Trina McClune's Freedom Furniture couch started off charcoal, as seen on the left and right, but faded to the centre colour within months of purchase. Photo / Supplied
Trina McClune's Freedom Furniture couch started off charcoal, as seen on the left and right, but faded to the centre colour within months of purchase. Photo / Supplied
A major furniture retailer has backtracked following multiple complaints about a $4999 couch whose fabric colour faded within months of purchase.
At least three Kiwi customers bought the Anderson chaise in charcoal from Freedom Furniture in late 2015, which faded from grey to an off shade of pink within six to eight months.
Email exchanges between Hamilton homeowner James Fieten and Freedom over several months show Freedom customer service representatives denying blame.
They said it was the result of wear and tear and refused to rectify the problem.
But when the Herald emailed Freedom with questions today, the company's managing director in New Zealand, Deb Ridling, admitted a defect had been discovered in a shipment of the Napa Charcoal colour line.
"I can confirm we are offering a full exchange on affected items and are working through any other customers who have raised an issue with this particular sofa and fabric," Ridling said.
"Any customers who have purchased an Anderson sofa in the Napa Charcoal colourway in the last 6 months and have experienced premature fading can contact us to discuss a resolution."
Fading seen on James Fieten's couch and cushions. Photo / Supplied
Fieten called Freedom's initial response hopeless, saying it was "absolutely pathetic" the company tried to avoid responsibility, especially as he had purchased fabric furniture insurance for an extra fee when he bought the couch in late 2015.
It was delivered in March 2016 and six months later had faded from grey to pink.
Months of communication between Fieten and Freedom had done nothing to resolve the issue.
The company said the fading was caused by the couch being in the sun.
A care tag on the couch warned customers to protect the couch from "direct and indirect sunlight", but Fieten was never warned the couch might fade fast when he bought it in store.
Fieten said he had put the couch in a room with south-facing windows and even installed slat blinds to reduce the amount of light falling on furniture.
"Short of living in a cave, are you going to live your life with the curtains pulled," he said.
Trina McClune of Hauraki and Michelle Whorwood of Silverdale had similar experiences.
Both bought their couches in late 2015 and noticed considerable fading within six to eight months.
The back of Michelle Whorwood's Anderson couch cushion in its original colour, and the colour the rest of the couch faded to. Photo / Supplied
When she complained, McClune was told by Freedom staff it was a result of sun damage and they would not accept responsibility.
"I'm not sure what we are meant to do," she said.
"All houses in NZ have windows, are we expected to keep our blinds drawn during the day to stop sun getting to fabric? I don't think that is reasonable."
