DFS - The Good, the bad and the not so ugly (DFS Sofas)

Member Name: barry.gross

Product:	DFS Sofas
Date:	18/09/02 (14867 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Price, 5 years Interest-free credit, Choice

Disadvantages: No specific delivery time, Too few assistants, Did not explain things until asked

When I recently needed to buy a new sofa due to moving to a new flat I saw DFS offering 5 years interest free credit. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I made a bee-line for my nearest DFS store.
The selection available was impressive and obviously carefully arranged so that each sofa and armchair set-up fitted in perfectly with its surrounds.
It was easy to check which sofas where more comfortable and most importantly which sofas were long enough for me to stretch out on. Now I took off my shoes for this test but the assistant who smiled as I lay on one of the sofas assured me that most people did not remove their shoes.
Choosing the sofa did take time, partially because of the choice available and partially because nothing immediately sprang out and said "Buy ME".
Once we had chosen a sofa we needed to get some help. This didn't take too long although, as with all these warehouse retailers, there are never enough assistants to go around.
Choosing a colour was a lot more difficult. Each sofa had a selection of cloths which were helpfully left with the sofa. I found it extremely difficult to imagine what the sofa would look like in anything but the colour on display. In the end we (my wife did anyway) took the chance of choosing another colour.
The sales assistant happily filled in the necessary forms including the 5 years interest free credit - and it really was FIVE years interest free. There were no early payment charges or additional charges either. The only thing we opted to pay extra for was a 5 year guaranteed stain proofing covering.
I was slightly perturbed that the sales assistant didn't really explain how the interest free credit worked and it was only because I asked some questions that I ascertained any details. In truth there was not much to tell but some explanation as to when payments start and the no charge for early payment would be helpful.
We chose a week that we wanted the sofa a
nd armchair (yes we started to get a bit excited!) and were told that we would get a phonecall 48 hours before then to arrange a delivery date that week.
My wife asked for a swatch of the material so that she could but other things for the flat. They said that they would put one in the post and it arrived two days later.
A few weeks later they phoned to say the sofa and armchair were ready. We explained that this was too early and that we had requested delivery for later as we had not completed on our flat yet. No problem! We arranged delivery for the day that suited us.
Unfortunately they will not give a time for delivery and so you need to be in for the whole day.
On the day in question at about 11am the DFS van arrived and so did my sofa and armchair. They were brought into the flat carefully and the delivery men were concerned not to damage the fresh paintwork. They removed all the packaging and placed the sofa and armchair exactly where we wanted them.
As for the colour, well my wife is happy and so I am happy.
Overall I am very happy with the service I received.

Summary: