Matt Blatt Furniture - BIG Mistake

Just wanted to share this with everyone hoping that this mistake doesn’t happen to anyone else:

Coming from interstate and moving into a new apartment unit, I have had to purchase new sets of furniture recently. I had done a great deal of looking and factored in free shipping as well as quick despatch hoping to get settled into the new place before I start my new job. I came across different websites and Matt Blatt stood out - their furniture items (image) looked very convincing as well as the price. I was excited knowing that despite my previous attempts at shopping around instore this would have been the easiest way to shop for furniture. And was I clearly wrong. I made a purchase of over $1200 that night.

Soon after, I had thought about looking at reviews and finally found out that Matt Blatt went into administration early this year and had now been bought out by Kogan - I picked this up earlier and thought about how familiar the website interface was but went ahead with the orders anyway. Fast track into a couple of days on delivery, I had a big sigh of relief knowing that the orders went through okay and got delivered after finding out the administration debacle with orders not getting filled after customers spent thousands of dollars.

Anyway, I am very frustrated and disappointed with the quality of furniture as I unpacked the boxes. It was clearly not what I paid for - really poor quality, the couch fabric was tough as sandpaper and I wouldn’t even sit on it- I would have been happier buying a Kmart furniture and not have to spend $594.00 for it!

So I decided to leave some of the boxes unopened and to proceed with returning the items for a full refund. This was where it went tricky and very dodgy. The Matt Blatt website does not exclusively sell the items but they have the marketplace where other third party sellers do — their terms include returns only if they deem so, and minus fees which cost almost half of the item price. To give you guys an idea, the couch which I purchased for $594.00 would cost me :

  • Original dispatch fee $75
  • Return freight fee $75
  • 15% restocking fee $89.25

For the change of mind fees. This is ridiculous. Clearly its a vicious tactic so they can get away with returns and discourages customers to do so. I am
Just really disappointed with this and I would want to make a complaint to Fair Trade because this is a total ripoff.

Have you guys been in a similar situation? I just don’t know what to do, I’m on my own and I feel helpless.

Related Stores

Matt Blatt (Kogan)
Matt Blatt (Kogan)
Marketplace

Comments

    • +2

      They closed/are closing them. Kogan just bought the name.

      It's just a rinse and repeat job, like with dick smith.

      Like everyone else, starting a market place, trying to copy amazon, selling cheap shit items with nice pictures from third party sellers without a flying fk about the quality.

      Serves people right though, price unbelievable? It is.

      • I can't believe that people still haven't learned you get what you pay for.

    • They closed a long time ago. Everything was liquidated via Graysonline

    • +6

      Kogan has adopted a vulture model of scooping up carcass companies (Dick Smith, Matt Blatt), shifting to online only and driving the brand equity into the ground by selling garbage for a quick buck.

      They might word it slightly differently in their annual report.

  • +3

    Yeah its Kogan shitbox quality.The interface should have been the giveaway.

    Shame you missed out on the greysonline firesale. I don't think I paid more than 30% of RRP off a large range of items.

  • +4

    I bought a used 3 piece sofa set on Facebook marketplace for $60. Quality looked good and was kept in good condition when I checked it out.

    I sold the two and one seater sofa (kept the three seater) for $50. So my sofa effectively cost me $10. Been using it daily for the past three years.

    Secondhand furniture isn’t everybody’s cup of tea but for $10 and not the headache that you’re dealing with, give it a go.

    At least it helps keep stuff out of landfill.

    • I agree - I bought a nice but old style couch when I moved out of home for uni on Gumtree - it was awesome.
      Cost like $50 and I usedit for many years

      • Nice mate.

        We got our old couch off the side of the road in a wealthy suburb. Cleaned the cushion covers up and it was great for a couple years.

    • The trouble with this is usually shipping. Most family do not have van/ute to load them. Hence, it incurs shipping cost and time depending on how far the distance is.

      • Yeah that’s me.

        I signed up for a 1 year GoGet membership for free through IKEA family and friends.

        Costs $16/h to hire a Toyota Hiace. Would recommend going that route.

  • +1

    Buying a couch sight unseen is stupid.

    Also, for change of mind purchases which this is, I think it is lovely that they're allowing you to send it back.

