Peeling Furniture Complaint Strikes Chord with NBC 5 Responds Viewers

NBC 5 Responds report uncovers an unsightly problem and a growing number of complaints

At least 75 consumers reached out to NBC 5 Responds after we revealed the story of a peeling set of furniture and the extended warranty provider a Chicago woman said refused to cover the damage. The complaints sent to the station involve various retailers and at least two extended warranty companies. 

It all started with a consumer complaint from Tennille Williams, a Chicago mother whose bonded leather chair started peeling and couch started cracking. Her story about the extended warranty struck a chord with NBC 5 Responds viewers.

Dozens reached out to us to describe what’s happening in their homes: 

"My couch is an absolute disaster"

"Once it starts peeling, there is no stopping it"

"OMG! That's what happened to me. How ugly and embarrassing"

"An obvious manufacturer defect" 

NBC 5 Responds sent the complaints we fielded to each of the retailers and warranty companies involved. Four of them have now been resolved, all of them for customers who bought their furniture from Orland Park-based Darvin Furniture. Darvin responded quickly to NBC 5 Responds’ inquiry and refunded the full purchase value involved, just over $6,000 total. 

In a statement Darvin told NBC 5 Responds:

We have reviewed individually the three complaints and have identified that they were all purchased from the same vendor, within the same time frame of one other. Therefore, regardless of their protection plan denying them, we are lead to believe that there has to be a defect within the manufacturing process. Their extended warranty is an accidental coverage protection plan and would not cover damage due to a defect from the manufacture or normal customer use over time. We have contacted the vendor on our behalf and are working internally with them to rectify this situation. In the meantime, Darvin strives to exceed its own standards of quality customer service, therefore, we have reached out to each of these consumers and took care of them. Our customers have been offered to receive a reselection of equal value that they spent.

NBC 5 Responds is currently looking into the other approximately six dozen complaints we received and we are working with other retailers to get those viewers answers.

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