Ok, so I spoke with the cc company this am.

If I do not have a refund OR merchandise by Oct 5 (30 days after they picked up my furniture), I call the mastercard, have a letter for them explaining everything, and they dispute it. (originally I was told Sept. 24, but that was for Visa, this is MC)

I agree, 2 months with no furniture and no $ is ridiculous.

The CC company asked if I responded or agreed to the email outlining the plan of end of Oct. I said no. So I guess I just don't contact the furniture store at all at this point.

So I will do the claim, the MC has a record of my calls.

I did not get any response to the structural issues of the furniture, they make it sound like it's all finishing, but in my email I did outline the cracked cross bars, all the chips and dents. Did they not see the back??

Thank you all again for helping me stand up for myself and not feeling too naive and stupid to have accepted the furniture in the first place.

At this point, I would say that because of the structural issues, you want your money back, period. No more discussion. Don't even think about it-- just keep working with CC.

aklvdb, we all make mistakes that in hindsight should have been more obvious to us. Don't continue to beat yourself up for being naive or stupid. Now you know the score and have learned so much, the hard way.

I hate being played for a fool. What I hate even more is for a loved one or friend to be taken advantage of. These vendors may not be intentionally out to fleece you, but they are suiting themselves and stringing you along. But you already know that.

This October 5 deadline that MasterCard has given you. Are you required to give notice to the vendor that, unless you have the goods or a refund IN HAND by that date that they're SOL?

Do you even want the product back? It kind of sounds like you don't, so if that's the case, I would just tell them right away not to bother repainting the stuff, that you just want a full refund. The more work they do, I think the harder it will be to get your full refund.

I agree with gail618.

Well, it sounds like you want your money back and no furniture. Obviously, you need to communicate the October 5 deadline to the owner/manufacturer, whoever you've been communicating with How else are they supposed to know what you expect from them?

So I just spoke with MC again, and I do not need to tell the merchant that I will be doing this and that by the date stated I need to have $ or merchandise.

And I did ask for a refund and the company said no. They will not until they have done everything to solve the issue of the furniture.

Thanks! I'm sure I'm bothering MC a lot, but I also want record of what is transpiring. The last MC lady I spoke with today did not make notes, so the one I just spoke with I asked her to. I'm also getting their names, dates and when I called and what I asked.

Aklvdb, you said you are "asking" for a refund. Don't ask. I don't mean be rude, but state they must give you a refund, period.

Did you agree to the repair of your order ? if so then I would give them the CC deadline of October 5, so they can adjust their timeframe.

Since you don't want the furniture, why wouldn't you just tell the company that if you don't have the $ back by Oct 5 (if that is the CC deadline) you will be filing a dispute with the cc company for a full refund? I would make no mention of $ or furniture option, just the refund.

I did not agree to the repair of the furniture, and I did tell the company that the only resolution is a full refund.

I would do what olychick said - otherwise, unless you respond, they will assume they have the 2 months that they proposed. Since you are shortening that time frame to October 5th, they need to know that. Just send an email or a letter that says you've spoken with Master Card, and that you expect a full refund if you do not have perfect furniture (including fixing both the finishes and the structural issues) by October 5th.

Aklvdb, as someone who has disputed a large purchase successfully with a CC company, I advise you to continue with your detailed notes including dates and times. I gave all my detailed notes to my CC company at their request. Do not be concerned with "bothering" MC. They offer this service to their clients and they will not fault you for taking advantage of it.

I allowed my store to make two attempts at repair. Both times took upwards of two months!! Then I allowed them to replace, and received another defective product. They wanted to start the entire repair process all over again but I'd had enough. Luckily, I had kept in contact with my CC company the entire time and so my deadline did not pass. I told them that I was still trying to resolve the issue with the store and manufacturer, but as I said, it took forever!!! Once I got the second defective unit, I called the CC company and opened a formal dispute.

I was not "out the money" once my dispute was filed. My account was credited immediately for the full amount while the dispute was in process. It was made clear that the credit was temporary pending the CC company's final determination. Following the investigation, the amount was deemed "permanent."

