Consumer NZ said Freedom Furniture had a lot of unhappy customers. It claimed the company was not upfront about ongoing delays for the delivery of its orders - those delays themselves being the result of global shipping delays.
The Herald has approached Freedom Furniture for comment.
One customer who spoke to the Herald said he bought a lounge chair from Freedom Furniture in the company's recent sale - only to find the chair would not be delivered until December.
"The fact that delivery might be so long was on the sale info but it was sufficiently hidden that we didn't find out until after we actually bought the chair," the Auckland man said.
"I know there are supply chain issues at the moment but having a sale for something that you can't deliver for six months feels like it is pushing things a bit far."
Consumer NZ was advising shoppers not to put up with delays or poor communication.
Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said businesses that provided timelines for delivery of goods were expected to honour those guarantees as part of obligations under the Consumer Guarantees Act.
He said retailers were expected to be transparent.
"Delays happen and that's understandable, especially in the current Covid climate, but we are calling for retailers to be upfront and communicate with their customers, so they can make fully informed decisions," Duffy said in a Consumer NZ statement.
"If an item is going to take a long time to be delivered, tell the customer. If unexpected delays occur, let the customer know."
A Freedom Furniture customer named Debra told Consumer NZ her dealings with Freedom were "hands down the worst retail experience of my life".
Consumer said she'd ordered her furniture in February and received it five months later. She claimed she was repeatedly refused a refund before the item was eventually delivered.
After purchasing her furniture in February, the next month she received a notification saying her order would be delivered on April 5.
Auckland-based Debra lived and worked in Auckland but had a house in Ōhope, Bay of Plenty, where the furniture was to be delivered.
Consumer said despite assurances, Freedom failed to deliver the furniture on April 5, and on four subsequent dates.
Consumer NZ said Freedom's social media pages highlighted "the sheer volume of unhappy customers" and many comments were from "desperate customers trying to get in contact with anyone who can help them".
Freedom responded to Consumer's request for comment, and said shipping disruptions and manufacturing bottlenecks were to blame for the hold-ups.
But Duffy said Freedom Furniture could be liable to customers for extra expenses incurred due to delivery delays.
"Customers also have the right to reject the goods where delivery times are significantly longer than those provided at the point of sale," Duffy added.
"Freedom Furniture also risks misleading people by representing items will be delivered within certain time frames and regularly failing to meet these," he said.
"This could breach the Fair Trading Act and may be of interest to the Commerce Commission."
