Prior to moving in to our new home we did a lot of research about couches and which would work best for our family. With a growing family and two young children, there was no doubt in my mind that we wanted to have slip covered couches for the convenience of being able to wash them in the case that something made them dirty. We looked at many different places. American Furniture Warehouse, WOW, Ikea, Furniture Row, Crate & Barrel, and Pottery Barn... to name a few.
After testing out couches, checking inserts, looking at the build of the couch in the show room, we finally decided that Pottery Barn had some great build and quality, or so we thought.
After the couches were delivered, and set down, without slip covers, and the slip covers just thrown on the ground and we were asked to sign for them, we were not off to the greatest of starts. We were so in love with them for the first few months and then the couches started to get this crease in the middle. Fluffing would work for a little bit, but as soon as anyone sat near them, they would start to crease and fall forward.
See the slight crease in the above photo? Behind these pillows that are virtually holding up the entire back are sad, sagging inserts. The pillows hold the backs of the couch pillows up. In other blog photos, I have put cardboard in the insert to keep them upright. I am tired of fighting these things. Do not get me wrong, the couches are COMFORTABLE. But they are failing after just two years of having them. They actually started this sagging biz-nass within the year.
I went in to our local Pottery Barn and spoke with the manager about the sadness in the couch inserts. She asked me if I had the "poly-fill" or "down-fill" and I told her they are the "poly-fill" which are supposed to hold up much better than their "down-fill" counterparts. We looked at the couches on the show room floor and their inserts are MUCH sturdier and look much better.
Look how perky these inserts are?! These will not be what your couch comes with!
The manager on the floor told me that she has people tell her that her couches last between 6 and 8 years before needed new inserts, that something is not right about my two year old sagging couch inserts. In fact, my couch inserts are starting to create small poly-fill balls within the insert.
The manager told me to contact the quality department and send photos because our couch is just over two years old. In fact, two years and one month old. We have two of these, they are both doing it, and for these two couches, they are $3000. Yes, we bought $3000 couches that did not even last two years.
When contacting the quality department, I expected some sort of resolve in terms of these inserts and I got an e-mail back stating that because of the couches age (a ripe two years) they can no longer do anything other than provide me a small discount on new inserts. New inserts for this couch (PB Comfort) are $38 dollars each, and we need four. That is another $152 dollars on top of the $3000 they cost two years ago. Lets be honest, who in their right mind wants to be investing $152 dollars every two years on a couch that cost so much to begin with. Not I said the fly.
Overall, I am just sad that the manager on the floor told me she thinks that something is wrong with my poly-fill, and the quality team can offer no hope for the couches other than more money. While I love these couches, and LOVE how they look when they are not drooping like old lady "you know whats"... It is a major waste of money to buy something that cannot even last two years for such a hefty price.
So, if you are thinking about investing in a Pottery Barn couch for a few thousand dollars, I urge you to do you research and look elsewhere. After a year of having the $3000 couches, you are just about forgotten when it comes to dealing with a failing product. Your couch has one year to fail, and even if they start failing within that year, when you are pregnant and having a baby, it is not on the top of the list to be dealing with a failing couch.
I am fairly sure you would be better off buying the IKEA look-alike for a fraction of what these "saggy girls" cost!