My CC company was very helpful throughout the process in explaining what I needed to do. If I were you, I would ask my CC company specifically what my requirements are concerning how much time you need to give the store owner to make good on the purchase, or if you can request a full refund right now due to the amount of time it will take to make repairs. I would also mention that they do not intend to correct the structural issues but only repaint.

This is such a nightmare! Thank goodness you purchased using your CC!

Some people have said you shouldn't buy furniture unseen. Apparently they have never purchased from a high end furniture store! Very seldom do you ever buy furniture off the floor unless they are having some inventory reduction clearance sale! I have worked at a furniture gallery type store and almost all sales were special orders. They simply have floor examples (samples) of a very small amount of furniture that they sell and the rest you have to look through their catalogs and order your furniture. You did NOTHING wrong by not actually seeing the furniture first. It just doesn't normally work that way when buying high end furniture. Special orders are about 95% of their sales, at least at the store I worked for anyway. They sold brands such as Thomasville, Drexel Heritage etc.

This post was edited by arkansas_girl on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 17:35

I don't get it: If the only resolution is to get a refund, why wait until the October 5 deadline and not file a reversal of charges right away?

Did MC say that you need to give them the chance to make it right within a reasonable amount of time, i.e. 30 days? (Like jellytoast did)

Why don't you want to tell the owner that you don't want them to repaint the furniture but will only be satisfied with a full refund?

nosoccermom- MC said that I had to wait until 30 days after the furniture was taken out. Maybe that is the 30 days that the 'make it right' time. No furniture and no $ by then, then they can file it.

The owner does not get internet right now (I know, who doesn't get internet?, he's travelling) so I want to be careful in my wording to him. So I'm thinking. Simple and to the point without being cantankerous.

Thank you for your personal story jellytoast, I appreciate it and the support. MC was very clear to the Oct. 5 call if I have no $ or merchandise to view, I did tell them the owner had another plan that I didn't agree with that would take until the end of Oct. So I could not make a request for a full refund right now, they will not open an official dispute until 30 days after.

Thank you arkansas_girl, I appreciate it.

Posted by aklvdb (My Page) on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 13:43
"I did not agree to the repair of the furniture, and I did tell the company that the only resolution is a full refund."

Yay!! Now do it in writing as well - to the owner and the mfg. I am still noticing a drama fest with this whole gig. Seeing you report that the owner is "hanging with the manufacturer in the USA right now. And that he brought the furniture back to the builder and discussed the issues I had with it." - means you are having WAY too much communication and leading them on. Stop talking to them and if you must continue to take their calls then let this be your newest mantra - NO, I WILL NOT wait for you to do everything to solve the issue of the furniture.

And yes, I do think that this continues to be a drama fest. It's certainly not okay that you paid 4 grand for a pile of junk - but it sure is interesting. I look forward to the next episode each day!!

Oh sasafras, you crack me up :)

It is I guess a bit of drama. I did email the owner and said, "I trust you will understand the only fair resolution is a full refund" then off he went to the US and emailed me a novel :) I told him twice in email. I am not leading him on, I'm not that kind of girl ;)

And no, it's not ok that 4K of our hard earned cash is in his pocket and we have no furniture except for our 18 year old oak that still looks great (if you like that style) and holds clothes. Promises, promises.

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This post was edited by LucyStar1 on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 22:27

This is still too much: ""I trust you will understand the only fair resolution is a full refund" "

You can't word things this way. You are implying that it is dependent upon him (1) being worthy of trust (2) understanding the problem and (3) agreeing this is fair.

You can't ask him to agree. You just have to state instead, "I require that my money be refunded immediately." PERIOD.

Otherwise, it keeps sounding like the ball is in his court.

Thanks anele. I will send him a quick email today saying that.

anele, exactly.

aklvdb, this is where you stand to your full height, legs firmly planted, chest and chin out and say what YOU require him to do. Drop the courtly civilities. This is an effing demand notice.

