NSK

Dear Kalimantan , Hilker top management came to inspect the sofa himself but denied any manufacturing default and insisted the peeling of the dye is of normal wear and tear. But Spring Spore confirmed the design need improvement as it could potentially caused injury to user. I hv brought this problem to Chairman of Hilker Germany but he is dead confidence that the sofa is safe for use, on the basis that no one else except me complained. I asked for Safety Certificate but he could not produce one . He also supported his point by saying that many other sofa makers uses the same headrest machanism. However I tested a few and non other similar sofa produced by other makers have the steel structure for headrest mechanism so inadequately protected that he steel structure can hit the users. Anyway, my feedback, although help Hilker to improve their design and reduce the risk of injury to users, was not taken positively as no word of appreciation came forward. In fact after awhile they ignored my emails. As for the wear and tear , No such sofa that i previously owned had deteriorated to such conditions within a year of normal use. I do not doubt that it is not real leather. Just that the leather is not of good quality, although in Hilker 's website they assured customers that all sofa are made of 1st class materials. Please go to www.hilker1888.com , where the chairman proudly vouched personal the high quality of their product. As to the partial refund, actually I hv returned the sofa. It is more like I having to take 50% loss for their ill designed product and learher with dye coating that easily came off. However Castilla treated this as " Gift Certiificate ". How can this be a gift fm Castilla when it was my money which they aught to refund me for selling me a product that can cause injury ? They even added salt to the wound for restricting me fm using the "gift certificate " to buy fm buy any promotional items. I saw a sofa at Castilla Studio that cost $6000+ and willing to pay additional $4000 more on top of the voucher. But they say if I use the "certificate" , I will still pay $ 6000+. So there is zero value from the "gift certificate". So it is obvious that they want to earn back maximum from me and effectively reduce the net refund they gave me. I found out that real gift voucher with serial number can be used to buy their promotional/discounted items. For refund via their "gift" certificate, there is no serial number and all their outlets cannot accept "gift certificate " for discounted items!! This is the policy of the parent company Furniture & Furnishings Pte Ltd, which owns Castilla Design Modern Premium, Castilla Studio, Natural Living, Novena, Furniture and Furnishings(at Suntec city). They are all likely to have same "gift " certificate refund policy since under the same group. I felt so discriminated having to pay more than any other walk in customers who are all entitled to discount. Eventually I paid full price for their promotion items just to use up the "refund". Can't wait to get it done with and never will walk into any of the outlets own by Furniture and Furniahings.

Furniture shop : Castilla Design, ParkMall Brand : Hilker Sofa Model : Shakespeare Problem : the metal piece (total 10) of the sofa's 5 folding headrests were not adequately protected. It could cause injury to user. Once my 8 year old son knocked his head against the metal piece, painful enough for him to cry. I have reported this problem to Spring Singapore, Consumer Product Safety Division. Their role is to protect consumers from unsafe consumer goods. Spring Singapore had investigated and recommended Castilla to consider the following actions : 1) improve the design of the sofa; 2) inform buyers of the potential risk of injury if the user sits on the sofa in certain positions and ways. This is to be done by displaying a " Safety Advisory" beside the sofa at showroom and also written on the Sales Order. 3) contact other customers who have previously purchased the sofa and inform them on the potential risk of injury/safety hazard. 4) consider to withdraw the sale of this sofa rather than risk the company's brand name should any injury occur. It is a shame however that Spring Singapore is not empowered to enforce any of the above recommendations. On Spring Singapore's recommendation for Castilla to inform other previous buyers of the risk associated its use, It is most surprising for Castilla to reply that they will not be able to get in touch with previous customers because they do not have customers email in most cases!!! I hope above information helps to alert all potential buyers to test the impact of the headrest metal piece before buying the sofa. All existing owners/users of the sofa, especially children, have to be aware of the risk of injury that may be caused by the sofa and to be careful when sitting on it. If in doubt, It is best to contact Castilla to better understand how to avoid injury using the sofa. I have already returned the sofa to Castilla and get a partial refund. Outcome was not satisfactory but I am relieved that I need not deal with Castilla anymore, ever. It was a frustrating and stressful experience!!

Just wonder did Jeanius managed to drop by Hilker's Exhibition booth in Guangzhou recently? . How do you rate the quality of their leather sofa?? Can share your observation?

