A homeowner claims a furniture company abandoned a failed attempt to deliver his new sofa, leaving it jammed on the staircase in scenes similar to a famous Friends episode.
Luke Ansell, 27, had just moved into his brand new home in Bournemouth in December when he bought the £2,000 couch, which was delivered on January 19 by designersofas4u.co.uk. He claims the two delivery men assured him they made tight deliveries 'all the time', but then failed to get the new sofa-bed up a narrow staircase before abandoning it.
The company disputes Mr Ansell's version of events and has insisted that he gave the delivery men consent to manoeuvre the sofa up the stairs, despite them warning him that it could cause damage to the property. In a letter to Mr Ansell, seen by the Manchester Evening News, the company explained that Mr Ansell had been told that it is the customer's responsibility to ensure furniture will fit through any doors and hallways to get it to their desired room once inside the property.
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Photos show Mr Ansell's sofa wedged in the stairwell, alongside holes in the plasterwork and damage to the woodwork. The farce drew comparisons with an episode of TV comedy Friends - in which the characters tried to move a large sofa upstairs, with Ross telling his pals repeatedly to 'pivot'.
Mr Ansell says he refused to sign the forms after the delivery men recommended cutting off his bannisters to make the sofa fit. He claims that they then insisted they had to leave, despite the sofa being stuck, so they could get back to the company's offices in Birmingham on time.
Newlywed Luke, who runs a pet grooming service 'For The Love Of Dog' with his wife Elouise, said: "Honestly it was unbelievable."
"They got here and I showed them where I wanted it upstairs," he said. "I said that it looked quite tight, but they assured me that they do tight deliveries all the time. I just said 'oh well you're the experts' - they are a delivery company after all so I just left them to it.
"They brought it in, they struggled to get it over the bannister and eventually got it in. But then it got jammed, they couldn't get it up or down. Then they said 'look we've got to get back to Birmingham' and tried to leave. They asked me to sign for the delivery - but I refused."
He continued: "We had a little bit of an argument about it, and then they suggested I cut away the bannister to get it out. It's a brand new house that we had just bought for half a million, and now we have to have the work done to repair it. Then they just left it there and went back to Birmingham."
The company claims the delivery driver and his colleague only attempted to get the sofa up the stairs at the request of Mr Ansell, who they say assisted them in moving the sofa. It also admitted that damage had been caused to the sofa and the property during the attempt. Mr Ansell has been offered a brand new sofa free of charge by the company and has been told that they will cover the repairs to his home "as a gesture of goodwill".
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