Furniture & Appliance Mart

text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I contacted our customer earlier this week.  I apologized for my delayed response and inquired whether her desk was repaired to her satisfaction.  It was.  I apologized for her experience in our Plover store, thanked her for making her purchase of the Catnapper furniture in our Wausau store despite this experience, and re-offered the $300 discount offer made by her Plover salesperson toward the additional Catnapper furniture that she was considering purchasing.
 
She said she would consider this offer, and asked me to call her back on Wednesday, 2/18/15 to discuss it.
 
I believe our response is acceptable to our customer, albeit late, and I am hopeful that we will conclude this by retaining her as our customer.
 
[redacted],  Director of Customer Experience
Boston, Inc.   dba Furniture & ApplianceMart, Ashley Furniture HomeStores
2917 Business Park Drive
Stevens Point, WI     54482

Hello [redacted],
This complaint was filed on 4/16/15, the day prior to the final service appointment, after multiple service appointments over several months, for various issues.  This service appointment on 4/17/15 successfully solved the final issue.  On 4/20/15, one of our...

Customer Care managers spoke with our customer and confirmed that the refrigerator was working.  She also offered a $100 gift certificate in compensation for our customer's time and trouble, which was accepted.  We regret the multitude of issues our customer encountered and the time it took to resolve them all.  We appreciate our customer's patience and we're grateful she will remain our customer.
Sincerely,
[redacted]   [redacted]     [redacted]Ph:  ###-###-####
Fax:  ###-###-####

Dear [redacted],
Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to address our customer's concerns.
Our customer contacted us on 12/27/15 to report these problems.  Fortunately, our customer had purchased an extended warranty on these...

appliances, so we offered to repair these issues under the terms of the extended warranty, at no charge to the customer.  We ordered parts and completed service on 1/7/16.  Our technician reported that after installation of the required parts, everything tested OK.  We attempted to contact our customer on 1/12/16 to inquire about the effectiveness of the repair, but were unable to reach them.
We believe the appliances are working appropriately and this issue is closed.  Please let us know if there is something further?
Sincerely,
[redacted], Director of Customer Experience
Boston, Inc.   dba Furniture & ApplianceMart, Ashley HomeStores, Mattress Mart
2917 Business Park Drive
Stevens Point, WI     54482

Hello [redacted],
I sent the following response to this complaint on 4/15/15.  Did you not receive it?  I have copied it below, again, for your records.
-[redacted]
________________________________________________________________________________...⇄ /> From: [redacted] Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2015 1:22 PMSubject: FW: Revdex.com Final [redacted], [redacted] 4/6/15
 
Hello [redacted],
 
Thank you for providing me with this opportunity to bring closure
to our customer's concerns.
 
Today I received notification from Ashley Furniture that they will
provide a 100% credit for our customer to return their defective furniture and
reselect new furniture.  I applaud Ashley Furniture's decision.  I've
informed our customer of this decision and they will be visiting our Green Bay
store to select their new furniture.
 
I believe this matter has been closed in a positive manner for all
concerned.
 
Sincerely,
 
[redacted],  Director of Customer Experience
Boston, Inc.   dba Furniture & ApplianceMart, Ashley
Furniture HomeStores
2917 Business Park Drive
Stevens Point, WI     54482
[redacted].[redacted]@FAMStores.com
Ph:  ###-###-####
Fax:  ###-###-####

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
 
[redacted]

This business is not about satisfying the customer. They sell used furniture as new and they try to hide the damage product to give to the customer. They are very unorganized when it comes to delivery. Just make sure you check over your product before you buy it and accept anything from furniture and appliancemart mart. This company wants your money and they don't care about anything else.

We called Mr. [redacted] on Sunday, 3/29/15 at 4:26pm to confirm his Monday delivery, as promised. There was no answer.
Regardless, we delivered Mr. [redacted]'s washer on Monday, 3/30/15, completing this delivery at 3:04pm, which was after 1:30pm, as promised.
A 5 year extended warranty was included on his receipt, as promised.
I believe we have met all the requests made of us by Mr. [redacted] in this matter.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Hello,
 
Their response is not accurate.  If you refer to the service log that I have attached, you can see where they are incorrect.  There are several errors.  One, of many, is the fact that the only time they told us that they serviced it when it wasn't covered by the original warranty is this current time, service date started 11/26/13.  They made a note of this in that service order, but no others.
 
