Well I went to DFS 3 weeks ago and ordered a spangly splendid sofa of much delightfulness.
This was at Speke in Leeeverpewl la. The saleschap was very helpful, explained everything clearly (including that signing to order was a legally binding contract etc), explained the delivery process and I walked away two grand lighter but a happy customer.
Obviously the suite is yet to be delivered and it could be a rancid dogs *** when it arrives, but my early recent experiences of DFS are excellent.
Always remember that in general salesmen in sofa shops are the car salesmen who werent good enough to work at Carcraft...
All that said, an unauthorised credit check (performed by the independant finance houses they use for their credit) is illegal