest over the next 12 months when paul,pete,steve and craig and there troops go marching back in to the furniture trade and upset some retailers along the way.
I worked with land of leather as a contractor for around 5 years and i loved working with all there staff there but i will agree the product went really bad in there last 12 months of trading which i’m sure there aware of. ive also heard of my boss that they will be dealing with british manufacturers which is clearly a sign of what market place they want to be in
I really hope world of sofas starts well and i’m looking forwrd to working with all the ex land of leather staff again.>>>>
on Sep 23rd, 2009 at 4:32 am
I would be back in a heartbeat and anybody who worked with me will recognise my name MB you were the best
on Sep 23rd, 2009 at 4:39 am
By the way Ronaldo is the only sofageek and is not the person above
on Sep 25th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Hi my wife and I bought one of the crap leather match sofas, it needed repair within 1-2 months. That repair then failed so we then had to visit store to pick another sofa to value of original £699 i think was price plus the value of the insurance policy back. Guess what this was just before they went through in january! There were no decent sofas for that price in fact most of the ones there were either over expensive for what they were or really cheap and nasty rubbish! However there was one that seemed ok so we went for that one (it was the one with electric reclining, yes the one advertised in local press or on tv). The only problem was even though we were told we would have it within 2-3 months we did not. Guess what we ended up dealing with the administrators and were told different stories as to how long we would wait for delivery. We eventually received it in July nearly seven months later. We haven’t had any problem with sofa yet!!! but I won’t hold my breath. this one cost about £1300 so We hope its one of the better sofas they sold. I think it was very underhand of the staff at the cardiff store to hide the fact that the store was going under virtually the next few weeks or so. Had we have known I would have pushed for a refund and kept my money.
on Sep 26th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
I think this is disgraceful i was a customer of land of leather and lost several hundred pounds now you see them advertising on televison why not pay the customers who they stole from before opening other stores and doing the same be on your gard and dont shop with them.
on Sep 29th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I Think nasty comments by Mike about staff in the stores is wrong. Did any staff know from day to day what was giong on ?.
The staff and administrators did there very best to try and sort out as many customers problems as posible .
on Sep 30th, 2009 at 4:56 am
Does anyone have a LOL Armondo recliner type leather armchair (in chestnut) for sale please? We have just rearranged our living room and there’s a space just crying out for a chair to match our settees.
We bought our settees from LOL last November and are generally happy with what we got. We did have to call out the maintenance chappy during the first week, but he came on time, did the repair and left once he’d completed his task.
I fully understand the bad feelings you all must have since LOL went down the pan, but bad mouthing the company achieves absolutely nothing and may even harm your chances of re-instatement once they are up and running again.
Regards to you all,
Marie
on Sep 30th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Land of Leather and their directors wre by no means the most innocent of parties but over 100 retailers were selling so called ‘toxic’ sofas (EVEN DFS) and if any body actually took the time to listen to the news carefully you would have actually heard that trading standards found no link between the sofa’s and the so called health problems of the customers which is why no company had to recall the sofas legally they did so because morons all believe what they read in the paper or hear on the news! You can not blame the staff for merely doing what they are paid to do and actually i think they lost out more than any body with a bit of a rash! I know some people who still have not been able to find employment since LoL went under, cant pay their mortgage perhaps you should consider them and think yourselves lucky!
With Regards to Paul Briant He offered to buy all stores back at 40p a share but the administrators refused, that’s not his fault! and ok he wanted to cherry pick, he never lied, he said he would have to close some store but better to save half of the 1000 jobs which were lost than none at all.
While i do feel for the people that lost their money, no one deserves that but again it was not the fault of the staff. Most of us found out the compan went bust from the news before those higher up had the guts to tell us so yes we took money from you but we did not know and where you lost a few hundred pound we lost our livelyhood!
