Complain about a product or service

Furnitureland South - Defective Merchandise

Furnitureland South
• Wrong color
• Defective merchandise
• Delivery problems
• Substitions/"not in stock"
• Employee responses

Andrea of Pittsburgh PA (6/26/03):
I wish I would have found this site sooner. I had ordered a dining table and 4 cameo back chairs from Furnitureland South about 2 years ago. When the chairs arrived one was damaged and taken back to the company. After further inspection, I noticed that 2 other chairs had gaping seams. After contacting my sales representative, I sent in pictures of the chairs and was told that they would be replaced. I thought - how easy. After waiting another 4 months, 3 new chairs arrived - not one of them matched in wood color.

I once again contacted the company and was given a customer service person who never answered her phone and never returned my calls. On several occasions I asked to speak with a manager who then would refer me to the Customer service representative. This company is very good at avoiding responsibility.

On three separate occasions, after several ill-fated deliveries, I was told that Furnitureland South inspected their furniture completely and would color match all chairs and send me 4 new ones. They would even go the extra mile and have a furniture repair person match the chairs.

Once again when my four "new" chairs arrived only 2 matched and one of the chairs was the original from my home. If the company truly inspected their pieces, I would not have had 3 delivery attempts and 4 mismatched chairs each time. In the meantime, I was told the furniture company I ordered from changed their design and my original chairs were no longer available. I was told to keep the chairs or replace the entire set.

Out of pure frustration and 1 and 1/2 years of not having my furniture - I accepted my losses and kept the chairs. When I made my last contact with the FLS, I told them I would never order another item with them. Their reponse -"That's your choice ma'am."

Damage Resulting: I spent over $2000 on a kitchen table and chairs that are not in the original condition they should have been in.

Deborah of Raleigh NC (4/1/03):
I purchased a two-piece computer armoire on October 30, 2002. Purchase price was $2,245.03. Delivery was made on January 8, 2003, at which time one file drawer was found to be stained incompletely, and more disturbing, the side panel of the top piece was cracked, apparently during installation (the top piece was being attached with small screws to the bottom desk piece). This side piece appeared to be masonite (or like) material, i.e. it was not solid hardwood.

There were other more cosmetic issues that were not to my complete satisfaction for the money I had paid – scratches where furniture hardware was not protected during shipment, and basically scratched the surface it contacted, and hardware that seemed to be attached in slipshod fashion. The scratches were repaired onsite by the delivery men and no further issues were made of this. It simply did not leave a good first impression.

It is now April 1, 2003 and I have just been contacted to schedule delivery of the restored piece. To wait almost three months for a piece of furniture that has already been paid for (according to FLS policy) is unacceptable. To her credit, my service representative, Dedra Kelly did a fine job of keeping me informed of progress. Unfortunately, most of our contact was via voice mail because I was unavailable to speak with her live most times that she called. Due to my busy schedule, I did not pursue a complaint until the end of last week.

At this time, I sent an e-mail to both Dedra and my original sales person, Mickie Anderson. Although I never heard from Mickie, I heard from Dedra who said that she was referring the issue to management, which is what I asked her to do. Now, miraculously, I received a call to arrange delivery; however, I have not heard from anyone in management to offer any form of retribution or even to apologize for the inordinate length of time two relatively simple repairs have taken. In addition, the day that was being scheduled for delivery is an unacceptable date for me. I have just learned that it may take up to two more weeks before an acceptable delivery date can be scheduled.

Since I work in a sales and marketing role myself, I understand the importance and value of providing excellent after-sales support. To its discredit, FLS has failed in this area. While Dedra did her best to keep me informed, even she apparently was having a heck of a time expediting and tracking the progress of this furniture repair. More importantly, to expect a customer to wait up to three months for a piece of furniture that has already been paid for is unacceptable, especially when I consider the nature of the repairs themselves.

When delivered, I expect this piece of furniture to stand up to my expectations of quality. Regardless of supposedly good pricing policies, I was expecting quality first and foremost not only with the goods but also with the service and attention the company offered. I believe that the company failed in this regard.

Tressie of Willingboro, NJ, writes:
On July 9, 1999, my husband and I purchased furniture from Furnitureland South Inc. When the furniture was delivered, it was not what we ordered. Five of the pillows were incorrectly covered in the wrong fabric. I have asked Mr. Tony Collins, sales person, and his manager Mr. Mike Riley to correct this problem but they have refused to cooperate.

On August 22, 2000 I received a letter from Mike Riley, Sales Manager. He stated that the company would be willing to pay for half of the cost of covering the pillows. I believe I should not have to pay for half of the pillows if I have already paid for the item orginally ordered.

I am thoroughly dissatified with the unprofessional service I receive from Furnitureland South. I spent more than $80.00 making calls to Furnitureland South's sales personnel and management trying to resolve this problem. My husband and I have saved for many years to purchane new furture. We spent $3225.000 at a company we believed would be honest.

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