Maker&Son - UK Recensioni 117

We bought a Maker&Son sofa in 2021 and it was nothing like we tried in the show room - cushions slide off and it was very uncomfortable. After struggling to resolve the issue with original owners thankfully the UK licence was taken over by the Hastings Sofa Company and we finally have our new AMAZING sofa - they have been brilliant and have resolved an issue they did not cause making us very happy customers indeed. It really is a very comfy sofa.

All of these positive reviews can not possibly be genuine.
We’ve had our sofa and 2 chairs since last September and they are truly so uncomfortable. Lumpy, hard, creaky and you feel you are falling off the front of them.
We have since given up trying to speak to this despicable company about our complaints .
We’ve ordered a new sofa and chairs from a reputable company which will arrive in September. We will not try to sell these shabby pieces of furniture to make way for the new as I wouldn’t take good money for them.
My husband says the best place for them is on a bonfire which is probably what we will do 😩

Just providing an update from our previous review. We have now had the sofa's for almost a year and have been trying to get the issue of them being under stuffed addressed since October. I've emailed the addresses they've directed towards me, and filled in the resolution forms and have received crickets in response. The new people operating under Marker&Son did phone a couple of months ago to say that they would be in contact in a few weeks with a quote to resolve the issue. Still nothing.
Apart from the under stuffing of the cushions, the foam layer has rolled and bunched up. This means that not only is the sofa flat as a pancake, it is also lumpy.
The material (we had the orange italian linen, which is soft and gorgeous) has mostly held up but there are a few bits where the material has pulled a bit. The lack of resolution for this issue is so upsetting. The sofa's are so rubbish, I avoid sitting on them which is ridiculous for something that was so expensive and suppose to be the height of comfort.

I'm reviewing because I've emailed many times for an update since the buy-out of the buy-out and have heard nothing. I won't give the whole sorry saga here but in short I ordered two sofas in February 2022. The first arrived a month or two late in June/July 2022 but I have not had an update I trust on sofa number two in the last 15 months. I've no idea whether it's production has begun or whether it's been rotting in a warehouse for the last year. Could the new owners of Maker & Son please please pay me the courtesy of acknowledging the existence of my order and tell me truthfully the status of the product.

UPDATE 30 AUG 2023 in response to the reply below:

I was contacted about 2 months ago but I have chased since via email a number of times and nobody has replied. I am not satisfied that all problems have been resolved as contact is non-existent yet again.

We bought our Maker and Son sofa about 18 months ago and it arrived very late! However, when it did arrive we loved it and it was indeed better than we had thought it might be.
The second set of covers did not arrive but out if the blue Sophie telephoned me and explained that Maker and Son had been taken over and our sofa covers would arrive. And they did! In fact they arrived today and we are thrilled. It’s like another new sofa!
These guys have had their problems but really do deserve to be resurrected and given a second chance.
It’s taken a while but we are very happy customers.
Thank you Sophie and all the best. Maker and Son is worth saving, my sofa is fabulous.

The company has supposidly built a custom order Paprika sofa, armchair and footrest. My company ordered the goods for a lofty £10k. The good were waiting in their storage for delivery our new offices. This is until the company when into liquidation and apparently my sofa is no longer in existence. Not only has it 'disappeared' but it would have been a finished goods from an accounting perspective, so if it was sold or disposed of would be an illegal act. So right now, I've been told the couch is not there and I've been robbed for £10k. So not a great company to purchase anything from.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. Reached out to Sophie at The Hastings Sofa company. What a breath of fresh air. Sophie has been able resolve my outstanding order from Maker & son. A couple of phone calls and an email or two and I’m really relieved to say I will be collecting my Song Bed head cover and cushion covers on Saturday. Thanks again to Sophie. What a star

You should not be deleting my genuine reviews. Order placed in May 2022. Inv-0246 made by my interior designer, Kate Hume. Reading the above review from Noah Howard I cannot understand why anyone would buy from a middle man like Maker&Son with all the appalling reviews. There are several very high quality makers who will make exactly what you want for 40% of what Maker&Son are charging. All they do is outsource to Hastings!
There are over 110 highly negative views of this company and one positive which looks less than genuine. One needs to read the Guardian-the latest paper to focus on the new owners to see that this company deserves its reviews. Trustpilot should not be influenced by these people. Its job is to warn people not to buy products where reviews are overwhelmingly negative. So, please do not remove this review. This man Cole who left a review is a friend of the Maker&Son owners and is not genuine. It should be flagged

DONT TAKE THE RISk!