And also if you pay £499 for a leather/leather match sofa its going to be shoddy, lets be honest a full leather coat can go for mre than £100 so if you want a decent leather sofa you have to pay for it. You get what you pay for and unfortunately sittes like these no one ever posts compliments. I have had my leather sofa for about 9 years and it is still going strong but then it did cost £4000, like i said you get what you pay for.
Rant over! i’m sure i’ll get slated now but i’m entitled to my opinion and at least i can back mine with logic!
on Sep 30th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Mike would you carry on working if you knew that the company was going down?. I think not Ok you had to wait for the sofa but I have been out of work for 5 months living on £64 a week, think about that you sad person
on Oct 1st, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Hi to any ex Land of Leather workers…
Any idea where I could now buy what used to be the Ulisse Electric Reclining Sofa in Memphis Brown ex Land of Leatehr stock??
Would appreciate any suggestions.
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Hi Amanda Smyth,
The sofa was made by “Premier Furniture”, a chinese company. Premiers model number was “1018″. The leather was CAT 90 i believe. Find a retailer who deals with Premier. You could try world of sofas. Im sure they would push the deal through!
on Oct 9th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Having purchased 2 rocking recliners and sofa £1800 which burst and leather faded after 5 months I was asked to pick another suite which would arrive in 8weeks but after 2nd week LOL went bust needless to say I never recieved the suite or compensation and as the usual the cash customer looses out this being the words of the administrator this company and its bandits should not be allowed to con the people again may they rot in hell.
on Oct 14th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Well Mr Dunlop, you lost £1800 boo hoo. again i’ll remind you of the people that lost their livelyhoods; a surprisingly larger sum of money. Though i’m sure my self and many other LoL employees will quite happily rot in Hell it will not be for the innocent reason of happening to work for a company which so inconsiderately went bust when you were waiting for a replacement sofa, it will be because they lived their lives with a bit of fun and good humour not with a straight rod rammed firmly up their behind!
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Why (Former LoL Employee) do you keep slagging off the customers who rightly are annoyed at having lost money to LoL. It isn’t there fault they went bust and it isn’t there fault your regretably out of a job in fact at the end of the day its their money that paid your wages? You should possibly grind your axe at someone else other than the hand that fed you!
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Well Mr former LOL employee let me put you straight it was not the LOL workers which I was burning in hell it was the three bandits who incase it escaped your notice have enough money to open up and carry on with no regard for anyone or there loses and by the way I purchased the suite with my redundancy pay as I am in the same boat as you and half the country.
on Oct 24th, 2009 at 2:20 am
my dad and brother were delivery contractors for land of leather for years, they were a good company! everyone seems to be slagging the ‘big boys’ off, but if it were’nt for them none of you ex-employees would have had a job in the first place!! if world of sofas does actually get off and running then i say good luck to them!
on Oct 30th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Talk about missing the point!
Paul Briant’s team started Land of Leather, made it very successful and then sold it.
They were not in charge and had not been for a considerable period when it went into administration.
World of Sofas is a new venture - UNRELATED!
I wish them every success. it’s not often in the current climate that individuals will spend their own money setting up businesses and employing more people.
on Nov 3rd, 2009 at 2:16 am
hi i have read all your comments and all the bad ones well i must say i bought a suite from lol five years ago this december and i was treated really nice as when my suite arrived i could not fit it threw the living room door and then the recliner chair was broke they asked me if they could send someone out to fix it could not be fixed got a new one and the sofa that did not fit the guys took apart and built it back up in my living room . as for the toxic sofas argos was selling them and have you seen the cheap sofas that are being sold in other retails they all come from the same manuf so to say one company was to blame is rubbish and like every contract you sign you need to read and ask questions before you sign . so i will be going to world of sofas this weekend to see if i see any i like and hope it last five years . ps only reason my lol leather sofas need replaced as my dogs have ruined them no fault in the leather or in the suite just wear and tear so good luck to world of sofas and no i am not a ex employee
on Nov 4th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I live in N.Ireland and am waiting on the out come of the land of leather zuich claims in England so far i cant find a thing. Does anyone know the out come of the court case after zurich told the court that they were not paying out for some of the l.o.l. claims
on Nov 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
having wasted half an hour reading your drivel it became clear that none of you have cottoned on to the fact that thats life and tomorrow the sun will rise and set as it did the day before.
on Nov 20th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I have read through the comments on this page. I have been to World of Sofas today and purchased their “washington” 2 and 3 seater recliner deal, I think it is great value for money and is a nice thick leather. I did not see any of the “rubbish” that lol used to sell. The only place I see very cheap suite was in easy living but was clear what you were getting… a plastic sofa.
