I think I might be afflicted by a furniture curse, and I have evidence to back the claim. Let's begin with a dining room table.
Exhibit A: JCPenney, September 2005
About 18 months ago, I decided I wanted a dining room table. After searching in person and online for a couple months, I found one at JCPenney.com for the right price in the style I wanted. Only after I placed my order did they tell me it was backordered--for two months. Okay, I thought. I don't really need it until Thanksgiving, it'll give me a chance to finish decorating that room, whatever.
Almost 3 months later, during the 2nd week of December, I finally got a call from the delivery company that my table was ready to be delivered. Since they could not deliver on a Saturday, I took a day off work that next week and waited for the table to come. It arrived mid-morning, and the delivery guy immediately brought it in and set it upside-down on the floor. Then he asked me to sign the paperwork, without taking anything out of the boxes. At this trusting time in my life, I had no problem with that--I was grateful to finally get the thing, and excited about setting it up.
Everything went fine with the assembly, until I went to turn the table over. Imagine my dismay when there was a HUGE GOUGE out of the tabletop, corresponding exactly with the tear in the box that the delivery guy was very careful to cover up when he laid the box upside down. That rat bastard.
I immediately contacted JCPenney, beginning a unique sort of customer service hell that is the reason I will never buy so much as a t-shirt from them ever again. Because I was leaving for Wisconsin on the 23rd, I requested that they send me another one before that date. They replied that they couldn't do that, because the truck delivery company they use could not turn around that quickly. I asked about returning to a store. No, this item is not sold in ths physical stores, so I couldn't exchange it there. I would have to have another one delivered after I got back from my vacation. I agreed to this, until I got an email--let me pause right here and emphasize that they sent me this information by email--stating that in order to process my request, I would need to CALL and provide them with a method of payment for the replacement table, and then they would refund my money once they received the damaged one back at the warehouse.
AW, HELL NO.
I sent back an email--because, you know, that's how they contacted me with this completely outrageous demand for more money to fix a problem that was entirely their fault--stating that I was not going to pay them another dime, since I had waited for this thing for a month longer than they had promised, they were at fault, and they gave me no other options for the return. At this point, I was even still being nice about it. I gave them 3 options--1) they could send me another table at their expense in exchange for their damaged one, 2)they could send someone to pick up the damaged table and then send me a new one once they receive it, 3) they could pick up their busted-ass table and refund my money. (More nicely worded, of course.)
Reasonable, right? I heard NOTHING back. Crickets. I even checked the email for a disclaimer that it was an unmonitored mailbox--nothing to that effect anywhere in the message. After a month passed with no response from them, I resigned myself to living with the (huge, ugly, deep) scratch. I bought a wide table runner and got on with my life.
My only other contact with JCPenney on this or any other issue was when I got an automated email acknowledgement stating that the email I sent in January had been received and my issue was being addressed. When did I receive this email? JUNE. Has my issue been addressed? Not even remotely. That damaged table is still in my dining room, though I have changed runners since then.
Exhibit B: Walmart, Fall 2006
In the process of redoing the floors in our dining room and kitchen last summer, I decided that I wanted a different table in the kitchen as well. The one that was gracing the breakfast nook at that time was the same one I had brought from Wisconsin in 1998, bought at Pier 1 in 1995. It was outdated, it was cheap, the matching chairs were long gone, and it didn't match the new floors. Unfortunately, after sinking a good chunk of change into the reflooring project, there wasn't a whole lot left over for furniture. I figured that of our kitchen table problems, I could resolve 3 of the 4.
After looking at some-assembly-required table/chair sets at several stores, I finally settled on one at Wal-Mart. I got someone to help me load the last in-stock table and 4 chairs into the van, and I headed home. Pushing the 70-lb table box into the kitchen was a big sweaty ordeal, but I managed it on my own. Imagine my dismay when I discovered that the box contained only two table legs and no mounting hardware.
AW, HELL NO.
Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. Since I knew that the Wal-Mart I had bought the table from didn't have any more in stock, I went to the next nearest Wal-Mart. I went directly to the customer service counter and explained my situation. The lady there immediately understood what I wanted (just open another box and give me the missing parts, so that I don't have to cart the entire 70-lb table back here for an exchange), and got someone to do it for me. I got my legs and hardware within 10 minutes, the table assembled great, and I still shop at that Wal-Mart to this day.
