Coleen, you're going to make my head swell (laughing).

Sorry, I have zero experience with Carolina Chair and have not seen their product or heard of them. I looked at their website and they have good construction techniques, and the tailoring of their photo samples looks good as well.

Two things that would give me pause ordering through them however:

1) They require payment in full before production, and say 6 weeks top delivery. That's sketchy! Mastercard/Visa/Am Ex/Discover merchant regulations REQUIRE vendors accepting their cards to not take payment in full unless shipment is made in a timely manner. In credit card lingo, that means a few days, not six weeks. They are in technical violation of their credit card agreement with all the major card issuers. You'll have your full credit card bill to pay before your furniture ever leaves the factory and thats not right.

2) I can't find a return policy on their website. It says custom orders are non-returnable - but doesn't clearly define if anything at all is returnable for refund. There's no chance to see it ahead of time and they appear to have no return policy?

Prices are decent but not exceptional. Personally I would not pre-pay an order in full for big ticket items that have to be made, nor if it sat like a giant marshmallow would I want to be forced to keep it with no recourse other than to try to work via a credit card chargeback (which may or may not go your way).

Definitely do not prepay via check. You have no recourse whatsoever if they disappear.

It's all how comfortable you are with their requirements. If you're not too far from where they make it, perhaps a day trip to go see it would be a good idea.

Good luck!
Duane Collie

I am also contemplating buying from carolinachair. Just want to point out that according to this http://carolinachair.com/details.html
they do not charge your card until the order is shipped. And here http://carolinachair.com/faq.html#c8 it says they will refund if your furniture arrives damaged.

Duane I appreciate the advice you offer. You say their prices are good but not great. I would prefer to buy locally and would love to know where I can get similar quality locally in CT for these prices. Brands, stores etc. I have been to what seems like a million places and its either junk or 5000.00 for a sofa. There doesn't seem to be anything in between. It is very frustrating.

OK, I see that on the link (charging credit card when it leaves the floor). I was looking only in the FAQ's where it said that production would begin when your check cleared.

The return policy is for damaged goods. What if you just don't like it when it shows up? Do you have any recourse? Perhaps call them before ordering and see if you do.

I have no idea what kind of stores are in CT, though I've been through the state many times I never have time to stop and look at other furniture stores when I'm on I-95 in the Freightliner. Looking at carolinachair prices, if you can find a dealer that sells Southwood and has bought into the Farrington promotion, you'll see furniture in those price ranges and even a little crisper styling. Just one example.

perserverator - where in CT are you? That's where I am! (New Haven area) I am going through the same thing as you. I've traveled to everywhere - the only sofa that really grabbed me was a $5000 Baker.

I've been to I did speak to Cathy at carolinachair. FWIW, she is very nice and they seem very accomodating - For example, I want fiber down seats but standard cushions; I want t back cushions, etc. I have to say, that Duane makes a point about the nonreturnable policy. Although, I feel like I've seen that before when you order furniture. The only thing is, at least you will have sat in that furniture. I do like that it's a small company and the product is made in the U.S. Plus they have countless testimonials - I think they follow up with their customers for this, but since they only sell via the internet, that's reasonable.

In any event, I will see if I can check out Southwood.

Thanks Duane for the Southwood tip. I'll try and check them out. There is an article posted on the carolinachair.com site from the wall st journal that references a 30 day return policy. The only reference I can find on their site is here:
http://www.carolinachair.com/custom.html "Custom orders are unique items to our line of furniture and the 30 day return policy is not available." But I can't find anything else about the 30 day policy. That's a good point and I'll have to contact them.

Coleen, I'm also in the New Haven area. I will check out Southwood but I am skeptical that the prices will be in line with these. It just seems that high quality furniture here is very expensive. We ordered swatches from Carolinachair.com and Cathy responded with an email and we had our swatches 2 days later with a note to order more if we wanted to. It makes sense to me that their furniture is high quality and affordable as they are selling it direct. But it is risky buying something without having sat on it.

perseverator - So I gues you've been to the usual suspects like Furniture Barn, Connecticut Home Interiors and Stickley? I'm looking for 2 loveseats for our rather small living room and I'm having trouble finding the style I like in the size I need. I did see one I liked at Stickley, but this is furniture I see getting trashed, since we have 2 kids (5 & 6) and a dog. The price was almost twice that I'd be paying with carolinachair.

I'm jealous you got your swatches in 2 days! She said mine were sent on Thursday and I'm still waiting. I called again today to ask for more since everything I see that I like is a twill fabric. I initially asked for velvet. Where else have you been - any where you would recommend that I haven't thought of? I don't want Ethan Allen.

Classic Home Furnishings on the Post Rd in Milford, very nice furniture but again very expensive. I did not go to CT Home Interiors. Do they have furniture in this price range?

Yes - that's where I sat on the Baker ($5K!) But I wasn't really impressed - he told me to "walk around and if I found anything to come find him" - this was in the middle of the week when the store was absolutely dead. I thought if I gave him a hint as to what i was after, he might be able to steer me. I'm pretty certain about what I want.

I haven't heard of Classic Home Furnishings. Are they new? I thought I'd been up and down the Post Road. At Stickley they had Sherrill furniture that was less, but it wasn't what I was looking for. Of course I only liked the Stickley sofa.

I'm a furniture rep in New England (Trumbull,CT). If you don't mind a 2 1/2 hr. trip, the Gardner,MA area has several furniture outlets that have prices that come close to the NC discounters. You won't have to pay up front and they are honest, well established dealers. Some of the better ones are Winchendon Furniture, Factory Coop, Rome Furniture, LaChance Furniture and Charlton Furniture. They are all within a 15 mile radius.

Gardner was a major furniture manufacturing center until the 1970's. The only one left is Nichols & Stone. The furniture outlets are mostly in old furniture factory buildings. They are low overhead and carry mostly medium to high end. You can visit individual websites by typing the storename.com, ie. www.charltonfurniture.com etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardner Furniture Outlets

The only one left is Nichols & Stone.

And Saloom, in nearby Winchendon :-)

Thinking of buying a Stressless leather recliner. Ekornes offers 4 types of leather. What is the wearability & up keep of Royalin. Will it stain easily if wine should be spilled on it? Is there a leather "protection" I can apply?

coleen3201118 I'm thinking of buying from Carolinachair, please let me know if you ordered and are you happy with your purchase. Thanks.