As I say I am pleased with my sofa, just gotta wait to see if it infact turns up in mid Feb 2010 !!! lol Christ that long
I wish WOS well, after going to dfs and seeing lesser sofa’s than what I got today for £2k plus they should do very well
on Dec 30th, 2009 at 2:28 am
Just wanted to say that I have a lovely leather sofa - no problems. Unfortunately I actually paid for a sofa bed and have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor ever since! I probably should have checked that it was a sofa bed when delivered!
on Jan 1st, 2010 at 9:13 pm
To the likes of Former LOL employee and the others that called former lol customers morons; it was these “morons” which actually kept you in a job for as long as you were employed. As for the £499 suites being what you pay for, agreed they would not be the best of quality, but they should still be fit for purpose and last more than a couple of weeks. Not everyone can afford suites at £4000 that one of the former lol employees bought, but then you probably didn’t pay that for it?
LOL did sell some cheap suites in the past that were good value, it’s more so in latter years that they knowingly sold crap. Those former employees slagging off the customers deserved what they got, you knew the company was selling crap and were misleading customers ( which by complicity means so were you), there can only be one outcome when a company sells goods which are not fit for purpose, and that was the payback for lol and the “moronic” (by association) employees who aided and abetted in misleading customers and causing them to lose money.
on Jan 11th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
i’ve had no problems with my soa from land of leather and the sales bloke was fine with me.the only problem i have is that i took insurance out on the sofa for 5 years and i was wondering where i stand with that now? Have i lost my insurance on the sofa’s or can i get it back.does anyone know or has been in this situation?The warranty cost me 200 quid and now one of the chairs needs to be claimed for a rip……what do i do?
on Jan 16th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
HI john the answer to your question are you still covered then YES you are i suggest you ring the provider who covers the policy for you and make a claim but check out your terms and conditions before hand all the best your warrantie provider will be Homeserve warranties based in Western super mare
on Jan 25th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
There is nothing unethical about starting again, provided there is a clear reason identified, which will not be part of the new business. in this case sofa world is a different business, and clearly there was an attempt to rescue . That said - i think the competition from online is likely to undermine premises based retail. just my view
-mike at tub chair
on Jan 28th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
World of sofas is already conning people. I caught the tail end of an ad for a 3 and 2 seater suite with footstool on tues night saying offer ended on the thurs night. Went to nearest branch on the Wednesday and was told by salesman that the offer didn’t start till the Thurs at 10:00am and finished at 10:00pm Thurs but he could give us the 3 and 2 seater that day if we wished. We asked him ifwe could pre book it and he said no, then asked him if he only had one of each and he said no they had a few, so we told him we would come back first thing on Thurs morning and try for the 3 piece deal and failing that we would order the 2 piece deal.
My husband arrived at store at 9:30am and there were people in queue with tickets for the offer. When the doors opened at 10:00 he was told there were none left and none of the 2 peice deal either.
