So Much Drama. I am on pins and needles to see the resolution of this bad order issue. So the OP ordered and paid for a high quality craftsman suite, I noted it described as Amish (nothing Amish going on in that product), Is there no receipt or contract for this order?

Suite arrived, damage on product and damage to home. OP accepted delivery, and it's been in the house for more than a week. Was any of this noted on the delivery paperwork? Store is willing to give credit, OP thinks this is a possibility ?!? Who would even consider buying anything else from this place???

Then the comment that "The owner seemed willing to negotiate something that would work. 10% restocking-no go at this point. He'll do a portion as store credit if I find something. I did find a beautiful kitchen set. $$ though." What the heck does "seemed" mean? Will and Won't are the operative words to be demanding here.

And good luck getting the credit card company to reverse the charge, I am betting my purse that the store has a signed order receipt and delivery receipt with ALL the terms and conditions printed and signed for.

I am beginning to think that there is something wrong all right!! I can't wrap my head around an order like this and the OP has no receipt/contract/idea of the specifics beyond it's damaged. Good luck!

sasafras- Yes, it's Amish. I have a receipt, no contract- I bought it from a catalogue that my DH and I poured over for what seemed like hours.

My DH accepted delivery-DH and the store employee noted some imperfections in the piece and told me to email him with the issues. I did that same night.

I went looking in the store on Tuesday, there is nothing like the quality of our suite. Everything is smooth and drool worthy as it's so gorgeous and done well. This is what I thought we were getting.

The owner came by yesterday to look at it, and he said some was just wood ie, dents. Really? So that's where he lost me and I started to get more demanding, yet calm.

I feel naive, but we never expected this problem at all.

I agree with Sasafras. This is smelling fishy. Some people just like drama and fawning. I can't see anything much wrong in the photos except for the scratched leg. Doesn't look Amish to me at all. There are a lot of fake Amish dealers out there.

Seriously Em11- drama and fawning? It is from the Amish store and from an Amish manufacturer. I'm not sure why the disbelief? And the imperfections totally did not come out in photos. I did mention that in that post. I will try again to take pics to send to the cc company. It is difficult to photograph white furniture. I got some good pointers from some helpful posters up above.

Seriously.

I can most definitely understand that you have lost faith in the products by this company and want to be done with it. Also, there should be some quality control before they send out the furniture. I'm assuming here that these were not defects that happened during transportation but rather sloppy workmanship.
However, I can also understand the store owner's request to "give them a chance" to make this right.

In other words, would you still be happy if you got this furniture in the "drool worthy" condition of the pieces that are on display in the show room? Or have you changed your mind over the bedroom set?

Why not try to deal with the vendor (company who provided and produced these pieces) rather than the store owner?

In most cases store owners know very little about the furniture they sell and usually have no means to fix or handle furniture issues. Although there seems to be a few minor problems from the photos; nothing seems significant and if they are offering to refinish that is a resolution.

Also, I would like to point out that it is the store owner you have become frustrated with; not the vendor who provided the furniture. It does seem as though you have changed your mind and just decided this is not what you want; maybe it doesn't look as expected in the space?

I can clearly see the nicks in the white paint on the drawer fronts and chunks out of the leg and cross bar. Even if they do touch up the nicks, I bet it will be prone to them in the future. Are you going to polka dot with touch-up paint for the rest of its life? Also, notice how the cross bar supporting the legs is just screwed in. I didn't think Amish used screws in their cabinetry.

Thanks may_flowers, isabel98 and nosoccermom. I'm glad you can see the issues may_flowers, I'm going to try a video as well for documentation, as a lot if it is feel too (very rough drawer insides etc).

I showed the furniture to the carpenter who is here working on our kitchen, he was also less than impressed.

It is definitely from an Amish manufacturer.

It does look gorgeous in our space, until you get close. I'd post a pic, but we have not made our bed and I have towels and blankets covering the furniture so nothing happens to it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Page 34 is the furniture but in antique white

And thanks bbstx for the photobucket tutorial!

I also wonder why you haven't contacted the manufacturer of the furniture.

I stopped wondering some time ago, all of obvious handling has been ignored or simply isn't an option. DH should have sent the entire order right back when it arrived damaged but oh well.

