Boycott St Louis Pte Ltd!

[bezzlay 0]

It is a true experience and I want to share this to as many people as possible.

I purchased a leather sofa from St Louis Pte Ltd at The Furniture Mall and 6 months later the hairline cracks started to appear. I was puzzled and tried calling the shop a few times and managed to speak with the manager. I was told that the leather required frequent maintenance, which we did. Then she added that it was likely due to perspiration as it has to be wiped immediately. When my family and I were in the shop, the sales promoter didn't inform us about this and when we questioned about quality and durability of the leather she used a sharp object to cut it and demonstrated to us that the leather was indeed of good quality. We could have chosen a sofa that best suited to our home condition if we were told of this. The shop refused to take any ownership on this issue and quoted us $800 to refurnish one seat and $900plus for 3 seats. And the 3-seater sofa we bought was $1500.

I decided to approach CASE and they spent 3 months trying to get response from the shop to settle this matter amicably. However, the shop didn't bother to response or explain anything about the issue. Recently, they informed the Furniture Association and gave them the final and harsh warning letter but it was to no avail. CASE advised me to lodge a complaint to the Small Claim Tribunal, which they had been telling me to do so, as they have no legislative power. Our initial intention was to let the shop realised that the sales promoter was misleading customers and they should review their sales tactic. Of course, its certainly a bonus to us if they are willing to pay fully or partially for the refurnish. However, to our great disappointment, they are totally avoiding the matter and refuse to even talk about it. This clearly shows their guilt.

It is a lot of hassle to lodge a complaint to SCT and thru SCT we can definitely meet them face to face. However, the chance of getting anything is unknown. Hence, we decided not to pursue any further. There is nothing much I could do now except to spread the words around through internet and forums so that more people are aware and boycott the shop. I am unsure about the effectiveness as I did a google search on the shop name I saw a number of complaints and the shop is still surviving so well and is still a member in the Furniture Association. Nevertheless, I still want to make an attempt. Please help to spread the words. Thank you!

[edenstrauss 3]

Hi,

I'm so sorry to hear of your predicament as a consumer.

In my opinion, the amount you had paid ($1,500) was for an entry level sofa, i.e. probabbly not full leather even though the content is relatively higher than PU leather.

However, I would never ever recommend leather or PU sofas or seetees to anybody here in Asia. We have hot weather all year round. Unless your home is fully airconditioned just like how it's like in the office, you will have alot of trouble making aesthetic improvements to your sofa.

Those cracks & lines are a very common issue especially if your home is humid & hot & receives a generous amount of afternoon sun.

One of my brother inlaw used to own a black sofa set which cost him close to SGD 3,000 back in the 1980s. It lasted for a very long time & was being disposed of recently when the hair line cracks had escalated into flaking...

Nowadays, everything is made in China. Even most leather shoes nowadays aren't 100% leather. They expand or turn out of shape within a short period of time.

Those high quality products are sadly missed by many consumers.

Edited February 17, 2012 by edenstrauss

[Aristotle 0]

http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120214-327874.html

Useful read.

Anyway, SGD1,500 for a leather sofa is too good to be true (it probably ain't). Like what eden mentioned, it's probably or inferior quality.

[albertchng 0]

...

Those high quality products are sadly missed by many consumers.

Hwa Tat Lee (HTL) Manufacturing Pte Ltd is still around right?

[edenstrauss 3]

Hwa Tat Lee (HTL) Manufacturing Pte Ltd is still around right?

What does HTL do? Leather products?

[albertchng 0]

What does HTL do? Leather products?

HTL stands for Hwa Tat Lee Manufacturing Pte Ltd; one of my favorite leather sofa manufacturer in Singapore that export to Europe and US.

Those shops that sell leather sofa, when sales people claim it is "Made in Italy", i will ask them to prove it. Most of the time, they will suck their thumb instead.

[Daveyap 0]

http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120214-327874.html

Useful read.

Anyway, SGD1,500 for a leather sofa is too good to be true (it probably ain't). Like what eden mentioned, it's probably or inferior quality.

This is a repost as I have posted it under the EL thread. I finally decided to go ahead and replace my teak day bed seat and cushion cotton covers with entry level semi aniline Italian Leather. It will take 3 full cow hides and the total cost is $1750 inclusive of labour. The point I am trying to make here is that just the removable foam seat and loose back cushions alone needed 3 full cowhides. If you are buying a standard conventional 3 Seater Italian leather sofa, you will need more than 3 full cowhides. If you add in the costs of the frame, foam and other materials along with the leather hides, it would seemed very fishy for any furniture retailer to be able to sell a 3 Seater plus 2 Seater Italian Leather Sofa set at less than $3000 with profit. The obvious conclusion would be that the leather is definitely not from Italy. Nonetheless, it is perfectly fine if the leather sofa set that you bought thinking that it is made from Italian leather turns out not to be the case so long as it is a decent quality leather, then the country of origin is immaterial.

$1500 for a leather sofa set certainly cannot be of good quality. It is frustrating to note that customers in Singapore still want to expect good quality leather sofas at unrealistically cheap prices.

[ZondaR 0]

This is a repost as I have posted it under the EL thread. I finally decided to go ahead and replace my teak day bed seat and cushion cotton covers with entry level semi aniline Italian Leather. It will take 3 full cow hides and the total cost is $1750 inclusive of labour. The point I am trying to make here is that just the removable foam seat and loose back cushions alone needed 3 full cowhides. If you are buying a standard conventional 3 Seater Italian leather sofa, you will need more than 3 full cowhides. If you add in the costs of the frame, foam and other materials along with the leather hides, it would seemed very fishy for any furniture retailer to be able to sell a 3 Seater plus 2 Seater Italian Leather Sofa set at less than $3000 with profit. The obvious conclusion would be that the leather is definitely not from Italy. Nonetheless, it is perfectly fine if the leather sofa set that you bought thinking that it is made from Italian leather turns out not to be the case so long as it is a decent quality leather, then the country of origin is immaterial.

$1500 for a leather sofa set certainly cannot be of good quality. It is frustrating to note that customers in Singapore still want to expect good quality leather sofas at unrealistically cheap prices.

Well I guess you get what you paid for... I think a leather sofa is a long term investment. If it is of decent quality it should last at least 10 years. There are leather handbags which use insignificant amounts of leather that cost S$5K, and a 3 seater leather sofa which uses 3-5 cows, cost less than S$1,500... doesn't make sense to me