Hi there, I am currently looking for a sofa and wanted some recommendations as to where to buy it from. Have seen a desgin that I like at DFS but am a bit loathed to buy from there as have heard bad comments about their company and quality and aftercare. Any personal experiences from other people?

Also have been told about a shop called Mitchell's suite outlet in Parkgate Rotherham. They say that they get Court's liquidation stock and the stock is massively reduced. Also, they say that they can get the same stock as other companies eg DFS as they will order from the same manufacturers at a massive discount. Anyone had any good or bad dealings with them?

Can't recommened anywhere but I can give you a small tip (from recent experience)...

If you go to any of the large retail park type stores to buy a sofa they will usually make you sign a form for delivery. There are usually clauses on the form, such as saying if they can't fit the furniture through your door there will be a 25% restocking fee (ie: the sofa costs you a grand and you have to return it so you only get £750 back).

They will often try and bull* you that if you won't sign it they won't deliver it. Just point blank refuse to sign it and tell them if they if they won't deliver it you don't want to buy it (or if you've already paid, you want a refund).

Also: In my experience shopping for furniture is the worst shopping experience. The "shop assistants" are the worst kind of hard-sell merchants, constantly following you around and trying every trick in the book to get a quick sale. Tell them to get lost as soon as you walk through the door and if they keep pestering you tell them your going to walk.

I went to John Peters on Sunday and i have to say their staff were very friendly,polite and seamed to know what they were talking about without being pushy.

The last Sofa i bought was from DFS and the quaolity was not up to much,looked knackered after the first six months.
Having said that a friend of mine bought a £2000 sofa from M&S and it arrived with a rip in it.

Depends how much you want to pay. Ponsfords on London Road, near Heeley railway bridge has always been good, but the cost is high. The same goes for John Lewis. At the other extreme, if you don't mind second hand, there's a shop on Abbeydale Road, that seems to have reasonable quality stuff. Its on the RH side going out of town about half a mile past the Broadfield pub.

Our biggest problem was how long we'd have to wait to get what we wanted.
Have bought a lot of stuff at good prices from Hancock & Lant (http://www.hancockandlant.co.uk/) who appear to be moving to Queens Road.

From experience, I woudn't touch DFS with a barge pole. Had 3 suites. Single, live alone, and not many visitors,Sad or what?But, I found that they all started to tear or the springs broke long before the end of the interest free deal. Wait for a Pondsfords sale. Or sit on an orange box.

Ebay - many bargains !! especially with leather ranges !!

We got two of ours from Next, they have been fantastic, we paid for them over two years and they still look like new after 4 years, despite, my two little boys, their friends, and us treating them like climbing frames , spare beds, spilling wine/coffee .....They are in the lounge.
Bought a new one for our extension from DFS, very nice and good price, but has a few scratches showing already, I didnt know leather did that?, so a bit gutted as its a huge corner one.
Will stick to Next, next time .
Have you looked at Ikea, they have some good deals on,we do have one little two seater in our kitchen from there and its been brilliant, is leather too, and not a mark on it,it is well used and treated with no care ,we got it from their bargin corner, have a look.
Oh yes and then we have one in the boys games/cinema room that really does get hammered , was from Argos!Is wearing very well.

i got 2 sofas from mfi and i must say they are fantastic quality, they are leather and they were in the sale but they almost always have a sale on!

one tip,, try bartering with the sales assistant, i managed to get a reduction of £90 of the 2 as i said i could not afford the full price! they usually can offer a discount if it means making a sale

thanks for all the help guys. It's been really helpful, still in a situation where I am not sure what to do. Am still tempted by the dfs sofa even though am not quite sure about the quality because this is the only sofa seen that I like so far!
Does anyone have any views on the sofa place "Mitchells suite outlet in Rotherham Parkgate?"

I'd recommend Ikea too. The quality and design is hard to beat, especially at their prices. Some of the sofas are in stock, the cheaper ones usually are, so at least you know what you are buying and don;t have to wait weeks on end for delivery. As for delivery, when the shops are so far from Sheffield, either go with a great big van, or else they will deliver themselves. It's about £40 or £50 from either Leeds or Nottingham, and that's a flat rate for as much stuff as you want to be delivered, so if you want to buy other large items they'll drop them off too. But I recommend the Leeds branch over the Nottingham one as the staff are more helpful and its less busy.

Otherwise, have a scout round the streets around Queens Road, as there are loads of cheap furniture shops who will be more helpful than the big chainstores. I once needed a bed desperately and while the chainstores all quoted a month to six weeks on delivery, an independent shop said they'd get me one out next day.