“BUYER BEWARE!! If you are considering buying from NCF Living, please heed the warnings of the negative reviews, as they all tell the same story. Essentially, the salespeople get you to review them while you are in store, either just before or after you have paid - to review THEIR in store service. This isn’t a particularly bad request, although it does a brilliant job of hiding the negative reviews on here.
Firstly, it’s important to note that the salespeople we encountered were all really nice, friendly and knowledgeable. Also, the furniture is not bad quality, it was the first bed (of many that we had seen elsewhere) that we liked the look of and ticked all our boxes. Our experience in store was definitely positive. However, when it was delivered, a part of the bed was damaged in transit. The delivery happened at 1030 on a Friday (that’s important in a moment), and due to work commitments, we got round to building our new bed on the following Sunday. That’s when we noticed the foot board was damaged. We immediately tried to call NCF customer services, however they are closed on Saturday and Sundays. We tried to call the store, but they don’t have advertised telephone numbers for their stores, so my wife called customer services at 0730 (which is what it states online is their opening hours) on the Monday morning. After numerous failed attempts, it turns out they don’t open until 0930! When my wife finally got through, she was blankly told ‘you have 3 days to inform us of any damage, after that, we can’t help you. Bearing in mind, they don’t open on weekends!!! Apparently if we had emailed on the Sunday, all would’ve been fine, although I’m not so sure.
So, to match their puerile response, I informed them the delivery didn’t happen until 1030 on the Friday, and as it was now 0930 on the Monday morning, it wasn’t quite 3 days - again we were told blankly that we can’t help you.
This back and forth included 1 visit to the store, where the sales people didn’t seem surprised at our dilemma, but couldn’t help us, 4 telephone calls and 2 emails. We were repeatedly told the same thing - it’s over 3 days, we can’t and won’t help you.
For context, I didn’t feel that I was being unreasonable in my request, I didn’t want a discount, or to return the bed or any kind of special treatment, I just wanted the damaged part replacing. That’s it.
On my penultimate phone call, the lady on reception said she would check once again with the relevant department, but was sure we would get the same response - and we did! So this time I asked if I could speak with the ‘Service and Faults’ team myself. I was told someone would call me back, and surprisingly, they did!
This was my first contact with the incredibly vile Michelle who works in Service and Faults and in my opinion should absolutely not be in a customer facing position.
By this point, we are getting close to a week post delivery, and we were still hitting the same stumbling block. I considered asking my credit card company to carry out a Section 75, but I thought I would first read up on my rights.
It turns out, their 3 day rule is absolute rubbish. They can of course have their own terms and conditions, however, they are superseded by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Which states… ‘Consumers have the right to reject goods within 30 days of purchase if they are faulty and are entitled to a full refund. After 30 days, consumers can request a repair or replacement.’ Also, within the first 30 days the onus is on the seller to prove the goods were NOT damaged, it is not on the buyer to prove that they were. Your rights actually continue for upto 6 years with items bought in the UK, however, after the 30 days the onus shifts to the buyer, and other rules apply, I digress.
Armed with my new rights knowledge, and the fact that Vile Michelle once again directly informed me of their 3 day terms, I informed her of my rights, and that I would like a replacement part asap. To this, Michelle forcefully and loudly told me ‘do not quote the law to me, I know the law!!’
Oh, I’m sorry Michelle, forgive me, but you have just tried fobbing me off (for the 4th time) with your 3 days terms nonsense. Either you do know the intricacies of consumer law and are trying to lie to us to avoid your obligations or, you in fact do not know the law on consumer rights. I never did get to the bottom of that one…
A very long story short, once Vile Michelle was aware that I was not going to go away and that I knew my rights, a replacement part was dispatched and arrived with us a week or so later. Result!
What a palaver! Customer service from companies such as Next is second to none. You call with a problem, they apologise profusely and arrange a replacement asap. It’s almost as if the replacement cost came directly out of Vile Michelle’s wages?
It’s important to note that we love the bed, it looks lovely in the room, and it’s exactly what we wanted, I would definitely recommend it, although you do run the risk of a lengthy headache if something goes wrong.
Now, only time will tell if the bed and mattress will continue to be of satisfactory quality and remain fit for purpose, and if not, you can absolutely guarantee I will be back on the phone with vile Michelle, armed with the knowledge of my rights, to get what I am legally entitled to!
Side note - someone at NCF Living, please send Michelle on a customer services course because as a famous Come Dine With Me contestant once said - ‘she has all the grace and decorum of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on!’
Know your rights people!”
“A Sh_T Company returned the sofa lost over £2000 on a broken sofa Milton Keynes branch MANAGER didn't care at all , rip off company and have no customer service 😢”
“Brought my parents to Milton Keynes we had never been before. We met Heather and she was amazing helped them with everything they needed help with and walked away with the sofa they wanted.”
“I have purchased several items from ncf but this time i an having the worst experience of my life.
