Wesley Barrell Reviews 

Having received great service some 18 years ago we decided to have one of our knole sofas completely recovered and refurbished. Despite what seemed like a high price we went ahead, mistakenly believing we’d receive similar service. Oh what a mistake.

To start with we were promised a collection “slot” and a call the day before collection to confirm. No call so no time was given so I ended up being at home all day.
Next, a delivery date was given to return the sofa, again I was told Wesley Barrell would call the day before, again no call.
I waited in all morning and having call Wesley Barrell head office was told they were waiting for cushion inserts to arrive. I pointed out that they would have know this the day before (it’s worth noting that the delivery lorry is loaded the day before delivery). I was then offered another couple of delivery slots but when I made a choice was told they would have to confirm presumably when the cushion inserts arrived. Again no confirmation but I took a second day off from work and the sofa arrived.
Now a knole sofa with out ties to hold the sides together doesn’t work. So I made a note on the delivery form expecting the ties to just turn up. Oh why did I think this?
We have now been chasing for weeks. Getting a reply is an art, Wesley Barrell evasive and now tell me I will have to buy the ties even though the sofa a Wesley Barrell product came with the ties in 2000. It beggars belief that a £4000+ refurbishment doesn’t include ties which were included with the sofa when it was originally purchased.
The Tunbridge Wells showroom where we made a purchase refuses to help, Head Office doesn’t respond at all. Their area manager will reply when pushed but has refused to provide the necessary ties to make the sofa complete.

Wesley Barrell are incapable of effective communication or at times any communication at all. Customer service is non existent.

AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL costs

Having read the response from Wesley Barrell I still stand by my remarks. I’m now told the inserts were expected the day before delivery. Categorically not what the manager at Head Office told me on the phone. In any event if the inserts were due the day before delivery and didn’t arrive surely this would add credence to my reasonable expectation to be informed in good time to avoid a wasted day.

How ridiculous, the omission was noticed by the Tunbridge Wells store not long after I’d left the shop, Their young shop assistant called to find out what ties we wanted. We confirmed same as existing, Navy blue with tassels. At no point was a cost mentioned. Come on Wesley Barrell get your facts straight.

Latest update. We are now confused. Found an offer from the Customer Services Manager to supply the new tie backs, we requested at the outset, free of charge in our spam inbox which I have been pleased to accept. At the same time the Southern area Retail Manager has emailed refused to supply ties in the colour originally requested unless we pay £300. Although he has offered ties he’s found for free, none of which are in a suitable colour. It seems one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing.

Today I received a letter from the General Manager closing the case. Wesley Barrell Interiors are not interested in putting things right that went wrong in their previous incarnation Wesley Barrell (Witney). I was offered a choice of ties found somewhere on their premises on closer examination, two seemed to be single ties and were damaged. As I’d need a pair useless to me. The third offering was a pair they were just awful, cheap looking and shiny. My husband asked for our old ties back Wesley Barrell failed to find these. I’ve been told to contact the administrator, not sure why! What hope have I or any other customer similarly let down? I understand moving business into a new name left behind debts of £2.5m. The management clearly are not interested in trying to maintain the previous good name. I suppose in reality I was lucky to get my sofa back.

My verdict AVOID WESLEY BARRELL and any of its reincarnations unless you want bad service

We went into the St Albans showroom early in July 2018 and ordered 2 sofa's paying a substantial deposit. Wesley Barrell contacted us late October 2018 and arranged delivery and demanded the balance of payment. On the day of delivery they contacted us to inform us that they had 'Lost' the sofa's and could not deliver them.

This week we have received a letter informing us that they have gone into administration with £2600 of our money but their website and St Albans showroom are still open for business branded as Wesley Barrell. I assume still taking peoples money.

Please do not do business with this company unless you too want to risk losing large sums of money like us. I have also noticed that many other reviews detailing similar experiences have been removed. I do wonder why?

I bought an fairly expensive settee from Wesley Barrell and it arrived faulty. I got in touch with them and heard nothing for 3 weeks. At this point I asked them to take the settee back and that I wanted a full refund. I waited and waited but no refund came.
I then received a letter saying that Wesley Barrell Limited had gone into administration and that had been bought out by Wesley Barrell Interiors Limited!!
I still don't know if I will get my money back.
Don't buy from these people, they may leave you high and dry

Iam loyal customer of WB for many years.
Recently received delivery of my beautiful Hinton sofa. Whole process was perfect. No pressure from sales people. I changed my fabric choice 3 times before it went into production. Thanks for your patience. Will be enjoying my sofa for many years to come! Thanks to delivery drivers who were polite and professional.

After waiting months for our new sofa and being fobbed off at every opportunity, no call backs, emails unanswered! I am now under the impression that Wesley Barrell has gone into administration or something very odd is going on. Staff at head office (when the phone does get answered) very cagey and I feel like we are being lied to, no management ever available?!, the staff must be having a ball with no manager ever around. At this point I’d just like my money back and be able to go to another sofa shop which does provide quality and will make our sofa. The staff and owners of this company should be ashamed of themselves, your quick to take our money but not deliver on the goods!