Here is what I have learned reading this drama fest. Amish is word used to upsell junk! Ordering droolworthy stuff via catalog is no bueno!! And not having an order contract that explains return/exchange/restocking fees in detail at the time of purchase is just unheard of in my neck of the woods. Maybe for a pack of gum, but for a bedroom suite - Just No!!!

Hopefully the store owner will show up tomorrow to pick up this order and refinish it and won't do any new damage. Then it can be redelivered and hopefully in drool worthy condition and no damage will result in the redeliver. I am not holding my breath though. Good luck aklvdb.

I didn't know this was a drama fest sasafras! I feel stupid, believe me, and super naive. I took a video, DH laughed at me, but it's better than pics. "Listen to the rough wood" as my hand rubs across it- it is pretty funny.

A lesson learned, a bit of an uphill battle now I'm sure, but we'll get through it.

I'm really confused why people are turning on OP, who is just trying to resolve a consumer complaint WITHOUT a bunch of drama. I suspect she's going to get further with the store by remaining nice than she would by acting differently. If not, she can ratchet up the pressure until she gets results, but if it's not needed why start there? It doesn't seem to be her style - in fact it's many people's style to behave as she is.

Sorry to talk about you as if you're not here aklvdb! Hoping for the best outcome for you.

Ditto Olychick.....good luck with the return.

Thanks olychick and kswl, I was also a bit confused as to the turn. But it's the internet, and everyone has a right to their opinion, even if I don't agree. I did ask for it after all!

I just don't understand the response that 'it sounds fishy'. This is 100% true!

I've read all the posts and have taken all of them into consideration. I appreciate the time that it's taken people to respond.

Thank you to everyone.

I've been mostly lurking here, but I totally agree with Olychick. Good luck with your return. I think you've received some great advice. Stand your ground and don't give up on getting your money back.

Thank you outsideplaying! I just called the cc company IN CASE something cannot be resolved at the store/manufacturer level. They've given me great advice.

"Get everything in writing" is my new mantra.

My last one was "Nobody gets paid until I'm happy!" (dealing with kitchen reno- so far that has served me well!)

When you look at the catalog, there's no mentioning of painted wood. Is there a chance, that someone else painted the furniture?
I'd call the manufacturer.

Good luck AKL. I agree with Oly & KSWL, you are heart sick & just trying to resolve the issue. Best wishes and let us know how it turns out.

Wasn't he supposed to come and take it all away today? I hope that went well and you gain your satisfaction, aklvdb.

Thanks ghostlyvision, holly-kay. He did come and take it away today. I had the employee sign what he took as per recommendations from the cc company, and will follow up with an email outlining what was taken and why.

Nosoccermom- I inquired about the finishing, and the finisher is different from the manufacturer. I looked at the back of the product to get all the names involved, and it does have the painted wood colour on the brand name of the product.

This is seriously just a poop show ;) The backs of the product was awful. My 20 year old oak furniture is in better shape.

I have some more pics if anyone wants to see. I still don't know if I can do all of them in the post!

And a big thank you again to bbstx for teaching me how to upload all the photos in one post!

Wow...those photos show horrible work, I would expect full refund.

It looks like Walmart furniture. I think you're owed a few apologizes by those who accused you of being a drama queen.

To be fair, the pics I posted earlier did not show all of this, it was really hard to show the imperfections on white. But the more I looked, the more I found!

But ya, I'm not a drama queen at all (in this respect anyways ;) ) Thanks may_flowers and lyban!

Glad I could help with the pic posting tips! Keeping my fingers crossed that you can get it resolved in your favor.

Great job!
Sometimes it's just so impossible to believe something is sooo bad!

I paid an Amish group to quilt a quilt I'd made, because time was short. My nephew was going to be born. Now, I can quilt and I can quilt very well, with nice, tight, straight stitches.

When I received this quilt back, I cried. It was A.W.F.U.L. I asked if they were letting children practice on it? AWFUL. Huge looping, crooked stitches. They didn't use the thread I'd supplied -- at least 3/4 of the way through it.

After a week's horror and disappointment, I called to ask them to take it back and rip the stitches out. I wasn't asking for my money back, but I would redo it myself.

