I wanted to share a tale about a floor model couch purchase.
Let me first explain that I am not your typical "complainer". Now don't get me wrong, I do "complain" but I like to think that it's rooted in reason. And I expect good service. If I receive it, I am sure to compliment. And if I love my purchase, I will become one of the biggest champions of a store. I tell everyone. By the same token, if I receive poor service and am left dissatisfied, I like to share my stories with people as well, in the hopes that they can learn from them and avoid making the same mistakes I did.
This story began about 6 weeks ago. Gints and I had been in our new house for only a week and quickly realized that we weren't going to be able to live here long without a couch. That very first weekend, August 30, we headed over to King East to hunt down a sofa. We were desperate for something - anything - that we could get immediately, but still love. We saw a lovely grey sectional couch at Roomy Interiors (www.roomy.ca). It was multi-functional with a pull out bed on one couch and storage under the other. It actually inspired my new decorating philosophy - whatever we buy must serve at least two purposes. This was a couch, a bed and storage. But it was stunning, although a little pricier than we expected but it was a floor model (i.e. slightly used), so we could get it right away...or so we thought.
While paying for our purchase, they informed us that because it was a floor model we were required to pay the full amount ($4000 including taxes) that day, but that we couldn't have the couch delivered for 2-3 weeks. They were waiting for the new floor model to come in to replace the one we had bought. We shouldn't have paid, we should have agreed to 50% at the time of purchase and another 50% upon delivery. But we didn't and we've learned. We expressed a serious desire for the couch, i.e. "If there's any way we can get it sooner, we'd really appreciate it...we have no seating."
You see, this was the first of many pieces of furniture that Gints and I were buying. We still needed: bed, dining table & chairs, another couch, couple of living room chairs...We liked Roomy, and could have found some additional pieces there. But because of the process and lack of customer service, we won't.
About 2.5 weeks after purchase/payment (Tuesday September 16), I called Roomy to confirm that we were on track for a Saturday delivery. No one returned my call that day, so I sent an email as well. The following day someone called me back to explain that they were following up with the supplier/delivery truck and would have an update for me. They would call me back that day (Sept. 17) no matter what. No one called. September 18, I received a voicemail, explaining that they would be a few days late with delivery. So, it would be more like 3-4 weeks from purchase, rather than the 2-3 weeks that were promised. I called back explaining that I was disappointed to hear that and that I wasn't happy about it, especially since we'd paid 100% two and a half weeks earlier. Seriously, there was over $4000 sitting on my VISA, for a couch I couldn't sit on, with no very good reason. It's not my fault they needed something to put in the store window over the weekend. The only response I received was "It's store policy to pay for floor models in full". No explanation and really, no sense of sincerity.
Below following is the email exchange that transpired. I wanted to share this with you, because I feel that people should know what they are getting into when purchasing a floor model couch and it's important to know the right questions to ask and to decide whether or not you should pay in full for an item that you don't get to take with you or have delivered within a reasonable amount of time.
Hello Roomy Interiors,
I am writing regarding my purchase of a sectional couch (on August 30) and wanted to provide you with some unsolicited customer feedback about our overall experience. Let me give you a bit of background. My husband and I purchased our home back in February and began renovations which were pretty much completed in August. We moved in on August 24 and that weekend, we began the search for a couch. After only a week in our new home, we realized that we would not be able to live without a couch for long, our legs were exhausted at the end of every day and we were going to sleep at 9pm every night since we had no where to sit.
We purchased the couch on Saturday August 30, floor model (as is) - not to save money but to save time. We were told at the time of purchase that we would have to wait 2-3 weeks (a KEY FACTOR) in our decision making process. We were asked to pay in full over $4000, something that in hindsight we should never have agreed to. especially since we wouldn't be receiving it for few weeks. But we did. We shall not do this again. It's difficult to swallow paying 3 weeks in advance for a couch you are unable to use.
This week, September 16, about 2.5 weeks after ordering, I called Roomy Interiors to check the status and ensure we were on track for delivery for Friday/Saturday (3 weeks from the date of purchase). I then sent an email later that day. Both my call and email were not returned until the following day (September 17), at which time I was told that the couch would be delayed by a couple of days and we will not be receiving it until September 24. I expressed my disappointment, as my husband and I ware anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new ouch. We also have a family gathering planned on September 20th, for which we will now need to find another venue.
The most frustrating part of this entire experience is that we honoured our end of the bargain, paying in full on August 30. And I'm sorry to say that I don't feel Roomy has honoured theirs. I am sad to say it was not the experience we were hoping for.
Regards,
Jessica
Their response:
Hello Jessica,
thank you for expressing your concerns.
I am sorry you feel that you have not had the most positive experience with us. It is store policy to receive payment in full for all floor models. I think it was also made fairly clear to you that we would need approximately 2-3 weeks for the delivery seeing as we were waiting for our new floor model to arrive. The regular price for the sofa was $4300 and was sold to you at $3655 + tax, a considerable savings. We were in touch with you as quickly as possible with as much information as we could provide at the time and we continued to follow up with both yourself and the manufacturer to ensure timely deliveries. I understand the the delivery has been scheduled for Tuesday morning, only 3 days shy of our estimated delivery. We hope that you do enjoy your purchase upon its arrival and will follow upwith you on Tuesday to make sure that the delivery went smoothly.
Regards,
XXXX
You can see by the Roomy Response, they didn't really read my letter, nor did they care about my dissatisfaction. They referenced the "savings" I received but I mentioned that we weren't motivated by price when making this purchase.
They called to see "how the delivery went" and asked specifically about that. Read between the lines, "we don't want to hear any more complaints from you". I said the delivery guys were fabulous and they were. And that was that. I never responded to the email.
However, last week I had a friend over and she called on Monday to ask where I'd gotten the couch. She loved it and though it would fit in her place and not to worry, no one would know we had the same couch. I said I can tell you where I got it from, but I can't recommend them, although it is an awesome couch, I wasn't happy with the service.
But I can tell you where we ordered the other couch, chaise and rocking chair from and you'll definitely find something there. Everyone has their own bad experience with a store and it's often not the store's fault. It's how the staff deals with the situation and manages their customer relations that leaves the biggest impact.
