Covid Restrictions and Viewing Furniture Before You Buy During Lockdown

Like a lot of retailers, we have been asked this question frequently throughout the pandemic whenever a lockdown or local restrictions have been in place. This is a brief excerpt from an ongoing conversation, we hope will resolve any confusion on this topic:

"Thanks for getting back to me. Unfortunately your suggestion doesn't work for me because my wife wants to see the chairs before buying. It looks like waiting until at least the12 th April if we are still interested and they are still available.

Kind regards

[name redacted]"

Hello [name redacted],
I do understand and sympathise with your predicament. The lockdown restrictions, although necessary, are extremely inconvenient for everyone, whether you are looking to make a purchase or indeed running a business. We all look forward to a time when we can go about our day to day lives with a sense of normality and safety.
That said, I do think it is important to point out that what you are asking us to do is currently against the law. I am sure that this was probably the furthest thing from your mind, and of course we would not expect anyone who does not work in retail to be particularly aware of it, but the lockdown restrictions are very clear on the subject. They are not an advisement but are obligatory, so it is not a simple matter of finding a way to work around them.
You can see from our reviews that we have a great many happy customers who have purchased from us during the lockdown. We have had quite a few local customers tell us that they're unable to purchase a sofa or suite without seeing it, some quite put out that we've not been able to accommodate them. Some of these have gone on to purchase from us anyway, and been very happy with the result. I'm afraid this is as much as I have to say on the matter.
Yours faithfully,
Leonard

Leonard Worthington
Director