Abode Sofas Avis 

I bought a sofa from Oswald and Pablo limited which was delivered on 23/08/22. The sofa did not ressemble the online picture and was also very uncomfortable. I initially asked for it to be replaced by another style but after thought about it decided on sofa to be returned and refunded. The company stated that they will charge me a 25% restocking fee equal to £480 for a £1795 sofa despite the fact that I informed them of the cancellation within 7 days. They are adamant will charge me this. Needless to say currently seeking legal service. I bought a sofa from them before without any issues but this is just awful. Absolutely furious.

Update; That company is now refusing to collect the sofa and stated have to return it myself.

Lovely sofa. Excellent customer service and delivery communication. Would buy from again. Thank you.

So pleased with our beautiful new sofa.
Well made, great value and delivered on time by two very helpful delivery guys all the way down here in Cornwall. Highly recommended.

Not often one for writing reviews but having read lots of negative reviews about these guys and panicking about our own order I thought it is only fair to offer my own experience.
We originally contacted via abode sofas on Etsy and received instant answers to our queries and agreed on a custom order for three seater, snuggle chair and footstool with a first order discount. So far so good. Initial payment was made through Oswald and Pablo direct and we were told there would be about a 12 week wait. Having not received a receipt or acknowledgment of payment and that order was being processed, I was a little worried especially after reading subsequently lots of poor reviews.
However, without prompting we received regular emails to confirm things were progressing and at 11 weeks we were told items with with delivery company. Another panic when we didn’t hear anything for two weeks so at this point contacted O&P to ask for an update. Response received within 24 hrs giving us two week window for delivery. Nothing happened in the first week so contacted again and was immediately given a day for the second week. On the day the delivery crew contacted us 40mins before they arrived and were brilliant.
Ultimately we have received a beautifully made sofa set which appears to be great quality even though it meant waiting around 14weeks. As with others here, the drivers mentioned it has been very busy and there have been issues with Covid but these are a bespoke quality furniture maker hit by their own success. If you can cope with the wait (I think SCS are currently 12 weeks so not hugely different) then these guys are definitely worth supporting. We are ultimately very happy and hopefully communication will keep on improving.

I ordered and paid for a chair via Abode’s Etsy shop in November. The shop’s workmen were unable to complete their first delivery attempt in February, because of the shape of my doorway, and Josh from Abode worked with me immediately to determine whether simply removing the chair’s legs would make a difference, or whether I would have to give up my dream of owning this chair. He felt sure that it would fit, calmed my initial fears, said it happens all the time, and set about rescheduling a delivery. I felt good about that experience.

At which point Abode completely disappeared and stopped responding to my messages. In early March, I nudged again and Josh finally said he had pencilled me in for a delivery the week of March 15, and was waiting to confirm the date and time. I told him I’d be around all week, and then never heard from him again.

On March 18, I messaged again, having heard nothing about the confirmed redelivery. On March 24, I messaged again. On March 31, again. None of these weekly messages were responded to. I finally opened a “case” with Etsy on April 3, which gave the shop 3 days to respond before it was escalated to a mediator. Once again, Abode did not respond, but once the case was escalated, they cancelled within minutes and refunded my purchase. I was saddened and confused.

Finally, on April 6, Josh responded to another message on Etsy, where I asked him to help me understand why they would cancel an order that I very much still wanted. He claimed his office had tried repeatedly to contact me by phone (they had not, and I sent him a screenshot of my phone’s call history to prove it). I asked for the dates and times of these supposed calls, and he never gave them. He refused to provide an answer for why he had not responded to my many messages.

Because of the way the escalation process works, they're able to maintain a perfect five-star rating on Etsy by only including completed orders, despite terrible reviews on places like Trustpilot and Google, written by people like me who found their orders cancelled by the company for no reason at all.

Maybe they had me mixed up with someone else. Maybe Covid and lockdown are making their workload unmanageable. Those are easy explanations that the shop could have blamed, and I would have understood, but instead they became defensive and angry and refused to explain what had happened, and why they were suddenly refusing to arrange delivery for an item i had purchased and waited months for.

The entire experience was disappointing, and Josh became extremely rude in his attempts to gaslight me, when he bothered to respond at all. I still have no idea why they didn’t want to deliver my chair, although I have noticed the same item had recently been listed on the shop for 150GBP more than I paid for it. I hope whoever eventually purchased it for that new price enjoyed it, and had a better experience with Abode than I did.