The woman was shocked (more than when my reaction when I picked it up) and took it. A month later she called to tell me they couldn't get it all out, but they would refund my money. Horse hooey.

My SIL and I sat down and took it all out in about 45 minutes. What kind of seamstresses they were is beyond me. All the work they were selling in their shop was gorgeous, but evidently not done by the same people.

My point is you never know and disappointment is so hard.

Also.
I and most everyone these days buys from catalogues. I don't think that was a mistake on your part at all. There is a level of trust and expectation by us and the store owner providing that product's catalogue. This was just a fiasco no one expected. We have to trust, but they have to make it right.

Great job.

Thanks CEFreeman! Isn't it awful when things are misrepresented? And what an emotional time for you too, you want the quilt for a reason, you can do it yourself but are on a time crunch, then that happens. And I'm sure it wasn't cheap!

And I'm sure you can talk to most people, and they will know that the Amish have a reputation for building good stuff. Of course there are exceptions as with anything (and I guess I found out the hard way!)

The thing is too, my IL's have bought tons of stuff from there. No issue. If there was, they got a major discount, but nothing like this, the furniture is gorgeous (more Amish/mission styling than I'd like, but done well, heavy and finished properly)

aklvdb, you've been anything but a drama queen. I would have been a wild crazy person if I had paid good money for such poor quality. Your composure and forbearance are remarkable.

I hope everything works out for you, whatever outcome you desire. You are entitled to that.

The upstream criticisms from a few were just weird and bizarre to me. Like someone had a bee in their bonnet and took it out on you. Not nice.

That looks like terrible work. It really looks cheap. I am sorry you are going through this. I can understand paying a restocking fee if you change your mind on something, but not for work of poor quality.

I hope that the furniture has been removed. At this point, I would open a claim with the cc company. I would tell them that the owner has removed the furniture and admitted to the damages. You want a full refund now that you no longer have the furniture. It will probably take a couple mos. to receive

If I was the owner of the store, I would not argue with you over a 20% restocking fee. I would apologize profusely, take the financial hit, and resolve it myself with the manufacturer. I would probably settle for a 10% restocking fee though, if he would agree, just to be done with this mess. But I would not buy anything from that store or do an exchange for store credit.

So I just sent an email as recommended by the cc company to develop a paper trail (unfortunately, they have never responded to me in the past) about what I ordered and what I received, detailing the issues. And that I have pics and videos. The back is a disaster, is it not?!?! My goodness, I could have done better in grade 7 woodworking shops class! I think I did!

I know rockybird, it looks so so cheap. It was not! I wish the owner was being reasonable, but after seeing the backs of the furniture, I'm done with negotiating. That is ridiculous, and I should not be penalized for not getting what I ordered. Back to my 20 year old furniture. At least it holds clothes and looks a lot better than the other stuff.

I just can't deal with this and the company anymore. I'm done and I just want my $ back.

Thanks linelle, sometimes I feel like a wild crazy person with all the stuff that happens to me (nothing too crazy, but stuff like this all the time-and I research things to death!). So much so that my DH says to my 4 year old DS- "Always an adventure with mom!"

Drama is evident here - So much so that my DH says to my 4 year old DS- "Always an adventure with mom!"

Ha ha. I am glad to know the furniture is taken back. Yes the back is a disaster, I still question accepting it into the home. The furniture opera is coming to an end, and I do hope you get a full refund.

It's great that you have learned - "Get everything in writing" is my new mantra. and "Nobody gets paid until I'm happy!"

That should help eliminate some of your "adventures" from now on.

Oh sasafras, if only you knew. I don't make it, I just deal with it.

So the "nobody gets paid until I'm happy" came from our little (10-12K) kitchen reno last summer. Had issues with the electrical (high voltage from the wall only covered with marrettes) and some cabinetry.

Then had the owner tell me that I was lucky his company did it as nobody else would have touched it because it was so small. We got 3 quotes but went with them as they had been around 70 years and did check references.

Then 3 months later (if that) we had a flood from our dishwasher when the water was off and the lines drained, and a relative checking our house every 2 days. So that necessitated more of a kitchen reno, which is still going on (this happened in November).