I called the store and was told that the tickets were given out on boxing day and that the 2 piece deal was for the day before only. I asked why were’nt we told that as obviously if we had we would have ordered it there and then, and that the ad never mentioned this and they were misleading and lying to people by omission. I asked to speak to a manager and I was told he was busy and that he would not talk to me. it’s just a con to get people through the doors and hopefully they will buy a dearer suite. They need to be exposed.
on Feb 6th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
IN 2006 I PURCHASED A FRANKLIN 3 /2 SEATER LEATHER SOFASWITH A 5 YEAR GUARANTEE NOW IT HAS AN INCH SPLIT AT THE FRONT OF ONE OF THE ARMS AN ASSESOR CAME OUT TO LOOK AT THE SPLIT AND STATED THE PART WAS VINYL IFEEL THAT JOHN PETERS HAVE BREACHED THERE CONTRACT IN SELLING ME THE GOODS AS LEATHER ANY SUGGESTIONS AS WHAT TO DO ON CONCTACTING JOHN PETERS THEY STATED THAT THE PART THAT WAS SPLITTING WAS VINYL I PURCHASED LEATHER AS WAS ADVERTISED
on Mar 1st, 2010 at 11:49 pm
former employyee of l of l with a dig at andy, what he sid was correct. as a former employee you know exactly what he was talking about..explain it wont come into effect until the following month ie after the years up. have fell for it myself in the past but you live and learn and what they say is what goes around comes around so all former employees i hope your sofa burns your arse
on Mar 8th, 2010 at 6:13 am
I was ready to purchase the white leather electric reclining sofa (a 3 2 and 1 seater) which had been a flag ship sofa in the Derby Store for a few years. I thought I would get Christmas out the way before buying, and then the stores went into receivership.
Its the only sofa of the very many I have tried since that really felt just right. I nearly got it when the remaining stock after they closed was sold at the Nottingham branch and literally got there 10 minutes before they sold an whole set leaving just an armchair and 2 seater.
As I gave up on it I have forgot the name of the sofa, but it was not cheap.
I am sure you have better things to do, but if anyone remembers the name of the sofa and a place i could buy it from now, I would appreciate it. I believe it was an Italian sofa but other than it was very soft and all white and all leather with electric recliners I cannot offer more detail. If you worked at Derby it was on the left as you walked in and next to the wall of the shop on the left.
on Mar 10th, 2010 at 12:26 am
Hi to the previous post (nearly a customer) please contact me through email DamonHill@hotmail.co.uk or facebook http://www.facebook.com/daymohill as an ex Land of Leather employee i will do my best to try and help find out details for you, and i spent a few weeks working at the derby store so still in contact with the staff
on Mar 10th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
ordered 2seater recliner sofa and 2 reclining chair from lol on 1st jan 09 they eventually got delivered in middle of june 09
according to letter received in may 09 the furniture is covered by a full product warranty in line with statutory rights etc. etc.
so one of the chairs the frame seems to have twisted and the other chair the leather has faded where it is sat on so who do we get in touch with for someone to come and look at this does anyone know
on Mar 13th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
cheers will send DamonHill@hotmail.co.uk , sending a message via hotmail now
on Mar 19th, 2010 at 10:42 am
The High Court ruled yesterday that over 300 customers who claim that ‘toxic’ sofas purchased from Land of Leather gave them skin rashes and burns, will not receive compensation.
The consumers took Land of Leather to court because they were exposed to dimethyl fumerate, which has since been banned in imported products. However, Land of Leather’s insurers, Zurich Insurance, will not be held responsible for the detrimental effect this product has had on customers’ health.
Zurich’s defence countered that Land of Leather’s arrangment with the supplier of the ‘toxic’ sofas breached the terms of its insurance policy.
The Land of Leather retail chain went into administration in January 2009. The founders of hte business, Paul Briant, Steve Dowdall and Peter Ling, have since launched a new furniture chain called World of Sofas.
on Mar 19th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
I left a post on here in April last year as my husband was one of the people who suffered the “detrimental effects” from the toxic sofas.
What happened to him and as a result the rest of our family was horrible. He was in agony for months. Our life was hell. It was bad enough that they opened a new company but to take part in actions that caused Zurich to be able to back out of their cover is despicable.
If any one has any dealings with these people please tell them how they have destroyed the lives of a happy family.
