I have been a customer of NEXT for over 15 years. During this time, I have seen the quality of their products and customer service deteriorate significantly. I now consider NEXT too shoddy for my custom. I have paid them off and cancelled my account. NEXT clothing wouldn’t look out of place hanging on the rails of Asda. Their garments stand up to the washing machine with about the same amount of vigour as green label pants. However, NEXT furniture sinks even lower – replacing the now deceased MFI as the go-to purveyors of shabby tat. A couple of years ago I purchased a chest of Oxford drawers at £287.50 and 2 Oxford bedside tables at £175 each. Within less than eighteen months the drawers broke on the chest and on one of the bedside tables. This was not due to heavy or inappropriate use – just a few socks and t-shirts to be honest. As I am very busy and can do without the inconvenience, it took me a couple of months to contact NEXT about this. Initially I telephoned and they told me someone would get back to me. Several weeks later I received an email asking for proof of purchase – even though I bought the items using my NEXT account. I seemingly have better record keeping skills than NEXT so I could locate this information immediately and send it on to them. More weeks passed before I received an email asking me for my date of birth and the first line of my address. I duly responded with this information. I waited a month before seeking an update. I eventually received the following reply from NEXT; “Thank you for email. I’ve been able to locate these items on the archive statements. Unfortunately for the age of these items they are out of warranty and we are to replace them.” As far as NEXT are concerned, their furniture should not be expected to last more than three years (18 months given that I hadn’t the time previously to deal with this). Disposable furniture then. Reading the email response, it seems that NEXT pay about as much care and attention to their grammar as they do their furniture construction. I also have a dining table from NEXT which is about 4 years old and every few weeks I need to tighten the screws that attach the legs to the base. No wonder NEXT are seeing their profits continually fall, difficult quarter after difficult quarter and sales forecasts are cut like the quality of their wares.