I placed order for 3 x 2 seater sofa on 1st June and as at today 21st August I am waiting and the customer service staff Louise F have been giving me various excuses and promissing fake delivery dates etc.
One of the worst customer service ever received.
Having spent thousands of pounds with the company and yet I am treated like a piece of sh**t.
Previously I purchased
2 x L shape sofas
6 x Leather Dining Chairs
This Year I purchased
1 x Dounle Ottomon Storage Bed
1 x King Size Ottomon Storage Bed
and finally 3 x 2 Seater Sofa which I am not sure will ever arrive as I paid it on 1st June 2024 in Full and now the staff are making excuses and blaming deliveries are delayed due to wars.
All other companies are delivering goods and not claimed that their delivery is delayed due to war in the middle east and so on.
Worst thing is when I asked for full refund so that I can purchase it from elsewhere I was told sorry we can't refund you.
1 your company not committed to promises made
2 now that you have failed to deliver the service
3 you are holding my funds and refusing to refund.
What would you do if this has happened to you ?
Still waiting for delivery and worst ever experience in life
Item still not delivered”
“Went into the MK store yesterday was looking for new dining table/chairs. The guy standing near the front door asked if he could help which was fair enough I said I'm just looking atm and thanked him however to say he was pushy was a complete understatement! He just would not give up. Talk about hard selling..I walked away from him had a quick look then on my way out I said to him "I told you I was looking thx. It should've been left like that without you going on and on and on" I walked out in disgust. Will never be back in there again! (I'm a pensioner)”
“Avoid this store! Over two months ago, I ordered a mattress costing almost £1000. The store promised delivery within three weeks. However, the delivery date was postponed twice. It’s now been over two months, and I still haven’t received the mattress.
I had to get rid of my old mattress as it was damaged, and after my car accident, it was causing my condition to worsen significantly. So, I rented an orthopedic mattress for three weeks, believing that the new mattress would arrive within that timeframe. It’s now been two months, and I’m still paying for the rented mattress.
When I explained the situation via email to NCF, they responded that they didn’t tell me to discard my old mattress and that I should continue using the one that was causing additional injuries and pain.
And here’s the best part: When I asked for a refund and to cancel the order, they told me they could do it, but the cancellation fee would be 50%, which is almost £500! Is this even legal? AVOID these scammers!”
“I had a wonderful experience with a salesman called Cas in your store yesterday, he
Was very informative and at no time did I feel pressurised I must say that upon ion it was a proper salesman reminding me of the old days.you are very lucky to have him working in your store
Parking
Lesman”
“Don't use this company poor service and no returns on damaged goods and poor customer service and miss selling milton keynes branch are terrible don't go to this shop”
“AVOID AVOID,The customer service is so poor and returned the sofa to store for a refund, took our money and will not refund , the sofa was damaged and poor quality please don't use this company as you will be disappointed 😢”
“We received £5000 worth of dining room table and chairs which was put into our garage as our house was not ready to be moved into. From delivrey date to when we were able to open all the items was 27 days.
We found one of the dining room chair legs waas completely broken which we took photos of taking the chair out of the box and so on for customer services. They rejected the broken claim as they said the goods had to be replorted within 3 days of receiving the goods... which is not stated anywhere on their website. All we wanted was a replacement chair.
A week later, we then placed an order of £1000 for 4 more chairs. They were delivered and unfortunatly the colour never matched, which i indicated to the delivery driver. They said they were just delivering the goods and could not take it back and that we had to contact customer servieces. I emailed them immediatly and had a reply to say that they will not accept them back .
From: Becky Evans
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2023 1:17 PM
Subject: #11624
"Good Afternoon,
Thank you for your email.
Having looked into your order, I can see that our courier delivered the goods correctly as stated on your invoice. You have also signed and accept these goods.
Unfortunatly we do not accept returns on the basis that your items were chosen by yourself in a colour that no longer suits your preference.
It is unfortunate that the items delivered are no longer to your preference, however I will be unable to assist you any further on this matter.
Kind Regards, Rebecca
NCF Living. "
In two instances, we have been dealt with infair for large purchases... and they dont even have a phone nuber you can reach them on. We gave up after 3 hours waiting.
I wld never buy anything from them again and will make it my life mission to drag their name through the mud whenever i can.
I will be contacting the ombudsman as well to see if i can be helped further.”
“I purchased a sofa from this company today. The advisor Heather was really helpful. Her customer service skills were brilliant and I was really impressed with her product knowledge. She was very polite and helped me make the right choice for my needs. My sofa will be delivered within 10 days which is super quick compared to other stores. All in all I have been really happy with the service and would definitely recommend NCF.”
“Was Served by Lee at Milton Keynes, very knowledgeable, and great customer service. Would highly recommend with the value for money and overall customer satisfaction.”
“A friend ìs trying to get his £3.600 refund via the Credit Card bank chargeback scheme as ncf, have failed on the order .
They now will not converse, it is zero contact from them.”