Also, they claim that there was only one time that a motor/mechanism was serviced.  If you refer to the service log, you will see that there are two times a motor and/or mechanism has been serviced.  During the service order started 8/16/11 and the service order started 11/26/13.  Also, it is noted in the Service Log that because they were having problems getting new parts, they are looking for parts off of a floor unit, meaning the parts they have used to repair our theater seating may not even be new.  See date 3/5/14 on service log.
 
After I explained that we only want something along the lines of a refund, or in store credit, [redacted] told us that our only option through them is to let them try and fix it this one time and if they can't, they would give us different options.  Why doesn't [redacted] mention this in her response to you? She is, after all,  the one who explained this to us.
 
They sold us an outdated piece of furniture that wasn't even being made anymore.  It should have been sold 'as is', or not at all.  Why offer an extended warranty that is useless due to difficulty in finding parts? They have had problems getting parts since the beginning, which is noted throughout the service log.  Their constant claim of how old this is only highlights the fact that this theater seating has been waiting for repairs to be completed for over 1 year and 10 months all together,  out of the entire 3 years and 2 months that we have owned it (as of 7/2014.  The repairs are part of only three different service orders.  We have spent over half the time that we have owned it waiting for it to be repaired. That is horrific.  [redacted] tried to compare this with a car having recall work done.  As I told her, if this was a car, and it had spent this much time waiting to be fixed, it would be unacceptable.
 
Am I supposed to respond to this in formal manner?  Perhaps outline the details in their service log?  I could highlight the number of times they have received the wrong parts.  I could mention that they gave me the phone number to Heritage House to try and get a resolution, but when I did, I was told that there is no shortage of parts for this theater seating and parts are often sent out the very next day.  If that is the resolution that Furniture and Appliancemart wanted me to get, I only learned that Furniture and Appliancemart are either lying to us about not being able to get parts.  Or, they are incompetent at ordering correct parts.  Either way, this is totally unacceptable.
 
It should be noted that this last repair originally had a service request submitted to Guardsman on 8/27/13.  Furniture and Appliancemart have this service date starting on 11/26/13, because that is when their service department started dealing with it.  Service through Guardsman was denied as a result of Furniture and Appliancemart's failure to provide us with the proper information at the time of sale and failure to register our extended warranty with Guardsman.  I contacted Guardsman on 8/27/13 by phone, but because Guardsman had no record of our warranty number, or our information, plus the fact that we didn't have instructions on how to fill out the paperwork, everything was delayed and eventually denied by Guardsman.  The chair broke on 8-24-13.  Guardsman only had our warranty, and our information, in their records after we sought the assistance of [redacted], from Rhinelander Furniture and Appliancemart.  She was an advocate for us with Guardsman.  The same warranty number that Guardsman told us was invalid, is now valid.  I believe it is because Furniture and Appliancemart hoped to make amends for their mistakes resulting in our Guardsman service request being denied, that they chose to service our theater seating on 11/26/13.
 
If given a choice of a refund - in store credit, or their servicing this again.  We would choose a refund - in store credit every time.
 
But since they tell us our only option is to let them try and fix it this one time, but if they fail, they will give us other options.  We feel we have no other choice but to agree.
 
 
Thank you so much for being there to assist with this manner.  You have no idea of how much we appreciate your time and attention to our issue.
 
 
Most Sincerely,
 
 
Regards,
[redacted]

Dear Mr. [redacted],
The problems with your loveseat fall under the manufacturer's warranty.  I can understand your disappointment that this defect appeared after only 6 months, but your warranty does not include a refund option.  The warranty covers parts, labor and the trip charge for a repair.  We are confident that a warranty repair will resolve this issue, and restore your loveseat to it's original condition.  We can complete this repair in your home, or should you prefer, we can complete this repair in our shop.  These are the options we are offering.  We await your decision.