I didn't even mention the beetles from our beautiful (king sized) headboard we had made. The beetles we discovered the day before we were leaving for out of the country and my DH was working 12 hours that day while I got myself and small child ready for vacation. That was resolved very quickly and simply by a phone call from the guy who made it. Who felt horrible and replaced the infested pieces no problem. And he was happy I told him so he didn't use the same timbers, so we all learned!

Like I'm sorry, but you can't make this stuff up! Who orders a headboard and gets beetles from it? Me apparently. So nothing I could have done would have eliminated that 'adventure'.

I did learn this time to get everything in writing. The thing with life is you're tested before you learn all the answers!

Oh, and my DH accepted the furniture. He's pretty laid back and trusting in this regard, and he didn't think he'd have an issue. And our blinds were broken, so we couldn't see a lot of the issues as we didn't have the natural light. Once we took them down, holy moley!

And we didn't see the backs until they were taking it away.

Another lessen learned!

The backs of those pieces look like hackmanship, not craftmanship (Amish or otherwise), good to know they at least stood by their word and removed them. I wouldn't settle for any restocking fee/store credit/whatever, they should not profit from this escapade. A full refund and deepest apologies are owed to you, nothing less.

I was the first to comment: "Stand firm and get your money back and the badly made furniture out of the house." So I'm happy to hear that 1) it's out of the house and 2) it seems you are closer to a refund.

I understand about the drama issue; I've had my share and lots of it (the worst) came about as the result of shoddy workmanship. I had a staircase made three times by 3 different companies, two licensed, one fraudulently using someone else's license. (I didn't learn that until I challenged the product.) I usually play nice the first go-round, then the gloves are off and I take no prisoners. I got every dollar back in each case, and in two cases, got the crap out of my house. The third guy was so afraid of a lawsuit if he damaged my house removing it that he refunded the entire amount and left the staircase. It's ugly as sin and terribly made, but it is safe to use and will stay there till I find someone who knows caca from shinola when it comes to constructing stairs.

Someone mentioned that there is "nothing Amish about it" and I tend to agree. I think we have all fallen under the spell of the very word, "Amish" and don't realize just how corrupted it's become. Your furniture definitely does not look handmade; it is very apparent that someone used electrical tools - and not well. I could have done better.

It seems we've all been through the wringer - more than once - dealing with contractors, tradesmen, salesmen, etc. It happened to me - again - just days ago. Every time, I think I have learned a lesson and most times, I do. The problem is, it's easy to believe that what you're being told is true. The drama comes when you realize it's not.

No kidding ghostlyvision and tomatofreak.. I'm sorry you had to go through all that with your staircase. I don't know why this is so difficult.

I just had a guy over to look at doing some finishing carpentry in the winter. He seemed to know what he was doing :) But what do I know at this point! I did show him the pics of the amish furniture, and he couldn't believe it.

I did receive an email from the owner of the store, he's going to take it to the manufacturer and get some answers. And he'll get back to me in a week, he's sorry for the grief this has caused me and that he trusts I understand. And will do his best to square up as fair as possible.

Thank you all for all the support, it has helped me be more firm in my responses and expectations, which will hopefully get me closer to getting this chapter over with with a positive resolution.

AKL, I was reading that you had beetles in your headboard. It was probably walnut. There is a wood products quarantine in sixteen states including PA in five counties. The quarantine applies to all walnut material except for nuts. processed lumber, and finished wood products that don't have bark on them.

The beetles tunnel under the bark and cause a disease to the tree called thousand cankers. The affected states other than the five affected counties in PA are AZ, CA, CO, ID, IN, MD,NV, NM,NC, OH,OR, TN,UT, VA, and WA.

Apparently the beetles are very small and hard to detect. Your carpenter should, if he didn't already, call the Dept of Agriculture.

I went to the website you ordered from and didn't see a return policy listed. This would have been a red flag to me when ordering online. Just another thing to consider in the future if you order online. I have come across some crazy return policies and have nixed the company immediately for that reason.

I hope this gets resolved quiickly and painlessly. You sure have had some interesting "adventures!" Lol. Especially the headboard issue. How long before you noticed those? Did you sleep in the bed before noticing?

