Buy what you can afford. he is only after his commission.
UK
I worked for a sofa manufacturer for 7 years who used to sell a similar kind of warranty, in my time there (having made in excess of 2000 sales) I have only ever had two customers who actually used their warranty so my view point is that you probably wouldn't need it.
You are still covered by the sale of goods act should anything go wrong with the sofa in the first 12 months. After that point, if the worst happens then there isn't much you can do to a sofa that can't be fixed by either a local upholsterer or a nationwide furniture repair company.
With regards to different types of leather, I must say there are different qualities and to be frank, in my opinion the company you have mentioned isn't renowned for the higher end.
Bonded Leather / Byecast Leather (£) - avoid at all costs. This is made from the lower (inferior quality) layers of the leather hide which are coated in polyurethane. Over time this will deteriorate and crack leaving you with a poor looking suite.
Corrected Grain Leather (££) - The hide is covered in a pigmented stain and then rolled to compress the fibres and emboss a grain pattern onto the leather. The benefits are a consistent, uniformed finish thats very hard wearing and durable. The down side is you loose all of the natural characteristics of the leather (which may or may not be a bad thing depending on your personal preference.)
Semi Aniline Leather (£££) - A compromise between corrected grain and full aniline leather. The hide is stained with aniline dye mixed with a small about of solid colour pigment. The result blocks out some of the marks and imperfections in the leather but still maintains many of the natural features. The leather is then covered in a thin layer (usually wax) to protect it against minor scratching. The grain pattern is left in its natural form without any embossing.
Full Aniline Leather (££££) - This is the most expensive, natural and delicate leather to produce, only the best hides are selected for this type. The leather is coloured with aniline (translucent dye) which shows all of the natural marks, scars and features of the original hide (hence the selection process). This leather is very supple and soft to touch, it is also quite warming compared to other coated leathers which can feel cold.
One thing to look out for is that many of the main stream sofa manufactures sell "aniline leather sofas" however they only use the good leather on the places that are immediately obvious such as the top of the arms and the seats. When viewing the sofa have a look at the back and the side of the arms to ensure that its the same leather throughout.
Hope it helps, good luck with finding your perfect sofa!
I am looking to buy a sofa from my local dfs. upon speaking to the salesman he said there are 3 choices of leather. a basic one, a middle one (£200 extra) and the best one (£300 extra). the £300 one is to expensive for me but does anyone know if there is an actual difference between the ''basic'' and middle one.
he also spoke about the 5 year leather protection. is it as good as they say it is? or has anyone had experiences with this? I suspect it's another way to make more money out of us. do have a 3 year old but is generally careful (doesn't draw on furniture or jump too much on sofa) but is a typical 3 year old!