The staff who sold us the sofa were very nice!
on Mar 19th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
land of leather it seems were paid $900,000 by linkwise for the “toxic sofa” issue and the people who suffered will not get a penny!
on Apr 8th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Just found this web site and wonder if anyone can help? I have had my 3/2 seater reclining settees for about 3 years now. I am getting a new suite shortly and am giving my 3/2 to a young friend. Unfortunately we do not know how to dismantle the large settee as it will not fit through the doorway. Can anyone help please?
on Apr 28th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Just seen the World of Sofas advert 28/04/10. And there’s my suite I bougt from Land of Leather as large as life, now advertised for £699 a pair. So it seems that World of Sofas have a similar product range as Land of Leather.
And I suspect they may have the same issues as below.
The suite was sold as leather-its a leather match.It has split on 4 seams within the first year, due to the vinyl/leather joins giving way. It’s a “common problem with leather match sofas”, & “is not covered by insurance”
Whether it cost £100 or £1000, the product must be fit for purpose. I have had far cheaper sofas from Ikea-& the quality far surpassed the Land of Leather suite. Those who can only afford the “cheap” suites are the same people who cannot afford to replace them when they fail.
Land of Leather goods = World of Sofa goods?
It looks like my suite on the advert.
The self same suite from the known to be faulty range.
World of Sofa’s-you’re welcome to come & have a look at my suite anytime you want. It may convince you to remove that range from your catalogue.
on Apr 29th, 2010 at 11:03 am
The most sought pieces of furniture inside the living room is leather sofa due to its luxurious look and feel great. Sales of leather sofas are continually growing. Many people in recent times had been sticking with your current sofa, but with the economic crisis for people facilitating the purchase of new leather sofas, because they know they are built to last.
Thanks for sharing…….
Leather Sofa
on May 18th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Hello,
If there are any former Land of Leather employees out there I would appreciate it if you could let me know how to dismantle a reclining sofa. Will be in the process of moving shortly and have no idea how to do this!
Thanks.
on May 27th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
To BrownSofa
Flip sofa onto its knees. Lift flap. You should either see 2 arms(may have to open zip depending on model)There is a clip on both left and right hand side as someone pulls the clips have someone pull the top of the sofa off.
Hope this helps
on May 28th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
hello all,
i purchased a paris full leather suite in december 2009 and was told delivery approx 14 weeks.
delivery did come 4 weeks later and the suite looks good.
thats where the good part ends :(.
the leather they are appliying is of very poor quality and i would urge any one who is thinking of purchasing this suite to re-consider as i have already had to have the repair man out.
even a gentle nudge on edges takes the leather colouring off!
the sad thing is i actually thought i would give them a chance after all the bad publicity from the land of leather days
bad move by me!
on Aug 18th, 2010 at 10:56 am
I purchased a suite from WOS lakeside this year.. .delivered in March/April time.
Called straight away as seams were loose and the 3 seater was all out of alignment in the different sections !
Replacement ordered in May without even telling me… constant chasing and I am STILL WAITING ! No answer for days and days on the phone number for the store and other stores just tell me to call Lakeside as thats the HQ !
AVOID ! £2000 suite that is worth £200 at most
on Aug 20th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
I have to say i have recently bought a suite from World of Sofas with a 5 year warranty and i have had no problems atall…….i think what some people need to understand is that mistakes do and will always happen with a big company…..i’m really pleased with the overall start to finish process and of course the items i have purchased so thank you World of sofas i will always reccomend you
on Aug 31st, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I found these comments really interesting,having worked for Jerry at LOL,I can honestly say he is the most talented,Likeable person you could work under.If he sold his shares before the s**t hit the fan ,he surely is entitled to start another business.
on Sep 14th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
to wos - recent customer, i am pleased that you have had a good experiance with this company and i agree that mistakes are made, however i stand by my findings that the sofa i recieved has poor leather compared to other manaufacturers of lesser pricing.
on Sep 27th, 2010 at 3:25 am
From time immemorial was considered that the witch is a woman who practises magic, participates in шабашах on bald mountains and copulates with demons. However in transfer from Old Russian language to “know” means “NOBILITY”.
