R&H Van Holst from Scarborough

We bought a 2 piece leather living room set from the Dufferin store. Sales guy was great. We love the colour & seat firmness. Bought it in June 2013 and had it delivered in July 2013 when we bought our new home. Everything was fine until temperatures dropped in November 2013 and the heat was turned on in our home. The couch and love seat hold a static charge and we hear "crackling" when we sit and stand. We found this odd as this doesn't normally happen with leather. The charge is so strong that we immediately discharge on anything grounded in the room. It has become very obvious and uncomfortable for our family and guests. Also, when we sit and hear this "crackle", the hair on our arms extends as this static charge is created throughout the whole piece of furniture, not just the cushions. We did not contact the store immediately when this problem started, as we hoped this was temporary. We called the store on March 4, 2014 to ask if the extended warranty we purchased might advise a solution to this problem. We were NOT asking for a refund NOR were we asking for a replacement set. We were merely asking for suggestions to resolve this problem. I was transferred to Earl, the sales manager, who informed me that warranty only covers structural problems. Fine. We accept this. Earl became defensive and REFUSED to accept our complaint and an argument ensued. He REFUSED to believe what he was told and insisted that the static charges that are created did not come from the couch & love seat. He was told very clearly that we DO NOT have carpet in our home and this does not happen with our other furniture. This only happens with the set we purchased from that store and we are not imagining noise coming from inside the furniture. Earl dismissed our complaint which forced us to push back during the conversation. We found ourselves getting defensive as we know we are RIGHT! When we didn't back down, he offered to send someone (a furniture expert?) to come to our house and have a look at this. He promised a call within 3 days and NO ONE has called us. Surprise, surprise. Earl told us that static charge is year round. He is mistaken, as static charge dissipates in the summer when there is humidity. He kept bragging that he has been managing all the stores for 5 years and he HAS NEVER HEARD OF THIS. Well, I guess that means that customers are just stupid and of course, since he has never heard of it, it cannot be true? Ridiculous. We are a busy family and do not have time to fabricate phony stories about furniture. It took us a long time to find something and we were very pleased with our purchase, initially. What a horrible way to treat customers. I guess the Chesterfield Shop gets so much business that they can't bother to deal with customer concerns? So much for getting our repeat business. Earl needs to take a lesson in customer service and learn how to properly deal with customers in a professional manner. What kind of manager immediately dismisses a concern raised by a customer and contradicts without investigation? He was arrogant and condescending and we were disgusted with his behaviour. NOTHING is impossible in the world we live in today. As we approach spring and temperatures rise, the problem will diminish but we are convinced that it will return again when the cold weather comes at the end of the year. Hard to prove this in the warmer months. Our big mistake was not calling sooner. We should have taken the time to read the reviews before we rushed over to that store. What a mistake!