Yahoo Finance Customers of Maker&Son sued for ‘harassment’ after bad reviews
Customers of a luxury furniture brand founded by the family of Sir Terence Conran face court injunctions for writing negative reviews online.
Customers of Maker&Son Ltd, which sold handmade English sofas and beds with price tags of more than £10,000, left indignant feedback on review sites after the brand fell into financial distress last year. Customers complained of phone lines being closed and struggling to obtain refunds for undelivered orders.
Now, in an extraordinary step to protect its reputation, the brand's new owner Inc & Co has applied for a number of cease and desist court orders to former customers who stand accused of harassing and defaming the new firm, the Telegraph can disclose.
In formal injunction applications customers were told to "immediately cease to harass" or "post any further comments" and "remove all negative reviews online". Lawyers for the new firm also asked those served with the letters to pay £15,000 each to cover its legal bills.
Inc & Co’s legal team claimed the former customers were "trying to cause as much nuisance as possible", saying that it had "every right to stop this harassment".
In correspondence with this newspaper the legal team at Inc & Co said: "We do not have a problem with reviews, if they are true, but if they are defamatory or libellous, we will take action. If we are harassed, we will act, this is why the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 exists."
It came to light after disgruntled Maker&Son customers, who left a string of one-star reviews on feedback site Trustpilot, wrote to Telegraph consumer champion Katie Morley.
One customer, an interior designer who was purchasing a sofa worth more than £8,000 for a client before the firm went into receivership, said she had been unable to secure a refund after it failed to arrive.
Another attempting to seek a refund for a £6,000 green velvet sofa was offered her money back in October, as long as she signed a "brand neutrality" document promising not to leave negative comments about the new company on review sites.
Others have accused Inc & Co of unfairly withholding refunds. While Inc & Co pledged to mitigate customers losses when the brand changed hands, acquiring firms have no legal responsibilities for the former customers of companies they have purchased.
Speaking about the firm's struggles in a video blog last week, Inc & Co chief executive Jack Mason said a key priority for the year was "building back up" the brand's reputation.
Review site Trustpilot was dragged into the dispute last night. It said it was conducting an investigation, after customers complained their comments could no longer be seen due to Maker&Son "flagging" them as harmful. All reviews flagged as harmful are blacked out while Trustpilot assesses their content in line with its moderation policies.
Maker&Son Ltd was co-founded by Felix Conran, the grandson of celebrated designer Sir Terence Conran who set up the homeware brand Habitat and founded the Design Museum in London, and his father Alex Willcock. Its sofas were touted as "the most comfortable in the world". The feature of glossy magazines and social media posts, their sofas and beds won plaudits from celebrity fans including Australian singer and actor Troye Silvan.
Despite a previous valuation of £55m, the family business, which operated from the grounds of the Conrans' grade-II listed West Sussex home, was sold in August to Manchester-based Inc & Co in August following a period of financial difficulty.
However, the new owners were unable to turn the business around and it fell into administration in October. The company went into liquidation, but Inc & Co now licences the Maker&Son brand name to manufacturers via a "phoenix firm".
A spokesman for Inc & Co said it "had no legal responsibility" to refund customers who had paid for furniture that never arrived.
"Although Inc & Co had no legal responsibility to do so, we attempted to mitigate the losses of customers who had paid the liquidated company. This has not been possible in all cases. Any customers who paid Maker&Son Ltd should contact its administrator, FRP."
A representative of Felix Conran said his family was no longer involved in the Maker&Son brand, but expressed "deep concern" for affected customers.
