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Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,473
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

let me start off by saying in October I ordered 2 new chairs for my living room. Had sticker shock but "figured" well known store and finally found material I liked so ordered.  The chairs were delivered mid-December....what JUNK!!!!!

 

At first, they were comfy -- but now it's like the chair seat is "sagging". (And they are definitely not a memory foam insert lol).

I had service dept. come out yesterday nothing wrong with seat ! Apparently it's not a structured chair -- I don't think so! So they are going back.

 

guess it's me! It seems like everything is junk compared to what I expect! Nothing meets my expectations -- I truly miss furniture of years gone by! I have a piece from my moms house still beautiful!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 43,249
Registered: ‎01-08-2011

Re: Now I'm convinced it's me!

I'm so sorry!  Did you order from a chain?  They often cut corners. What brand were the chairs?  Like clothing, not all furniture is created equal.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,520
Registered: ‎03-04-2012

Re: Now I'm convinced it's me!

Nothing is made of quality nowadays - all just thrown together and outrageously priced!  I worked at a local furniture store - you would be appalled at some of the things they pulled to make a sale. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 21,416
Registered: ‎11-03-2013

Re: Now I'm convinced it's me!

I found a gorgeous chair in a West Elm catalogue and went to the store to take a look at it.  Unfortunately they didn't have it in stock but were nice enough to send me samples of the material so I could see the color which worked out great.  It was for me pricey but I fell in love with it plus I got a 20% off coupon.

 

Time goes by they keep messing around with the delivery date.  Every time I complain they take another $50 off the price of the chair.  I was frustrated but I really wanted that chair.

 

Finally the day comes for them to deliver it . . . they take off the wrappings and I am in love . . . until I sit in it.  It was like sitting in cardboard.  I was stunned as I had sat in other pieces of furniture in their store and they were comfy . . . I brooded over it for a while but then decided based on the final price (plus it is very pretty) I would keep it but I would never order furniture from them again.  I would only buy directly from their store.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,816
Registered: ‎03-24-2010

Re: Now I'm convinced it's me!

There's a lot of furniture being imported too. I've wondered how anyone can order furniture without sitting in the actual model? I see so many lovely pieces like Pottery Barn, ect. 

 

How do do we find GOOD QUALITY furniture these days?

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,560
Registered: ‎12-31-2013

Re: Now I'm convinced it's me!


@momtochloe wrote:

I found a gorgeous chair in a West Elm catalogue and went to the store to take a look at it.  Unfortunately they didn't have it in stock but were nice enough to send me samples of the material so I could see the color which worked out great.  It was for me pricey but I fell in love with it plus I got a 20% off coupon.

 

Time goes by they keep messing around with the delivery date.  Every time I complain they take another $50 off the price of the chair.  I was frustrated but I really wanted that chair.

 

Finally the day comes for them to deliver it . . . they take off the wrappings and I am in love . . . until I sit in it.  It was like sitting in cardboard.  I was stunned as I had sat in other pieces of furniture in their store and they were comfy . . . I brooded over it for a while but then decided based on the final price (plus it is very pretty) I would keep it but I would never order furniture from them again.  I would only buy directly from their store.


This is precisely why I would never order major furniture pieces without seeing them in person, sitting in them, touching them, etc. 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,816
Registered: ‎03-24-2010

Re: Now I'm convinced it's me!

@hoosieroriginal

 

Just the person to answer . How do we find GOOD furniture these days? Is there an American Company that still makes great pieces?

 

thanks.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,520
Registered: ‎03-04-2012

Re: Now I'm convinced it's me!

It's been years since working at the furniture store - at that time most furniture came from overseas.  I think more and more furniture is being made in the US. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,095
Registered: ‎03-17-2010

Re: Now I'm convinced it's me!

Because the company I'm about to talk about is one of QVC's vendors, I will not supply the name here....

 

15 - 20 years ago DH and I bought a Suite of living room furniture from one of these well-known furniture stores.  Not cheap selections either.... total cost (at the time) roughly $8k.  Within a month the fabric on the seams of the actual couch and one of the cushions started separting (pulling)... the actual fabric was pulling (and not the seam ripping) The fabric was not a tight weave but not overly loose either. We had their "free" repair service come out (not impressed but all we had to work with).  Within a few weeks, we saw the same thing happening with the love seat and one or two of the cushions.  No one was rough with this furniture.  Also I could have sworn the foam cushions were starting to degrade (lose the ability to bounce back)....  repair man came again and made repairs to the fabric but said nothing could be done about the foam....

 

We had more issues and the repair man came out AGAIN - total 3 times!!  The last time I showed the repair guy the cushions and told him to compare what he saw the last time to what he was seeing now....  he actually told me that foam is foam, it doesn't come in "grades"..... I have sewn since I was in Jr. High, I know materials, sewing and know for a fact that there are GRADES of foam you can purchase. The foam used in this set of furniture was not even medium grade foam~!!   This guy argued with me.... to this point, 6 months had gone by and we decided to call the store where we bought it.  No luck, we could continue to have the grumpy repair guy come back but other than that there was nothing we could do.  

 

The Suite now looked awful like the ones we donated after 20 years of use prior to getting this stuff.  So our options were really nothing.  There would be no refund, no returns, just putting up with the repairs and the continual degrading of the foam elements.

 

I decided to call another store and lie.  I told them how happy we were with the purchase and that we really wanted to send the owner (who owns 5 stores in that city) a letter of appreciation but didn't know who to send it to and did they know how we could do this?  The manager gave me the owner's name and business phone #. 

DH (a VP in his own right called the owner).  They settled on the owner giving us credit in the amount we paid and we went back to the original store and re-selected another Suite of furniture.

 

The new set lasted about five years!  We went to another furniture store known for their quality and bought another set of furniture.  This time we were discussing the horrible furniture we received (twice) and the brand with the owner of THIS store.  He shared with us that he had worked at that company for years, even participating in meetings where designed to come up with ideas to shorten the life of that brand. In other words (at the time) their furniture lasted on average 10 years and they were trying to design items that would only last 5 - 7 years in order to get customers back to buying their brand faster!  He said he couldn't stand that kind of mentality and quit, starting his own furniture company~!

 

The furniture we purchased from him has lasted beautifully to this very day!  No butt dents in the foam, no stretching, ripping or pulling of the fabric and the undercarriage of the furniture was steel.  It was and still is exceptional.

 

We have never bought, and will NEVER buy the product I outlined above.... never.

 

An excellent book was written in the 60's called "The Waste Makers" by Vance Packard and details this kind of manufacturing and why nothing is made well anymore.....

 

Sorry for the length of this post ......

*~"Never eat more than you can lift......" Miss Piggy~*
Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,473
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Now I'm convinced it's me!

@ECBG

 

No not like Rooms to Go, Ashley, etc....although I would probably had better luck. 

 

They are from a family owned store (no name brand) in the state of Florida. Junk!!!!!