Luke Ansell has only just moved into his £500,000 home. (SWNS)
When Luke Ansell tried to have a chunky brown sofa delivered to his brand-new home, the result was a scene most Friends fans will be more than familiar with.
After the delivery people failed to pivot Ansell's new sofa enough they abandoned it while still jammed on the stairs.
Ansell, 27, had just moved into his brand new home in Bournemouth when he bought the £2,000 couch and had it delivered to on 19 January.
He says despite delivery men assuring him that they made tight deliveries 'all the time' the pair from the company failed to get the new sofa bed up a narrow staircase – before abandoning it.
The damage to the sofa. (SWNS)
Photos of the attempted delivery show how the pair left huge holes in the staircase plasterwork, and damage to the woodwork, before leaving.
The farce drew comparisons to the famous episode of Friends where Ross, Rachel and Chandler get Ross's new sofa stuck on the stairs as the trio try and get it into his flat.
Ansell says he refused to sign the delivery forms after they recommended cutting off his bannisters and then insisted that they had to leave so they could get home to the company's offices in Birmingham on time.
He says the company later rejected his account of events when he complained, with the delivery men allegedly denying they ever tried to get it up a staircase – despite Luke having photos of them at the scene.
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The damage done to the house's stairwell by the furniture company's abandoned sofa delivery. (SWNS)
Newlywed Luke, who runs a pet grooming service For The Love Of Dog with his wife Elouise, said that the service was 'shocking'.
He said: "Honestly it was unbelievable, the sofa was over £2,000 and they caused about that much damage delivering it.
"They got here and I showed them where I wanted it upstairs. I said that it looked quite tight, but they assured me that they do tight deliveries all the time.
"I just said 'oh well you're the experts' - they are a delivery company after all so I just left them to it.
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The sofa stuck on the stairs. (SWNS)
"They brought it in, they struggled to get it over the bannister and eventually got it in. But then it got jammed, they couldn't get it up or down.
"We had a little bit of an argument about it, and then they suggested I cut away the bannister to get it out.
"It's a brand new house that we had just bought for half a million, and now we have to have the work done to repair it."
The company based in Birmingham told the BBC it was carrying out an "interval investigation".
The BBC says the firm emailed Ansel disputing his version of what happened – claiming the sofa had been "left in a safe place on the landing".
It offered to replace the damaged sofa as a "goodwill gesture".
EarhornJones on January 26th, 2023 at 22:39 UTC »
I used to deliver furniture for a living. You'd be amazed how many guys say, "just do whatever it takes to get it in. Don't worry about damage. I'll take care of it."
Spoiler alert: They don't take care of it.
It was always the wannabe rich guys, too.
I'm not saying that's what happened, here, but if those delivery guys worked for me, and told me that's what went down, I'd believe them 100%.
Still stupid, though.
CactusBoyScout on January 26th, 2023 at 22:02 UTC »
Lol my girlfriend hired a TaskRabbit to get a sofa down the stairs of her apartment building once (before we met) and the dude just peaced out when it got stuck. He was like “Idk it’s stuck… I’m out” and left.
Luckily some other people in the building helped her get it down the stairs.
PorkyMcRib on January 26th, 2023 at 21:38 UTC »
Pet grooming pays better than I thought it did.