The Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman Opiniones 

I bought a door and hinges from B&Q in August.The door was damaged in transit and returned to warehouse with the promise of delivery of replacement within a few days. After many attempts by me to get updates re my door and hinges and very little response I finally gave up and by Oct informed them I wanted a refund,following another couple of requests for refund and no response I contacted Ombidsman. Within a couple of days they sorted it out and I got my refund. The ombudsman also kept me informed every step of the way. I can’t thank them enough.I don’t think I would have resolved it without them. Thank you

I bought a cupboard from a well known British company, but had several problems with it.
After much debate and procrastination, I asked FHIO to help resolve the matter.
Hannah Young at FHIO was particularly helpful, very prompt, kept me fully informed and got a result very quickly. Without this input, I think the indecision would have dragged on.

Registered my issue with Bensons for Beds with them on 11th November and received acknowledgement the same day. Confirmed they would deal with my case 12th Nov. By 22nd November they had negotiated a settlement for me I was very pleased with. Seamless process, easy to use online application and great result. Thank you!

Vivien El felah
Was very thorough with her investigation. She maintained a very professional manner.
Requested further evidence when required and was always very clear and precise
Impeccable service .
.

Very prompt response from Anna
Helped claim back kitchen units that couldn't be used am so grateful for her support provided

I was going back and forwards with B&Q customer services for 3 months until I contacted the TF&HIO. Hannah who dealt with the case was extremely helpful and the case was resolved within a matter of days. Really appreciated the quick resolution.

Utter embarrassment.
They write exactly what the company tells them to write. You produce solid evidence against the company, it gets ignored. They don’t investigate, neither do they look at anything you provide to them. They drag it out for months, so you don’t raise it elsewhere as you think you think this will get dealt with.

Homebase provided them with a completely different plan/image to my kitchen and they’ve told me “I believes this to be my plan” “I have investigated this plan and believe it to match” despite there being evidence wine racks weren’t purchased, neither are they on my design.

In response to their comment below. They are not impartial, when I proved the “Head ombudsman” wrong, she went back to question Homebase, however confirmed on four occasions it was correct. Odd. Just a shame you can’t upload photos, which would show their true “impartiality”.

Incredibly thorough service and would highly recommend them if there is a dispute that requires an independent assessment.

My assigned case officer Donna Thomas certainly shifted along the long standing dispute I had with B&Q, one which I doubt would have been resolved with her organisation's intervention.

Wren kitchen disaster, I have ordered a kitchen from Wren paid £12,880. Ordered in Grey colour & they delivered in white. Explanation they gave was they have labelled the samples incorrectly in the store which they admitted in writing, its their fault. I wasn’t at the property when the kitchen got delivered and now it has been installed also the quartz & splash.

Wren came back with 2 option which I rejected. One they will send just the doors in the right colour & £900 for fitting. No kitchen fitter will do it for £900 I told them send their own fitter to do it and they said no.

Second option was £1500 refund to keep the wrong kitchen when I paid £12,880 absolute joke & what’s more shocking is ombudsman said yes they agree with them and it’s fair offer. I’m taking them to court

If I say just like a lot of other reviewer, giving FHIO one star was about ten more than they deserved! it appears as long as the concerned business completed in their eyes the repairs to the faulty / incorrectly assemble furniture,that it! Not taking into account the eight months, four different technians, whom all were misinform for the reason for their visit, the buck passing, between the manufacturer, the business (the supplier), their third party repair oompany and their many sub contractors! And we still have faulty furniture, which we told it's within trade / acceptable tolerances, but not to our knowledge, any EU and/or British Standards! etc etc

Everything was ok until delivery, half of delivery was missing. Was told it would be delivered the next day. It wasn’t I chased that day and it was delivered a few days later. On delivery there was a fault in the fabric (June 2024) Noted by delivery drivers was told a technician would call… Of course no call. Chased by phone x2 and emailed. Technician came out approx Aug, was offered cash which I declined. Was told I could have a new cover of that section, another techician would call. Same story no follow up. Chased and chased now sept and DFS say it’s wear and tear!! On a 3 month sofa…

Absolute disgrace. Have been having an ongoing issue with DFS and despite clear evidence that the company have outright lied to me, they still decided to side with DFS and tell me I was in the wrong. Absolutely useless, pointless waste of time!!!