on Oct 24th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Different name selling the same old rubbish ex homeserve tech
on Oct 24th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
I was informed by a person from bristol who was a buyer for lol and he told me that he would go to china quite often to purchase suites for 200 euros or less and they would be sold here from anything up to 3000 sterling any wonder they had a sale 365 days a year. As for homeserve they would give you a box of tricks and expect you to fix suites that were put together with old bits of pallet boxes and bits of cardboard and not to let the customer see inside the suite,as for all the brown noses(field service technicians) who were afraid to put the truth in their call out reports grow a pair of balls,Danny ex homeserve scapegoat.
on Oct 24th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
To brownsofa just give it a week and it will fall off its self
on Nov 24th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Hi
just to put it in correct terms there are 2 Homeserve companys theres Homeserve in western super mare who deal in warranties and there is Homeserve Furniture repairs in the Midlands i worked for Homeserve in the Midlands we had alot more than just a box of tricks we were given some excellent training and i enjoyed my time with them but due to me re - locating somewhere else i was unable to carry on working for them. Danny in regards to your comments about brown noses that may be the case where you worked but not where i did
on Dec 30th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
bought a 3 seater sofa in lakeside store on the 6th oct 2010, had a fault reported straight away, it took 3wks for someone to come down, was told i would have a answer in 7-10 days, after countless phone calls i actually spoke to store manager told him i wanted sofa picked up and a full refund he agreeded this, sofa was picked up on the 6th dec2010, am still waiting for refund sent e-mails and left countless phone messages but no-one will reply to me, left one option now to go to store. there after sales leaves alot to be desired. i would not recomend to anybody
on Jan 2nd, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Hi
To anyone who worked at Land of leather.
I bought a P293 black 3 seater leather back in 2007, when it was delivered i asked for it to be put too a 2 seater [ i bought the extra bars 2x2 ] .Now i have moved and want it back to a 3 seater but do not have any other bars or know how to put the seat back.Can you tell me 1.where to get the bars [3 seater] and 2. how to put it back together .
Thank you from a most greatful customer.
Yvo
on Feb 7th, 2011 at 10:32 am
Hi Yvonne
there are various companys that did work for LOL when i was there try Homeserve furniture repairs, Servico, Ecomaster i’m sure one of these could help you
on Feb 9th, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Looks like the bastards have screwed everyone over yet again!
WORLD OF SOFAS ABERDEEN HAS SHUT ITS DOORS!
They should be dragged out of there holes and shot……..I make that 3 times in 10 years?
on Feb 11th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
to yvonne
if you get this yvonne google servico furniture repairs, contact them and give them “premier p293″ and they should be able to sort it out.
reading the rest of this its a mixed bag of reactions. the company did sell crap, even the expensive stuff wasnt up to much.
lessons should be learnt but i fear paul briants new venture will still deal in the same stuff.
on Feb 14th, 2011 at 10:19 am
World of Sofas is now in Administration.
The appointed Administratior is Berley Chartered Accountants, London, W1G 9TB.
World of Sofas accounts to late 2010 show a turnover of circa £12 million with a net less of circa £2.5 million.
On 24/01/2011, Riverview Furniture Ltd was incorporated with the same or similar directors to World of Sofas.
The sale of World of Sofas business and assets was concluded on 4th Feb 2011 for £350,000.
Mr Paul Briant and Mr Peter Ling were both directors and shareholders of World of Sofas Ltd and are also directors of Riverview Furniture Ltd.