Exhibit C: OfficeFurniture2Go.com/Bush Furniture, January 2007
At the new house, I use the 3rd bedroom as an office. In order to use this room as an office, I needed a desk. Since I had already bought a bunch of shit for the new house, I needed a cheap desk. After some online searching, I found one that I liked at OfficeFurniture2Go.com. I bought it, they shipped it, my shopping experience with them was absolutely wonderful.
However.
Two weeks later, when I finally got around to assembling the desk, I discovered a problem. After some confusion about how the hell the drawers went in, I discovered that instead of sending me two different sets of rails for the two drawers, they sent me two sets of the same rails.
AW, HELL NO.
I contacted Bush Furniture via online customer service, they're sending me my missing parts. I haven't received them yet, but I'm sure they're on their way.
This story is actually sort of boring. Let's see if I can make up for it in...
Exhibit D: Roomstore, January/February 2007
I think I've mentioned my much-beloved new TV, right? Well, one of the first things on my list of needs for the new house was an entertainment center to put it in. After a brief search and an agonizing decision process, I broke down and bought the only one in my price range that I really loved. When I ordered it in the first week of January, they let me know up front that it was backordered until mid-February. I bought a cheap Target TV stand and waited anxiously for my "real" furniture to arrive.
Late last week, I got a call from the Roomstore warehouse--my furniture was in! Well, almost in. The credenza was in Houston, but they would have to ship the hutch from their warehouse in San Antonio. Everything would be ready for delivery on Tuesday, but the earliest delivery time available was Thursday. I opted for Saturday instead, since I didn't want to take off work. The phone person said that the warehouse dispatch or someone would call Saturday morning and give me a delivery time window. Thanks were exchanged, done deal.
So, since I have my club ride on Saturday mornings, I asked Rob if he could come over and stay at the house in the morning, because they would be calling the house phone with the delivery window. He agreed, and arrived at 6:30 this morning to wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Finally, when they still hadn't called by 2:00 pm (Rob had stayed back at the house so I could get my car's oil changed), I called the store where I bought the thing. They gave me a phone number for the warehouse. I called the warehouse, where I was transferred a couple times and then told that my delivery window was 3:00-7:00 pm. Which meant that Rob had wasted an entire day at my house for want of one stupid fucking courtesy call.
I got home from the dealership at 3:15, Rob went home shortly thereafter. At around 6:40, I finally heard the truck pull up in the driveway. The drivers were not terribly (or at all, really) friendly, but they had the furniture and were prepared to bring it in. Yay! I unhooked the TV and all the receivers, set them aside, and moved the Target stand out of the way. They brought in the credenza first, and it looked heavenly. Furniture! Real furniture! I started threading cables through the cable holes.
Then they brought in the hutch. As I watched them take the bracing board off the bottom, I noticed a major defect in the staining on the right side. It looked like someone had brushed or scratched the finish while it was still wet, leaving a two-inch unstained line exposed.
IMAGINE MY DISMAY. IMAGINE IT.
I mentioned the damage, and they took the hutch back out to the truck. While they were out there, I looked over at the front of the credenza and noticed a chip out of one of the doors. Again, not delivery damages--manufacturer defect. So after waiting for a month and a half, then waiting all day for a call that never came, then waiting until the last 20 minutes of my 4-hour delivery window, the furniture arrived with both pieces damaged.
AW, HELL NO.
Long, still ongoing, story short: they took both pieces back to the warehouse, I called the warehouse who told me to call the store. I called the store, who promised me a callback within the hour. Eight minutes past the hour, I called back and talked to the exchange person, who said that she could process the exchange, but that all the stock they had was delivered. They wouldn't have any more in stock for at least 3 weeks. I unloaded on her every way in which their customer service had sucked for the past 24 hours, and I asked her what could be done about this. She was not authorized to do anything but process the exchange. I asked if I could cancel the order (and a little piece of my heart sighed wistfully). Yes, but she couldn't do it until the furniture got back to the warehouse, and it was still showing "en route". I asked what else they could do for me to make up for the horrible experience I was now having. I could talk to the store manager, who was not in today but would be tomorrow. Sigh.
By the time I hung up the phone, the rage was gone, and I had told her to continue processing the exchange just in case. I'm going to talk to the manager tomorrow, see what he offers me. At the very least, I'm going to get free delivery out of this. If I choose to wait another 3 weeks, I'm hoping for a significant discount for my trouble. If all else fails, I'll cancel the whole fucking thing and live with the Target TV stand.
So, what do you think? Is it a curse? Or maybe I should just suck it up and start shopping at real furniture stores. I may have to pay $3000 for an armoire, but at least it might arrive on time and intact.
Fuck.
Posted by Joy at February 17, 2007 06:51 PM