I had the mobile showroom come to me in august last year, placed an order in September and paid nearly £6000 for two sofas.
At first communication was great with Laura via what’s app - she then disappeared from the face of the earth

After numerous calls finally someone called Laura got in touch telling me all was fine my order was well underway and my fabric choices had been ordered

Come the new year nothing again so called and called emailed and emailed
Then someone called Naomi contacted me and said sorry for delay few issues with manufacturing- I asked for my money back at this stage as reading reviews people were receiving their sofas and they were not the quality they had originally been shown

I was then and ONLY THEN told the company was purchased last year and I should email the administrators!! I have the administrators numerous times and it goes to answer machine emailed 13 different contacts and nothing!!

Not at any time was I told about the sale of this business until
Now

I just want my money back do not want their products in my home - the quality is nothing like it used to be AVOID!!

Oh and I am not a fake review I am 100% a very unhappy customer.

We purchased our dream Maker & Son sofa in 2021 before moving into a new house. As with many other customers, the sofa was very delayed in it's delivery. We were encouraged to take out the insurance they recommended to cover things like stains etc, which we did. A few months into having the sofa our child spilt their drink on it, staining two of the cushions. After the insurance people finally coming to inspect (which took over 3 months, the stain was engrained by then obviously and we were not meant to treat it), our claim was put in in January 2022. It's now been almost 15 months, and we still have not received the two replacement covers, rendering the set useless as it's missing two pieces.

I am turning to trust pilot in desperation to reach out to Maker and Son. I paid a deposit back in Nov 22 and there is no communication as to what is happening with my order. I desperately want this sofa and hope that I can write a more positive review if it ever arrives. Please please get in touch with me as to what is happening with my £3565 deposit! I have a baby due in two weeks and this is unnecessary stress. To others reading I would stress not to order from this company unless they can prove they are actually are in operation and not just taking people’s money. Right now, this is what it seems to be.

Maker&son are flagging my honest reviews. We ordered two sofas in January 22 and received one in March. They used our 50% deposit for payment on the delivered sofa. After little contact I visited the showroom and spoke to Laura who assured me that the second sofa was being manufactured. Months later in early November I was called by Owyn to say the sofa was ready. Having read TP reviews I asked for guarantees and assurances. All I received was an invoice which I didn't pay. We have had a lucky escape as we are not owed money and we do have one sofa. I have an email trail. Order and invoice numbers. Conversations with Owyn on WhatsApp. Proof of payment and one sofa in our home. We have been threatened with legal action by Inc&Co, who own M&S now, about my review.. I am a real customer and the legal threats were intimidating. Save your mental health and money...do not deal with this company!

In reply to the response from Maker &Son.

Had you maintained contact, had you been honest in the rare contact we had (all initiated by me) had you not served three cease and desist notices on me (for honest reviews on here that have since be reinstated) I might have been interested in what you wrote below. Unsurprisingly, I'm not!

I am one of the lucky ones, my credit card company have been able to do a charge back after I waited for 7 months to receive the sofa I had paid for. I received limited contact from Maker and Son over this time.

In light of the secure charge that Barclays held over Maker and Son it is unclear how the companies assets such as the IP have been transferred to a new 'Maker and Son' entity.

I first learned of Maker&Son through their Instagram – I had seen their viral ‘sofa leap’ videos and that lots of influencers were promoting their sofas. This was a huge purchase for me, but I thought if I’m going to spend on one big ticket item, it should probably be a sofa. So in December 2021 and then in April 2022 I paid a 50% deposit of £2,907.75 in two instalments for their Marnie sofa in a green linen.

