I’ve been so very frustrated over the last months waiting for the furniture that we ordered for the living room. You might remember that we had ordered furniture while Kramer was still living. We had bought Kramer’s lift chair on our way home from one of his last radiation appointments. We bought his chair right off the showroom and took it with us. Kramer was way too pooped that day to do any more shopping than to just pick out his chair so the plan was that Kalissa and I would go back and pick out the rest of the furniture in a couple days.
Well Kalissa and I did go back. We went on May 11th. We picked it out and ordered it. I told you about it in this blog post. As we were shopping Kalissa was irritated with the sales lady. She didn’t bother me that much. I could see that she was busy and was giving her the benefit of the doubt. Kalissa, no so much. Then as we were looking I said, “what about this?” Kalissa said, “No”. Then the sales lady, Carol, butted in and said to Kalissa, “Whose checkbook is paying for this, yours or hers?” I’ll admit after, the tone she used to say that, I was kind of wondering about her but still, I wasn’t as quick to judge as Kalissa was.
There was a set of furniture I liked a little better than what we ordered, but after a bunch of checking and rechecking, the furniture was being discontinued. Hmm. I liked it but it was a little expensive and I didn’t like that the matching chair wasn’t a rocker….but if I took it, I could have it right away. I could order a different chair that matched. Hmm. It was a tough decision. Although this company Southern Motion, custom made pieces, the style was discontinued. Then the sales lady suggested what I ended up getting. It was made by the same company. It wasn’t discontinued I could get a rocker and in the gray color I wanted and it only took 6-8 weeks. Well…that didn’t sound terrible. Our couch was in terrible shape but I thought it could last that long.
We ended up ordering the furniture. That date we ordered it was May 11th.
Fast forward to May 28th. Kramer went to the doctor and was told he only had 3-4 weeks to live. UGH. We knew we’d be getting lots of company. Kalissa (unknown to me) called Lansing Furniture where we got the furniture and explained our situation. She asked if there was anyway to rush the furniture order. Carol, our original sales lady, kind of humphed and said, “No”. No words of sympathy. Just no. At this point, 2 1/2 weeks had passed.
Kalissa decided to bring her couch and loveseat to my house. She figured she was going to be spending most of her time here as she wanted to spend all the time she could with Kramer.
Kramer passed away on June 2nd. On the 6th, I told Kalissa to take her furniture home. We had three chairs in the living room.
Sometime during the last week of June Kalissa called over to check on the furniture. More than six weeks had passed…. I was eager for furniture. No one had called to let us know anything about it. Kalissa was told that if should arrive by July 8th maybe sooner. The 4th of July holiday might screw that up.
The 4th came and went. July 8th came and went. On July 11th…(two month of calendar time had passed. NINE weeks had passed) We heard nothing. I called and asked about the furniture.
I was told it was shipped out on the 27th or so and tracking said it would arrive on the 16th. I told her that the time had passed that I was promised the furniture and now my concern was that it was going to sit in their warehouse and wait for the delivery truck to have other things that were being shipped this way before they would actually deliver it. I said being we were told 6-8 weeks, it really wasn’t right that we didn’t get the furniture as soon as it came in. I was told that she would ship it out as soon as it came in. She said, should it come in Thursday, they would deliver Friday.
The next week rolls around. On the 17th in the morning I got a call. The furniture was in and would be delivered Friday. This was the VERY FIRST conversation that Lansing Furniture initiated. This is a couple days short of 10 WEEKS since I ordered. They never followed up with us unless we called. I was frustrated. Carol had told me on the phone, if the furniture comes in, it will be delivered the next day. This was Wednesday. The next day was Thursday. I told the gal on the phone that I was sure there was a mistake, Carol had told me it would be delivered the next day. I asked that she please check with her. Before I hung up I made sure to double check and ask if the furniture was in their warehouse and the receptionist assured me it was.
Carol called me back. I was informed that I should be happy that it was going to be delivered on Friday. I asked if there was any compensation for their late delivery and that the furniture was coming 10 weeks out rather than the promised 6-8 weeks out. I was curtly told that I could read my contract, there were no promises.
That’s when I made a promise. No more furniture EVER will come to this house from Lansing Furniture. In my world…that’s all bad business. If a store says 6-8 weeks. Sometime in the 7th week they need to track the order and inform the customer. They need to initiate the conversation.
