Below is a compilation of both complaints that I found posted on the internet and some that were e-mailed to me by other disgruntled Bassett customers. Additional Bassett complaints can be viewed at Consumer Affairs . If you have a complaint that you want posted, e-mail me, and I will be happy to add it to the list. I have not verified the substance of any of these complaints and, hopefully, some of them may have already been resolved. The lesson is, use your own due diligence when furniture shopping and make sure you understand the terms and conditions of anything you sign when making a major purchase.
NEW! Thaïs, Colorado (July, 2009) I ordered a recliner chair, two red corduroy accent pillows and two kidney pillows on July 5th, 2009, Sales Order # 0907050009, total amount of $1,865.70. I was told at Bassett that I could get their Bassett card from GE Money and pay only $56.00 per month and the balance within a year. OK, I did that. Although the first installment would be due only by 08/09, I paid it in advance sometime in July, in good faith and before I received the merchandise because I wanted to set it in auto-pay. For sure my intentions were to keep what I ordered! I picked it up at the Bassett's warehouse on 07/31/09. Upon collecting the merchandise I immediately complained of the U$178.00 set of two kidney pillows that looked like they were made by an apprentice. Of the pair of red corduroy pillows, I only received one and the warehouse manager was trying to convince me that I only had ordered one. But the receipt was very clear that it was a set of two.The issue of both sets of pillows was written by the manager on the back of the delivery bill, and he promised me to receive the missing pillow in a matter of few days.I signed the delivery bill acknowledging that the chair was OK. We got home to find out that the chair was not even, i.e., for some reason it was rocking on the floor, although the legs seemed to look even.Our nightmare started. My husband called the store, they said he should call the warehouse and they started throwing us to and fro. The warehouse manager since the beginning blamed us for damaging the chair upon transportation, because we didn’t pay the $130.00 for delivery and went to pick it up ourselves. He was sort of implying that we didn’t have any warranty because we transported it ourselves! They put the chair in our van, we drove 15 minutes to get home, got the chair out of the van and placed it on the floor and it was rocking.After my husband having to go through some phone calls and faxes, they sent a carpenter here to fix the new chair. The guy unscrewed one of the front legs and started drilling wholes in the chair. We asked why, and he said he was going to fix some screws in it so the leg would not screw all the way and would be even with the others. We said we wouldn't accept that, so he said he would be coming back next day with a saw!!!!!! My husband didn’t want it too. He then sent innumerous faxes to Basset managers and owner. Finally, the owner of the local Bassett’s store, Ms. Marolt said they were going to collect the chair to see what the problem was. The warehouse manager called me to say he was coming to pick up the chair in 30 minutes. I said OK. When he came, he was playing like a “smart guy” walking around the chair and saying and asking me what the problem was. I told him I didn't have time for jokes. He then hand wrote in the return receipt that he was collecting it just to fix the chair, not to replace it for another one, and wanted me to sign it. I wrote underneath his writing “under duress, I don’t know what is the problem with the chair, I’m not a carpenter, so I don’t know if it can be fixed or not”. I also wrote I was returning the kidney pillows which he took back with him.After that, Bassett was not able to let us know how long it was going to take for us to have the chair. Ms. Marolt called one day and told my husband, and I heard on the other phone, that they just could not find out why the chair was rocking and they were going to order a new one. Therefore, the chair had not been damaged as they first tried to blame us. My husband asked if she could send another one temporarily, which she was evasive and never sent. Please remember we bought this chair expecting my 71 year-old husband to feel more comfortable about his back problems, and yet we were having other problems.I work from home as a translator. I need to concentrate to do my work properly. This whole thing was distracting me, besides after almost two months of the purchase, and having paid the first installment, we still didn’t have the chair and had no notice of when we where going to have it. So, because the credit was done in my name, not my husband's, I wrote a letter to Ms. Marolt calling the whole thing off, cancelling the transaction and specifying that all I still had with me was the one corduroy pillow which pair was missing, so they could schedule to come and pick it up anytime.Bassett did not and still does not want to accept the cancellation. I called the GE Money Bassett’s card to dispute the charge. I sent GE Money a letter and a dispute form.I had a lawyer to write to Basset with copy to GE Money.Bassett replied to my lawyer that a 30% re-stock fee will be charged. My lawyer called Bassett’s lawyer, left a message in a voice mail, but did not receive a call back.I received one of those pre-written letters from GE Money, saying that they are verifying my ‘billing error” and it will take two months, and I will have to pay in full if they find out I am wrong.Meanwhile I haven’t bought anything else because this cancellation is still pending. They also haven’t contact us in an attempt to deliver another chair.My husband is English and I am a dual-citizen American and Brazilian. I wonder if accents and age have influenced the way the have been treating us. Ms. Marolt even wrote in a letter that we’ve been threatening them, which is a complete lie.
NEW! Rachel, New York (Feb. 2009) I moved into my apartment with my fiance on May 23rd 2008 and I was using my mother's old couch that was only $100.00. Well obviously the couch did not last as long and so I decided that I was going to go shopping for a new set. The first store I went to was Bassett Direct in Central Park. I noticed it said the store was have a liquidation sale because new management was taken over. I found a really nice brown leather set and asked my fiance to come a look at it. This was a pretty big purchase for me being I am only 21 years old and I just can not go and spend $2,220.00 just like that. So I was thinking about it in the store for about 20
minutes when the sales man told me I was taking to long and that they all had children at home. That should have been my first sign NOT to buy this furniture. But I did, and I wanted it then and there since it was supposedly the only set. They informed me it had to be ordered and it would take about 6-8 weeks because it was CUSTOM ORDERED. No it wasn't, it was the exact thing that was in the store NOTHING CHANGED! Well I told my mom and she wasn't really happy that I purchased the first set I saw. So we went to the store on December 26th, 2008 so she could look at it. The salesman there was very rude and did not want to answer any of her questions. She asked him "Why can we not remove the cushions?" He informed us if it was "a TRUE leather sofa they wouldn't come out." Right there I knew there was going to be a problem. Back in 1990 my grandmother purchased a ?$3000 leather couch from a store in Arlington and her cushions are removable.? Well after much consideration I wanted to cancel my order after seeing this man argue with my mother. The lady told me there were NO RETURN or REFUNDS so I managed to say I would refuse delivery and not pay for the furniture. I did like the furniture but I could not buy from a company were they do not understand what GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE is.This salesman managed to argue and yell in front of EVERYBODY that was in the store. He refused to go in the back to get my order form and than managed to curse at my mother. He told me there was nothing I could do and I was stuck with?that furniture. So we left the store and I received my bill but refused to pay and I refused the delivery as well. This all went on for about a month or so. I received a phone call from my mother saying they DID refund my purchase and I was free of Bassett Furniture. I really showed him and I have since then not purchased a new couch.
NEW! Neal, Florida (Feb. 2009) I purchased a dining room table and chairs at Bassett Furniture in Ft. Lauderdale in February 2009. After about 2 months of shopping for the furniture, I was so happy that my wife and I found something that we both loved. We took advantage of the 6 months same as cash and made the purchase. We were told by the salesperson that it would take about 2-3 weeks to take delivery of the furniture. The furniture did not arrive at the Bassett Furniture warehouse in West Palm Beach until about 5 weeks after we made the purchase. It then took one week to have the furniture delivered from the West Palm Beach warehouse to Hollywood (2/18/09). When the furniture arrived, I noticed several problems as the delivery men were moving the furniture into my dining room:
* One of chairs had a fractured leg.
* One end of the table top had deep dents running along the entire edge.
* There were brush hairs dried into the varnish on one of the chairs.
* The finish on the table top was extremely blotchy on one side of the table.
* There were many extremely sharp burred edges on the table.some edges were smooth while the same edges on the opposite side of the table were verysharp. One of the reasons that we liked this table so much in the showroom was because the table was kid friendly, as all of the edges were rounded and smooth.
The delivery men encouraged me to take delivery of the furniture and said that Bassett would send out a technician to make the repairs. The technician was scheduled to come to my house 9 days after delivery. When I inquired as to scheduling an earlier date, Bassett said that it was not possible. I was told that the technician would call the day before in order to schedule a time window (technician should have called me on Thursday2/26/09). Well I was at my son's school for a holiday performance on Friday, 2/27/09, when I received the call from the technician. He was standing on my front door step waiting for me to answer the door and I told him that I was not currently available. I asked if he could stop by later in the day. He said that he would have to reschedule for the following week. The way I saw this playing out was that the technician would show up the following week, he would determine that 2 of the chairs and the table top would have to re-fabricated (4 weeks), the new parts would have to be shipped to the WPB warehouse, one week for delivery from WPB to Hollywood, and then one week to schedule a visit from the technician. I was not willing to wait the additional 7 weeks to resolve the problem. I finally called Bassett Furniture to request a full return and refund. Bassett informed me that there would be a 30% restocking fee. After debating this issue, they finally agreed to waive the restocking fee but they insisted on still charging me for delivery. I disputed the delivery charge of $136.74 and the credit company sided with Bassett Furniture. I do not understand why I have to pay the delivery charge if I did not buy anything from Bassett Furniture.
NEW! Julia, Fremont, CA (Jan. 2009) I just found your website. My husband and I ordered over $4K of furniture in August. All of it arrived damaged and we have been dealing with customer service ever since. What a nightmare!
NEW! ANONYMOUS WHISTLE BLOWER(Dec. 2008) I used to work for Bassett Furniture (they have dropped the Direct since you purchased). I really thought this company was a good company with good people until I worked there for a while and saw all the insanity firsthand. They are dirty, good ole boy network the whole way through the company. They take from and lie to their employees just as much as they encourage lies and half-truths to their customers. All of their bedroom furniture, office furniture, end tables, ect. are made in China. The only thing that is actually done in America is the upholstering of their custom furniture and the actual staining of their custom dining tables. We were told that we owned the plant in China with Bassett employees who oversaw the quality control. BS No one in America owns anything in China. Don't think that the plant isn't a sweatshop because a regional manager let it drop that they had no heating or air conditioning in the factory and that their restrooms were holes in the ground.
We were consistantly told to tell customers that things would be in their home in thirty days when that may or may not be true. The only way to tell was to precheck every item in the computer and even then it really depends on what is going on in China (Chinese New Year, natural floods and disasters, how full they want to ship containers). Even if you precheck the computer there is another screen that would tell you it would be backordered for two months and then the backorder date would be pushed back even further as you neared the time when it would be back in stock. During this time the poor salespeople would inform their customers of the situation with as much information as they knew and would be let down by the company again. The people that work for Bassett in the United States have absolutely no control on if you will get your furniture in a timely manner. The salespeople such as myself either are naiive,such as I was, in thinking that these were isolated incidents or comfortable in being liers. The managers are told to take nothing back and the company gives them hell if they try to actually fix what the plant and lack of quality control screwed up. I have seen them treat their employees just as dirty. If you are a sneaky, manipulative lier then you would be a great candidate for a manager there. I have seen them fire someone as soon as they recovered from cancer even though that person was making their sales goals at the time. They waited as soon as she was in remission in order to avoid the hell the American Cancer Society would rain down upon them. I have seen them consolidate a wonderful employees job that had been with the company thirteen years and not offer her anything else even though there were other positions open in the company that she would be more than capable of performing. I have seen them ask questions that you are legally unable to ask. I saw so much sexism in that company I could not believe it. When a male manager was coming to replace a female manager in a sales staff
that was all female except for one male a female higher up joyfully chortled about "fixing the estrogen problem around here". That was after an incident where the same male sexist pig salesman looked around at all his female coworkers and angirly exclaimed," I can't stand being around a bunch of cackling women!" This same married coworker was frequently making the rest of us uncormfortable with his pursuit of another much younger engaged coworker and somewhat sexually slimey repoir with the customers. If all your female customers are acting like rejected girlfriends I definately do NOT want to know what you do or insinuate that you will do on those home call decorating visits!! YUCK! The people within the company that saw the negative slope that the company was taking and tried to fix it, tried to do right by their customers, tried to be honest were quickly and quietly done away with. They have also taken money from Employees checks for Aflac insurance and not paid Aflac. If you actually try to use the insurance that you have to pay for through the company they will gladly fire you and try to disavow insurance claim. My self-esteem has been wrecked by working for this dirty company and I am desperately hoping in corporate America that all companies are not this bad. I am currently unemployed, struggling, but with my honor and dignity now intact!!!
NEW! Monty, NV (Aug. 2008) On June 14th I purchased a bedroom set w/ night stands at my local Basset furniture store in Las Vegas NV. At the time of purchase I was told that I would have my furniture between 3-4 weeks of purchase and they would call me with the exact delivery date. At the 4 week point I called the store in order to get a more definitive delivery date as the 4 week mark was getting close. At that point I was told the furniture was already in California at the distribution hub and they would get back to me with the delivery date. They never called. I called them back and spoke to someone else and was told the furniture was not yet shipped out of Virginia. I was upset and asked when will it be delivered the person on the phone stated they would get back to me. Another person called me and stated it was a 4-8 week delivery period
from time of order and I would have the furniture at that point. At the 8 week mark I am beyond pissed as I have not heard from them so I call the store. They asked who it was and I told them my name and asked for the sales person (Dolores Chavez)they placed me on hold for several minutes, when they came back they told me Dolores was with a customer and she would call me right back. After about an hour I called back the store and they told me she left for lunch. At this point I could tell she was avoiding talking to me so I asked to speak to someone else they told me the manager would call me back. Later on I received a call from the regional customer service manager who apologized profusely and stated I would definitely be getting my furniture on August 24th, in the mean time he would refund my delivery charge and give me any accessory from the store that I would like free of charge for the inconvenience. I gladly accepted the offer as he assured me the furniture would be delivered on this date. Today I reluctantly called the store in order to find out the delivery date expecting the worst but hoping for the best, I ended up speaking to Dolores again who told me she was given directive not to speak to me. Dolores proceeded to make a feeble attempt to help me and informed me that the pieces appeared to be in California but she couldn't give me a definitive answer as she does not have access to that area in the computer. She stated she would call the regional customer service manager and have him call me back. She stated he is on vacation but would call him anyway. If not she would have Paula call me back another manager at the store. I proceeded to call the customer service line
on the internet website and speak to an attendant. I was in complete shock when speaking to her she uttered almost word for word exactly what I heard at the store, "Let me call someone and have them call you back", "I will try to get back to you today, if not someone else will call you", "I'm going away and won't be back until Weds". I was furious and asked her if this was store protocol and if they are trained to say this to the customers when there is a complaint. I asked to be transferred to the VP, Regional Manager or someone higher up who would resolve this for me today, she told me to hang up and call back. Or go to the store and speak to them. I told her I'm not going to the store that I would in turn call my credit card company and have them reverse the charge back on to my card for failure of services. She again told me to go to the store to take care of the refund and again I stated I don't have to I will just call Visa. I ended up telling her to please have someone call me back today and hung up.
Update: I received a Google alert from Mike, (thanks!!), regarding an ongoing fraud investigation of the now closed Grand Chute, WI Bassett store. Customers wishing to file a complaint against that store are being asked to call the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection at 800-422-7128 as well as the Grand Chute Police Department at 920-832-1575.
David, MA(July 19, 2008) My wife and I purchased a bedroom set and additional items from a Bassett Direct Store. Delivery was last week and we have had problems since. Quality is poor and almost ½ of the items need to be replaced. I have requested a complete return and refund. I am awaiting a call from Bassett’s general mngr which should happen on Monday. They have been less than helpful thus far.
Update: I received this email from David 7/26/08:They just picked up the furniture earlier today w/ a full refund to me. It took 4 people from Bassett to get my return authorized...each of the 4 giving me a hard time and telling me that I was rude to them. I will definitely add comments to your website once my credit comes thru from the return. I will never buy a Bassett piece again if I can help it. Thanks for the support thru your website.
Brad, NJ My wife and I decided that after 15 years with our original furniture-purchased local and did stand up that long through two Airedales, two children, ah, three cats and two more dogs,,,,,not all at once, to treat ourselves to new furniture. After looking , we ended up at Bassett and my wife picked out a sofa, and two chairs of which one was a recliner. Weeks later, we received "the" call it would be arriving and my wife took off from work for several days to get the room ready, which, when you work and get paid by the hour she (we) lost a large bit of income of which we could really not afford to do. The day came, the truck came, and they dropped the furniture off the truck, no tail gate,,, then proceed to take razor blades to slice open the plastic before bringing it into our home. End result, the sofa had slits in the fabric,,,wonder where that came from,,,on the front of the sofa a length of fabric was stitched imperfectly that it qualified for what would be called "seconds" and should have been sold as such, one of the pillows on the couch was stained and the back of the couch also was damaged. (My wife was told by Bassett when she called_that they had problems with this particular deliverer,and they just fired them and hired a new company out of Mahwah New Jersey.......50 miles away. What good that did us at the point I still fail to comprehend.The best part was they wanted to take the furniture back to look a it, then bring it back to us, until a solution could be had, which is how my wife and I felt ,we'd been had. Be as it may , I told them to take it all back , the quality control was pathetic plus some additional observations and thoughts,and the could do what they want as far as they're restocking fee, which is 50% if you fail to cancel said order three days from date of purchase . Lousy company and for anyone looking for new furniture, stay away from them.
Jeff, Fremont, CA I just filed this complaint with the local BBB:
Purchase Date 3/16/08, Sales Order 0803160005, Model 3811-62H, Sofa, $1755.23, Visa,Sale Rep Bobbie (BJB)
On 3/16/2008 we visited this Store. We found a sofa we liked and before purchasing the sofa we specifically asked the Salesperson, Bobbie where it was made. (We don't want to buy products from China when possible. We currently have two American made chairs coming from Macys that were to go with this sofa) She informed us very authoritatively, without any prompting from us, that it would be custom made, specifically for us, in Virginia, USA. This made us very happy. Upon completing our purchase we were made to sign a no-return agreement, based on the fact that they did not stock this product and it would be custom made for us. (She also told us this sofa was their "best selling"). We completely understood this polic y based on this lie. We were told the sofa would take about 4 weeks to manufacture and ship. Exactly 3 weeks later on April 5 our sofa showed up. After the delivery people left we found a tag between the arm and the cushion, fastened to the cushion, that read "Product of Bassett Furniture Industries - Made in China". The tag is still attached and we have not used the sofa. Upon seeing this my wife called Bobbi and told her what we found and that we were very unhappy. She nervously told my wife that she "thought" the vicepresident of the Company had told her that some of the "leather" may come from China but she would check into it and call us back. She never called back regarding this issue but did leave a message a couple days later asking if the sofa had arri ved safely and if we were pleased - an obvious standard follow-up call. On April 9 we decided we were definitely going to return the sofa and called the store to speak to a Manager. We were told none were there but they would be there tomorrow (April 10). On April 10th we went to the store and talked to the Manager (Laura), demanding to return the sofa and get a credit. She pointed out that we had signed the no return agreement and said it was against company policy to take returns. To which I pointed out that their return policy was based on a lie. She also gave us the "some of the leather comes from China " story. (The tag very clearly says "MADE in China." When pressed further she refused the return and said she would have to talk to Bobbi to confirm OUR story. We made an appointment to see them both on Saturday. I'm not anticipating a simple res olution, just more stall tactics, but more importantly, I don't believe this was an isolated incident, nor was it due to a lack of training/information. I believe this is a standard bait and switch policy where they make you believe you're getting a really fine, made in America product, but knowing it's not, they go to great lengths to have you sign their no-return policy, including signing a photo of what you've ordered, knowing that returning it is exactly what you're going to want to do - for various reasons, quality, point of origin, etc. I did a very brief internet search and found many cases of similar experiences - especially at www.bassettfurnituredirectsucks.com. Most of these cases were at other stores but "our" store is new.
On a separate issue, we were also told by Bobbi that the sofa was "100% Leater, unlike most other manufacturers" - Back, sides, cushions, all. I can honestly not tell leather from pleather, but it appears to my untrained eye that the back and sides are of a different material than the rest of the sofa and somewhat doubt that it's leather. It wouldn't have been an issue had we not been lied to about the point of origin but I think it deserves investigation, not for me but to confirm a pattern of misrepresentation. I don't appreciate being lied to. Thanks for considering our case.
Update: I received this email from Jeff 4/16/08:Just got a call from the General Manager apologizing profusely and offering to take back the sofa for a full refund or give us a deep discount. We're going for the full refund. He admitted that the Corporate office had called him regarding my post on the Yahoo Financials page referenced on your website and didn't much care for the publicity (thank you). When I initially visited the Yahoo Financials page it didn't really strike me as something Bassett would actively be monitoring, but I guess they are. I assume that was your reply to my post, with the return-delivery suggestion? Sorry for misspelling your web address. Imust have just typed it from (bad) memory. Too bad the Manager didn't call when he was supposed to. I may not have mailed off my Consumer's complaint to the DA's Office. Again, thanks for your help.
Andrew, New Jersey This happened September 20, 2007. My wife and I awoke to my baby, 13 months old at 24 lbs, screaming because her hand was being hit from the front rail. It's obvious the hole was drilled too close to the edge. There are stress cracks on 3 top corners of the crib were the bolts enters. This whole crib could have fallen apart. If it wasn't for our video monitor and us noticing something was wrong,she might not be with us today.
My initial report to Bassett Furniture, Thursday 20SEP07, the customer service number on the instructions, would go unanswered because the Vice President Mr. Lex Bendall was on vacation. I complained over and over that this was unacceptable and received absolutely no response. I was informed that no one could help us for 5 days. I later received a call from Paula Kreuger from Bassett basically saying the same thing. Still nothing could be done. When I finally spoke with Basset Vice President Mr. Lex Bendall, Monday 24SEP07, he believed this was an isolated problem. I insisted they could not know that. He also stated he would not or did not have to report this to anyone 3 times. I even invited anyone to come to my home to investigate the crib…. He declined. I then sent him a webpage stating Cosco was fined 1.75 Million for not reporting an defect issue and called him back then said, “Now what are you going to do…”. He then said they would consider it. The next day he said they reported it themselves to the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) (so they say) after my pressuring. I notified the CPSC myself to see if they did and I was told to fill out a FOIA. This was also to get information of any other complaints on this crib. So far,I haven’t received anything. Tuesday, 09OCT07, after many of many phone calls and emails to the CPSC they finally sent an investigator to my house. The most unbelievable part of this whole story is that when the ‘Bellissimo Family’(whose name is on the collection) finally noticed an upset message from me on their website, 16OCT07, 26 days after my first report,(These people have their name posted on the crib) Mr. Joe Bellissimo called me to express his concern. Neither did the President of Toys R Us who owns Babies R Us. I don’t understand how Bassett Furniture could deprive the public and everyone connected to this of such important information. There are babies lives at risk here.This has situation lasted 48 days before the recall was released. I had started a MySpace page with some details and pictures..that address is myspace.com/wendybellisimobasett. I have also aired on different news stations and 3 days ago did a press conference with Senator Pryor on Capital Hill to have the CPSC reformed. I am worried something may happen to some unsuspecting family and that I have not done enough. When the recall was released I felt my heart drop. Seeing that there were 84 prior complaints of loosening hardware was a disgusting shock.Why did Mr. Bendall not report this problem sooner? He knew children’s lives have been in danger and did absolutely nothing. I would bet he told the other 84 parents that their cases were isolated too. The public puts their trust, faith and lives in these products. For Bassett to take nearly 2 months to notify them that their children’s lives are in danger is unacceptable. In a recent news story the reporter Nydia Han says Bassett started recieving complaints 2 years ago. Please check your cribs.Call the CPSC,Basset and Babies R Us if you have this same problem.The following is our story which aired on ABC6: Crib Recall
Tony, Melbourne, FL (1/13/08) I am a devastated professional who purchased more than $35,000 worth of furniture and placed a $10,000 down as a deposit for the production of window treatments through Bassett Direct of Melbourne, Florida. They ripped me off. The American Drew bed snapped in half after 4 months. The mirrored hall chest was delivered broken. The chairs of the Louis Phillippe dining room furniture were all defective. The list goes on and on and on.I approached Mr. Richard XXX the owner of the company and even sat down with him to resolve the matter. He gave me lip service and then refused to help. I contacted and Attorney and even the Attorney General's office. No help. My Attorney told me to recoup $15,000, I would need to spend $10,000 and the process would drag on for years. To this end, I would like to see if there are other interested parties that would like to look at a class action so as to defray the legal costs with the objective of us getting our money back. Do you have any knowledge of anyone in the Melbourne, Florida are that wouldbe interested in joining up with me. We planned to picket the store also. Do you have any suggestions. I am desperate!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOTE: If anyone who reads this is interested in joining Tony in a class action suit against Bassett, e-mail me and I will forward your e-mail to him so you can discuss it further.
Steve, Columbus, OH (6/20/07)
For newly disgruntled customers, we found the fastest path to resolution was to go into the store on a weekday and raise your voice in front of other shoppers. Weekends would be even better but the store's customer service rep is not always there so you will not get access to the ordering system. As we got louder, we were quickly wisked into an office with a closed door and magically our replacement stuff appeared 2 weeks later. I think we beat the normal time for resolution by a good 50% or more by being aggressive after reading your website.
Feel free to post my emails below.
Dear Ms. Collie:
I am writing to you today to voice my frustration over what has been a case study in terrible customer service displayed by your staff at your licensed "Store OS"located in Columbus, Ohio on Sancus Blvd. I am particularly offended by the lack of proactive follow-up and the pattern of untruths, misleading information, and other excuses we get from customer service specialist Carmen and for the total avoidance by our sales rep Rich who I understand manages this location for your licensee.We are repeat Bassett customers and have spent over $5000 with you in the past 2 years. Our first purchase of a large upholstered sectional went well so we naturally gravitated back to the store for our recent hard goods purchase of 2 matching dressers, 2 jewelry decks, a console table, and mirror on April 7, 2007. We expected that the bedroom furniture would be of the same exceptional quality as that of the sectional, a reasonable expectation given the perceived value of the Bassett brand name. We were pleased when the order was delivered ahead of the promise date on April 26, 2007 by your agent Exel Logistics at around 6:15pm that evening. The delivery drivers were quick, courteous, and professional. We were in a rush to leave the home at that hour, but we did do a quick inspection of all pieces. I did notice that both dressers were somewhat damaged which I noted on the delivery ticket, per the driver’s instructions. However, the damage in my opinion was not consistent with delivery issues:
Dresser #1 – the location of the knicks and dings were such that if Exel did the damage the drawers would have been damaged as well but they were not. The frame/shell was damaged in a way that had to have occurred while the drawers were out of the unit. I personally saw the guys unload the dresser and can attest that
the drawers were never out of the shell. Additionally, the finish on the drawers was dull and did not match the other unit. Again, hard to blame Exel for that one too. Careful further inspection turned up even more finish problems.
Dresser #2 – this bureau had several areas that were never stained, so the bare wood was clearly visible, even with the drawers in place. Also, several areas showed a “bubbled” finish that indicated that drying time for the veneer was compromised and the packaging had smeared the finish. One would be hard pressed to fault Exel for these issues as well. One jewelry deck had a minor ding that was barely noticeable, but the remainder of the order was fine. I would characterize the damage we saw as consistent with what a floor model might endure. Obviously nobody from Bassett ever inspected these units prior to their delivery or they would have never made it onto the truck. Any reasonable person would conclude that this damage was done during
manufacturing and shipping, not from the ride from the DC to my home. Rich, our salesman, would later claim that he personally unboxed and inspected these units at the Columbus store, a statement we now know to be fictitious as these units came directly from the Cincinnati DC. We contacted the store within an hour of the delivery personnel leaving my home and were instructed to email photographs of the damage. We complied by sending 60+ high resolution digital images the next morning. The store was unable to satisfactorily answer our questions, so they pushed us off to Exel’s Customer Service representative who was very helpful. It took repeated attempts with my wife calling Carmen and Exel to schedule a contracted technician to be dispatched to our home. The technician came to our home on May 2, 2007 to validate our claims. The technician, who we also found to be professional and courteous, confirmed the damage was extensive enough to warrant replacement parts and placed an order for one new shell (Dresser #1) and one new drawer (Dresser #2). He placed this order via phone while at our home on May 2. He also was able to perform touch up repair on several minor damaged areas to our satisfaction. The final plan was to swap out the shell on #1 and the drawer on #2 and then completely refinish the two units with a fresh coat of veneer in our garage to make them match. We were told to check with Bassett as to expected delivery dates. We received zero pro-active follow-up communication from anyone at the store. We have contacted Carmen on a weekly basis with limited success in getting a straight answer:
a.. May 9: She reminded us how busy she was and thus requested more time to research the exact status and get back to us, yet she did not. We heard nothing.
b.. May 16: The order was supposedly on a “manifest” and once she received that she would confirm a delivery date. She did not return the call.
c.. May 23: Again, she was very busy but would now prioritize our issue and try to locate the “manifest” to get an exact delivery date. No return call.
d.. May 29: I contacted Carmen for a status update. She referenced that the drawer had arrived and the shell was showing as in-transit from the factory to the Cincinnati Distribution Center. She promised to track down an ETA and call me right back. She never did.
e.. June 4: We stopped into the store today. Carmen assured us (in person this time) that the shell had been just ordered on May 17 and was in-transit from the factory. Again, the missing “manifest” would give us the answers we needed but was nowhere to be found. This information was somewhat contradictory to prior information she had shared. She was quick to once again place blame on Exel for “damages obviously done during delivery”, a claim which we continue to disagree with. She also noted that a new mirror had been ordered even though it was never part of our claim or the technician’s inspection or any prior discussions. She could not answer how such a delay occurred between the order being called in on May 2, a “manifest” being created prior to our call on May 16 and the actual order date of May 17, 2007. While she could not explain the reason for these discrepancies, she did assure us that whatever happened was now fixed. Amazing how something can be fixed when the cause is unknown. So here we are, a few days shy of two months since we came into the store and made our purchase. We have two damaged dressers that somehow avoided any quality inspections along their route to our home. We have no ETA on the shell. We have no idea if the ordered parts will even be of satisfactory quality to complete the repair work.As reasonable people, we would be more understanding had Carmen been honest with us, given us a clear storyline, and/or escalated our concerns with Rich. None of this occurred. Instead, we were relegated to the back of the line as she was “busy” with other customer issues. Never once have we felt like our business was important to anyone at Bassett. As a remedy, I would like you to collaborate with the store and together decide on one of two options:
1)Deliver 2 brand new dressers of the same style and color to us.
Obviously, we’ll expect them to be in perfect condition; or,
2)Continue with the repair effort using the ordered parts and also refund us 35% of the purchase price via company check as if we had bought floor samples in the first place and had to deal with this inconvenience.
We’d expect either option to be completed within 3 weeks from today and that we will receive at least one specific update per week as to the exact status. If I do not hear from you I will assume you want me to instead seek a remedy via American Express Cardmember Services as that is the method of payment I selected for this transaction.In either case, I would recommend a thorough review of your customer service
personnel and policies at least at this store, as well as a review of your inspection criteria along your supply chain. Perhaps a refresher course from your Philip Crosby quality program would be a good idea? This has been a very frustrating, aggravating, and disappointing experience to say the least. END
Michelle, Stoughton, MA (5/1/07) We placed an order for a dining room table, 10 chairs and a buffet table totaling $5,000 back in Sep-06 with Bassett’s Stoughton, MA store. We told them we would not
need the products until Jan-07. We received a call in November stating the order was complete and ready for delivery. We scheduled the delivery for February as we had not moved into our house yet. The table came scratched, and only 6 of 10 chairs were delivered, 2 of which were wobbly. I was told this was my fault, since the order had sat in the warehouse for so long. A technician had to come to our house to confirm the wobbly chairs, and the fact that the table needed to be replaced. The technician agreed all would need to be replaced. We told them that we needed the new items no later than the first weekend in April as we were having company for Easter. They said they would try their best. We also told them we expected the items to be scrutinized closely prior to delivery to ensure unsatisfactory products were not delivered a 2nd time. The new items finally arrived to the CT warehouse, and a delivery was scheduled for 3/29/07. We took a 2nd vacation day from work to wait for the 2nd delivery. 6 new chairs were delivered, 4 of which were wobbly this
time, and the table was the wrong table entirely. I am not sure how 2 unacceptable orders were even passed for delivery, and why they are not scrutinizing the ordersmore closely before they even left the warehouse. My husband and I have left multiple messages with the woman in charge of customer service for New England, Carrie Warchol. She basically blames the warehouse, and does not take anyresponsibility for the issues. We threatened to cancel the order entirely, and she said that would not be possible since it was a custom order. The 3rd delivery was made last Saturday, 4/28/07, so luckily we did not have to take yet another vacation day. Yet, they did not arrive until 5:30PM. I am not sure why they did not put more of a priority on our order, but I finally realize how unprofessional and ridiculous this company is… The new table was flawless, finally.