On the basis of the website list of opening times for Wesley Barrell in Bristol on a Sunday, we travelled from South Wales only to find it closed.
Having phoned the store today (5th February) and found that they were due to be open from 9.30 onwards, we arrived only to find that it was fully closed with notices on the door that the lease had been forefeit.
I shall be phoning head office tomorrow - but perhaps customers ought to be aware that this branch at least has ceased trading.

We ordered our new sofas after 2 visits to the showroom in Manchester.
They were really attentive and gave us lots of helpful advise and suggestions as to make sure that we had made the correct decisions.
We had a good idea of what we were trying to achieve and they helped refine the final details and choice.
The quality of what we now how in our lounge is really impressive even better than what we imagined.
Great quality and craftsmanship.
Thank you

My husband and I placed an order for a Burleigh corner sofa and an Idbury armchair from Wesley Barrell in mid November and we had a really positive experience. We requested if delivery before Christmas was possible and were advised it would be on a best endeavours basis since the weeks leading up to Christmas were very busy for them. I was delighted to see the Wesley Barrell crew turn up on 23rd Dec with our sofa and armchair (apparently my husband knew beforehand but kept it a surprise for me). We have family staying with us over Christmas and new year and the new sofas just added a great talking point during this time.

The corner sofa is really lovely and comfortable with its crushed blue velvet fabric and the armchair is classy and sleek. We moved into our new house in May this year and these are easily the best furniture we have bought. You can feel the difference in quality when you sit on them.

The delivery crew - Paul and Shane were also helpful and polite, they thoughtfully provided us wool felt pieces to make sure sofa legs don't drag along and damage our wooden flooring, something we hadn't considered before.

We are very happy and proud of our new prized possessions.

Service with a smile. We popped into the Manchester branch on Sunday 16th Dec and met David who was actually chatting with a couple from The Cotswolds! They said they were very happy with their purchase and had called in just to say hello to David and Annie. Impressive. David couldn't have been more helpful. We found a beautiful sofa which was delivered by a very nice chap, Rob, Wednesday 19th. Excellent service.

I bought two sofas from Wesley Barrell some 23 or so years ago. They are still super comfy and doing sterling service. However one castor was damaged by furniture removals, (NOT Wesley Barrell) rendering it useless. I contacted my local WB shop, not expecting any joy after such a long period of time, and even though the castor is no longer manufactured, they managed to locate a couple for me .. one to use and one spare. So my sofa is fixed! And no charge! That’s what I call first class service! Thank you! A Stephens, Marlow

I persuaded my 82 year old Mum to buy Wesley Barrell believing it was high quality and she'd get an excellent service. She paid in excess of £4,000 for her sofa and after only 6 weeks of use the fabric has pulled apart on the cushion. Anyone would find this quite taxing as you can imagine this is very stressful for someone of my Mum's age. There seems absolutely no commitment or urgency to solving these issues. Appalling after-care!

I'll go though the timeline and let people reviewing this judge for themselves the standard and effectiveness of your customer service.

11 /7/2018 – Wesley Barrell Sofa delivered
18/8/2018 - Mum called salesman B (initial of name) to report one of the cushions is split and fraying.
18/8/2018 - Salesman B responds and says will investigate. May have to send someone out.
22/8/2018 - Salesman B asks my mother to send photos. Tried to do that but without success.
1/9/2018 - Took cushion to Guildford store with my mother. Salesman D (initial of first name) took a picture on his phone. Tried to ring Salesperson B at Wigmore Street branch. Did explain that staff were on holiday and it may take longer to resolve (that was a statement we heard but I'd hardly say we accepted it). Said to leave it with them and they'd investigate and come back to my mother, I was present and suggested that someone should visit to see the sofa as I showed Salesman D that a good margin of material had been left but the cushion probably needed backing because the material was prone to pulling apart, Pointed out other areas along the seam that were coming apart. Salesman D appeared to understand the issue.
10/9/2018 - Salesman B phoned at 12 noon to say Mum will be contacted by Saleswoman C.
?/9/2018 - Saleswoman C calls and says a new cushion cover will be made.
19/9/2018 - Saleswoman J calls asks which side of the seat the cushion is as she needs it for the order. My mother explains that the cushions are identical so it doesn't matter. Saleswoman J insists she needs to know for the order so Mum replies left hand side. Both Mum and I assume a cushion cover has been put into production. We were surprised to learn in your response this was only done on 26 September.
20/11/2018 – notified that seat cover was ready but could not be fitted at the Guildford store as it is temporarily closed due to flooding. Arranged for someone to come on Saturday 1 December to fit cover.
1/12/2018 – a team arrives Saturday morning have no idea what they are there for, can’t find the cushion cover on the van. Say they will have to take the cushion away to have the cover fitted by “experts” and return on Tuesday 4 December with it!

