Dozens of customers have been left fuming after buying what appear to be grey sofas from furniture giant DFS - which are actually brown.
Sarah Temple 38, is one of many DFS customers disappointed with their purchase which looked nothing like it did online or in the store.
The mum of four ordered what she thought was a grey sofa on September 25 from the DFS store in Sunderland after looking at swatches with a customer assistant.
She'd seen the sofa she wanted online, and although there wasn't that exact one on display, she was assured by looking at the swatch fabric she'd picked the right colour.
But, when the sofa eventually arrived in December last year, it looked nothing like the grey shade Sarah had expected.
The sofa DFS had delivered was a light chocolate brown, and at that moment she was sure they'd been a mistake.
DFS checked with the manufacturer, but later informed Sarah there was no mistake, and this was just the colour she'd chosen.
Sarah, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, said: "My initial thought when they arrived with the sofa was, it's okay there's obviously been a mistake and they'll just take it back.
"But, to my disbelief, they tried to tell me this is the colour I chose.
"They said the colour of the sofa matches the swatch I picked in store when it just blatantly does not.
"There is nothing grey about this sofa in the slightest, and any person with a brain can clearly see that.
"When I said I wanted it taken away they just ignored me and when I went to the store manager he told me I could go no higher - it was an outrage."
Over £2,600 down and stuck with a sofa she despised, Sarah decided to apply for the popular BBC TV show 'Rip Off Britain'.
The show aired on January 31, and shortly after DFS quickly contacted its producers to tell them they'd decided to offer Sarah a full refund and that they'd collect the sofa.
Sarah was happy with their decision, but this didn't stop her wondering how the furniture giant could justify that the sofa was grey.
So, she decided to create a Facebook group for people who'd had a similar experience with DFS, and, sure enough, she attracted a community of disgruntled sofa owners.
Dozens of users took to social media to express their disappointment at the fact their sofa was nothing like they'd ordered.
Similar to Sarah, Halifax resident Mike McMaster, 49, and his wife Nicola, 45, say they are stuck with a brown sofa which is supposed to be grey.
Mikes post read: "This is our 'grey' sofa in natural sunlight. The carpet is grey for sure... not sure about the sofa though!"
When asked about his purchase Mike said: "The sofa is clearly brown in natural light and not the grey we ordered.
"It is not how it is described on the DFS website or how it looked under the store lighting.
"Coming into the living room each morning is quite depressing as it stands out like a sore thumb against our grey carpet.
"My wife and I are quite upset by the whole debacle and just want it taking away.
"I contacted DFS on the day of delivery to request the collection and refund based on the colour.
"The Store Manager has told me I have no cause for return and refund as it is what we saw in store."
Another Facebook user, Claire Kennedy, 40, added that not only had their grey sofa been delivered brown, but after they sent it back the same thing happened again.
Claire, from County Durham, said: "The first sofa was delivered brown, and when we complained they sent round someone with a swatch book.
"They were adamant the colour was grey like we ordered, but they eventually agreed to replace the sofa after countless phone calls and emails chasing them down.
"But when they delivered the second sofa, it was still brown, just a slightly different shade!
"We forced them to take that back as well, and finally 18 months later we settled for the third sofa they bought which thankfully matched our living room.
"It was a complete mess and very stressful."
Sarah says she's relieved to be getting her full refund but is concerned about the amount of people out there who haven't been as lucky.
She added: "I've spoken to so many people who have just given up fighting because DFS simply won't accept responsibility.
"If I hadn't have managed to get on Rip Off Britain then i'm confident I would have been ignored as well and it really infuriates me."
What DFS said
A spokesperson for DFS said: "At DFS we take customer service extremely seriously and we were sorry to hear Ms Temple is disappointed with the colour of the sofa she selected.
"Sarah placed her order for a ‘grey’ sofa in the store after choosing the colour from a swatch book of 18 fabric samples.
"Within the swatch book there are four different shades available within the grey spectrum - ‘grey’, ‘silver’, ‘pewter’ and ‘misty’.
"Each shade is a slightly different tone of grey ranging from a warm brown grey through to a very light grey.
"After reviewing the choices the Temple family selected ‘grey’ which is a warm brown grey.
"Unfortunately, once the sofa arrived in the customers’ home, it became apparent that they had ordered the wrong shade of grey.
"We sent a service manager to their home with the swatch book from the store to review their order in case a mistake had been made in manufacturing.
"it was determined that there was no mistake with the order and the ‘grey’ colour the customer ordered matched the sofa they had received.
"It is the customer’s responsibility to choose the right colour for their home and fabric swatches can be ordered before purchasing to help with this decision making process.
"There may be some small variations from our showroom models and we clearly highlight this on our swatch samples in store and online, but in this instance and following the service manager's visit, we felt the product was well within tolerance.
"To help the Temple family get the colour they want, we have offered Sarah the option of reordering the furniture in a different shade of grey from the same range with a charge of 10% of the price of the order.
"As the vast majority of our sofas are handmade to order for a specific customer, when non-faulty products are rejected by a customer, the product is already considered used and is likely to lose up to 20% of its value, as we have to sell it through clearance, hence a fee is charged.
"In this instance, and as a gesture of goodwill, if the customer does not wish to re-order the product in a different shade, the customer can cancel their original order and receive a full refund.
"This sofa is a very popular model for DFS and the vast majority of customers who have purchased it are very happy with their order.
"There are a very small minority of customers who express disappointment with the shade of grey they chose.
"We recognise that there may be some confusion with swatch colours for customers who purchased online, without seeing the product in store first, so we have asked our product team to review the naming of our swatches."
