ComplaintsforRikki's Furniture Gallery

• Initial Complaint

  08/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Order **** placed 1/31/2022 for $11,366 worth of furniture. Paid $5666 at time of order. As of 8/19/22, I have not received a delivery date. Repeated calls to store result in a salesperson indicating that someone will contact me about the status of the order yet no calls back are received. At this point I feel as though I am being taken advantage of, not to mention the horrific lack of customer service. I received an email from the owner on 9 August with a partial statussome pieces were apparently manufactured, but again, no delivery date, and some excuse given about the truck drivers window being broken. She was to have called me the following day to provide an update on the remaining pieces, but as usual, no call or email. At this point I am at a loss as to how to get a response. I called the store three times today (8/19/22) and each time was given a verbal promise that someone would call back todaynobody did. I would appreciate any assistance you can provide in either getting a firm commitment from the store or a return of my deposit.

  Business response

  08/30/2022

  This is the email I sent to the customer on 8/9:  "Hi ******, I checked on your order today with ******* and the sofa and chair and 1/2 are ready but they are still checking on that sectional for me, as that should be ready also.
  
  ***** talked to the Freight Carrier and unfortunately someone broke out the window in his semi so he has to wait until Tuesday to get a new one and will then pick up our orders in Oregon and head our way. Hopefully someday this will all return to normal.
  
  It will probably be late next week or early the following week before we see your Sofa and Chair and 1/2.  I'll let you know an update on the Sectional when our rep calls back tomorrow.
  
  I'm sorry you've had to wait so **********************************  We'll give you a call as soon as it lands"

  Here is her reply: "Thank you, Rikki, for the update.  This crazy world we now live in has taught me patience like never before ??!  I know this is not your fault and we are all having to adjust expectations.
  
  I look forward to the next status report. Thank you,******"

  I was out of the office when she next contacted us on the 19th of August as my Husband passed away and his Memorial was the 18th. 

  Here is what she sent me: Rikki:  "I have called the store twice today looking for a status on my order. Each time I was told someone would call me back (within 20 minutes the first time then 45 minutes the second time) and I have yet to receive a call back. I have been exceptionally patient but I cant abide poor customer service.  Is there a problem with the order that I need to be aware of?  I would appreciate a response no later than tomorrow.  It has been 7 months and I have no firm delivery date.  This is bordering on the ridiculous.   ******"

  ****** called our store on a the 19th. We only had two people working as I was off.  The salesman, **** took her messages and gave them to my Manager who was on the sales floor non stop.  He finally sat down  at 4:15 and he called the customer.  Her phone said call declined by recipient, so he could not leave a message.  We then closed at 5:00.

  I saw her 2nd email on Monday the 22nd when I came back to work and sent this reply:

  " Hi ********, I'm back to work today and looking into the problem with your sofa and chair and 1/2, as the last time I emailed you on the 9th it had an estimated ship date date attached to it and I told you "It will probably
  be late next week or early the following week before we see your Sofa and Chair and 1/2."   That would have been today or Tuesday or Wednesday. (the 22nd -23rd) I also found your invoice on *****'s desk this morning along with his notes that said "the customer called 4 times 8/19" and that he called you back at approximately 4:15 but your phone rang 4 times and hung up.  Our screen on our phone system said "customer declined call."  You may have been on the other line when he was finally able to call you back?   I'm sorry you had to call the store 4 times.  We only had ***** and a part time salesperson working Friday and ***** said the first chance he had to call you back was at 4:15. (They were a little overwhelmed with the Back to School crowd and me being off.)  I talked to my rep this morning and I have copied his answer below.  The holdup on the sofa and chair and a half was that they ran out of your fabric.  However we can arrange for delivery of your sectional and ottoman now, so you are not waiting any longer for those pieces, and then we'll bring your sofa and chair & 1/2 out when it comes
  

  This customer lives an hour and a half from our store and we paid a moving company at our expense to deliver her the furniture that came in.  She still owed a balance so my Bookkeeper called her the day before and left a message to please call us with her credit card # so the delivery service could deliver her furniture.  She didn't return our call so my Manager called her also and left a message.  Both messages were very friendly.  The moving company showed up the next day and left with her furniture and we still didn't have a payment from her so my Manager called her again and asked that she call us back, but she didn't.  The delivery crews are instructed not to drop off furniture if it is not paid for so I finally texted ****** and asked her to please  call the store or the movers wouldn't be able to leave the furniture that wasn't paid for.  She finally called and gave us her credit card but accused us of threatening her!!  This woman is so unreasonable.  She accused us of lacking transparency because we told her the Manufacturer does not give us exact dates!  I explained everything to her and she just said it was yet another excuse.  We have absolutely no say over the Manufacturer's build dates or when they run out of fabric.  They just give us an ETA. 

