Homeowners’ fury as ‘delivery drivers leave sofa wedged in staircase’

Moving into a new home can be very exciting. It isn’t every day one gets to redesign their interior and feng shui completely. A homeowner had recently bought a new leather sofa to complete his recently completed house. However, the company that delivered the piece of furniture was not exactly prompt with their timing and was forced to leave the sofa jammed into the stairwell.

Sofa in the stairwell

27-year-old Luke Ansell is a proud owner of his new home in Bournemouth, U.K. He only moved in during December, and about the same time, he ordered a king-size chesterfield sofa-bed intended to go on the second floor. The company that Luke ordered the sofa through was called designersofas4u.co.uk. They assured him they were accustomed to “tight” deliveries or getting large items into small spaces.

However, as the delivery team started loading the sofa up the stairs, they realized they had a problem. They had not anticipated just how tight the space was, and they ended up abandoning the job. Luke Ansel was then left with a sofa jammed halfway up his staircase. Furthermore, the sofa damaged the plaster along the walls and scratched the staircase.

This is a situation that sparked great frustration in Luke Ansel. However, many people found amusement in it because it bring to mind a scene in the sitcom “Friends,” where Ross tried to bring a new couch up the stairs to their apartment.

Failed Sofa Delivery

“They got here and I showed them where I wanted it upstairs. I said that it looked quite tight, but they assured me that they do tight deliveries all the time,” he tells SWNS. “I just said, ‘Oh, well, you’re the experts.’ They are a delivery company after all. So I just left them to it. They brought it in, struggled to get it over the banister, and eventually got it in. But, then it got jammed, they couldn’t get it up or down.”

The delivery company failed to get the sofa up the stairs. This was after they reassured Luke they would be able to. But, they damaged the walls and the skirting in the process. “It’s a brand new house that we had just bought for half a millio. Now we have to have the work done to repair it,” says Luke. “They’ve destroyed the plasterboard and damaged all of the wooden skirtings on the stairway. They’ve also damaged the sofa too. It was just a shocking response by the company, so I’m just trying to raise awareness about their standards of service.”

Abandoned

The delivery team had realized the sofa would not budge and told Ansel they had to get back to headquarters on time so they left. This was after Ansel had suggested they remove the banisters from the stairwell to make more room. “look we’ve got to get back to Birmingham,” they said and gave him a delivery sheet for him to sign, which he refused. “I said ‘I’m not signing anything, the sofa is stuck in my wall,'” said Luke Ansel.

Luke Answel is referring to the fact that the delivery guys had denied even trying to get the sofa up the stairs. However, Luke has photographic evidence of the team inside his house by the stairs, after the damage was done. He has, “actual doorbell footage of them after they delivered it to my house,” said Luke. “I have a photo of them at the bottom of the stairs after the damage was done too.”

Response from Sofa delivery company

Luke expressed his frustration over the company’s response. He said, “It was just a shocking response by the company, so I’m just trying to raise awareness about their standards of service.”

According to Luke Answel’s report, the sofa had cost him $2,481. But the damage they caused was about the same amount. However, they claimed that Luke Ansel had a part to play in the damage and tried to avoid paying for damages. “Whilst our driver and his colleague attempted to get the sofa up the second flight of steps you also tried to help. Between yourself and the two delivery persons managed to get the sofa wedged and also damage the walls.

“As a company we always try to put our customers first. And have built our business over 13 years with this at the forefront of our minds. We also as an employer try to ensure that our staff are safe and also at the top of our priority.”

The company said the Luke Ansel should have been aware of the size of the room and the sofa, and it was his responsibility. Even though the delivery team had reassured him they could get the sofa where he wanted. In the end, they offered to pay for reasonable damages as a gesture of “goodwill”. They said, “We objectively accept that between our delivery team and yourself, that damage has been caused.”

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