But they delivered 6 (not 4) new chairs, 2 of which were ones we had already returned!! Just shows that no one if even checking these orders in the warehouse!! And only 2 of these chairs were satisfactory. So, we know have a complete order, but 2 of the 10 chairs are wobbly. We are now trying to work with them again to get
2 stable chairs, but at this point I have pretty much given up and have realized Bassett just does not know how to build a functional chair!! I would like to get some kind of financial compensation for the fact that we have had to taken 2 vacation days in order to wait for the deliveries (upwards of $1,000 worth of my time), and due to the utter inconvenience of the situation. I am very frustrated that Bassett has not made this issue more of a priority, and the fact that we constantly have to call them to find out the status versus them being a little more pro-active. They should be following up with us, and ensuring that we are satisfied. I have already let me friends and family know what a terrible process this has been and can guarantee you that none of them or myself will ever be ordering furniture from Bassett again. The average US Credit Score is 675. The cost
to see yours: $0 by Experian.
Richard, Tigard, OR (4/3/07) My wife and I ordered a new sectional and a rug from the Tigard, Oregon store. When the furniture finally arrived after almost two months, we found that the two recliners that we had ordered were ordered for the wrong end of the sectional. We were told that "we" ordered them wrong. We knew what "we" ordered but apparently, when it got coded on the order, it was for the opposite end of the sectional (not
our mistake as we don't understand the order codes). Then we were told that they would have to take the two recliners and we'd have to wait another 8 weeks for them to be replaced. We were not happy and their response was "so be it, that's all thatcan be done"...They did say that we could keep one recliner but we would have to pay the difference, which I thought was abserd since it was their mistake...they should have offered to give us that and absorb the cost themselves...My husband agreed to this and when I found out, I was furious...also, we found that there was a tear in the corner unit. A lady came out and said that the only way to repair it was to order a whole new back and that once the materials arrived, they would have to pick up the corner unit and take it back to their shop to make the repairs. I paid a lot of money for a "new" sectional, not one that is repaired. This, once again, will constitute a major inconvenience for us. My wife waited to hear back and after
calling this past weekend, finally found out today that the materials for the corner unit have been ordered. Additionally, we ordered a custom rug which it was discovered at time of delivery was not the rug we ordered. To date, we still don't have anything confirmed as to when we will receive the remaining recliner unit, rug or repairs to our corner unit. We feel that we have been treated extremely poorly by Bassett and at this stage, we would be perfectly content if they sent the truck outto pick up what was delivered, credited our account and we parted ways. We willnever do business at Bassett again and if given the opportunity, will share our
negative experiences with any who are interested.
P.S. Their customer service at the store (i.e. the owner and manager (Kelly and Debbie) were very rude and accusatory...it was our fault, not theirs...they never asked "what can we do to make you a satisfied customer"...it was always "we can't do that, we won't do that, etc..." It was their mistake, they should have to pay!
Sandra, Louisville, KY (10/15/06) Never, never, never shop at Bassett or Thamasville (they are the same company). Here's why: In January 2005, I ordered 2 red leather chairs, 1 moss green sofa, and 3 occasional tables, from Bassett Furniture Direct on Shelbyville Road in Louisville, KY. I paid $6203 up front. Nine weeks later (it was supposed to be six weeks) the chairs came with leather that was completely mismatched and applied in a patchwork pattern of red and dark pink. They also had numerous quality issues, staples falling out and showing, lining showing, gaps in trim, crooked seams. The sofa was covered in tan fabric, not the green that I chose. The tables, which I had stupidly ordered from a catalog, were flimsy and no better than I could have gotten at Walmart.It took many phone calls and visits to the store, but 3 weeks later, I finally convinced them to replace the chairs and sofa.When they delivered the chairs again (6 weeks later), it was obvious they were the exact same two chairs. The loose and visible staples had been fixed and some of the lining that showed before had been cut off or poked into crevices, but the leather was still mismatched and the seams crooked. The new sofa had the right fabric this time but it was put on wrong. The nap ran from one end to the other rather than from the top down. It was run the opposite direction on the back. The couch appeared to be two different colors depending on where you stood. The furniture looked so bad, the delivery driver laughed at it. I convinced him to take back the chairs, but he had no room for the new sofa or the tables as he was picking up the original sofa at that time.At this point, I complained to the corporate consumer affairs manager and this is the response I got:
Sandra,
The pictures of the leather chair is an aniline leather and shade variations and natural markings are characteristics which enhance the beauty and uniqueness of the leather. The pictures of the sofa shows the shading of the nap on a sofa. It will change with rubbing, lighting and the way applied to a sofa. This is natural characteristics of this fabric. If you need further assistance please contact the store. The stores are independently owned and operated.
Thanks
Carolyn
Consumer Affairs Manager
Dismissive and illogical are the most kind words I can think of. This was my response back:
Carolyn,
I want to thank you for taking the time to reply to my e-mail. Unfortunately however, it seems that you either didn't look at the photos I sent or simply failed to comprehend what you were seeing. It also appears that you got the impression I am a relatively uneducated consumer. I'm sorry if I misled you. That is absolutely not the case.
To begin with, I must ask, how can you possibly tell from my photos if the leather on those chairs is Aniline, full Aniline, Pure Aniline, Semi Aniline, waxed up, oiled up, or NuBuck? Do you know the differences? I do. And I know that you can't tell from a photo which it is.
No matter what type of leather finish was used, putting deep red with black graining and shiny finish together with dark pink, no graining, and dull finish on the same piece of furniture is unthinkable. Just the fact that someone was able to pick out pieces and arrange them in an alternating pattern tells me that, contrary to your statement, it is absolutely possible to choose nearly matched pieces. All they had to do was leave out the pink ones. It just takes someone with an IQ greater than their shoe size to realize that would have been the sensible thing to do. And mixing different finishes on the same piece is equally stupid. So you wouldn't mind paying $1,800 for this chair?
As for the nap of the sofa fabric... you stated the problem yourself. The appearance of the fabric changes depending on how it is applied to the sofa. In this case, it is applied wrong. That's the point.
Here's a better illustration for you. These photos were taken in a well lit room and with a flash. It is not a trick of the lighting that is making the couch look different colors, it is the direction of the nap. Notice the arrows showing which direction the nap runs and how it is not only lengthwise but also reversed on the back and on the front edge of two of the cushions. How can you possibly look at these photos and tell me there's nothing wrong with this sofa?
I don't really need another response from you since I am attempting to handle this with the local store. But you might want to consider that I found your response dismissive and I believe you jumped to the "standard answers" rather than actually considering that my complaints are valid. Another question I must ask is this; if the stores are independent and handle their own complaints, what does the title of Consumer Affairs Manager mean and why are you listed on the web site as the point of contact if you don't have any authority to intervene on behalf of consumers?
I find it hard to believe that Bassett Furniture has no interest in maintaining customer satisfaction or in identifying and remedying the cause of substantial manufacturing defects. Maybe this attitude has something to do with the 2003 losses, the flat 2004 and the equally dismal outlook for 2005. Just to test that theory, I think I'll forward all my correspondence to Mr. Spilman, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Jordan, and see what happens.