  This woman has moved here from a large city back East and maybe people out there do treat their customers badly but we do not!  I emailed her on Sunday from home as soon as I saw her email demanding answers and threatening to turn us into the BBB and write a bad review on ******* which she did.  Unfortunately she sent her threat to my Email and did not contact the store at all except for her one attempt on the 19th.and I was out of the office the 12th through the 20th.  

  I feel we have been more than honest with this customer but calling a store 4 times shows just reflects her attitude overall.  My manager called her back right in front of the Salesman that had given him the messages and told him she declined our call. Or at least her phone did so we could not leave a message. 

  I apologized to her multiple times (I have more emails trying to explain the delays to her) and all she kept repeating is that we were just giving her excuses.  When I texted her for payment on the furniture they were delivering she accused me of threatening her!  All I did was ask her to call the store and pay for her furniture, and I explained that Amazon doesn't deliver a package if it's not paid for and it's no different for us.  She was so unreasonable and just wanted to keep telling us how bad we were at customer service and that all we did was make excuses. 

  When I emailed her after the delivery to tell her that the delay on the other pieces were due to the manufacturer running out of her fabric she sent me this email:

  " 1) I have no record of receiving a call from your team last Friday.  Furthermore, why wouldnt they leave a message?  2). You have no idea what I was or was not promised in ******* when we purchased the furnitureKim was our salesperson and we never interacted with you.  3). If the manufacturer was out of the fabric for months, why were we not informed (that was absent from the list of excuses I was provided when I called for status updates)? We were not given the opportunity to select an in-stock fabric and perhaps if we were, this whole conflict could have been avoided."  ******

  This was not a "conflict" but that is how this customer reacted to the delays on her ********************.

  I replied to her by email also :The dates  are for production.  The item goes through an assembly line process and takes approximately 10 days including weekends. The freight companies are less predictable as they will wait to fill their trucks before leaving Oregon.
  
  1.) You didn't get a voicemail from ***** because our call to you was declined at your end.  It rang about 4 times and he received the message that our call was declined.  Our Salesman that took all of your messages, witnessed *****'s call as he is the one that gave him all your messages. ***** did call you back as soon as he had a break.
  
  2.) Our entire staff has been given approximate build dates from every Manufacturer during the this worldwide slow down in Furniture manufacturing.  We print them and post them at the Salespeople's desks.  You made your purchase ******* 31st.  At that time ******* was "estimated" to build your furniture in July. Even if we didn't wait on you we know this. 
  
  3.) The manufacturer was NOT out of the fabric for months. They buy and pull fabric from their inventory as they build.  At the time we placed your order, and for months afterwards, they had the fabric. Unfortunately they do not call all of their dealers in the Northwest to let them know they ran out of a fabric.  They just order more.  And they don't post it on their website either.  The only way we know there is a delay is if we call or email ******* to check on the order to see why the production date has not been met.  I did that on August 9th. when I was checking on all of our orders. They told me your sofa and chair and 1/2 were finished but the sectional was not, and that is what I relayed to you.  They got it backwards on which was ready and which was delayed, but regardless I gave you the information they gave me and told you it would probably be coming around August *****th. At that time we still didn't know about the fabric shortage.
  
  And I did not send you a list of excuses.  I sent you the facts so you would be more informed about the delays and hopefully understand how the furniture manufacturers operate.  And admittedly, it is not the best system.  But I can't control that ******. ******* doesn't have textile ***** anymore.  All the fabrics come from overseas and we all know from the news how bad the container situation is.    
  
  Fortunately, these Covid inspired delays are behind us and most of the furniture manufacturers are catching up and returning to normal.  We hated all the delays as much as our customers did. Everybody is tired of waiting. ******* and ****** are my last two that are still catching up and hopefully they will get there soon. If you don't want to wait any longer and would like to cancel the remaining Sofa and Chair and 1/2 that will be fine.  Rikki
  

  She never responded and did not cancel the other Sofa and Chair.  The fact that I told her to expect the furniture to arrive approximately the 22nd - 23rd shows that this customer was so impatient she filed a complaint about us on ****** and with the BBB prior to the dates we gave her for delivery.  This was a very unreasonable complaint.

  Rikki Bushnell
  

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