We reviewed pictures of our customer’s refrigerator, showing the dents made by our technician.  Our Service manager concluded that the parts that we intended to install would NOT cover the dents.  For this reason, she has agreed to replace the refrigerator.
 
She determined that while the tech did the right procedure to “seat” the seal, he should have placed something flat on the surface of the door frame before pounding, to distribute the force over a larger surface, to prevent a dent.
 
I’ve spoken to our customer, who has accepted this resolution.  I consider this complaint closed.

Dear [redacted]
Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to resolve our customer's issues with her furniture.  In our investigation of this complaint, we discovered that her furniture has been discontinued by the vendor.  Parts to repair this furniture are still on...

order, but in light of this discovery, we believe these parts are unlikely to be available any time soon, if at all.  We contacted our customer with this information, and offered to accept the return of her furniture for an in-store credit, to be applied toward replacement furniture of her choice.  She accepted our offer.  We believe this closes this matter.
[redacted],  Director of
Customer Experience
Boston, Inc.   dba
Furniture & ApplianceMart, Ashley Furniture HomeStores
2917 Business Park Drive
Stevens Point,
WI     54482
[redacted]
Ph:  [redacted]
Fax:  888-640-2851

[redacted]Trade Practice Consultant[redacted]Revdex.com
Hello [redacted],
Thank you for allowing us this opportunity to address our customer's concerns.
Our Appleton store manager contacted our customer about her concerns with the sectional.  The sectional is not defective, so there is nothing more we can "repair".  The sectional is a "relaxed" style, and our customer does not like the look of this style.  Our Appleton store manager invited our customer to reselect a different sectional, and she has accepted.  This is completed.
[redacted],  Director of
Customer Experience
Boston, Inc.   dba
Furniture & ApplianceMart, Ashley Furniture HomeStores
2917 Business Park Drive
Stevens Point,
WI     54482
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Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Hello [redacted],
 
I am glad we were able to speak on the phone.  I don't know why [redacted] wouldn't have answered her cell phone when you called, but I know she said you two were playing phone tag.
 
Despite our not being satisfied with this, I truly hope that your company takes all of the factors into consideration when it comes to your future clients.
 
A.)  Don't sell old furniture (outdated and not being made anymore) as new and offer extended warranties on them.  I suggest they be sold 'As Is', so buyers beware.
 
B.)  Make sure the proper staff are on hand to ensure that all paperwork is completed properly and exchanged at the time purchases are completed.  Don't allow a sales person to complete the transaction on their own, due to the proper staff  having gone home for the day.  (our sale was completed after closing hours)
 
C.)  Have a system that ensures Guardsman Extended Warranties are in fact registered with Guardsman, and not left by the wayside like ours was.
 
D.) If repairs take an unreasonable amount of time, please consider compensating the client in some way.  A simple card in the mail, perhaps with a notice of a special discount.
 
E.)  Keep your clients updated on the status of repairs.  We would have to call in when we didn't hear from your company after months of waiting.
 
F.)  If anyone else were to go through what we have went through, (oil stained carpet from repair tech, long delays in repairs, damage caused due to an electrical fire from tech negligence, repairs not being completed like they were led to believe they would be [your tech told us the motor should not move during operation otherwise the same extensive damage would occur, and the motor still moves during operation after it was serviced]  please consider how an in-house credit, of even a partial value of what they want to return, would potentially pacify your clients and make them feel valued, which leads to satisfied customers spreading the good word to other potential customers.  
 
Customers should feel like they are taken care of, not taken advantage of.
 
I am unable to express my deepest regret that we have been unable to reach a satisfactory conclusion for all parties involved.  With that being said, the status will remain as unsatisfied.
 
 
Despite our not agreeing with you about the outcome, we sincerely appreciate your kindness and professionalism [redacted].
 
Sincerely,

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
Regards,
[redacted]
We were promised the extended warranty as we were promised to receive a call on Sunday evening to schedule delivery for our washer on Monday.  No call, nothing scheduled, still no washer.  This is the second time we were given a delivery date.  Second time that we prepared the laundry room so delivery could be made.  Total waste of time again.  Very disappointed with F&A again!!!

Hello
[redacted],
I spoke to Mr. [redacted] on Friday, 3/27/15 and offered to provide a 5 year extended warranty on the replacement washer.  Our customer accepted this offer....

 We are pleased that his concerns have been addressed and
resolved to his satisfaction. 
Sincerely,
[redacted] Hoffmann,  Director of
Customer Experience
Boston, Inc.   dba
Furniture & ApplianceMart, Ashley Furniture HomeStores
2917 Business Park Drive
Stevens Point,
WI     54482
[redacted].[redacted]@bostoninc.net
 
The
information contained in this e-mail may be confidential and is
intended solely for the addressee. Unauthorized access, disclosure,
copying, distribution or other action taken or omitted relying on the
contents of this message, is prohibited and may be unlawful. If
you are not the intended recipient please reply and advise the sender
of the erroneous transmission and immediately delete the message.

[redacted],
Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to respond to our customer's concerns.
Our customer contacted our corporate office with this complaint on 2/3/16.  Our Corporate Director of Advertising responded to our customer....

 THis response is directly below.-----------
Dear (customer name),
Thanks for taking the time to explain what happened.  It sounds like there is a misunderstanding between what our advertisement was communicating and what our Sales Professional was telling you on the floor.  This is our fault, not yours.  I don't blame you at all for being upset.
What the advertisement said was, "Insight Sets starting at $799" which is accurate, the Insight twin size set retails for $799 and we would be able to sell new in the box at that price.  An Insight king set would be more expensive than $799, but that's why the advertisement reads "starting at $799" just as you pointed out in your e-mail below.
Having said that, the Sales Professional was also wrong in saying that the King sets were not on sale.  In fact, we're offering our best deal that we've EVER offered on all iComfort mattresses including the king, where you receive no interest financing until as long as 2021, $300 in free furniture with purchase OR an upgrade to the adjustable base for just $99, free local delivery AND a free box spring.  It's an awesome deal, really, I wish it would have been communicated to you at our store.
I'm so sorry for the confusion.  It doesn't sound like we're going to be able to earn your business on this purchase from your e-mail below, and I understand your position on that.  At this point, I'm just thankful that you took time out of your day to explain what had happened and why you were frustrated.
I hope that my explanation helps to clear up the misunderstanding a little, but rest assured, we will get better at communicating the intention of advertisements to our retail Sales Professionals working at our stores.
If, after reading this, there is anything at all that I can do for you personally moving forward, please let me know and I'll do all that I can.  I'm eager to try to help in any way, sincerely.
Thanks a lot for your note, and again, I sincerely apologize that we let you down.
-------------------
Sincerely,

Dear Mr. [redacted], 
 
We apologize for the misunderstanding your order will be cancelled, a refund will be credited to you and there is no restocking fee.  We will be calling you today to go over the refund details, your sales professional apologizes for any...