Riverview Furniture Ltd has two shareholders, Paul Briant & Steven Dowdall.
on Feb 19th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
world of sofas cardiff has shut its doors.
sorry for the peeps working there but as for the owners let em rot
on Feb 22nd, 2011 at 11:59 am
We bought a sofa from WOS Aberdeen in December. When the shop closed overnight we contacted Head Office and they said we were still getting our suite. They never told us they were in administration! Now the week its supposed to be delivered we call to chase it up to find out they are in administration and we have to try and claim our money back through our card issuer!! OH but they might still call and offer us the suite but now we would have to pay for it AGAIN to the new company that have bought them over! Who has that kind of spare cash while we wait to see if we get the first amount back!! Now we are supposed to be getting a letter to tell us they are in administration (bit late) that we need to give our card issuer to claim for the money but so far it has not appeared! The store we are supposed to deal with now isnt answering their phone so we cant even find out when the said letter was supposed to have been sent out!!
on Feb 26th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Steph i have a copy of the letter which i received yesterday through an email. This is how it goes…Riverview furniture ltd has purchased the stock, fixtures, fittings, trading name, logo and has agreed to honour the outstanding orders of world of sofas ltd on the following basis. The card service provider for world of sofas ltd is refusing to honour your deposit. However as you are a secured creditor and paid by visa/master debit or credit card you can claim your deposit back in full through your card provider. Riverview furniture ltd wish to honour your order and as a gesture of goodwill will offer you a 10% discount of the total value. When your goods arrive in stock you can then either settle your balance by Building society/Bankers draft or cash to your nearest store or by prior arrangement pay the drivers when they arrive at your property with your goods. Please confirm within the next 14 days if you wish to proceed with your order. I was told on the phone just to call if i had any Q’s but guess what ..no answer and mailbox full that it cant take anymore. Not sure what to do here but have phoned the bank and they filled a form out for me opening a dispute to try and get back my £500 deposit. How do they get away with opening up again under a dif name but same group of people ?????
on Feb 26th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Well we purchased a 3str & 2str from the Inverness store in Nov10. We where told delivery would be before the end of Jan11. Now we are told that we can get the suite (not sure when) if we want to pay cash and get a discount We dont have that sort of cash obviously, otherwise we would have paid it all then LUCKY we didnt. i think!! They told me that another company has taken The World of Sofas over but talking to an Ex Employee who no longer has a Job its the same people that was before
and we are being hoodwinked reading some of the comments above i think we are better of out of it thank you
on Feb 28th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Has anyone been offered more than the 10% discount?
on Mar 7th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
I am a former shareholder of Land of Leather would like to pose a question to anyone knowledgeable about Land of Leather.
What were the primary reasons LOL went under?
Thank You
on Mar 8th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
i,m sure there are a lot of people that would like to know that Mr Van Der Donck, especially in the known fact that at least 3 of the Directors of the World of sofas and the two new shareholders of Riverview ltd owned shares in LOL and where Directors. according to the script above have purchased the troubled world of sofas for a reduced stock price and again have avoided paying there creditors but seem to continue to profit in the way of salarys and bonuses i,m sure, Surely after three strikes you should be OUT? Anyway just to complete my story i have applied to the credit card company for the return of my deposit from my purchase i wll let you know if i get it! thank you
Godfrey Mcloughlin
on Mar 18th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Land of Leather / World of Sofas / Riverview Furniture Ltd
Statement on behalf Messer’s Paul Briant ,Steve Dowdall and Peter Ling
Paul Briant ,Steve Dowdall and Peter Ling were previously directors of Land of Leather Ltd and had all resigned from the business between three and twelve months before it’s collapse .The business at time it went into liquidation had two other executive directors and five other non executive directors operating it all of whom are respected members of the city.
Briant ,Dowdall and Ling personally lost over five million pounds between them when the business collapsed and Briant,Dowdall and Ling remain unpaid from their service contracts.
World of Sofas Ltd started trading some eight months after the collapse of Land of Leather Ltd and with the exception of taking over empty stores has no connection with Land of Leather Ltd, the fact that all three did previously did work for the business along with seven other directors does not make this a direct link.
When World of Sofas ltd went into administration,the directors were the majority creditors to the tune of over two million pounds.
Riverview Furniture ltd has purchased all the assets of World of sofas Ltd and is going to continue to trade the brand concentrating mainly in England. All customer orders are being honoured and any customers wishing to cancel their order who paid by credit card or debit card to World of Sofas Ltd can claim full refunds from their card provider. Customers who purchased goods on finance can simply cancel their order and credit agreement if they no longer wish to proceed with their order.