For all prospective sofa buyers who are keen to buy a sofa with mechanical head-rest, you should carefully check whether the metal pieces that control the folding mechanism of the head-rest are adequately protected. I am a victim of the poorly designed sofa bought from Castilla. Sofa brand : Hilker Model : Shakespeare . This sofa's head-rest metal piece is about 8.0 cm long. But the head-rest is about 10.0cm thick. This means that barely 2.0cm of soft foam is protecting your back against the knock of the metal pieces. It is not thick enough and the metal piece will hurt your back if you unfortunately hit it . It is hard to avoid being hit by the head-rest metal piece as there are total 10 pieces, 2 on each of the 5 head-rests. You can view the photo I posted in u/m hyperlink to have an idea how does the metal piece looks like : http://photobucket.com/albums/u483/NSKAhSew

The CEO of Hilker finally responded. He offered 50% refund but I hv to use this money to buy a new set. This means that I have to fork out more money to get a new sofa. This is not solving my problem!!

Thank both Dean and Jeanius's comment /suggestion. From the unsolicited email flyer I received from Hilker, they have a booth at Hall 13.2 CO1 at the Guangzhou fair. It is a good idea to leave a message on Ernest Hilker's Facebook wall. If even the Chairman of Hilker himself does not response to customer's feedback, we can easily judge how reliable (unreliable) such company is. I will update outcome.

Hi guys, Just to update forum members that I have written to Hilker Germany, to the email addresses asnpublished in their website. The general feedback email address published in the website probably not exist at all, as emailswas not successfully delivered, rejected by recipient's domain. Emails were successfully delivered to another email address but no response fm them despite reminders over the last 3 weeks. However I do receive flyers fm the same email address ( but sent by their China team) to promote their exhibition at the coming Guangzhou fair!! How do they get my email address ?? This lead me to suspect that Hilker basically is either not genuinely interested in receiving feedback fm customers, Or the company actually operate out of China instead of Germany?? You judge yourself whether they will deliver all the nice product assurances as published in their website (www.hilker1888.com). I am also puzzle why so far there is no comment from sofa owners of the same brand ( Hilker) and model ( Shakespeare). Could it be : 1) I am the only unlucky one? or, 2) the brand/model is not popular and have few buyers? Or, 3) other customers suffered in silence? I am keen to here members view. Thank you.

Musingaway, For leather testing, I suggest you call up CASE to check. They should be able to refer u to a leather testing party. Give it a try. good luck.

Dear Dave, Thanks but I hv not received your PM on suggestions to further pursue with Hilker. Dear Musingaway, All the best to you too. Never give up fighting for our rights, for our own interest and the interest of other consumers too.

Dear Dave, Thank you so much for offering your advice. Apprec it.

Hi Musingaway/Dave, Thanks. I hv posted some photo In the Photo Bucket and the link is : http://photobucket.com/albums/u483/NSKAhSew Initially Castilla has offered me a 40% refund but it is ridiculous to expect me to take 60% of losses for their inferior sofa barely used for one year. I will follow Dave's advice to engage Tuv-sud PSB to test the backseat impact. I am convinced that the sofa's headrest bars/elbows poise safety hazard.. I will initiate product recall once I have the Tuv-Sud's report to support my case.

Dave, Thanks. Or u provide me with your email and I send the photo. The link is useful for me to check seat/back impact. I am concern one day someone's back will be hurt. I myself and guests hv been knocked before. It is real embarrassment.

Yes. The sofa is made in China factory although it is a German brand. The MD of Hilker China came to my house to see the sofa. But he insisted that the peeling off of the leather is due to normal wear and tear. This is incredible!! A sofa retailing at almost S$10,000 can deteriorate to such bad condition within a year and the stictch can gave way in 6 months.

Hi Dave, Thanks your comment. Not sure it is peeling off but the first layer of the leather came off and the part of the sofa brown collie is gone. It is definitely not crack. So it is worthwhile to get expert to check whether it is genuine leather right? Do u know if there is authority in Spore that can investigate whether product/sofa warrant a recall be due to manufacturing defect. As I hv pointed out, the headrest bars are not properly protected with thick high density foam and it can hurt the back when one sit on it. I have written to Hilker Germany for comment but there is no reply. It show what kind of customer service (lack of) this company provide.

Dear Kalimantan, Thanks you reply. I still cannot figure out how to attach the photo. Newbie mah . Can u give me your email address? Thanks for time and advice.