Sofa Vanishes In Chiswick
Who will pay for Jayne's squashed sofa?
One wag described it as ‘chair today, gone tomorrow’ but it wasn’t funny for Chiswick resident Jayne Buchanan when the sofa she was sending to be re-upholstered disappeared before the workmen could get it into their van.
The incident happened outside Fairlawn Court last week when a set of circumstances combined to create what she described as a “complete farce”.
“It was a favourite sofa, about ten years old, and was in need of re-upholstery, so I organised it with a local company and they sent two of their employees to collect it.
“I gave them a visitor’s parking permit and they parked their van around the corner, brought the sofa down to the road and, while one of them rushed around to get the van, the other popped in to collect the cushions.
In the few short minutes while this activity was going on a recycling lorry owned by contractor May Gurney (operating on behalf of Ealing Council), spotted the sofa on the pavement and collected it. Within seconds it was being squashed to bits in their recycling truck.
The area where the sofa was left
The horrified householder remonstrated with the lorry driver but was told it was on the public highway.
“The sofa was half on the private pathway leading to the flats and half on the pavement. It was not on the road at all,“ she said.
Ms. Buchanan has now found herself in a ‘no man’s land’ with nobody willing to take responsibility for what happened to the sofa.
“The upholstery company have said that in fifty years of business this has never happened to them. My house insurance won’t pay out as the sofa was not in the house and I haven’t heard back from either Ealing Council or the contractors.”
She added that it was even more surprising to see a Council rubbish vehicle in the area since it was neither refuse collection day, or recycling day. And Council special collections have to be pre-booked.
After posting her tale of woe on the ChiswickW4.com forum, a concerned resident offered her an unwanted sofa but it turned out to be too small to fit the alcove in her son’s bedroom.
However she has not given up hope and is awaiting a response from the parties involved.
March 17, 2012