Customers who paid cash will receive their order providing that the balance is paid in full to the store when the goods arrive in stock.
on Mar 21st, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Statement on behalf Messer’s Paul Briant, Steve Dowdall and Peter Ling
Paul Briant, Steve Dowdall and Peter Ling were previously directors of Land of Leather Ltd and had all resigned from the business between three and twelve months before its collapse.
The business at time it went into liquidation had two other executive directors and five other non executive directors operating it, all of whom are respected members of the city.
Briant, Dowdall and Ling personally lost over five million pounds between them when the business collapsed and Briant, Dowdall and Ling remain unpaid from their service contracts.
World of Sofas Ltd started trading some eight months after the collapse of Land of Leather Ltd and, with the exception of taking over empty stores, has no connection with Land of Leather Ltd.
The fact that all three did previously did work for the business along with seven other directors does not make this a direct link.
When World of Sofas Ltd went into administration, the directors were the majority creditors to the tune of over two million pounds.
Riverview Furniture Ltd has purchased all the assets of World of Sofas Ltd and is going to continue to trade the brand concentrating mainly in England.
All customer orders are being honoured and any customers wishing to cancel their order who paid by credit card or debit card to World of Sofas Ltd can claim full refunds from their card provider.
Customers who purchased goods on finance can simply cancel their order and credit agreement if they no longer wish to proceed with their order.
Customers who paid cash will receive their order providing that the balance is paid in full to the store when the goods arrive in stock.
on Apr 28th, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Regarding management and firms. This phrase tends to strike a chord with root cause. “A fish rots from the head in”
The tone of an organization is set from the top. Ethics, honesty, efficiency, etc. Long term decisions are made by management that can affect the business for years to come.
In general I try to avoid doing business with the sleazy types. You often end up with stress, hassle and get screwed.
on Jun 6th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
I have been trying to contact world of sofas by telephone to see when i can expect delivery of a suite i paid deposit for. The number is NOT RECOGNISED. Very unproffessional not to be contactable without an hours journey. Does anyone have a number i can try. Losing patience now.
on Jul 6th, 2011 at 8:15 am
I ordered a sofa from WoS in Greenwich in April 2011 and paid a 300 pound deposit in cash. Was expected to arrive end of May. After numerous calls and some nonsense stories, the number now just rings and rings. Nobody picks up. Went around to the store on Monday 4 July and cancelled the order and received my 300 pounds back in cash. the store is in the final stages of closing down. I guess I was one of the lucky ones.
on Jul 13th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Quote from The furnishing report today….
“The Furnishing Report understands the retailer is now trading from about four stores, including its Thurrock head office where the company - Riverview Furniture Ltd - is now registered. Stores across Scotland are thought to have been among those to have closed.
Riverview Furniture was the company set up to buy World of Sofas, which went into administration on 4 February through London insolvency specialist Berley. Ten stores were saved as part of that deal, but several of these have subsequently closed. A new company - Riverview Furniture Thurrock Ltd - has also been incorporated at Companies House in recent weeks.
World of Sofas, which was created by several directors of the now defunct Land of Leather retail chain, is also currently trading without any form of online or non-store presence. Its UK website has been inactive for an undetermined period of time and it is difficult to find current and accurate telephone numbers.
An in use telephone number for the company was provided by the brand’s only non-UK store - located on the Costa del Sol in Spain - but no-one answered on the occasions the Furnishing Report tried to call. Multiple trade sources, however, have confirmed the company is currently continuing to trade.”
Suprise Suprise !
on Jul 29th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Hi tradingtalk, sorry this is nothing to do with world of sofa,s. i have a question regarding the blog page on diamonds and pearls. after looking at some of comments on w.o.s blog wondering why you havent removed it as you did D&P one? or were you asked to remove it? i would appreicate if you could let me know. i did e-mail asking but got no reply.