Just Venting Again
 

We want to buy new sofas putting down a decent deposit and getting finance with the company. Found the sofas asked about putting down the deposit using our credit card - nope they do not have the facility to use any kind of card even a debit card. Okay well we will get the cash over then but with regard to the finance we have all our paperwork, NIE, residencia bank details etc but no as we are pensionistas we have to have a letter from the UK proving we are pensionistas. But we have a certificate from our bank stating that we are receiving state pensions. No that is no good. So exit from shop no sale. We particularly wanted these sofas as they are leather made in Seville rather than Ikea made in China.

Re: Just Venting Again
 

It sounds like a normal credit check.

I guess they don't expect pensioners to be buying their furniture on credit.

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I didnt think pensioners could buy on credit!

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Credit? :confused: Yes, cash is king! I'd be very disappointed if I couldn't get a decent percentage knocked off, I always haggle. Just got £70 quid off my car insurance renewal, despite prices shooting up, I paid £3 more than last year.

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Uhh, why on earth shouldn´t pensioners buy on credit provided they have enough income. My friend in the UK took out a 10 year old extension to her mortgage. There is absolutely no reason why they shouldn´t. Plus the fact that unless you are paying cash they have no facility to take your money.

I contacted the manufacturer of the sofas we liked by email three times and had an acknowledgement but nothing else.

Today I saw in the Daily Mail which I purchased in Gib that DFS is delivering to Spain and Portugal with interest free credit. Would prefer to buy Spanish but as I am getting no response will most likely go this way.

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I usually pay by debit card. There is absolutely no reason to use credit cards/loans

If I were a business, I'd worry that the pensioner would peg it before they paid me back, especially with a 10 year mortgage extension :blink:

I've recently bought a sofa too, but luckily didnt have to resort to DFS. It was a Danish brand - and at 40% of the price the sofa costs in the UK. Its a great time to make big purchases in Spain at the moment because of the crisis. We're getting a big luxury mattress next at 50% off :)

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Things have changed since I was there then:confused:. Furniture was shite, naff old fashioned covers and uncomfortable. To get anything reasonable was about 4 times the price of the UK. We got most of ours sent out from John Lewis.

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I live in a posher part of the country ;) You can get anything from the big furniture brands up here. Was the same in Barcelona, we got our furniture from Habitat when we were there

Tbf, you have things like Bo Concept and Habitat in the South too

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I couldn´t use a debit card either - no cards full stop. Why would a pensioner be more at risk than a younger person? So where did you get your Danish sofa?

As far as I am concerned I want to spend in Spain on Spanish goods but am being blocked. As for finance I am looking for 12 months that is it.

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Did John Lewis send it out or did you arrange it yourself?

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Not even the fact that they have inbuilt security against such things as fraud, failure to supply goods and often include insurance as well.? :confused:

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It does seem Spain has not quite got out of the 80's in terms of furniture fashion, really quite naff and don't mention the kitchens:eek: viewing many is like visiting the Ideal Home Exhibition a couple or three decades ago.

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Like I said, the major cities have the same shops I saw in London selling sofas and kitchens, so I have no idea what you are talking about

You can't expect to have a big choice if you live in a village somewhere

For debit cards, you can purchase an insurance if you like. This year my bank wanted 70 euros annual fee for the credit card, so I got rid of it out of principle

Danish sofas = Bo Concept. They have brought all their prices down in Spain - some are less than half the price of that in the UK. Can get an amazing sofa for less than 2k euros. Do these sofas look like they are from the 80s then bob_bob? Because there are plenty of these shops around Spain, only one in Andalucia though

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not quite so popular as Coviran then........

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I said I'd never seen a Covirian. I didnt say that there werent any

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Whilst I'd dearly love to be able to order sofas from the UK (I'm not impressed by what is on offer locally) the only way I could contemplate doing it is if I could go into the shop whilst on a visit to the UK to actually see them and sit on them to make sure they are comfortable. I couldn't possibly just look at a picture and choose one from that, it's too big a purchase for that. What if you didn't like it when it arrived - would you have to arrange to have it shipped back, and who would pay for that?

I won't even order clothes by mail order from the UK, let alone sofas!

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know what you mean, ordered some trousers - they were too short, one pair was too large the other pair too small, but they had identical labels on them saying they should be a perfect fit.
the thought of the hassle of trying to get a suite back to DFS et al because the shade wasnt as shown would be horrendous.

have you noticed the settees advertised seem to be getting longer with lower backs, presumably so we don't need to sit up straight but lounge around (well it is in the lounge I suppose :rofl:)

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I don't like sofas with low backs, being tall I like to have something to lean back against. I also want sofas with high arms, those low ones are useless. Worst of all are the modern ones with no arms at all, I stayed in an apartment in the centre of Manchester that had them, very smart leather ones but I felt like I was sitting in an office waiting room.

Modern styles are a bit easier to find in Spain, but they're not to my taste as I prefer the more traditional "English country house" look - like Wesley Barrell or Multiyork but a less expensive version if I can find one! Finding anything like that in Spain is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

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Have a look at this site http://www.novatelsofas.com/

This is where we want to buy our sofas from made in Seville but cannot get them to reply to our emails to give us prices and shops where we can buy them?

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Its a small world, I was looking at those very same sofas at an outlet here in the North! :D

Decided against it because they are quite hefty looking and we wanted a sofa to go in the middle of our room to create two different zones.

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In the North of Spain or North of England? Just practised my Spanish and got absolutely nowhere - my fault for not being fluent.

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North of Spain

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I like one of their styles, but as you say it's frustrating if you can't make contact with them, and wouldn't fill me with confidence about placing an order with them if their customer service is that bad.

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What is the store called and do they have a website?

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Why is it bad if they cant understand you?

It is an important point though, always call. Quite often the website hasnt been updated since the last IT grant ran out :) The telephone is still very big in Spain when shopping

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I'd have to go and check, but it would be no good for you because they dont have a website. Being a foreigner, I asked them and they smiled and said no :)

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This is why I get so frustrated. If you are passing can you see what the price is of the Adela 2 and 3 seater leather sofas............only if you are passing of course.

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We asked about prices for a number of models recently for 3 seaters, they were all between 1700-2100 euros

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The ones I was looking at was 800 and 890!

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Maybe it wasnt the same shop! :D Those prices I quoted were with a 25% discount

800 euros seems incredibly cheap for a sofa like that in leather. The only place in Spain I know where you can get sofas so cheap is Ikea - and they are what they are

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I know - now you know why I wanted them!

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Those sofa's are nice but hardly typical of Spain, but then your English and not Spanish. Typical Spanish 'style' is truly naff. I spent more on my last kitchen than some Spanish town houses cost:rofl:

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Success......after speaking on the phone to the manufacturer I got a list of shops that sold their product went to the first one and they had exactly what we wanted in the colour we wanted. I negotiated 200 euros discount and they took my credit card. Well pleased.:thumbup: