Gloster Furniture

Dear [redacted] ,We have received this complaint via case number [redacted] We appreciate that you reached out to us for the rest of the story I will start from the beginning with only facts All supporting documentation has also been [redacted] .· Gloster Standard Cushions carry a year warranty ( [redacted] : look under Plantation Standard Cushion) This information is public record printed in every Gloster Price List and available at each Retailer.· Our direct customer, [redacted] ***, bought the cushions in question on an order dated November 8th, (Receipt [redacted] )· [redacted] placed these on their sales floor as selling samples upon receipt.· After a period of roughly years, [redacted] removed these from their sales floor and placed them in a Clearance Outlet Sale Area to be sold at a discounted price All sales in this area are sold as a Final Sale with No Warranty, and this is clearly communicated to consumers(See customer receipt [redacted] )· [redacted] bought the furniture from this Outlet May 30th, (See customer receipt [redacted] )Now that [redacted] has his cushions here is a bit of product info Outdoor cushions, as with anything placed outdoors and exposed to the elements, must be maintained The fabric on our standard cushions is made of acrylic yarns and produced by the industry leader in outdoor fabrics, Sunbrella These fabrics are not water-proof, but water resistant; they will let water inside the fabric by way of the space between the threads Consumers have a personal responsibility to care for outdoor cushions by bringing them indoors when heavy rains are present If cushions become saturated, it is imperative that they be set out to drain and dry to prevent mold and mildew growth To properly maintain a wet cushion the customer must unzip the cushion and place this zipper down allowing the water to drain out of the cushion and air to circulate within Once dry, which happens pretty quickly in direct sunlight, you then re-zip the cushion and begin using this again.If the water is not drained out of the cushion properly, especially in a hot or humid environment, an opportune environment for mold growth is created Once the mold begins to grow it needs to be cleaned/killed or it will continue to grow and spread( [redacted] : All relevant cleaning instructions which were sent to ***)· On February 22nd, [redacted] reached out to Gloster as his cushions had gathered a lot of mold.· This was reviewed by our Quality Assurance (QA) Team and determined that these were not properly maintained cushions It didn’t appear the customer was draining, cleaning or allowing these to dry properly After researching the order, it also showed these cushions were now years and several months old While this is outside of warranty and [redacted] knowingly bought these on a clearance sale where all Sales are Final, this information in no way imparts our stance on this issue.· This information was relayed to [redacted] by our QA Team [redacted] was not satisfied with this resolution.· So, we reviewed this again This time by myself (QA Manager) and Scott Parris (Cushion Department Manager) Because [redacted] was upset and seeking an additional opinion, we took this a step further and took a conference call with Alan Rampey, Director of QA @ Sunbrella Fabrics.· Our conclusion was the same as the original QA decision: Customer was not following the correct procedure to maintain the cushionsThey were not being drained properly and hadn’t been cleaned along the way Cushions remaining wet and sitting outside in a Florida environment will be very prone to moisture and the result is mold Especially the inside of the cushion as it receives little air flow (I have [redacted] the emails of our conversations with [redacted] explaining the conclusion of our inspection and also trying to help with his product in the future.)· Final Action – we explained to [redacted] again our conclusion and offered advice to clean and maintain his cushions moving forward.We have a QA procedure that reviews all claims efficiently and thoroughly to ensure our customers receive proper and expedient customer service As with any customer, we try to react and treat each customer in a friendly, accurate, timely and honest manner We certainly feel like we did this for Mr [redacted] .Lastly, we stand by our products and have a customer-first mentality but we also have a responsibility as a business to make sound and consistent decisions Regarding all the facts in this case, we feel we made the proper decisions handling [redacted] .If you need any further information please give me a call either at Gloster [redacted] or on my cell phone [redacted] anytime.Best Regards, [redacted] Gloster Furniture