Pottery Barn / Mitchell Gold Furniture

I purchased two leather arm chairs from Pottery Barn, manufactured for them by Mitchell Gold. They are in a solarium, together with two other pieced of leather furniture by other manufacturers. This winter, both of the Pottery Barn chairs become covered with an extraordinary amount of mold, covering every inch of the chairs. Nothing else in the room, including the two other pieced of leather furniture, a couch and an ottoman, had any mold at all.

Pottery Barn had the chairs inspected and decided that it was the room, and not their chairs, that was the problem. While this decision by Pottery Barn allowed them to avoid any responsibility, the fact remains that their leather chairs, and only their leather chairs, became a horrible medium for the growth of mold, presenting a serious health hazard. Had there been no other leather furniture in the room except for the Pottery Barn chairs, their excuse might have had some validity. The fact that nothing else in the room, including the other leather furniture, had any mold on it at all clearly demonstrates that their excuse is simply wrong. Unfortunately, Pottery Barn and Mitchell Gold furniture disclaimed any responsibility for what was obviously a defect in the tanning process of the leather, where the leather became an "incubator" for mold.

Ironically, Mitchell Gold Furniture likes to present itself as an environmentally concerned company, and Pottery Barn likes to present itself as a company dedicated to customer service. Apparently, this is not the case when it comes to introducing a health hazard into the homes of consumers. Beware when buying leather chairs manufactured by Mitchell Gold that you may be bringing a source of toxic mold into your home. As for Pottery Barn and Mitchell Gold Furniture, it is quite disconcerting to see two such well know businesses have so little regard for the health and safety of their customers.

SHG

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