West Elm Will Offer Refunds To Owners Of Defective “Peggy” Furniture

Last week, West Elm’s “Peggy” couch leapt out of the pages of mid-price furniture catalogs and into the realm of viral cyber-stardom when unhappy Peggy owners realized they were far from alone in having a couch that seemed to start falling apart the day they first sat on it. Now West Elm tells Consumerist that refunds will be sent out to folks who purchased a defective Peggy.

A couch is a big purchase for anyone, not just in terms of size, cost, or convenience, but because it’s going to become a part of your daily life. You’re going to have look at, sit on, sprawl across, and otherwise encounter this thing, so if you’re going to spend a lot of money on it, it better be a darn good couch. And if it’s not, the company should do its best to make it right… right?

That’s how writer Anna Hezel felt, writing over on The Awl recently that she and her partner decided to make the grownup decision and buy a couch that was more than “second-hand plywood shelves scooped up from the sidewalk” she’d used to lounge on in the past: The “Peggy” sofa they selected cost around $1,500, “but the price seemed to be proof of enduring quality,” she writes.

Instead of the perfect couch, however, she says it began to fall apart soon after it arrived, with buttons popping off if they scooted across a cushion the wrong way, or all the cushions shifting forward all at once if they leaned back on the couch too far. She soon found herself in a nightmare, with customer service sending a repair kit that was impossible to use.

She wasn’t alone, she found: Other customers have used Instagram to troll West Elm’s account with their Peggy woes, using any chance the company posts a Peggy photo to air their grievances, like the person who wrote, “This is literally the worst couch I’ve ever bought. The buttons get caught on every single thing and they come off.”

Or the woman in Denver who wrote a 700-word review on her local West Elm’s Yelp page.

We reached out to West Elm when we read Hezel’s story last week, asking, among other things, if it was aware of the outrage over this particular furniture line. The company responded today, saying it will offer refunds to owners of defective Peggy furniture.

“We were sorry to learn of our customers’ experience with the Peggy Collection and have decided to temporarily remove it from our U.S. and Canada assortment– online and in stores – until we can better understand and resolve any issues,” a spokesman confirmed to Consumerist.

“We stand behind the integrity of our products and take customer feedback seriously,” the company added. “Therefore, we are offering owners of defective Peggy sofas, sectionals and chairs, a full refund or replacement for orders placed in the U.S. and Canada after July 2014.”

Anyone with Peggy Collection related issues should contact the special support number (888) 922-7870 or email support@westelm.com.

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