ComplaintsforPioneer Table Pad Company

• Initial Complaint

  04/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased table pads from this company, I believe, a few years ago. I believe these were purchased twice since I have had my dining room table for 33 years. The company website states life time guarantee. I use the pads twice a year. When I took them out for my holiday dinner, they were warped. I had kept them in their box, as suggested, in a safe dry place in my family room. The owner, Lynn, asked me to send pictures. Initially I thought she would honor the guarantee and replace the pads. She has been emailing with my husband over the past week but it is very passive aggressive. In other words, I see no action on her part indicating that she will honor the guarantee. This is false advertising. The unusable table pads should be replaced. If the owner is unwilling, for some reason, to replace these and does not care about jeopardizing the name of her business, then she should send me a complete refund along with measurements used to make the pads so I can purchase from a reliable merchant.

  Business response

  04/27/2022

  To Whom it May Concern,
  
  This customer emailed us, reporting that her pads were warped when she went to use them for the holidays. The customer adamantly claimed to have stored her pads according to our care instructions, and that she did nothing wrong with them. I asked the customer to please send photos of the warped pads and to please call me. The customer did send photos of extremely warped table pads, showing signs of moisture damage and/or poor care. Below, was my emailed response to the customer on 4/17.
  
  Hello, *****
  
  You'll need to call and talk to me about your issues with your table pads. I tried calling you a couple of times and emailing you, at the time you sent your original complaint.
  
  Table pads don't "just" warp like what I'm seeing in your photo's - for no reason, after 8 years. I've been in the table pad business for 50 years and what's going on with your table pads has to do with how or where they were stored. If table pads warped as bad as I'm seeing, for no reason like in your photo's, we'd be out of business. Actually, I've never seen a pad in this bad of shape.
  
  What we do offer to our customers, if they've had an accident or unknowingly done something to damage their table pads, is to remake their complete set at our cost. This would be the cost we would charge a furniture store, before they mark it up.
  
  I'm available today until 5:00 p.m., est. if you want to talk.
  
  Sincerely, Lynn
  Pioneer Table Pad Co.
  1-800-541-0271
  
  
  After this email, we spoke on the phone and I reiterated the above information. I also gave the customer, the exact cost to remake her complete set of pads which was 130.00 plus the "actual" shipping cost of 31.68.
  
  The customer wasn't agreeable to this at this time. Then - on this same day, the customer decided to defame me on four media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, BBB and Yelp ! She also sent 14 emails criticizing our Lifetime Warranty and attacking our Company. Obviously I was upset. Then later that day or the next, I had a conversation with the customers husband, I offered to refund her money in full, including the shipping cost, for their order from 8 years ago. That amount was 242.00. It sounded to me, as if they weren't interested in this option either.
  
  I would like to point out that the photos of the customers damaged pads sent to me were, "not all" from the same set of pads. The pad in the foreground was constructed differently, than the subsequent 3 table pad sections behind the first pad section in the photo. Also, the pad section in the foreground, was a different color and texture vinyl than the other 3 - meaning all these pads in the photo, were not from the set of pads ! Also the foreground pad (which looked the most damaged) had a visible dent on the bottom side of the pad and looked as if it sustained possibly more moisture damage than the rest, (possibly stored in a different spot) because the pad was not just lifting, it was wavy and looked to have several white spots on it. A dent on the backside of a table pad can only mean that it was stored improperly; either on something or something was on top of it or maybe dropped.
  
  I also sent this customers photos to a competitor in the pad business for 40 years, to get an unbiased opinion of what he thought was going on with the pads, in case I was unfairly judging the situation. He felt the same as I, that the table pads were exposed to - to much moisture.
  
  The customer did say her pads were kept in the same place for the last 8 years, which was on a "ground floor", under a stairwell ! We tell customers to store their pads on a first or second floor - in a place that has climate control and away from moisture. I don't know and will never really know where or how these pads were stored, I only know that what I was seeing in the photos - doesn't happen for no reason - it just doesn't !
  
  Table Pads need to be cared for properly. Below is the information we have on our web-site about care and storage.
  
  The #1 Reason Table Pads Are Replaced
  The number one reason why consumers need to replace their table pads is not the usage, but that they are stored improperly. The proper way to store a pad is in its original shipping carton or in a table pad storage bag. If you store your table pads in the box, they may be stored in any position, upright, at an angle, cockeyed, or flat. If you choose to store your pads in a bag, they should only be stored flat.
  
  If You Store Your Table Pads in a Box
  If you store your table pads in the original shipping carton, the bottom of the box is like the shelf and the sides of the box are like the book ends, always keeping your pad perpendicular to a flat surface. You may now store your pads any way you want to: upright, at an angle, cockeyed or flat.
  
  If You Store Your Table Pads in a Pad Bag
  When storing your table pads in a pad storage bag, they should be kept flat, under a bed, a couch, or on a shelf. Choosing to store them flat will also protect the fold or hinge.
  
  Table Pads Should Be Stored at a Constant Temperature
  We recommend storing your table pads on the first or second floor of your home and never in a hot attic, moist basement, or garage. And never store them in a furnace room with a water tank. In 35 years, we have replaced many table pads because the water tank broke, flooded the room and drowned the table pads at the same time.
  
  Because of the ugly nature of everything that's transpired in just a weeks time, I do not want to remake this customers table pads for them. I will however, still refund their original costs in full and let them go else-where for a replacement !
  
  Please call or email with any questions.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Lynn
  
  Pioneer Table Pad Company
  1-800-541-0271

  Customer response

  04/28/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  Please have the merchant, Pioneer Table Pads, refund the $240.00 she refers to in her response. Her review of the situation is inaccurate but I will be happy to order from a more reputable merchant. Kindly confirm.

  ***** *******

  Business response

  04/28/2022

  To the Better Business Bureau:
  
  We think the Customer, ***** *******-******* will settle this matter for a refund of $242.00.  However, the BBB online system reports that she has rejected the Company’s offer.  This contradicts her email to us this sent late Wednesday April 28th, 2022 at 11:14pm, quoted below:
  
  “To Lynn Schmidt:
  I have located a reputable company for the table pads. Per your response to the BBB , please forward a check for $248 to me along with the exact measurements you used for my pads.
  Please confirm receipt of the email so I can advise the BBB.
  ***** *******
  ** ****** ***** *********** *** ****** *****
  
  Sent from my iPhone”
  
  Below is the Customer’s message received through the BBB this morning:
  
  
  4/28/22 Message from ***** *******-*******:
  
  “Better Business Bureau:
  
  Please have the merchant, Pioneer Table Pads, refund the $240.00 she refers to in her response. Her review of the situation is inaccurate but I will be happy to order from a more reputable merchant. Kindly confirm.
  ***** *******”
  
  We, the Company, accept her offer to settle this matter for a refund of $242.00.  This is the amount of the actual purchase of the table pads eight years ago.  This is the amount discussed in email correspondences, over the phone, and written in our response to the BBB.
  
  We want to be sure this will settle the matter.  So please let us know if the BBB has settled this matter.  We’re ready to send the Customer her prior order details and a check.
  
  Thank you,
  
  Lynn
  
  Pioneer Table Pad Company
  1-800-541-0271

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