Fury as delivery men abandon £2,000 sofa in staircase like famous Friends scene
A man has slammed a furniture company who left his new £2,000 sofa jammed on the staircase after abandoning an attempt to deliver it.
Luke Ansell, 27, had just moved into his new home in December when he bought the couch, which was delivered on January 19.
He claims that despite delivery men from Designer Sofas 4U assuring him that they make tight deliveries "all the time", they failed to get the new sofa bed up a narrow staircase - before abandoning it.
Photos of the attempted delivery show how the pair left huge holes in the staircase plasterwork and damage to the woodwork, before leaving the property.
The incident drew comparisons with a famous episode of the TV sitcom Friends - in which the pals try to get a couch up a long, winding staircase and hilarity ensues as they struggle with the challenge.
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Luke Ansell with his wife Eloise (Luke Harry Ansell / SWNS)
Luke has criticised the delivery company (Luke Harry Ansell / SWNS)Luke, of Bournemouth, says he refused to sign the delivery forms after they recommended cutting off his bannisters and then insisted that they had to leave so they could get home to the company's offices in Birmingham on time.
He says the company later rejected his account of events when he complained, with the delivery men allegedly denying they ever tried to get it up a staircase - despite Luke having photos of them at the scene.
Newlywed Luke, who runs pet grooming service "For The Love Of Dog" with his wife Elouise, said that the service was "shocking".
Rachel, Chandler and Ross try to move the couch up the staircase (NBCUniversal)He said: "Honestly it was unbelievable, the sofa was over £2,000 and they caused about that much damage delivering it.
"They got here and I showed them where I wanted it upstairs. I said that it looked quite tight, but they assured me that they do tight deliveries all the time.
"I just said 'oh well you're the experts' - they are a delivery company after all so I just left them to it.
The sofa was damaged (Luke Harry Ansell / SWNS)
The house's stairwell was also damaged during the failed delivery attempt (Luke Harry Ansell / SWNS)"They brought it in, they struggled to get it over the bannister and eventually got it in. But then it got jammed, they couldn't get it up or down.
"Then they said 'look we've got to get back to Birmingham' and tried to leave. They asked me to sign for the delivery - but I refused.
"We had a little bit of an argument about it, and then they suggested I cut away the bannister to get it out.
Luke and his wife had just moved into their house when the failed delivery attempt happened (Luke Harry Ansell / SWNS)"It's a brand new house that we had just bought for half a million, and now we have to have the work done to repair it.
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"Then they just left it there and went back to Birmingham. The drivers also said they didn't even try to get it up the stairs, but I have actual doorbell footage of them after they delivered it to my house.
"I have a photo of them at the bottom of the stairs after the damage was done too.
The workers had assured Luke that they made tight deliveries 'all the time' (Luke Harry Ansell / SWNS)
The company offered to replace the sofa (Luke Harry Ansell / SWNS)"They've destroyed the plasterboard and damaged all of the wooden skirtings on the stairway. They've also damaged the sofa too.
"It was just a shocking response by the company - so I'm just trying to raise awareness about their standards of service."
The company based in Birmingham told the BBC it was carrying out an "interval investigation".
Ross shouts 'pivot!' in the famous scene (NBCUniversal)The BBC says the firm emailed Mr Ansel disputing his version of what happened - claiming the sofa had been "left in a safe place on the landing".
It offered to replace the damaged sofa as a "goodwill gesture".
The Mirror has contacted Designer Sofas 4U for comment.
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