  • +1

    Standard case of "you get what you pay for" it seems. But yeah if you care about quality, then furniture is definitely one of those things you should always test out first before pulling the trigger.

  • +4

    What the hell do you expect from a $500 couch?

  • +1

    I know a few people who furnished their house with items found on road side, including a working fridge and washing machine, couches etc

    • Guilty!

  • +3

    How much furniture were you able to buy for that $1200?

    Let me just tell you if you buy cheap furniture, you get cheap furniture.

  • I've recently bought six chairs from MB through Kogan website. It was a pre-order and will (supposedly) be delivered in January. I only bought there because it was the only place I could find the specific replica model with the timber and cover in the colour I wanted, apart from the original which is available at Great Dane for 12x the price and 6 months ETA. I had the option to spend a huge amount of money buying the original, buy a different model and/or be flexible with the colour of timber/cover, or buy from MB. Last year, I did go to the store to check and sit on the chair. I liked the chair and its finishing (timber/cover).

    I do understand that MB has been bought by Kogan, the reason why I used PayPal and Amex to reduce the risks. I hope they keep the supplier and at least its average quality for this particular model.

    I've just sold six chairs that I bought 4 years ago and got 40% of what I paid for them. Bought them from a different place (online, without trying them), they were beautiful, cheap, timber and fabric looked brand new after four years. Made in Malaysia. Buyer will likely be using them for years.

    Still, I understand I am not buying original handmade chairs made in Japan, but I am not paying $2,500+ for each chair either. I am not expecting these chairs to last ten years and selling them on Gumtree for 80% of the price after this period. If they are not great after five years, they'd have served their purpose and I don't mind just throwing them away.

    I found similar replicas, but not the one I wanted, and I don't think the quality would be different anyway. All these made in China/Malaysia/Vietnam/Indonesia furniture have similar quality.

    At this stage, not willing to spend 16k + delivery buying the originals. Replicas are legal and make design affordable.

    • Good luck in January when you open your delivery from MB!

  • +1

    'I trusted that nice man in the suit - how come he took all my money … ?'

    'the ad looked so convincing - how come I now feel ripped off … ?'

    caveat emptor, etc. - life lessons 101

  • +1

    Sounds like a pretty cheap couch, results not unexpected. Chairs are one of those things you have to try before you buy. It's all about butt and back feel. In fact if it's so good, you'd adjust your budget to suit.

  • You spent 500 bucks on a couch and complain that it's poor quality? Of course it is because 500 bucks is never going to be enough to buy quality.

    I've bought stuff from Matt Blatt before they were taken over by kogan and the quality was decent. I certainly wouldn't pay full price but they had plenty of decent buys when on sale. Having said that, they were more expensive stuff compared to 500 bucks for a couch.

  • +1

    Op, do you have a link to couch?

  • Does Kmart sell couch? Not to my knowledge.

    Just found a 2-seater one online delivered only, still not big furniture. Nearly $230 delivered for me.

    https://www.kmart.com.au/product/2-seater-sofa/2862075

    I bought this exact one on MB ($460 delivered today) last year for less $300 delivered (after coupon/giftcards discounts) on eBay. I reckon it is of better value than Kmart's one.

    https://www.mattblatt.com.au/mb/buy/nai-artiss-sofa-lounge-s…

    I think OP did not compare/check the price history enough before purchase. His couch(and other ones) might be selling for 33%+ less before.

    Without the exact product link, we can not judge the value of them further.

  • Here it is:

    https://www.mattblatt.com.au/mb/buy/nsz-1950mm-3-seater-sofa…

    The price has dropped since then and there are a few sellers for this similar item.

    Update: I’ve sent all my orders back, copped a delivery fee of $170.00 for the 6 pieces of furniture and that’s not including the fees as mentioned on my post. I would have lost $350.00 but I’m much happier to send them back than keeping them and would’ve lost all that money for nothing. I’ve learnt my lesson -

  • Sorry to hear. From what I can tell this isn’t much different to other stores. Large items like furniture attracts back and forth handling and shipping fees.

  • OP, 2 seater sofa for $99 delivered, beats Kmart's completely.

    https://elivingfurniture.com.au/clickfrenzy2020

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