2nd POSITIVE UPDATE - 2nd Order Placed - COMPLAINT
As promised this is an update to my original and subsequent reviews below.
WE HAVE RECEIVED OUR SOFA, SNUGGLE AND STOOL. The quality was as I had hoped, They are beautifully made and as such, after a week, we have now placed another order for a 3 seater, snuggle and stool.

If I could break my stars down it would be as follows:

4.5 Star - Quality (there is always room for improvement for us all)
4.5 Star - Ease of placing order and payment
4 Star - Delivery Team
4 Star - Politeness of staff
And now the difficult bit -
1 Star - Communication
1 Star - Lead time
This small company has had problems and they are working incredibly hard to rectify the situation. Like a lot of small businesses with a fantastic product, when the product takes off they are left floundering because of poor organisation and lack of open, responsive communication with their clients. Most customers who had placed orders and are very disgruntled would have been more appreciative of the situation if they had been notified and the issues explained without having to chase, chase and chase for it. I have taken a risk with this company (based on the reviews), as I wanted the product. Eventually I was not disappointed, so much so I have placed another order.

I would LOVE to give this company the above 4.5 Star for their product and politeness, but please Matthew, Josh, Nicole and team, PLEASE be proactive with your communication. Take the time to communicate with every customer and provide regular updates of their furniture and how it is moving through production. Even use it as part of the service when someone orders from you. This could be a great selling point.
You make a great product, you are well meaning.

I eagerly await my second order. I want to give you a perfect review - PLEASE DO NOT LET ME DOWN

POSITIVE UPDATE - COMPLAINT
We have today received a call from Matthew (Co. Dir) who whole heartily apologised and explained the problems they have suffered. I know these things happen and I have now been assured that Matthew, Josh, Carly et al, are all working their hardest to ensure the back-log of orders are completed and delivered as swiftly as possible, with no compromise on quality. The lack of communication was not intentional and I have also been told they are working to communicate with all customers who are waiting for their furniture.

I now feel confident that we shall receive our furniture and will not be disappointed. No, not in the original timeframe but an amended and AGREED timeframe. I have promised Matthew that I would update my review, both now and after delivery, to give honest reliable feedback of the company and their product. I will even go so far as to say that as long as the delivery happens as re-scheduled and quality is as expected, there should be no reason for us not to place further orders as was our original plan.
Things do go wrong, it is a fact of business.
This company is now ACTIVELY working very hard to resolve the issues. Thank You.

I will update again after delivery.

Original Post- COMPLAINT
Please read all of the negative comments. They all accurately describe our current situation with OSWALD and PABLO (Same company as Abode Sofas).
Half the money paid at the point of order to secure a 10/12 week delivery. We are now on week 17/18. ZERO communication from them, every EXCUSE going. PROMISES broken. MATT and JOSH and CARLY all promised delivery W/c 14th June latest, still not a confirmation of delivery date- STILL NOT answering the phone. We do not want to cancel the order but the other two sofas and chair that we planned to go on and order (pending both service and quality) will now NOT HAPPEN. As others have said before, and I am sure will say after - WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH, and I’m a Credit Control Manager and have dealt with many companies!!!!

My sofa, chair, large Pouffe and snuggler have just been delivered, a little delay due to circumstances beyond their control, but I can tell you THEY ARE WORTH A LITTLE WAIT!!! Just beautiful, beyond my expectations too. The delivery drivers were so courteous and unwrapped put the legs on and moved them for me, a first class service, I would highly recommend, Thank you Carly, Emma, Josh and the team at Oswald & Pablo/Abode Sofas - I am thrilled...

We bought two 2-seater Edwardian sofa's.

Firstly, as with all other reviews they took 18 weeks to arrive, along with all the obligatory lies about “broken vans” etc for missed delivery dates which seem ubiquitous to this company.

Any buyer should be aware that the seating area is under 45cm per seat and so they are hugely uncomfortable for more than one person. The size charts are misleading and the sofa looks out of proportion, which it is as the arms are over 70cm of the overall length of 160cm. They look nothing like the photo in their website, out of proportion and quite ridiculous. They are firm to the point of uncomfortable, combined with odd shape makes them truly the worst sofa I have the misfortune to sit on, let alone pay for and have to wait over 4 months to receive.

Their customer service is abysmal, which is already reflected in all of their other reviews. After speaking with their “expert” he pretty much laughed and stated he knew how uncomfortable they were, they are a formal seat and not for “lounging” on. Given that they are just a set of giant arms with a small seat attached which only one person can use I am at a loss as to what I am supposed to do with them.