If the furniture isn’t there in 8 weeks, they again need to call the customer and apologize. If we would have gotten a simple call from them saying there was a delay….saying they were trying….anything that was kind and treating us like we were people who paid their good hard earned money for something and not just a commision check, it sure would feel a whole lot better to me. From my standpoint, Carol did a terrible job in handling our sale.
I’m not super impatient…I’m not rude. I want a company to stand by what they promise. I want quality customer service. We didn’t get it at all.
So the new furniture is nice….I like it….will I do business at Lansing Furniture again? NO. None of my kids will either.
The kids LOVED when the delivery truck came. LOVED!!
While they were unloaded it, I had the kids come up with some new rules for the furniture. Let’s hope they can stick with them. As a childcare provider, anytime new furniture comes, you just know, something is going to happen to it. The last time I got new furniture, the very same day I got it, a childcare kid ran into the living room with frosting all over her face and wiped it across the couch.
The loveseat has recliners on each side so the kiddos had to check them out.
So far we really like them. I’m thrilled to have a rocker recliner. It’s so much nicer than a glider for me. Often at childcare I am feeding a baby and have one kiddos on each arm of the chair. It’s a great time to visit with the kiddos.
Here’s Georgia and Gannon trying out my chair.
Can you believe they have gotten so big? Georgia stays her little peanut self and Gannon just grows and grows!! Can you believe they are only one week apart in age??
I’m still working on getting a few things together. I promise…more pictures of the living room when we get up the shelving and other things. In the meantime I figured I better tell you the “furniture story”. So many of you have asked for it!!
We had a local furniture store that played the same game; eventually there were so many complaints to the BBB that the store ended up closing — nothing lost for us since I swore there would never be any furniture, even a lamp, in our home again.
I’m so glad your new furniture has finally arrived. It’s certainly long past time! I’m glad you have mentioned the company in your post because I sure there are some who live in your area and they will think twice before shopping there! I glad you are happy with it at long last and you have it for many years to come.
Unfortunately I feel like that’s the way most furniture stores operate. I’m so sorry you had to deal with this along with everything else that was thrown at you the past three months. My main reason for posting, Gannon and Georgia! Oh my word, they are simply adorable. I love Gannon’s little t-shirt. Thank you for posting pics of them. The little daycare boy in glasses just melts my heart. There’s something about little boys wearing glasses that I just love. It’s good to have you settling into a new routine in your life. Thank you for sharing the Kramer family with us.
Report them to the BBB. Also go to Yelp and provide details concerning their lack of customer service.
By doing this you are providing others with your experience with them.
This sales clerk needs to be fired. This business needs to be reported to the BBB and any referral website in your area and hopefully put out of business. Have never heard of such a poor business.
Wow, that’s incredible! I have never had a furniture salesperson be that rude. We usually buy from Slumberland and go back time after time because of their great service. Glad you finally have your furniture!
IMHO furniture salespeople are right up there with car salespeople… the second you walk through the door they’re ‘on you like flies on you-know-what’! I’d almost rather sit on the floor and ride a bicycle than darken their doors. That being said … enjoy your new furniture… you deserve it! (And no offence intended to anyone with family/friends in those businesses… I know they don’t make the policies.)
I am glad you finally got your furniture! I think that you should find out who the owner or the manager is and write a letter explaining your concern with the way you were treated, especially by Carol. If nothing else perhaps you will save someone else from the same problems!
I love the picture of the babies! They are both so cute!
You have way more patience than I have. I would have told them to keep the furniture and I would have gone somewhere else for it. That was so rude of Carol and yes I would have not been able to hold my tongue with her, I don’t care how busy she was I was a good paying customer, and I would have left also at that point and shop elsewhere.
You have a lot more patience than what I have. If a salesperson told that I should be lucky to get something several weeks after it was promised, I probably would have ‘lost it’. I would want to talk to the manager, the owner and get the number for the manufacturer and let them know how I was treated. I didn’t use to be that way, but getting older has given me a backbone to stand up for myself. ANYWAY,, thanks for sharing.
Poor service for sure. Enjoy the furniture though. It does look so nice. Of course the grandkids are super cute! So nice that you get to have them at least some of the time. The childcare kids are cute too, always fun to see things from their perspective. I see lots of stories being read on that couch, the very best part of childcare.