Now I was really ticked off. I filed a complaint with the BBB, the State's attorney general's office of consumer affairs, and the FTC. I posted a complaint on complaints.com. I tried to track down the owner of the store. No one at corporate or the store would tell me who he was or how to contact him. I found his name from the property records of the store but could only find contact information for his attorney. I wrote him an e-mail but never received a response.
I sent copies of photos and letters of complaint to all the top dogs at the corporate offices via certified mail. I wrote e-mails every single day, usually to the customer service rep at the store. Here's an example:
Hi again Cheryl.
I just thought I'd let you know that I came in Wednesday and took photos of items on the showroom floor. I thought it might be helpful for you to see the difference in quality between what is in the showroom and what I have received for my $6203.
I wrote some more letters this morning. There should be some interesting fallout coming your way shortly. Let me know if you'd like to put an end to this.
Sandy
PS: Here's a document showing the new photos and photos of your furniture which is occupying space in my home. By the way, when will you be paying that storage fee? Its well past due. Enjoy.
I invoiced them for storage fees for the crappy furniture that they were refusing to pick up. I went to the store once a week to take photos of the furniture on the showroom floor as evidence of the "bait and switch" practices. Whenever anyone challenged me, I explained in a less than quiet voice what I was doing and why. I know several customers heard me and walked out.
Finally I called American Express and asked them to refund my money and open an investigation. About this time, the customer service rep at the store was so tired of hearing from me that she gave me contact information for someone else at corporate. I e-mailed her and American Express issued a refund at about the same time. About 2 weeks later, I had a refund check and they had taken away the crummy furniture. I don't know if it was American Express or the person I e- mailed (Louise Collie, Director of Customer Service, Ph: 276-629-6455, Fax: 276-627-8840,LMCOLLIE@bassettfurniture.com) that finally got me the refund.
This whole process took 20 weeks and at the end, I still had no furniture and had to start all over again. To top it all off, 8
months after I thought I was all done with this, the BBB sent me a request to close out the complaint I had filed. They included the letter they had received from Basset regarding my complaint. Bassett's letter claimed I suffered from "buyer's remorse" at having spent a large sum of money or perhaps that I was unhappy with the decorating choices I had made. They said they had refunded my money in the interest of "customer good will" ! Oh pulllllllleeeeezzzzz!
Jeanette, Dublin CA (09/29/06) We bought a sectional which started to fade within 4 months of owning the piece. In the areas where we sat, the colors went from an aquamarine to pink. When I called the warranty department I was told that Bassett did not warranty color-fading or day-to-day wear. What kind of company can take $4500 for a sectional and not stand behind their product. Material should not fade within 4 months of minimal use. I have never been so disapppointed with a company. Basically they took our money and ran. This is no way to run a business and I feel completely ripped off. Note:Per the Bassett "Important information about your purchase" brochure under the warranty statement: "Any damage or fading caused by sunlight, abnormal wear, pilling, or shrinking of any fabric is not covered." Just another example of Bassett's CYA policy when it comes to shoddy workmanship. If they don't stand behind their furniture, they should not be in the business of making and/or selling it.
Manny, Columbus OH (09/10/06) First off, I HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED MY FURNITURE AFTER 15 WEEKS, from looks of it, I will be in for a treat when I finally receive it. I filed a complaint with the Ohio State Attorney General about this, below is my verbatim report: I purchased a full dining room set, West End line. The only delivery time they quoted was 4 to 6 weeks at time of purchase. No delivery window indicated on purchase agreement. Come 9 weeks in, I call my salesperson and she states that 4 to 6 weeks is incorrect and that for what I ordered it should be 10 to 12 weeks. When finally at delivery warehouse 10 weeks in, warehouse realizes store forgot to order one piece of furniture.
Store states they will switch a piece from another order. Finally, after the General Manager of Basset store says it will be delivered in 11 weeks, I get a call from warehouse 15 weeks in, stating that after finally receiving the missing table, when assembling they discovered the piece they brought in is defective and that they will have to obtain a piece from the showroom floor bringing delivery time to 16 weeks (quoted only). I am still not sure if Thursday, September 14 will result in a satisfactory delivery, I have already had two last minute cancellations on delivery. Significant inconvenience in making my schedule open, plus I am the one who coordinates between warehouse and store because the store is reactive - they have made their sale and they are not concerned beyond that. Additionally, I spoke to the store's General Manager and tried to explain to him that I simply wanted to be treated as a customer should be treated rather than continually strung along for weeks on end.
He raised his voice on the phone, threatened to hang up on me and despite admitting that I had been wronged offered no compensation. I made suggestions and he condescendingly stated that he had been doing this for twenty years and didn't need me telling him how to do his job.
Leland, Orem UT (06/22/06) The first time we dealt with Bassett the delivery time was remarkably slow, we had bought bedroom furniture. The second time we only bought a hutch. It came damaged, so supposedly they were going to replace it, after a couple of months I got fed up, because it still had not come in, and so I took a $100 discount on the damaged furniture. I feel Bassett furniture is truly quality for the money, but because of the service I will never deal with them again.
Anonymous, San Antonio, TX (June, 2006) This is a complaint against Bassett furniture store in San Antonio, Texas. We recently bought numerous pieces of furniture from this company. What we saw on the display floor was not what we ended up receiving. We ordered side tables and dresser (john elway endorses it), a recliner, sectional couch and a carpet. FUrniture was so poorly made, ready to fall apart, the color darker then expected and so rickety we were in shock as we looked at what we received. The carpet looked like the cat drag in, the furniture was so poorly put together and darker then we asked for. The couch was so over
stuff and the sewing and seams of the couch and cushions were crooked and pulled so tight. The material rough and it also slopped downward that you would slide off the couch. The recliner was moving sideways and ready to collapse. Everything was so bad. We immediately called the store and voice our complaints. They sent out the two people who sold us the furniture to inspect it and immediately started to counter everything we were showing them what was wrong. They even suggested sending a repair man to fix the recliner. We said what in the world would we buy new furniture just for it to get fixed. We immediately told them to have the manager contact us which
he did and started telling my husband that it was are problem now. They refused to take back the furniture. After numerous research i found many people experiencing this problem and its not finish yet. I think Bassett furniture is a rip off where companies like Pottery Barn, william-sonoma has a 30 to 60 day refund policy if not happy with your product. They are so secure in doing that because they know that there product is good where on the other hand Bassett knows there product is shit coming out of China with no quality control coming from the store that you bought it from. They don't see what you are getting and they don't give a damn. These people owning these stores are rude, very unprofessional and they don't care about the people working hard for their earned money.
The only way to stop this practice is to have a class-action lawsuit brought against Bassett and i plan to pursue this on behalf of the consumers. We all just want our money back and the god-horrible made furniture to go away.
David, Danbury CT (05/24/06) Ask me about the POOR QUALITY, HIGH PRICE, AND POOR SERVICE received from Bassett Furniture Direct at 270 Federal Road, Brookfield, CT. Four out of six pieces purchased are defective, and the response from Bassett is less than satisfactory. Almost TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS wasted! I am told by Kelly at Bassett, that their policy is to refurbish poorly made furnishings.
When I call Bassett and ask the store manager if I can buy refurbished furniture from Bassett, I get a condescending response of, " We don't sell refurbished furniture." Funny, that's what they want me to accept! Very disappointed with the quality of the product, and the response to these problems, including: 1. Electrical shorts / defects. 2. Loose hinges on wall unit. 3. Cracks in wood of wall unit. 4. Upholstery of leather couch poorly done, sharp ridges, scuff marks.
Janice, Brockton MA (04/25/06) On 3/6/04 I went to Bassett Furniture Direct and purchased a sofa, chair , ottoman, and an accent chair. It was delivered Com 3/24/06. The reverse camel back sofa was higher on one side of the back than the other. The 2 wooden legs on the front of the sofa are different finishes. Their is material hanging from the bottom of the sofa, there is a small hole in the material on the side of the sofa, and you can see seams where iI guess the material was pieced together. The chair had a rip on the seem of one arm, the other arm the thread is coming apart, and the side of the chair has something protruding out of it like it was not finished being made. I don't know if it's wood or metal. The accent chair has a pattern which is not lined up right, and the hems on the toss pillows are different sizes. All of the wood legs have a chip out of them.