We are left with 2.5k worth of sofas which we can't return, are incredibly uncomfortable and only fit for one person to sit on - please do yourself a favour and avoid this company like the plague. They care nothing more than getting your money, as soon as they gave that you are dead to them.

Avoid! Avoid! Avoid!
I can not stress this enough.

Trying to sum up my experience with abode sofas/oswald and pablo ltd in a brief review is going to be very difficult but please bear with me!
My initial experience was positive. They couldn't help me enough. It started at the end of January 2021 and I decided (against my better judgement) to order with them on 01st February 2021 and paid £716 deposit by bank transfer.
I was given a quoted delivery date of 8 - 10 weeks from order.
That didn't happen.
Then came the no contact, the waiting for an idea of when the sofa I ordered would be delivered, the endless delivery dates that seemed to stretch forever onward.
All contact was initiated by myself. Nobody from Abode Sofas or Oswald and Pablo ltd (another company associated with abode sofas - dodgy!) initiated contact with me.
I had read the reviews but really liked the sofa and there were some positive reviews so I thought, maybe I will be one of the people with a positive experience.
Not a chance.

I insisted on a full refund after the 3rd delivery date - which was 03rd June. (Initial delivery was expected between the 8 - 10 weeks as quoted, then I was told 17th of May and then 03rd June).
I was told their refund policy as quoted in their terms and conditions was 14 working days. Who needs the best part of three weeks to refund someone?? Not any reputable company that I am aware of.
I sent numerous emails to remind them of the time frame and that I expected my refund.

I have gone over the 14 working days and still have no money in my bank. I will now go to trading standards, the local papers, rip off Britain and any other outlet I can use to warn people so they do not fall into the same trap as I and so many others have.
I've also persuaded friends and family to post this review on their social media.

This company are nothing short of charlatans. I suspect that the people that left positive reviews for this company are friends and family of the company and have noticed they screen reviews so a lot of the time you only see the good but dig deep enough and you'll soon get dirty hands from digging.

Please do a thorough google search of this company before you consider going with them if you do not want the stress and hassle that I along with so many others have had to suffer. Also google miss Rostron v oswald and Pablo. This will give you an idea of how this company really works.

There is a very real negative pattern here which so many people have fallen victim to and I have proof of everything I have said in my review.
There is no way I will ever go with a company that has so many bad reviews and 'hope I will be one of the lucky ones'.

I have since gone with S***logy who delivered BEFORE expected and cost half the price!

Please, please be careful.
No sofa is worth the hassle of this magnitude.

*update.
Still no refund from this company which was requested on 13th May and we are now in mid June.
**to see the 'organic reviews aka reviews people take upon themselves to write rather than being asked to review from the company' which would more than likely be positive (who would possibly invite a customer to post a negative review) go to the bottom of this page and select See A Detailed Overview and select organic to see just how bad this company are.
They have 50%negative reviews, 42% positive and 8% average.
More negative than positive!!!!!
Speaks for itself really.

J. Thompson.

J. Thompson.

Update on 15th June.
I finally got a full refund today.
I received an email from Josh Coleman who explained that they had moved and other reasons for not refunding me up until now. How it was a genuine mistake.
Refunding me two days late is a genuine mistake.
Waiting until you get the letter before court proceedings is not a mistake.
You may have changed your warehouse address but does that mean you also changed your email address, because I emailed reminders about my refund...
Also, i received an email meaning that they had my email address so if they had my email address that means they could have looked at the email with all of my bank details that I forwarded over.
Not only that: their account department could easily have paid me back into my account in the same way I paid...
I'm happy to finally get my money back but found the whole process of dealing with this company extremely stressful and I'm afraid I stick by my original review.
I wish I had avoided them.

Absolutely over the moon with our chair we purchased, the detail is second to none, emails answered straight away, delivery was great to, would definitely use this company in the future

