Those who purchase an apartment, move to a rented apartment, or in general want to renew themselves with new furniture for the house, of course invest a lot of money in the hope of enjoying it. But what happens when a purchase that starts with the intention of being a pleasant and exciting experience turns into a nightmare?
According to them, consumers who purchased furniture in the "Living Room" chain encountered many problems and report great distress caused to them both financially and emotionally. The problem, they say, is a transaction that is listed as a special transaction – that is, one that is made by special order, and then the company charges a cancellation fee of 35%.
In addition, there are complaints about lack of response, non-delivery or significantly late delivery, material defects in products and products that are not of the promised quality, and misleading around product quality.
A man named Zamir allegedly purchased furniture at the Ashkelon branch worth 10,000 shekels in September. He was supposed to move and in the end didn't move in. Three days after ordering, he submitted a request to cancel the transaction. At first, he notes that they did not agree to cancel the deal. After arguing with the seller, who also shouted at him, he said, the branch canceled the transaction but charged him a fine of NIS 3,500 instead of the standard cancellation fee according to the law of 5% or NIS 100 – whichever is lower.
After several conversations, Zamir managed to reach the owner or manager of the company, who claimed that the cancellation terms appeared in the contract he signed and claimed that he had placed a special order, even though he claimed to have asked for colors and sizes that were in the store. According to him, he did not ask for something special, but standard colors.
"The furniture arrived broken"
Another disappointed customer is Gabi. He said his parents and aunt bought two beds. His aunt was given a broken bed that wasn't attached properly, and the whole bed looked "like a mouse had eaten it, with tears." His parents' bed, he says, has small tears, and the linen box doesn't close properly. He said they went to the store several times, each time coordinating with them when they were supposed to come to the store for repairs, until finally he and his cousin came to the store and called the police.
Photo: AP //,
Mor purchased furniture at the Bilu Center branch of the chain. She says she purchased a dining area in August, which arrived broken and without chairs. Since then, the story dragged on, and to this day she has not received it. The company won't return the money, and it says it can't be caught.
Yuli also ran into problems with the company. She bought a dining area and six chairs, and she says the chairs don't have a good grip and her children have already fallen off them several times. With this reservation she also bought a sofa, two small tables and a living room and snack bar. The sofa came in two different colors, and the chaise longue in a different color. She asked to cancel the reservation, but was not allowed because it was a special reservation. In addition, the receipt has a total amount paid and there is no detail on how much each thing cost. Therefore, if she tries to cancel through the credit card company, they need to know how much each product cost. It should be noted that additional complaints have been received stored in the system.
Misleading customers
According to the Consumer Council, this is one of a group of companies handled by the same customer service system on identical phones and email addresses. Among other things: consumers make a transaction in the store of one of the companies, but the payment is paid to another company that issues the receipt to the consumer.
The Consumer Council notes that the company does not respond to the Council's requests and does not appear in court when consumers sue it. The Consumer Council sent a letter to the company, allegedly fearing violations of the Consumer Protection Law. The letter was sent by registered mail, which was returned because the company did not collect it, and also by email. The Council also sent a report to the Consumer Protection Authority.
Adv. Hadas Jacobson,
The Consumer Council notes that since 2021, about 100 complaints have been received about these four companies, and there have been various consultations regarding these companies.
According to Adv. Hadas Jacobson, Director of Regulation at the Consumer Council, "There are four companies that appear to have a connection between them. For example, you buy furniture from Living Room and get an invoice from another company. These are four companies whose transaction with one of them can result in an invoice with a different name. On the face of it, there must be some connection between them. This raises questions, because as part of the Consumer Protection Law, it should be clear who the dealer is, and therefore it is less proper."
As for the complaints, she says: "In the company's case, we're talking about a basic deception, according to which all their order forms say that this is a special order and therefore there is a cancellation fee of about 35% on the products. Even if the consumer bought a product from a display it will be written. This is in stark contrast to cancellation regulations.
"In addition, we see a lot of complaints about lack of response, non-delivery, or significantly late delivery. There are a lot of complaints about material defects in the products, discrepancies, products that are not of the promised quality, and a lot of deception around the quality of the product. Relative to the size of the network, the number of complaints is very large and significant. The complaints repeat themselves, so this is a phenomenon."
Dozens of complaints
When asked what can be done in such cases, Adv. Jacobson replied: "In general, violation of the Consumer Protection Law is an offense that can constitute an administrative offense. Civil lawsuits can result in a refund, but that doesn't solve a general problem. We have uploaded a statement of claim to our website that anyone can download for free in order to exercise their rights in small claims while we cover the legal part."
Public Trust, a nonprofit organization that works for fairness between business owners and consumers, has received dozens of complaints against the company. According to Sylvia Segal, Director of the Control and Public Inquiries Department at the Public Trust: "A significant part of the complaints dealt with problems in the supply of products.
"This involves supplying defective products or products that differed from those ordered, when consumers did not receive a response and solutions from the company. In many cases, consumers asked to cancel the transaction and then ran into problems with the cancellation.
"According to the law, the business must deliver the product as it was promised, compliant with the order and without defect. If the business provides a defective product, or a product that does not match what was ordered, it must repair it, i.e. replace or repair the defect. If the business does not do so, the consumer has the right to cancel the transaction without cancellation fees. The law also allows the consumer to cancel a transaction due to regret."
Sylvia Segal,
Attorney Dudu Even-Chen, spokesman for the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority, told Israel Hayom that "the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority is conducting an investigation into Milan Design and Furniture Ltd., which sells furniture in various stores throughout the country under the name 'Living Room' and other companies. The investigation is in its final stages and is currently pending a decision on the sanction. Findings were discovered, including suspicions of deception for non-cancellation of a transaction, failure to deliver a product on time, overcharging regarding cancellation fees, misleading advertising and supplying defective products."
Living Room's management said in response: "We apologize to individual customers who had a malfunction with them, which is legitimate. An article about two dissatisfied customers does not reflect the reality on the ground. The products are according to the customer's demand and not off-the-shelf products, and according to the Consumer Protection Law cannot be canceled. We gave the option at a cancellation fee of 35%, which is explained to the customer at the time of the transaction. It is also listed in the invitation and they are signatories to it, in light of your request the matter will be re-examined."
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