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A class action lawsuit is taking on furniture retailer Ashley Furniture over claims that its DuraBlend upholstery fails to hold up under ordinary use.
Plaintiff Sladjana Perisic of Florida is accusing Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. of violating Florida consumer protection laws with its DuraBlend upholstery, a hybrid of synthetic and natural materials made to mimic the appearance of leather.
She says Ashley Furniture “falsely, deceptively or misleadingly promoted, marketed, advertised, and sold furniture with DuraBlend” as if it were a high-quality, durable product. But in fact, she claims, DuraBlend upholstery starts to peel and fall apart soon after being exposed to normal wear and tear.
According to this Ashley Furniture class action lawsuit, DuraBlend is marketed as “blended leather,” which Perisic says is synonymous with “bonded leather.” Bonded leather consists of scraps of animal hide adhered together and covered with layers of polish and other materials to give it the appearance of a single piece of leather.
Perisic quotes an article on the subject from Consumer Affairs that says “the true difference between bonded and genuine leather is its durability,” a detail that many retailers allegedly fail to mention to their customers.
The plaintiff says that in August 2013 she purchased a DuraBlend-upholstered sofa, loveseat and recliner from an Ashley Furniture store in Pinellas Park, Fla., at a cost of about $1,700. She says the promotional material for that furniture said its DuraBlend upholstery was “as durable as leather.”
But by early 2016, she claims, the upholstery had started “bubbling and peeling.” The top leather-like layer on the cushions and arm rests allegedly began to peel away, exposing the coarse, off-white material underneath.
Perisic says she made a claim under the furniture protection plan she had purchased from the Guardsman company. Guardsman denied that claim, stating that the damage to her furniture was a manufacturing defect, the class action lawsuit states.
The plaintiff says she paid a premium to Ashley Furniture based on its representations that DuraBlend upholstery was as durable as leather. Had she known that DuraBlend would fail to hold up under ordinary use, Perisic says she either would not have purchased it or would have been willing to pay significantly less for it.
Perisic proposes to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all persons who purchased furniture with DuraBlend upholstery from Ashley Furniture in the State of Florida. She expects Class Members will number in the thousands.
She is seeking an order from the court that would require Ashley Furniture to conform its marketing of DuraBlend upholstery to applicable legal requirements. She also seeks an award of actual, incidental, statutory and punitive damages and reimbursement of her attorney’s fees and court costs, with interest.
Perisic is represented by Julie Braman Kane and Stephanie A. Casey of Colson Hicks Eidson PA, and by Mike Arias and Mikael H. Stahle of Arias Sanguinetti Stahle & Torrijos LLP.
The Ashley Furniture DuraBlend Defective Product Class Action Lawsuit is Sladjana Perisic v. Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., Case No. 8:16-cv-03255, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
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228 thoughts onAshley Furniture Class Action Says DuraBlend Upholstery Falls Apart
I purchased a sofa and love seat approximately in 2014. By early 2016 I noticed areas of peeling on sofa and pillows. I called and was told it was normal wear and tear. My husband and I are Seniors. All we do is sit. Not satisfied at all with this outcome.
I also have a recliner that was supposed to be leather the supposed leather started pealing off of the material backing we contacted Ashley home office with our complaint that what was advertised as leather was not real leather, after a few weeks of back and forth I was told it was leather and they would not do anything about it. Ashley lost a good customer because they were not truthful.
how do I become part of a law suit if there is no subscribe button?
The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. We recommend you sign up for a free account at TopClassActions.com and follow the case. We will update the article with any major case developments or settlement news! Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!
I have the same issue! I live in Texas, and bought a sofa and love seat . I paid TOO MUCH to have it falling apart !
We have the same problem with our Durablend Sectional from Ashley’s Furniture. We purchased the couch two months ago and already have these problems.
I don’t live in Florida but, in 2014 I purchased ( financed ) 2 Ashley furniture Durablend sofas. I used to keep throw covers on them because we have a ranch and didn’t want them to get dirty.
One day I took off the covers and noticed that the top layer had started peeling. I thought I had maybe caused it by sitting on the edge with a tool in my pocket.
I immediately contact the store I bought them from about having them repaired under warranty. I was told that even though they we’re only a couple of months old the warranty didn’t cover that and that it would cost between $ 275 to $ 350 to have that one section repaired.
Not even a month later the second sofa started to peel. I noticed more areas on both sofas everyday.
I decided to return them to the store even though I had paid @ $ 2,000 of the $ 3,500 cost to purchase I took the loss. The worst is that I lost a good business relationship over this. The store owner felt I had damaged the furniture and simply didn’t want to pay for it, I felt that the store owner backed the company and not the customer. I’m going to send them a copy of this.
I also bought the same furniture from Ashley’s Furniture. I even paid extra for the extended warranty, which they said that was not cover, however the salesperson said everything was covered. Even the knobs if they broken off. I purchased the furniture from Ashley’s Furniture in Joliet, IL I would also like to be a part of this lawsuit. I replaced my other sofa & love seat that I bought from Darvins in Orland Park, IL, just because that was about 20 years old, but looked in better shape then the one I have that’s about 5 yrs. old. I would like to be included in this law suit as well!
This particular case is seeking to represent Florida buyers. You can contact class counsel with questions. Current counsel is listed at the bottom of the article, and can be Googled for contact information.
We also offer a submission form on our website for you to fill out if you are seeking class action legal help. Attorneys will then review your submission to determine if you have a case. If they feel you qualify, they will contact you directly. You can submit your information here: https://topclassactions.com/start-a-class-action/.
We had the same problem with a loveseat and 2 recliners.
same here
We bought 5 individual “leather” Ashley chairs that were completely made of this material from Nebraska Furniture Mart in KS. We live in Kansas City, MO and definitely agree we should be part of this. What a horrible experience and we never knew what to do with what we had either!!
I had the same issue with a sofa and loveseat. I had to get rid of it within a year and out $1750. We actually burnt it because nobody else wanted it either.
I had the same problem!!!! I bought a reclining sofa and lovesest and paid over $2200! The “leather” peeled off within a few months!