The games began as soon as I made the payment. Months of radio silence. As my delivery date approached, in late August 2022, I received a generic email informing me that the company had been purchased by a new company and was now under new leadership. They were truly sorry, but my sofa wasn’t going to be delivered on time and due to handover complications, they couldn’t give me an updated delivery date. At this point, I asked for a refund and Maker&Son agreed to input this within a 60 day period. Cue more radio silence. The 60 day period came and went until eventually, on 19 October 2022, I heard from the CEO of the new company. He accepted full liability of the debt but said that they weren’t going to be able to refund me until 27 February 2023. The refund, however, was conditional on me removing any negative online/offline reviews of the brand. Along with many others, I agreed to this. Finally, on 1 March, the CEO went back on his promise - I wasn’t going to be refunded after all.

I should also note that because Maker&Son and their new owners have strung me along for so many months, I am unable to issue a chargeback claim via my bank, Barclays. Unfortunately, I will probably never see my money back.

All in all, my experience with Maker&Son has caused me an enormous amount of stress. I continue to receive unpleasant and intimidating emails from them - threatening to sue me for leaving negative reviews. They have taken down reviews of many other victims too.

Please, please, please do your bank balance and mental health a massive favour and do not order from these people.

EDIT 18 March: The Telegraph wrote about what has been happening to us, if you just google The Telegraph and Maker&Son, read the story titled ‘Luxury sofa company took my £3k and now I’m being sued for complaining on Trustpilot’.

EDIT 31 March: In response to Maker&Son below - we’ve already discussed my options. You told me in no uncertain terms on 1 March that you will not be refunding me (breaking the promise of a refund that their CEO personally made to me) and that my only option is to accept a voucher for 50% off a NEW order - after I’ve already lost 3k to you. Please don’t try to pretend you want to help me. You literally tried to sue me and sent me four aggressive legal threats in the space of 24 hours. Give me my money back and stop harassing me.

EDIT 9 April: The Guardian published a story too! If you Google the Guardian and Maker&Son, read the story titled ‘Suite dreams: how luxury sofa firm Maker&Son left its clients standing’.

The most disappointing, soul destroying experience I've ever had with a company.
Whilst I feel like I have got away lightly compared to most. I have still been left drained, incredibly disappointed and angry that such a company exists and is still trying to continue to sell substandard, shockingly overpriced, goods to unsuspecting people.

I know first hand of many people who have spent thousands and thousands and waited over a year for a sofa that hasn't materialised.

I was one of the 'lucky' ones. After ordering a sofa in May 2021 it was delivered in November 2021.
On initial inspection I thought all was well and was happy with our purchase. The sales team and mobile showroom lady were amazing. So charming, so sweet and really added the wow factor that i felt when swooning over these sofas through their clever (deceitful) marketing via instagram.
I saw influencers had ordered them and gushed how great they were and Marnie also did a great job of selling the dream.

The reality is, the sofa is garbage, and will most definitely not last a lifetime as they claimed it would.
It didn't even last 6 months.

The cushions are terrible and it is the most uncomfortable sofa i have ever had. Bear in mind we had our last sofa for 20+ years from DFS and it still had more support at the end than this one did after 2 months.

One cushion goes flat as a pancake within 5 minutes of sitting on it offering zero support, so little support that you actually find yourself slipping off the damn sofa all together.
The other cushion developed huge lumps after 5 months. It is so lumpy that it feels like you have elephant piles.
It's beyond awful.
We now hardly sit on it as you physically can't for longer than 10/15mins without being in some level of discomfort and it has caused many an argument in our household over how foolish we had been purchasing such an investment piece from this crowd when we should of stuck with reputable long established companies.

I got in touch with customer service was promised replacement cushions. I was constantly told that they were in production, and then they were on pause whilst they figured things out, and then in production again. I was also promised lumbar support cushions to apologise for the delay as an apology as they didn't send the original scatter cushions I had ordered and paid for with my sofa which never developed. I have now been told that we can place a new order for replacement base cushions that we have to pay for ourselves.

I am not the only one who has been burnt.
This has happened to countless others.

Long story short, paid almost £15K for a custom L-shaped sofa and a King Size bed. Ordered in October 2021 and arrived 6 months later. We were told that both the bed and the sofa had unsuccessfully passed their quality checks (cushions were underfilled and fabric was full of bobbles) but were assured that if we were to accept the pieces, we would receive replacement fabric and cushions in 1-2 months. We chased every single department for almost a year and heard nothing, then tentative delivery dates, then apology emails with new dates. Our sofa, which cost almost £11K is absolutely uncomfortable, needs constant fluffing, not fit for purpose. A waste of money and not delivering on their promise of creating the most comfortable chairs and sofas… real disappointment.