I called Cheryl at Bassett Furniture the next day. She said she would take care of it. After 2 weeks of phone calls to her at the Natick Store she said I would have to call the CT. store. I did. I spoke to Kris who said she would send someone to my home to evaluate the furniture. He came about 2 weeks later banns said he could put new arms on the sofa + chair build up the back of the sofa, he could fix everything. I called them back 2 days later and told them I came into the store to purchase new furniture, not repaired furniture, so I wanted a living room set.
After many phone calls and a lot of getting the run around I was told I would be getting new furniture the 1st week of July 2004. They gave me a time window when it would be delivered. The time cam and went no furniture delivery so I called. Kris said they lost my paper work, so the furniture wasn't ready. Two months went by more phone calls and more run around. Sept they give me another delivery date, that day comes and goes, no furniture. I call and they tell me I wasn't on there roster for delivery. They give me another delivery date, again no furniture, Called and they said the driver broke his leg.
I told them to come and pick the furniture up I no longer wanted to do business with them. I was told they could not do that. I did contact the Attorney Generals Office. Bassett did not respond to them. I then contacted Bentley Consumer Action Line. They have been trying to contact Bassett for a very long time with no response. I still have the furniture in my home and I don't know what to do.
Mukund, Needham MA (03/18/06) On Dec 4, 2005 we ordered 2 leather sofas for a total of $3072.99. The first delivery attempt of the sofas was on 12/23/05. The delivery person determined that the sofas would not fit through our front door. I felt every attempt was not made to deliver the sofas.So another attempt was made on 2/3/06 to deliver the sofas. On this second attempt it was agreed that the sofas could not be brought into the home safely. We wanted the sofas to be returned and our money refunded. The store will only give us store credit, basically holding us hostage to the dollar amount of the previous purchase and limiting our choices to the furniture available in their store.
This order was a custom order according to the store, but not according to us. We simply selected what was in the store with the same color leather fabric. We were explained the policy of No Fits. Our only choice is to reselect in the store. This is not really a choice because we did not find any other selection that will fit our style and house. The store is also holding us to the Dollar value of the first No Fit sofas, for re selection.
We are stuck with the dollar amount on no fit sofas with no real choices for re selection. This may also ruin our perfect credit history. We are held responsible for a flawed store policy that corners customers into buying options that are impractical and costly.
Claretha, Baltimore MD (03/15/06) I ordered 2 black stools for my kitchen, but got dark brown. I paid in advance, a total of $458.70 plus $25 delivery fee. Kathy Fix agreed that I told her about the black, but she did not write the order down. Kathy said I signed the contract so the fault lies with me. She referred me to Lorraine in customer service. After two weeks of calling, Lorraine finally answered the phone, but offered no additional.
If I want the color changed, I must pay an additional 25% or get a store credit for the merchandise. I don't want anything from Bassett's because they ave treated me, a senior citizen like one who is ignorant. I have been disrespected and want only a full refund.
Michele, Tuckahoe NY (01/13/06) My furniture arrived on 12-30-05 after placing an order approximately 6 weeks prior. I was missing 3 out of 4 pillows, my cleaning products and 1 of a pair of chairs arrived damaged. The driver noted on the sales invoice that the chair could not be repaired and that a new one would have to be ordered (in the mean time he glued the broken chair leg together and secured it with a rubber band.) While the driver was still at my home, I called the store and indicated the problem, but the store was not open yet (9:45 am). The operator called me back and assured me that the pillows and products were due to arrive sometime at the end of the month and that the problem regarding the broken chair would have to be dealt with with the service dept (Evelyn and Linda).
Well I left a message with them that day which they never bothered to return. On Tuesday the following week I called again, and they indicated that a tech would need to come to my home to take pics. I offered to take pics with my high resolution camera to save them the trouble. They accepted, I sent the pics....and nothing happened. 12 days later, after numerous un-returned emails and phone calls to Linda and Evelyn, Evelyn said a technician would have to come to my ho me....I didn't quite understand why..they had the pictures and the chair's leg was connected(1 piece) with the exposed frame of the chair-it couldn't be repaired! It needed to be replaced. Anyway, the tech's earliest visit would be another week away. And now I sit and wait for the tech to arrive. I've waited 3 weeks, just for a decision to be made that a tech still needs to visit the broken chair.
Andrew, Chicago IL (12/26/05) On 9/12/05 I decided to freshen up the house due to my wife's death from cancer and bring in the holidays with a clean look and I went to Bassett to get a nice bedroom set. I had no time to look else and I really liked the set I saw. 2-3 weeks was the stated delivery time so I gave the full amount down and 8 weeks later they came with everything but the dresser I really needed. When I called them on it they said 10 days the chest would be delivered so I waited. It is now another 4 weeks and I called them again and just requested the floor model and they said they gave it away to another customer.
I can not understand that -- I paid over $2000 for this headache and Homeline Industries could have helped me get the same stuff sooner because they honor Fireman in Chicago. Like I said earlier I didn't want to shop around because I was hurt from losing my wife now I have clothes all over my room the Holidays have come and gone and the sales agent doesn't care a damn.
Jacob, Milton WI (12/02/05) I was sent multiple pieces of defective furniture, several pieces replaced (initially the headboard, bed rail, chairs, table base, china base were all defective) but have been without chairs that were paid for in cash in the spring of 2005, and a defective cabinet base. I keep getting un useable replacement pieces and empty promises to the point of the situation being comical from both the Bassett distributor and manufacturer. I have easily made 1-2 emails a week and that many phone calls. I believe I was patient beyond all reason. It will be 7 months since the price was paid in full with no light at the end of the tunnel.
I want my money back, and I want my customary hourly professional fee for the countless business hours spent on this, a storage fee for the un useable boxed furniture, and interest on the money I could have used to invest.
I was also referred to the manufacturer by the distributor and talked to a person named Velma, that info is Bassett Furniture Industries, Inc. P. O. Box 626 Bassett, VA 24055 (276) 629-6000
Lisa, Pine Bush NY (11/14/05) On April 3, 2005, ordered a piece of furniture. First delivery - piece significantly damaged and refused. Second delivery - not item ordered. June requested refund - to date not received refund (refused to refund based on their description of a custom order - this was not a custom order but an in stock item (30 in warehouse) as advised by salesman. As of this writing, November 14, 2005, no furniture, no refund.
Kathleen, Washingtonville NY (10/09/05) Our family purchased a dining room set in the Bassett store in Middletown New York. Th9is is the 3rd item we have purchased. We have been very satisfied until now. The hutch was returned the first time as it had a big chip in the corner and the chairs were all loose and rocking. We received all new chairs and a new hutch. Then the table stared to peel and we then received a new table at which time the table top and the new hutch looked like someone took planks put them on the table and stained them.
We then had another top delivered but i refused it as it had looked the same as the one i had. The table top the pieces that pull out and the leafs to the table do not even match. Also the hutch still has the plank lines in them. Now the cushions are separating from the chairs and the cushions are starting to get lumps in them. The answer that i received from bassett is that the graining and the tone of the wood are not defects. The hutch is now starting to peel and i can't even imagine what this set is going to look like in a year. We do not even have this set 6 months with all of the changes.It is very embarrassing to have company come to your house and notice that your table pieces are mismatched. I am very disappointed with this purchase and service from Bassett. We wanted to change our furniture as we feel that the quality of workmanship is poor. We thought we could trust Bassett as we have purchased other furniture from them.
Mary, Silver Spring MD (09/22/05) I bought a complete king size bedroom furniture from Bassett. I realized that the king bed is too big for my townhouse bedroom. They agreed to change it to a queen size bed, with an additional $300.00 charge. Since I like the king bed so much, I called again to change it to king - too late, I found out too late that the king is too big after measuring it. I called again to switch it to a queen and they refused. Even though this was partly my fault, I feel that Bassett Furniture should be flexible with its customers, especially since I've been saving for a nice bedroom furniture for a long time. I can understand if this was custom-made, but its something they get from their warehouse.
