Scots mum blasts DFS after 'chocolate brown' sofa looks like 'shiny Tin Man'

Daily Record

06-05-2025

Veronica Byrne is locked in a battle with DFS.
A mum claims she's been left nursing a splitting headache after her 'brown' sofa turned out to be 'shiny Tin Man silver' - but DFS says it's correct. Veronica Byrne ordered two Harlech pillow back grande sofas and a footstool in the colour Chocolate Combination from the retail giant's Paisley, Renfrewshire, store in February.
When the £4,513 furniture arrived on April 4, business owner Veronica said it was the wrong colour, but delivery staff confirmed it was what she'd ordered and suggested she speak to staff in-store. The 52-year-old went to the Paisley branch and spoke to a staff member who said the sofa, advertised as having a 'metallic sheen', was the correct colour.
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Veronica claims he told her to take the fabric swatch outside of the showroom and look at it in natural daylight to confirm it was the correct colour. The manufacturing business owner says her sofas, which have a 'strong chemical smell', don't match the in-store swatch or the online advert and are so bright they're giving her a headache.
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Despite demanding a refund, Veronica says DFS have only offered to take back the sofas - at a cost of £1,353. DFS said the 'perceived colour of an object can change depending on the light source within a room' and that the swatch matched her sofa 'perfectly'. Veronica, from Paisley, Renfrewshire, said: "The sample in stock wasn't chocolate, the one I saw was cream.
"I don't know if cream hides the sheen, or people have sat on it and touched it, but it doesn't look half as shiny as it does in store as it does in my house. I found it hard to decide what it was going to look like with a sample, so the girl said I could see it online. I saw it on the iPad. I saw this photograph of a brown sofa so I said 'that'll be fine'.
"[When they were delivered] I immediately said 'I don't think this is right sofa lads, hold on because it's supposed to be chocolate' they checked the label and they said that it was. A metallic sheen? I couldn't believe when they took it out of the packaging how shiny it was, it was like tin foil with a sheen of brown, rather than a chocolate sofa with a metallic sheen.
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"I've got huge covers over it to protect it. I have a look at it every few days and think 'maybe I could live with it?' and then I go 'no'. You wouldn't believe how shiny it is, it's like the Tin Man. I can't believe anyone has chosen that sofa and not been surprised by how shiny it is. It's like a 3D shine, it's horrible looking and it also gives me a headache."
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The 'Chocolate Combination' sofa is described as being upholstered 'in plush, opulent velvet - a tufted fabric with a soft, smooth feel, a metallic sheen and a subtle grid pattern in the weave'. After going to the store to complain, Veronica said she was told by a staff member that to see the true colour of the swatch she'd need to go outside in natural daylight.
Veronica said: "The member of staff I spoke to said 'let's take it outside and you'll see what the true colour is'. I said 'nobody sold me a sofa by telling me to go outside with the colours. If your showroom can't show the colours correctly then how can you have expected me to buy a sofa in good faith?' I told him 'I can assure you I'm not keeping that sofa, it's like tin foil '."
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Veronica has contacted DFS in a bid to cancel the credit agreement and get the sofas removed. She claims the furniture giant has agreed to take them away, providing she pays £1,353. Veronica said: "I don't think the description is accurate, it's definitely misdescribed. If you look at the photograph it looks like a chocolate sofa - I like the colour on the website.
"I want them to take away the sofas, I'd love it if they gave me the sofas that are on the internet. I just want what I was sold. This is against my consumer rights, it's been mis sold, it's not as described. The fact the guy even said to me 'if you take this outside you'll see the same colour as it is in your house'. Why are the lights not showing what this colour is inside the store?
"Head office said I can return it if I pay 30% of the total cost. I'm now disputing the charge and have also done a Section 75 claim through the finance company." A DFS spokesman said: "At DFS we take customer service extremely seriously and we are sorry to hear of any occasion when a customer is disappointed with the colour of the sofa selected.
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"As the perceived colour of an object can change depending on the light source within a room, ranging from direct sunlight through to artificial light, the same sofa will look subtly different in every customer's home. It is therefore the customer's responsibility to choose the right colour for their home and fabric swatches can be ordered before purchasing to help with decision making.
"The type of fabric selected also plays a role in how the product looks in someone's living space. In this instance, the body fabric of the sofa Ms Byrne chose is advertised as having a metallic sheen." The company states that "will reflect light differently depending on the direction of the light source in the room, and therefore affect the colour.
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"According to our records, and Ms Byrne's own account, she visited the store to view the sofa in person and she chose the Chocolate combination from the fabric swatch book for this range. When she expressed her concern that the wrong colour had been delivered, we visited her home with the same fabric swatch book from the store, and confirmed a perfect match.
The colour she ordered is the colour she received. There was no manufacturing fault found and we're confident that the product is as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality, therefore it doesn't meet the right to reject criteria. Like Ms Byrne's order, the vast majority of our sofas are made-to-order and not stock based products.
"Occasionally, customers may not like the sofas they have chosen, or have a change of heart once they're delivered. In these instances we try to work with the customer to find a mutually beneficial resolution as a gesture of goodwill. In this instance we have offered a reselection with a fee of 20% of the order cost.
"This fee covers the cost of picking up the sofa, checking and processing the item back through our central distribution network, and the cost of selling the item." The sofa would be sold at a reduced price within the company's clearance stock, and they added: "This offer remains open and we would like to work with Ms Byrne to help her find a sofa more suitable for her home."