Bad customer service is rampant these days, so when I receive kind ,knowledgeble ,courteous service I tip extra and if tipping is not proper I have written letters to higher ups praising the service.
That’s what happened to me with my furniture I purchased from a national chain. They would put me on the schedule 3-4 days out and then cancel the day before because it didn’t make the truck. After multiple phone calls and visits to talk in person, they agreed to refund part of my money. Very frustrating and I will never shop there again.
We had problems with promised dates also. Those grandbabies are adorable.
That is horrible customer service. I would call and talk or go into the store and ask to talk to the owners. Tell them exactly what happened and how it was handled. If all of their sales transactions happen like this, their business is gunna feel it reall shortly.
I’ve thought about going to Lansing Furniture to shop for new furniture for our living room. Your experience completely made my mind up NOT to go! I wouldn’t have cared for that comment she made about who’s checkbook was being used – my daughters often go with me and I value their opinion.
The last time I purchased furniture I got it at Furniture Row in Waterloo. Had great service and timely delivery. Guess I will go back there!!
Glad you shared this story. Another place to share it might be a review of the store on Google…for all to see! We had ordered a couch and chair one time and then we found out we were being transferred. I called the store, they said they’d do what they could. The furniture did come in a little early and right before we moved out of state. The couch was actually a hide a bed and on the inside they had written RUSH in red sharpie! They really did push it out early for us and the experience wasn’t a big deal at all. When we did move back to that area, we did buy more furniture from them!
Jo – feel not alone! We had the same thing happen a year ago, from another town near you.We were told 8 weeks – I jumped the gun & sold the furniture. We had Easter, 30 guests & no furniture at 11 weeks…… it also amazed us that we had to do the calling. 14 weeks for us to get ours ……. just amazing isn’t it?
The owner at one local furniture store was so rude to my mother-in-law when she bought a new recliner. Was promised delivery in a few days on an in stock item, yet took almost two weeks. Because of his attitude, we will never buy anything from that particular store again.
Jo, I would report this mess to the Better Business Bureau in writing so you will have documentation. It’s impossible to document a phone conversation. If that’s the way they do business they won’t have a business very much longer nor do they need one.
Those babies are adorable! Georgia really looks like you. :)
Loved the county Fair pictures your Grands are beautiful. Aren’t you glad that the are Grands are Grands and you didn’t have 4 under 4 littles of your own.
About that furniture you do need to go to the owners of the store by letter and phone and ask them if Carol’s behavior was policy and what there policy is on late delivery. It may have been the manufacturer who was at fault. The store should have stayed on top of their part of the contract. So sorry you had the extra stress along with your Kramer’s loss.
You are a much more patient person than I. I would have cancelled my order and called the credit card company and tell them what happened. But, the fact that you’re happy with it makes all the difference.
Your grand kids are growing like weeds! Such cuties!
Love and prayers
Oh, those sweet babies, hugs and kisses for them!
I understand the frustration you and others have experienced but truly, do the employees and all associated with that store including their families deserve to lose their jobs and livelihood over something they likely had very little control over? Of course they could have been so very much more helpful but their lack of kindness does not justify our lack of kindness.
Amazed that store is still in business. If they gave you bad service, write a review on YELP! It does work. More people need to complain. And, the RUDE saleswoman would have put me off immediately. We have always gotten good service from our local Lazy Boy dealership (they always have sales). And, I recently got some Amish chairs and the owner could not have been sweeter and even gave us a discount on the chairs. Do not settle for bad service. Write that YELP review. Others need to be warned.
I also recommend complaining to the BBB. Yelp is another avenue, but not always as good as the BBB. It is unfortunate that you had such problems with that furniture company. However, the furniture looks good and the kids look great.
Take care
Oh so sorry the furniture buying and getting was such an unpleasant ordeal! That furniture store has a lot to learn about keeping customers! I am glad the delivery was a better experience….with the children watching and then getting to sit on the new furniture! I hope you enjoy it!! Georgia and Gannon look like Eloise Wilkins children! Especially Gannon!! Look at his mouth and nose….he looks like a model for her pictures! (Don’t you collect her books? I hope I am remembering correctly!)