As fair as possible? Who's treated him unfairly? Good grief! I don't think he plans to give you a full refund. I'd email back that that's the only fair treatment you'll accept.

I agree with May. The only fair resolution is for you to get your money back in full!

holly-kay- these were big wood boring beetles. They had larvae in the wood, I believe it was oak timbers. Great times! I learned something there, but it was resolved no issue. We went to an exterminator to confirm that they would not eat our house! But otherwise they were gone after being killed.

anitamo- we had it in our house about 6 weeks before they started to come out give or take. We figure, as it was freezing cold in the prairies where we are in Canada, that when they warmed up in the house they started their cylce? And it was April here, so we thought perhaps it was just the regular buggies getting in the house. Except it was only beetles (weird) and only in our bedroom.

And we did go to the brick and mortar Amish store to order, didn't order online. Sigh. Still I feel stupid.

Thank you may_flowers and holly-kay, I will email back with that response.

Ditto what may_flowers said above. Being fair is not an option, being refunded 100% is the only acceptable result. The poor workmanship was reason enough but the beetles top that! I guess email is a good thing because you will have a trail of conversation. But I would write a letter to the store owner, and cc the Mfg, the credit card company, and yourself. A week to get an answer is ridiculous. The store owner is responsible for this entire transaction and owes you the refund (assuming that is who you paid for your order). You should not have to wait for his negotiations with the mfg!

Thanks sasafras for seeing the way :) That makes complete sense, and I shouldn't have to wait for what the manufacturer says. Either way, I have until Sept. 20 for the refund according to the cc company, and if I don't receive it I will open a formal dispute.

The beetles were a whole 'nother builder. I felt so bad for the carpenter who did the head board. We found him on your equivalent of craig's list, and him and his family was so sweet. I felt so bad telling him of this. He was blown away, and said right away that he would do anything he could to make me happy. That is customer service.

This post was edited by aklvdb on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 20:19

As fair as possible? The only fair soln. is refunding 100% of your money without delay.

UPDATE:

So I received an answer from the owner of the store who is hanging with the manufacturer in the USA right now.

He brought the furniture back to the builder and discussed the issues I had with it.

He explained his policy as this is custom ordered, not just taken from a shelf. They have never sold this set as painted before, they cannot give a refund until they try to solve the issues with the product.

The painter was different from the builder and had the builder seen it it wouldn't have passed inspection.

So the owner and manufacturer are proposing that when the owner goes down to the US again at the end of October, he will bring back beautiful furniture that is painted by the manufacturer who has experience painting kitchen cabs and will be inspected by the owner of the manufacture company.

Then before it is delivered to our house, we will go to the store to inspect it.

So they have my 4K and I'm not getting furniture for another 2 months.

So now what? It's not just the finishing, cross bars were cracked and the backs were hacked (as per the pics!). It sounds like they will fix the cosmetic stuff, but I don't know.

I just have such a bad taste in my mouth about this whole thing now. The owner of the local store says he is in the US and doesn't get internet most of the time, so I can contact him next week.

Do you think I have enough to open a formal dispute with the cc company, or because they are trying to fix it I'm stuck with it?

THANK you for all your advice and wisdom!

Didn't the builder see the shoddy wood workmanship? He's blaming everything on the painter, but that's only part of the problem. I wouldn't trust any of them. I'd contact the cc company and tell them that you no longer want to deal with this company that sent you damaged furniture and have no faith that they will be able to make it right. I would also tell them you cannot wait 2 months anyway. You want a full refund.

I think at this point they should be giving you the option of the builder working it out for you or offering your $$ back. You shouldn't have to wait 2 months for furniture if you don't want to. It's not your fault they didn't get it right the first time and you shouldn't have to pay the consequences for their errors.

If you truly love the items and want to give them a chance, with them knowing you have the right of refusal if they don't get it right, that's your call.

I would continue to pursue the matter with the cc company. At this point, I wouldnt trust any work that they might do to try to repair the furniture.

Did you tell the store owner that his proposed solution doesn't address the shoddy construction and that you want your money back?

You will never be happy with this furniture so I think you should pursue it as far as you can with the credit card company and hopefully you get your money back.

Do you have small claims court in Canada? If so, that might be another option.