inconvenience to you and your family.
As always we strive to serve our customers, the Revdex.com does not change how we take care of our customers, please contact us directly with any needs so we may assist you.
 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,Thank you for looking into this matter for us, but the situation isnot resolved. ASHLEY furniture is now offering to fix the chairs, butwe want our money back. We paid 1,500 for these two chairs and thatwas with 40& off. The fabric is coming off, they creak all the time,and I cut my hand on the back of the chair due to a sharp metal piecesticking out of the back. This was fixed but they still creakconstantly and fabric coming off of the chairs. We ONLY want our moneyback PLEASE. We have problems with other furniture from Ashley. Thisis terrible Customer Service.Please help us resolve this situation.Thank You  [redacted] and [redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
As Boston Inc. Representative [redacted] stated in her response to the Revdex.com there has been communication regarding finding resolution.  We did agree to look at replacement furniture at a steep discount.  Just so there is a record of this, the steep discount is actually a 50% discount but only on non sale items.  We accept that Boston Inc. is attempting to find a resolution but there is a larger problem here.  Getting a 50% discount on non sale items is not a very exciting or professional offer.  Ashley Furniture runs sales that offer better pricing then this.  The furniture in question that we own is the perfect example of this.  We are appreciative that Boston Inc is willing to work with us but we will not be bought.  Why should we purchase more furniture and spend thousands more to replace furniture that failed at 3.5 years.  Warranty or not this is a manufacturing / material product quality issue.  Also, how does Boston Inc explain all the other complaints online?  Did they buy these customers off as well.  The reason we brought this to the Revdex.com is because there was a failure of communication between Ashley Stores, Ashley Manufacturing, Boston Inc and Guardsman.  
First the Ashley Sales Person explained that the Guardsman Warranty cover everything for up to five years.  She called it the ELITE Plan and sold it to us as the total protection for anything that could go wrong including punctures.  Second, [redacted] Green, Ashley Manager, has been the only one who has personally observed the PRODUCT FAILURE my wife and I currently call living room furniture.  [redacted] took the [redacted]e to personally observe and take pictures of our furniture.  [redacted] has been the only Ashley employee to step up and do his job.  Remind you he did this on his day off.  Regardless if we work with Ashley Furniture in the future, it should be documented that [redacted] Green is excellent at his job and has provided excellent customer service, empathy and understanding.   Third, what about all the other online complaints about this specific furniture.  Loads of internet content shows this material and this exact set of furniture failing at less than four years.  Im not sure about anyone else but when I buy furniture I expect ten plus years of quality use.  Even after ten years, I then expect to be able to move the furniture to a different part of the house and purchase more to keep up with design trends.  3.5 years is completely unacceptable and I KNOW anyone would have a hard[redacted]e saying that this furniture was designed to only last five years.  What lesson about business practices at Ashley Stores are being learned.  Ashley Manufacturing has got to know their is a problem with this material and furniture set.  
Finally, what does a 50% discount provide my wife and I?  It provides Ashley Furniture with more of our money while Ashley gains and loses nothing.  This issue goes away for Ashley and the next consumer to purchase this material and or set is left in the same situation.  [redacted] said Ashley does not want our furniture back if we replace it.  Im curious why a manufacture would not at least have some of the items which are failing returned to be evaluated and studied for product quality issues.  This to me is a simple step in process, quality  and customer service improvement.  My guess is Ashley knows there is a problem with this furniture so why ask for it back.  Making the customer spend more to replace it, is a much easier solution then admitting the items you are making and selling are problematic.  My wife and I also read recently that Ashley Furniture Manufacturing has been fined heavily for workplace injuries.  The article does not go into specifics but obviously it rides directly on the coattails of quality.  I have a feeling our product quality issue is a direct result of workplace and workmanship, and material purchasing problems.  
My wife think Ashley / Boston Inc needs to step up to the plate and do more.  Do more to make sure this doesn't happen to others in the future.  Do more to make sure sales reps dont mislead customers into a warranty that doesn't cover what they say it will cover.  Let me know if Ashley Furniture feels 3.5 years is sufficient [redacted]e and meets their expectation for how long this furniture should last.  We have asked for our money back but we are willing to work with [redacted] and [redacted] to resolve this issue so others are not as misfortunate as us.  I believe Ashley sells some quality items and I believe Ashley sells some lines which are very attractive at certain prices to certain buyers.  We would like to see [redacted] increase the discount and include sale items.  We also would like a letter from Ashley addressing the concerns we have raised.  A 50% discount is just an attempt to buy us off and make this all go away.  There is a PROBLEM here and thats why we took the first steps in contacting the Revdex.com.  We appreciate and look forward to a response.  In the mean[redacted]e my wife and  I will visit with [redacted] Green to evaluate our replacement options.  We are willing to work with Boston Inc and Ashley rather than ask for all our money back, but more communication is needed and Boston Inc / Ashley needs to step up and help a customer which has been mistreated.  
Sincerely,
[redacted]
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
Regards,
[redacted]

To whom it may concern,
I spoke to Mrs. [redacted] on Monday, 12/22/14 and offered to extend the manufacturer's warranty on the Southern Motion Reclining Power Loveseat to October 12,2015, which is 6 months of additional warranty coverage.  Mrs. [redacted] accepted this offer.
Mrs. [redacted] has elected to have us pick up her loveseat and complete the repair in-shop.  We will schedule this as quickly as we can.
We are pleased that the [redacted]s' concerns have been addressed and resolved to their satisfaction.
Sincerely,