Is this great customer service?

Having made the final payment, which was due on confirmation of delivery date, they promptly postponed the delivery date by five weeks. I sent this email below to the company, but no one has bothered to reply:

We were really annoyed, disappointed and surprised to hear today that our two sofas, due next week, are going to be delayed another five weeks. We have now paid all the cost upfront, and I find it amazing that with less than a week to go before delivery you discover that the fabric isn't suitable. Our current two sofas are being taken away on Saturday (an unchangeable arrangement), leaving us without seating for five weeks. In addition, my wife had to put off potential work to be at home on the delivery day.

While I appreciate that the sofas have to be made, and that takes time, it's a shame that your communication about the delay wasn't as efficient as you communication asking for payment!

UPDATE **********
Wesley Barrell have now responded well and have supplied us with two temporary sofas while ours is being made. We are now hoping that the revised date for delivery is held.

We have made 6 phone calls to this company chasing up an order that we have paid a deposit on, 2 to the Mailbox store and 4 to head office. Each time we have been fobbed off and told the person we need to speak to is in a meeting / not available and will call back. On each occasion nobody has ever had the courtesy to return our call. We are now seriously concerned that the order is not progressing and that this Company intends to steal our money. Reading other reviews here makes us even more nervous. PLEASE CALL BACK!!!
Mrs Louise Holdway

We ordered from the Birmingham store on July 16th, 2 Alexa sofas, a chair and a corner unit with delivery aimed 1st week in October. Craig dealt with us there and the ordering process was handled well. I progressed the order in September and was told all ok. I then progressed the order at the beginning of October and was told production would finish on the 5th and delivery on the 12th, so all to plan. I then received a call on the 5th saying the corner unit would now be finished this week and delivered on the 19th, but the Alexa chair and sofas would now not be ready until the w/c 19th November! Delivery some time after. New material had to be ordered (which they knew some weeks ago), they will receive it on the 19th October (they dont hold stock nor do their suppliers apparently) and then I join the queue again for the units to be manufactured. So another 4 weeks to be made, plus unknown delivery time. Appalling service and 4 months!

Update - 13/11/18
First the good part, our corner unit was delivered on the 19th October and we are very pleased with it.

Now the continuing saga of the rest of the order. We also ordered 1 off Alexa 1.5 chair and 2 off Alexa curved sofas. The Alexa chair was due for delivery on the 19th October with the corner unit. The wrong size of chair arrived in the wrong colour material. I have since contacted WB several times, including today and I am still none the wiser when or if I will receive the chair and sofas. These items were ordered in July so a very poor manufacturing service where not only can they not make the product in under 4 months but they cant even tell their customers when they will receive it.

We bought sofas and chairs through W-B's Manchester store. David and his colleagues were exceptional in helping us through the style and fabric choice and we really enjoyed the buying process. David's eye for complimentary styles is exceptional. However, when our furniture arrived a sofa and chair were left off the order and the delivery company who had collected from Witney to deliver to Stockport had to return the following week. On the second delivery no screws were included for the chair legs, so I had to drive to B&Q while the deliverers waited to get screws. Don't get me wrong the furniture is lovely (we even love the slubs in the fabric!) but some attention to detail is missing somewhere.

I recently took delivery of my 3 seat sofa and the experience all round was very satisfactory. The furniture is made to last which leaves me very happy with my beautiful sofa.

I have recently visited the Cheltenham shop. What a great shop. Although I have not placed an order, the sales lady was very polite and greeted us as we browsed the shop. She didn't hover like other furniture sales staff do. She was available to answer any questions, gave ideas, variations and I came away thinking there is still good customer service in the world.
Nowadays it is all too easy to write negative reviews but we must praise where praise is due and this shop deserves it.

Absolutely appalling service ordered cabinet on Jan 5th 2018 still not received no information available, no replies to emails. Shop assistant at Cambridge tries to be helpful but he is not being supported at head office.
Total disregard for customer service from head office. Having made numerous calls I am still waiting would warn anyone against shopping here. Products are good quality as I have previously purchased good from them. Never to be repeated again.

Last week we took delivery of our Enstone Suite and we are very pleased with it. It seems to be of the highest quality - far superior to anything we had seen in our local furniture showrooms. We ordered it from the Bristol showroom, and Jane, the manager, was extremely helpful from start to finish. We were also very impressed with the punctual delivery. Very great care had been taken of our suite in transit. Would recommend Wesley Barrell with no reservations.

Awful service waited ten days for wallpaper, paid for it, phoned to check on status after a few days and told we will let you know when we've sent it , phoned again 8days later to find out where the paper is and informed it's discontinued,why the incompetent staff could not have checked that in the first place now I have to explain to my customer why I can't complete their job . Lazy and complacent,that is Wesley barrell.