Steve, Fairfield OH (09/19/05) We ordered customized furniture from Bassett on 5-22-05. We ordered 6 chairs, a table and a two-piece hutch. We were told 6 to 8 weeks for delivery and it was 10 weeks in the end. When it arrived various defects were noted. Only one of the defects was noted on the delivery slip, but the delivery rep from Bassett stated it would not be an issue and to contact the store to resolve. The next morning we called and cited many items wrong and that the hutch and table most likely needed replacement. They suggested that they send a tech out to repair and we reluctantly agreed.
The tech came out and unsuccessfully tried to buff out the table scratches. He then took one look at the hutch and didn't even attempt to repair stating there were too many issues to repair. He said he would report back that his recommendation was a total replacement. We were told we'd hear back from Bassett, but didn't. After a week we tried to call them and got the run-around for three weeks. Finally, they said that they elected to send out a tech to repair. We refused because this had already been done and it was determined that the items needed to be replaced. Frustrated, we disputed the credit card payment. Bassett responded to the credit card and misstated facts to show that we didn't report properly, refused to let them have a service tech come out and that we caused the damage to the furniture.
They state all of this while mentioning that it is their desire to resolve the situation with their valued customer. Who are they kidding? Last week they emailed stating they will replace but did not give details as to when we might receive our replacement. I have very low confidence over this and can only hope we'll have useable furniture in time for the holidays ...furniture that we ordered in May.
Because of their product quality, we have not used the hutch at all. We have not lost any money so to speak, but dealing with them has been extremely time consuming and frustrating. We have entertained several times over the summer and it would have been nice to use our items for those parties.
Damon, Olathe KS (05/18/05)On March 23, 2005, we ordered a bedroom set. Before purchasing it, we asked the idea coordinator/salesman if it was in stock. We were assured it was in stock and should be delivered no later than 4 weeks from the date of purchased. He also told us that he would not charge us for delivery. On April 21, I contacted the company to check on the delivery of my furniture. I was told that a chest and the bed were not even made yet. I was told that the chest would be out of production on May 5 and the bed on May 25.
I asked for a refund, but was told I would be charged a restocking fee (for items not even out of production?!?). When speaking to the manager of the store, Tim, he was very rude and threatened to hang up on me. He also initially refused to let me talk to anyone with more authority than himself. Finally I was allowed to speak with the V.P. of Operations, Chris Spinola, who explained that Jon Snyder should have explained the ordering process better. He told me that even though the furniture was in stock at the time of purchase, it wasn't necessarily our furniture.
The company has been split shipping our order, but the date for the bed keeps getting pushed back. When we looked at the sales ticket more in depth, we also noticed that he had actually charged us the delivery fee. I called the store to speak with Jon Snyder to ask him about both issues. He claims he figured the delivery fee into the cost of the furniture, which we have no way of being able to tell if that is accurate. He also claims that he wasn't lying to us about it being in stock. When I told him that I will NEVER do business with Bassett Furniture Direct, he responded very rudely with That's your prerogative! We have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but Bassett's response is a bunch of meaningless words to spin the whole issue.
Leika D., North Carolina (07/04) On January 19, 2004, we ordered a Bassett bedroom set and dining room set from a retailer, Thomas Home Furnishings, in North Carolina. We were told the estimated delivery time would be 6-8 weeks. After 8 weeks, I contacted Thomas Home Furnishings, they contacted Bassett and were told that it would be an additional month. After another month, I contacted them again after hearing nothing and was told that it would still be another month.
Finally, in May I was told that the bedroom set was done but not the dining room set. I chose to wait until the full order was complete so that I could have all of it shipped at the same time and reduce my shipping costs. After another 2 months, the dining room set was still not completed. I opted to have the bedroom set delivered. The set was delivered without any hardware to put the bed together. I immediately contacted Thomas Home Furnishings that same day and again they contacted Bassett.
Thomas Home Furnishings then responded to me and told me that they asked for a rush on it but sometimes it still took them a week to get the hardware out! After one week, I still had not received any hardware. In the meantime, 8 months pregnant, my husband and I are sleeping on our mattress on the floor because we've already gotten rid of our old furniture. I called Thomas Home Furnishings yet again. They contacted Bassett and were told that the hardware had still not shipped, that it would be sent in the next couple of days and that hopefully I would receive it within another week.
I e-mailed Bassett's customer service and asked for a response about this situation. I never received a response. Finally fed up with going through a middle-man, I contacted Bassett's corporate office in Bassett, VA and told them that the only acceptable answer to my problem was that the hardware would be shipped overnight mail that day. Finally, the next day, I received the hardware. When my husband went to put the bed together, he found that the holes to put the footboard and sideboard together on 1 side were drilled incorrectly and did not match up. Instead of fighting another losing battle, my husband drilled the correct holes and put the bed together himself.
Now, going on 7 months, I have still not received the dining room set. Three weeks ago when Thomas Home Furnishings contacted Bassett, they were told the dining room set would be done in 1 week. After 1 week, they said 2 weeks. It's now been over 2 weeks and no response. I contacted Bassett directly again and was told that because I ordered through a retailer they would not give me any information directly. As of today, we have no dining room furniture, cannot get our deposit back and have not been given a delivery date.
Brenda of Elm, NJ, (5/17/02) Ordered furniture, was sent wrong recliner and sofa was two different colors. Left without any furniture, requested deposit back, refused, waited 12 weeks for furniture. Manager never inspected damaged goods when returned to wholesale.
I am very upset I have to now go look somewhere else for furniture because I cannot wait another 12 weeks and because they were so inconsiderate and rude to me I want my deposit money of $275 returned and I no longer want to do business with Bassett.
Marilyn, Apex NC (7/14/00) On April 21, 2000, I ordered a custom made love seat and two wing-back chairs for my formal parlor. The estimated delivery was June 10, 2000. I called the store on May 12, 2000 and spoke to Jackie, the person that take my order on April 21, 2000 to see if I could change the fabric on the love seat. She said she would check with the factory. She called later in the day and left a message on my answering stating that my furniture was ready to ship from the factory, so a change could not be made.
On June 11, 2000, one day after my estimated delivery date, my husband called the store to find out when the furniture would be delivered. He was told that we should not have been told the furniture would be delivered in either May or on June 10, 2000. It would be more like the end of the month. On about June 26, 2000, I received a call from the store telling me that my furniture would be delivered on June 29, 2000 between 8:30 and 9:30 am. I was not given a choice of delivery dates or times. I was in Austin, TX on June 29, 2000 for a business trip, but my husband was able to stay home that day. He received a call from Bassett at 9:30am and they said, they would deliver between 12:30 and 2:20 pm. They showed up at 4:30 pm. My husband lost a whole day of work.
When the furniture was delivered, the wooden Queen Anne legs were damaged on all three pieces. One of them on the love seat had a chunk of wood knocked out of it. He did not know that he had the option to refuse it.
I wrote Bassett headquarters when I returned from my business trip complaining about the damaged furniture. Bassett headquarters forwarded my e-mail to Mark Helms of the Raleigh store. Mr. Helms called my home the week of July 3, 2000 and told my husband that a repairman would come to our house on July 11, 2000 at 11:30 am. I rearranged my work schedule to be home. When the repairman arrived on July 11, 2000, he wrote down the details of the damage and I also pointed out other poor workmanship, i.e., ill-fitting cushion covers and exposed raw fabric edges. I asked him (Lin Hartsfield) when my furniture would be repaired and by whom. He said that he did not know when it would be repaired and who would repair it. He went on to say that he did not know why he was sent on the call because he did not repair Bassett and did not like dealing with their problems.
Needless to say that I was livid. I called Mark Helms and left him a voice message to let him know that I was livid about the situation. Mark called my work number that evening at 11:10pm and let a lengthy message that basically said nothing. I viewed this as a tactic to avoid talking to the customer. When I heard his voice mail message to me on the morning of July 12, 2000, I tried to call him but again he was out, and I left him a voice mail message indicating that I was further infuriated. To date, he has not returned by call. I have heard nothing from Bassett.
Bassett has caused my husband and myself to lose a day of work each. I have furniture sitting in my house that cost me $2,449.66 that is damaged. Even if the furniture is repaired, its value is greatly depreciated. I expect to receive exactly what I paid for and to be treated as a valued customer.
