ComplaintsforDown Home Furnishings

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired A*** and Down Home furnishings to design a living room dining room space for me and to find furniture to fit it. I agreed to a sofa that is not comfortable and the designer could not surface another available piece to fit her design. She does not have a posted return policy or notice of final sales nor is that on my invoice, so I requested a refund and I have not gotten a response. I also have not received the furniture. The table I did receive was damaged. I received leather chairs instead of the suede we discussed over email, and a moveable bench that is to heavy to move, so everything so far has not met the design specs. I would like to return them, but she keeps being unavailable to have that discussion because she had covid and had a death in the family, so the 30-day clock ran out this week. I never got the return calls I requested and was okay with keeping these items before the relationship devolved. Now this has been a bad experience and I would like the refund for the pieces that did not meet the specs that I did not accept and, if possible, to return what came damaged or not in align with the discussion.

  

  Business response

  11/15/2022

  1. The customer states that the sofa is not comfortable. He refused delivery and according to my employee and delivery driver, he did not even sit on the sofa. He was angry that I was not personally present for the delivery. Under normal circumstances, I would have been personally present. I was attending my father’s funeral out of state.
  2. The customer states that I was unable to locate another sofa to fit my floor plan. I exchanged 81 emails with this customer over a 4 week period, sending 9 variations on his floor plan. His parameters for an acceptable sofa included top grain leather, not too dark in color, no seam detailing, available within a short time frame, reasonably priced and, in dimensions that I had drawn onto his plan. I actually spent hours trying to meet all these criteria and sent him multiple options. He ultimately chose a sectional that fit his needs but then refused delivery.
  3. This customer was sent a formal Estimate from my store, detailing exactly what he was ordering and on it, it clearly states “Labor or materials authorized cannot be canceled once processing has begun”. This applies to all furniture items that are ordered specifically for a customer. Items purchased from the floor of the store are subject to a return policy of “store credit only within 5 days of purchase”. These are the return policies, clearly stated.
  4. The customer claims that he did not receive response from me, but I have all 81 emails exchanged prior to the refused delivery date and an additional 17 emails exchanged after the refused delivery, all attempting to understand his issues. He also requested a phone call to discuss our failed design relationship and I accommodated this request as well with a 30 minute call. This call was witnessed by one of my employees per my attorney’s advice.
  5. The customer claims that he has not received his furniture. He ordered furniture in two stages. The first round was delivered on September 15th and 30th. There is no record of complaint about these pieces prior to our attempted delivery of a sectional on October 11. According to my employee and driver, the customer was angry that I wasn’t personally attending his delivery and he was rude to both of them. On my return to work on October 16, I tried to address his anger in a clearly written email. He did not ask to return any furniture at this time but wanted to trade a club chair for 2 additional dining chairs. He agreed to receive the items again on October 18. I asked my husband to attend this delivery with my delivery driver as another witness. Again, the customer refused the delivery. I have now incurred two delivery charges for refused deliveries.
  6. This customer received a dining table from his first round of orders on September 30. There is no record of complaint about this table until my refusal to refund his order on October 18. Complaints about the first round of orders did not begin until after the second refused delivery.
  7. The customer claims that he expected suede dining chairs rather than leather. His Estimate states:
  4- top grain woven leather dining chairs with hand rubbed black teak frames
  He also had photos of these dining chairs which he approved and paid for.
  
  8. He mentions a “30 day clock”. I have no idea what this refers to. I did attend my fathers funeral and I did get Covid after traveling. However, my store was open every one of the days I was away and my staff have documented every communication with this customer.
  9. The customer claims that the pieces he ordered did not meet design specs. As mentioned, I drew a total of 9 floor plans, each one showing different furniture options drawn to scale in his house. When he approved his orders, he knew precise dimensions and received formal Invoice and Estimate with clear descriptions of each piece. Every piece this customer purchased matched the drawing and description provided prior to order. All of this is documented.

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