Advice needed - is this a manufacturing "defect"

[Amplidyne]

This is going back a bit. I can't remember which supplier, but it was another of the "100% oak" type places.
Funny how when I was making oak furniture, they could turn out a finished piece for less than the cost of the timber to me.
Anyway on closer inspection it turned out that the 100% oak was engineered. It was cuts of inferior oak glued together in strips, and then veneered.
So it seems that you gets what you pays for.
These type of oak pieces started turning up around the time I packed in making stuff. Orders were already falling off, although I wouldn't have thought that my clients would have been interested. Anyway whatever, I stopped making in hardwood completely as I was getting allergic to the dust.

 

[Niall Church]

I've made all the built in furniture in the house, from wardrobes to cabinets and a whole library. But I buy freestanding items, one of which was a pair of bedside tables for my son. They weren't cheap at £160 each but seemed from what I could tell to be quality and sold as:

Crafted using 100% solid oak, the Bedside Table features a natural finish that highlights the depth of the grain. Every item is crafted using 100% solid oak and rattan, with no veneer, MDF or chipboard used.

On arrival I must admit they didn't look too dissimilar to veneered furniture, but given above just had to assume I was wrong and it was indeed solid oak. Anyway, fast forward about 8 months later and I've noticed the top surface is becoming very rough in places and on closer inspection, strands of oak are lifting/separating and creating edges that I now assume form gaps between the varnish so that any spilt drink/liquid could damage the table.

If this was a table I had built myself, I would sand the top back and reapply multiple coats of varnish and kick myself for not doing it right the first time. But because I've bought it from a large furniture company, I feel the obligation wasn't on me to make good something that shouldn't be occurring within the first 12 months of a product's life. So I contacted the company and have been advised I now need to pay for a report to prove this is a manufacturing defect. Before I do I just wanted to sanity check with you professionals, is this something you'd consider a defect? I am loathe for fork out on this report they request only for them to say it falls under wear and tear or similar

If an issue is then reported to us after 6 months but within the 1-year warranty from your delivery date **13/05/2024**, and appears to not conclusively be a manufacturing issue, the burden of proof then falls upon yourself as the customer. As you are now 8 months into your manufacturing warranty the burden of proof falls on yourself to prove the issues you have with your table are a manufacturing issue. You would do this by contacting a technician that is cover by the Furniture Ombudsman to obtain your own independent inspection from a nationally recognised company such as Guardsman or Emmiera. If the technician agrees that there is a manufacturing issue, we will ask for a copy of the report and will have no hesitation in reimbursing the cost of this report back to you and resolving the issue.


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If you can get a second opinion from someone who knows about furniture ,then connsider court if possible! The very threat of legal action might just turn it in your favour! Is there such thing as a furniture ombudsman? It's a curious turn of phrase in any event.

 

[RonnieI]

Why not take a load of pictures, sand it back to a sound non lifting area and if it's solid just refinish. On sanding if it appears you've gone through a veneer into a substrate then boom! It ain't solid wood and they're breaching trade descriptions. Loads more photos and a quick letter and a refund should be forthcoming.

 

[Niall Church]

Why not take a load of pictures, sand it back to a sound non lifting area and if it's solid just refinish. On sanding if it appears you've gone through a veneer into a substrate then boom! It ain't solid wood and they're breaching trade descriptions. Loads more photos and a quick letter and a refund should be forthcoming.

If he sands it at all, he'll lose any legal stsnding he has for a replacement refund! They'll.just say he damaged it himself.

 

[Niall Church]

I've made all the built in furniture in the house, from wardrobes to cabinets and a whole library. But I buy freestanding items, one of which was a pair of bedside tables for my son. They weren't cheap at £160 each but seemed from what I could tell to be quality and sold as:

Crafted using 100% solid oak, the Bedside Table features a natural finish that highlights the depth of the grain. Every item is crafted using 100% solid oak and rattan, with no veneer, MDF or chipboard used.

On arrival I must admit they didn't look too dissimilar to veneered furniture, but given above just had to assume I was wrong and it was indeed solid oak. Anyway, fast forward about 8 months later and I've noticed the top surface is becoming very rough in places and on closer inspection, strands of oak are lifting/separating and creating edges that I now assume form gaps between the varnish so that any spilt drink/liquid could damage the table.

If this was a table I had built myself, I would sand the top back and reapply multiple coats of varnish and kick myself for not doing it right the first time. But because I've bought it from a large furniture company, I feel the obligation wasn't on me to make good something that shouldn't be occurring within the first 12 months of a product's life. So I contacted the company and have been advised I now need to pay for a report to prove this is a manufacturing defect. Before I do I just wanted to sanity check with you professionals, is this something you'd consider a defect? I am loathe for fork out on this report they request only for them to say it falls under wear and tear or similar

If an issue is then reported to us after 6 months but within the 1-year warranty from your delivery date **13/05/2024**, and appears to not conclusively be a manufacturing issue, the burden of proof then falls upon yourself as the customer. As you are now 8 months into your manufacturing warranty the burden of proof falls on yourself to prove the issues you have with your table are a manufacturing issue. You would do this by contacting a technician that is cover by the Furniture Ombudsman to obtain your own independent inspection from a nationally recognised company such as Guardsman or Emmiera. If the technician agrees that there is a manufacturing issue, we will ask for a copy of the report and will have no hesitation in reimbursing the cost of this report back to you and resolving the issue.


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More photos would help,especially at the edges!!

 

[RonnieI]

If he sands it at all, he'll lose any legal stsnding he has for a replacement refund! They'll.just say he damaged it himself.

That's why I said to take a load of pictures during the process. If it is solid wood but just a poor piece then it can be refinished easily. If sanding reveals veneer over a core then they're breaching trade descriptions.

 

[deema]

It looks like shake, a Natural Defect, it also wasn’t apparent for 8 months, so I believe legally the supplier is faultless. The key word being it’s a Natural Defect.
I’m guesssing drinks have been spilt in it causing the shake to open up and become apparent over time.

 

[XTiffy]

If the top is solid oak, then the grain will match at the edge. If it is veneered then it will have been edgebanded with the grain of the edge running along its length. Don't even think of small claims court, a complete shambles. Ditto Citizens advice unless you are a recent arrival to these shores.

 

[Daniel Fyfe Bespoke Carpe]

I couldn’t make something like that for £160. It would cost that just for the worktops alone.

I echo what some others have said. It would be easiest to repair it yourself as them surface shakes have happened because the timber is drying out from the heating in your home this will be classed as a natural reaction of a natural product.

Pop some clear drying pva under the shakes as best a possible and sand it with 120grit sandpaper this will mix the dust into the glue and give you a close enough match to then oil it.

Just as a reference of cost it cost my customer £700 for this pair of bedside canbinets.