Just had the worst and very upsetting interaction with a woman who said she was the manager at Abode sofas.
I called about a sofa I had ordered a few weeks ago online at abode.sofas.com, to find out the delivery date. The sofa I ordered was shown as ‘in stock’ and ‘available immediately’ on the website so I was thrilled that we would get it quickly. I paid a 50% deposit as a direct bank transfer and waited for an email with a receipt. Got nothing. A couple of weeks passed and I emailed enquiring about my order. I got no reply. Finally I decided to call and, after a brief conversation with someone who said she ‘didn’t handle the abode sofas’, I was passed on to ‘the manager’ who told me scathingly that I had ordered ‘on an old website’ (what?) and that none of their sofas were in stock and normal lead time was 8-12 weeks. I told her that the website was very misleading and she said that I just didn’t understand the wording and basically inferred I was stupid or lying or both.
This is copied from the website under their quick ship items:
“Stock Items Available
Looking for something immediately? Check out our stock items which are available now!”
The lady I was speaking to, who said she was the manager, became extremely aggressive and hostile. I was waiting for her to apologize for the mix up but that never happened. I asked her why no one had replied to my email enquiry and she said she wasn’t in charge of emails lol
I have worked in retail and customer service for most of my life and have never experienced such a terrible attitude towards a customer. The manager’s solution was to tell me she was fine with me canceling my order if I wanted. I told her I didn’t really want to cancel my order, I really wanted the sofa but if she didn’t feel the need to apologize on behalf of her company, then I would feel obliged to do just that. She answered that was fine then and after taking my details for a refund hung up on me while I was still talking.
I am not a difficult person. I was very disappointed to hear the sofa was on such a long lead time and, if she had just admitted there had been a mix up on their website and apologized for it, I would probably have waited for the sofa. Being polite and friendly goes such a long way. It’s a shame no one at this terrible company has ever been trained in customer service. I wouldn’t buy a sofa from them if I had to sit on the floor for the rest of my life! Avoid at all costs.
Incidentally, I found a beautiful green velvet chesterfield at Sofology for only £100 more than the tragic Abode sofa and, despite having to wait 12 weeks for it, I am still happy that I avoided the certain nightmare that dealing with Abode Sofas (also trading as Oswald and Pablo) would have been.

Brilliant sofa and very impressed .
Delivery was excellent ,very professional

First off: the wing chair and stool we ordered from them is absolutely lovely and amazing quality, we are really happy with the product itself.
BUT!
We just can't give more than one star for their customer service was absolutely appalling.
When we ordered all we got was a confirmation with no timeframe for delivery. When we ordered it said 8-12 weeks.
After 12 weeks we still hadn't heard anything so we emailed their customer service email. No reply. We emailed again. No reply.

We then sent a message via Facebook where they replied finally, saying the item is due in March. In March we still didn't hear anything so we messaged on Facebook again to get an update. No reply. Emailed them. No reply.

We finally called them (we ordered via Oswald & Pablo who didn't give a contact number, but found out they were part of Abode sofas who did). They then said the chair was due early April. Early April still nothing. We called again and they finally gave a date (end of April).
A week prior we got an email confirming the date and saying the delivery people would call an hour before delivery.
They never gave the delivery people out number however and they just turned up unexpectedly at some point.

During the entire experience not a single apology for the two month delay or the lack of communication.

They could really help themselves if they just had an ounce of customer experiences training or a system that keeps people informed. As it is, it was a stressful experience considering their furniture is so expensive and not hearing anything ever is quite disconcerting.

My sofa looks fantastic, so much more impressive in real life. Abode were also helpful during the ordering stage when I needed some advice and to adapt my order and the delivery guys were great too.

ordered 2 sofas 19/01/21 paid £1000.00 deposit, told
8-10 weeks delivery, it is now 13 weeks and cannot get a delivery date, can only get in touch via email as the
phone number no longer works - if i had read the reviews before i ordered off Oswald and Pablo i probably would have gone elsewhere not good customer service 20/04/2021

Absolutely dreadful customer service. Purchased 2 sofas from Oswald and Pablo, payment was taken and had confirmation emails. Out of nowhere they cancelled the order no explanation. When I did get a response whoever wrote the email was rude and couldn’t string a sentence together. Very amateur and unprofessional company. Warning alarms if this is the treatment prior to delivery what happens after with customer care? Look elsewhere this company is a joke.

Easy to contact/quick to reply, and sofas great quality. Would recommend and buy from again.

This company, Adobe Sofas, far outstripped any expectations that I had...because of the current Covid-19 we were looking online and stumbled across these guys. Well, of course, photos are stunning, descriptions are ace...ordering is very easy...delivery team were very helpful and knowledgeable and polite...AND to top it off - the patchwork 2 seater sofa we ordered is very well made and absolutely stunning. I really would highly recommend that, if you're looking and considering one of these sofas- do it! You'll not be disappointed...

Good communications from ordering, accurate delivery estimates and very good delivery experience. Sofa looks great and very comfortable, hopefully it lasts in line with my experience to date