My leather furniture from Furniture Village that I have only had for 21/2 years has the rubber coating is peeling badly. I had bought insurance cover in case of any accidents but apparently have been told that this is not covered by them.
The ombudsman did not even listen to my complaint, she was laughing and joking in the background either with colleagues or family, now I have furniture that looks absolutely disgusting because of shoddy
workmanship.
Don't buy extra cover for furniture because they have no intention of paying out absolutely disgusted with them.

UPDATE
11/01/2025

Still waiting for contract nobody bothered to get in touch absolute rubbish 🤬

21/03/2025
Still heard nothing don’t know why these people are employed never seem to do anything 🤬

I sent my claim in 22/8/24 on 27/08/24 initial checks indicate able to look at my complaint in process of contacting the business 29/08/24 FHIO receive business's response we will contact you shortly to advise of next steps next day 30/08/24 e-mail saying case fully reviewed with reasons that do not seem anything to do with what I have said not asked for anymore info but case closed total of 4 working days I did get in touch with case handler could not make head or tail of what they were saying paid no relivence to the case so I just gave up
E

I had a very positive outcome after engaging the FHIO. I bought a harrison spinks bed from Furniture village which measures 5cm short in both length and width. Furniture village send someone out to inspect who agreed outside tolerance, several months of delaying , lack of communication to then be told they wouldn’t replace the mattress as if it’s handmade it’s ’greater tolerance’ than the official 2cm?? They refused to let me speak to a manager and said the matter was closed. I contacted the FHIO and they communicated via the portal at intervals/stages of the investigation. After 2months of the investigation I had a reply from Hannah Young to say the FHIO agreed I should be given a replacement mattress, furniture village had been informed and I should contact them. I was very pleased with the outcome and did feel supported as a consumer.
Furniture village originally resisted when I called them and said they had no records of my case being taken to the ombudsman. Made me send copies of my communication with the FHIO and after a week of further waiting had a curt email to say a replacement mattress had been ordered. I took delivery yesterday and am pleased this one measures the correct size. It’s 6months since I initially complained to furniture village but the process from raising the case to an outcome with FHIO was 2months in total. It was definitely worth engaging them as furniture village customer service were dreadful and refused to replace a product which was outside industry regulations.

I question whether they are an Ombudsman at all. I’ve had dealings with other Ombudsmen over the years, each of which have been fiercely independent and produced thoughtful and considered correspondence. The FHIO could not be more of a contrast. From first contact, the case handlers seemed to be backing the kitchen company (Wren) and made no effort to negotiate. They were not interested in what I had to say nor were prepared to put an alternative offer to Wren. When things were close to a solution FHIO told me to just contact Wren directly. No compromise agreement, no explanation of an investigation and outcomes. They behaved worse than Wren’s customer services and that’s saying something!

Purchased a carpet from a large supplier in 2022 and after a short time it discoloured on the areas where we walked. On complaining the supplier sent out an inspector who agreed there was a fault with the carpet and it was replaced. We chose the Sam manufacture but different color however same problem again after a few months. They refused to replace after the manufacturers inspector reported no manufacturing faults??
Contacted Ombudsman to no avail as the first person dealing with complaint said they were going to ask supplier to engage an independent inspection.
Did not hear from anyone although sending several emails and numerous phone calls no reply received. Threatened to contact their manager she contacted me and advised she was now in another section but no one had contacted me also my complaint was not actioned. Contacted by new officer who said there was no information about further inspection and said there was not evidence to take this matter further.
Spoke to her manager who refused to take any further action even although all the photos clearly show the same fault as the initial carpet supplied. Notwithstanding the initial officer was telling the supplier to have an independent inspection carried out this was notcarried out. Also they kept referring to the initial complaint of 2022????.
Absolutely totally unprofessional.

[Review removed as our formal complaint has been upheld and our case is again live. Will update this review on its conclusion.]

Didn’t have high expectations having read reviews. It is difficult to see what faith a customer can have when the Ombudsman service themselves have a poor rating and clearly don’t care.