Following my "driving 70 miles each way to look at furniture in a shop only to discover it doesn't fit in the space I need it to" story, my mum was browsing online, on my behalf, and found furniture that actually *did* seem to fit the gaps.
She sent me the URL and, yes, she is right, there are 3 pieces of furniture in one range, that all match, will all fit properly in their intended locations, and seem quite fairly priced. Low, even.
But some shit doesn't stack up.
So some red flags.
No phone number.
No company name/address.
The Ltd company that seems closest to the URL is (I think) unrelated.
No reviews/trustpilot/google to speak of (this might be good, of course).
No reply on echat.
The advertiser seems to be a different company.
Some fake-looking posts on some kind of reviews forum.
The trouble is, I really like the range of furniture's appearance, BUT I don't want to get into a mega waste of time if it's fraudy.
Sleuths - what think ye?
Affordable, quality furniture for your home and garden. Oak and painted furniture, ceramic and marble tables, plus sofas, chairs, beds and mattresses. Discover the latest products, trending pieces and finishing touches including cushions, bedding, throws and lighting. Express delivery available. Est. Cornwall 2010.
@bloor it I think I found the CEO - the company is active on Facebook with sales pitches - I'm British Asian myself, a Desi lad having an interest in furniture/interior design rather than cars or sportsball does stand out but its also a common (and androgynous) name!
I think Amardeep is legit, but in common with many small businesses these days they *really* make it difficult to communicate with them other than placing orders (and are vague about stock and delivery timescales, I discovered this when buying alloy wheels earlier in the year, took me a while to find a half-decent supplier)
As for the furniture, I think its sourced from the big Chinese import warehouses (there's one near me) so probably on EBay as well, but again stock availability can vary wildly
@vfrmedia so i also found this now :
https://www.thefurnshop.co.uk/Global-Home-Global-Home-Thurlestone-13366-r93.html
which looks a lot more trustworthy; 500k shareholder funds, years of trading etc.
Same stuff, but kind of feels more trustworthy; also Trustpilot actually genuine.
@bloor From a quick skim, my first red flag was the fact that the
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4.8 Stars | 2.1k Reviews
didn't actually link to a review site.
https://shop.app/m/w0a7jgkuqt?inStock=true
30 reviews on Shop.
Welcome to Blythe Living, an online furniture retailer committed to providing high-, quality, stylish, and affordable furniture to customers across the United Kingdom. Whether you are looking for indoor furniture or outdoor/garden furniture, we have, something for everyone. We offer free shipping on all orders.
@bencurthoys No so i think that's the company that has nothing to do with this business website.
The advertiser on google was listed as something like Gill Trade Ltd.
@bloor
https://hopofurniture.com/products/bergen-oak-nest-of-2-coffee-tables
https://www.furniturebrands4u.co.uk/cbf-nest-of-tables
https://muddybay.co.uk/furniture/product/Nest%20of%202%20Tables?mn=Bergen
I don't know exactly what to make of this, but I found three other sites that have the exact same photos of a nested table. All the same style of product, all British websites.
I cannot find this on Aliexpress, but Google Images is giving me results like this. Kind of strange is what I'll say...
@bloor Yeh I agree, there are loads of clone sites with similar stock.
How about this one though:
https://www.pineandoakwarehouse.com
I searched for the Salcome larger unit because it seemed least common.
@bloor Quite possibly real but they are in breach of all sorts of regulatory requirements for publishing contact info so I can't imagine they are too worried about other laws either.
Stuff looks generic Chinese or Indian. You'll may find it on Aliexpress and maybe even Temu and the like.
It's been a thing for decades. Lots of quite fancy "brand" furniture and even beds in the UK are off the shelf bulk stuff that's at most decalled or coloured for a specific client.
@bloor Reminds me of the time my wife bought a 2 drawer metal filing cabinet off eBay. It was in Rutland, which she thought was "just up the road in North Yorks". Not exactly, no. Rutland was near Leicester, a 115 mile trip in each direction. For a damn filing cabinet.
Thankfully to break the journey up she has friends just the other side of Leicester so we at least got tea and cake.
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