Things get interesting. The first company went bankrupt and we emailed and signed forms requesting for our aftercare and post-purchase delivery to be transferred to Maker and Son Ops. We were never contacted by the new company, never received any form of reassurance or even offer of replacement. Then Ops went insolvent and the new structure was set up. This time again, we filled out new forms requesting a transfer of post-purchase from Ops to the new entity. Again, no contact in almost 3 months, no communication, not even a sales member giving us a price estimation for the new replacement pieces. I filled out a form a few weeks ago detailing our interest to pay 50% in cash for replacement pieces (honestly, not at all what I wanted to do but desperately need a solution and just wanted to see if I could get someone to get in touch with me…). Nothing. So… what’s my point. I heard through public press releases that the past businesses were broken, financial mismanagement, inability to pay debts, thus insolvency. All good, fine, happens, shouldn’t, but happens. But even the new businesses who are supposed to be managed professionally aren’t.

So, here is my takeaway. Good vision, nice CAD product design, good samples for sale. Products are not up to the standard. There is no management and the company today (I am talking about the existing operation structure) is not fit for business. There is no coherent strategy and service is non-existent. As such, I do not recommend the existing Maker and Son company and believe you should purchase your sofas and armchairs from other manufacturers with track record, an established supply chain, fit for purpose sales and post-purchase team, and adequate funding. The current Maker and Son has none of those attributes.

If I could give them zero star I would. I was so excited about buying a pair of Maker & Son sofas - but what they delivered is nothing like promised. The cushions came with stuffing missing (I kid you not), and the covers damaged. They urged me to accept delivery and promised a new set of cushions and a new cover. Neither has materialised and they’re now offering to fix issues if we pay for it. Worst furniture we’ve ever bought.

I placed an order for a chest of drawers. There was a lead time as it was made to order but it went well beyond this and I’d heard nothing. I emailed to cancel as I was tired of waiting. Within two days of this they said they could deliver it. They advised me to refuse the delivery and said that I would be refunded in full when the chest was returned to them by the courier. I allowed them two weeks before getting in touch to chase it but didn’t get a reply. I emailed several more times and tried to phone but the number on their website didn’t work. Finally someone got in touch to say that they had gone into receivership and that the new company were not able to honour all refunds. Given the timing they would have known that they were in this position before I even placed my order. I was told I could have a credit note and use against their ready to go items but I would have had to pay several thousand more to buy a sofa or chair that I didn’t even need. I’ve lost my money, like many others it seems, and I see today that they are in the process of launching a new website. DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY!

We ordered a bespoke sofa for a client through Maker and sons. They did not conduct an access check at the property as per their usual procedure which meant they were unable to deliver the sofa. We had to arrange for a specialist removals company to deliver it at our time and expense, with no help at all from them.

As a gesture of goodwill, they agreed to make some some free cushions, for which we had fabrics delivered to them in November last year. We were then told this year that the company is in liquidation and the fabrics are in the possession of the liquidators. We have contacted them multiple times since with the same response each time, but no news on our missing fabrics yet. Appalling service and no apology for the delay.

Since the reply from Maker and Sons, I have written to the executive escalations department twice with no response again. Very disturbing given they are still on fabrics owned by us!

Maker and Son or whatever name they now call themselves are a bunch of upmarket ever so posh speaking crafty conmen. Did business with the in 2021 Bough love seat which proved unsuitable the agreed to take back goods and issue repayment less transport costs. Went on to issue me with Credit Note. Over lengthy period was getting nothing but excuses for none payment accompanied by lengthy letters from people like Conran and such. To date 02/03/23 I have received nothing in the way of payment or replacement. Now understand the company I dealt with is Bankrupt though still operating under another name promising that out of good will they hope to be able to help? Customers who have lost out? The fact is that at the moment this shower and not only owing me money but are in possession of my property which they uplifted from my home. They are giving out phone numbers and customer help links non of which are obtainable or unknown numbers. Conmen just about sums this lot up. Don’t touch with a barge pole.