The owner and manufacturer are making every effort to make this right, even though it will take time I would give them the chance to fix it. I have custom made cherry bedroom furniture and when the dresser came the finish looked awful, the furniture store contacted the manufacturer and they refinished it and it is lovely now. Yes, it meant that we were without a dresser for a few months but that really was not that hard to deal with.

Have you had your husband deal with any of this? He might get better faster results. Unfortunately, companies, seem to think they can browbeat women. When the man says the same thing, they seem to get good results.

cat_ky - no, my husband has not dealt with any of it. All this is my department. I think I do need to involve more as things escalate.

athomeinva-thanks for your perspective, I appreciate it. I'm glad it worked out for you. I just don't have the confidence that it will be done right, and I don't think I could take another let down.

linelle- I did sent an email this am. I was very clear. My last line is, "At this point, I will require a full refund." after detailing not only the finishing, but the structural issues (cracks etc) with the piece.

I did not think that mine would be fixed to my expectations either but I did feel obligated to give them the chance to try. Especially if they are willing to give a full refund if you are not satisfied with the fixes.

The poor workmanship was not even acknowledge by either the salesman or the manufacturer, I suspect that it will not be made right. In also don't think it's fair to say that just because someone didn't mind waiting months for the repair to come back doesn't mean that everyone shouldn't mind waiting. I sure wouldn't wait an additional 2 months. It's not like there's no other bedroom set to bought. If it were me, at this point, even if it came back perfect, I would not associate it with anything pleasant.

That's exactly how I feel oaktonmom. We had such high hopes, were waiting for exactly what we wanted. We thought we found it. I have such bad feelings about it, it sucks.

Come on, this is a bit over dramatic of a response for purchasing furniture. This kind of thing happens and it is a good response for the seller to try to fix it, it would be very unusual for them to not try before offering a refund. Ordering custom furniture makes it more likely that you will have to wait for the production of the pieces and therefore for any possible fixes needed, being accepting of the time it takes to have something made vs. getting a ready made piece of furniture is something to consider when going that route.

To be clear, I was not happy about the issues that my dresser had or that I had to wait for it to be fixed but it was just what happened. I have experienced enough issues in life to know that stuff can be made right and that we do not have to hold on to the short term disappointment.

the problem is, athomeinva, if she waits and it still isn't done correctly she has no recourse. I don't think she is being over dramatic.

In the time it will take for them to "fix" the problems she will lose the opportunity to get here money back and will be stuck with whatever they send her.
good for you that you can wait and afford to possibly lose money, most of us would not want to take that chance.

She would still have recourse as did I. InGeorgia, I have no idea where you got the idea that I was willing to lose money.

athomeinva, I respect your opinion. This is small in the whole scheme of things. We're relatively healthy, we're happy, we're just having a snafu with something that we thought would bring us a bit of pleasure and style. It's only money. I've always said, "if a cheque can solve you're problem, it's all good"

I've had my furniture since I was 20 or so, I'm 36 now, so thought we would splurge and get 'furniture for the generations'. I feel like we're finally coming into our own style wise in our home that we've lived in for almost 10 years.

I'm just frustrated at the incompetence and what we the consumer are expected to take from retailers, contractors and the like. It is so hard to be able to trust people, then I do and I'm taken for a fool. Then I complain and I'm being dramatic. Just can't seem to win.

I went to a box/design store today, not high end, moderate end, made in China but looks nice. Better quality than what I got, and for 1/2 the price. So that's why I'm ticked. And it would still last me my lifetime as we're easy on our stuff.

Your story is almost the same as mine, we are the same age and my old furniture was bought when I was low 20's. I felt the same frustration when my furniture came in less than perfect, especially since mine is made by a company that is well know for making
*heirloom quality* furniture so my expectations were very high.

This post was edited by athomeinva on Sat, Sep 13, 14 at 9:17

I believe that a lot of the frustration is how the seller responded to the OP. He didn't immediately apologize an offer right away to pick up the furniture to examine it and repair it. He offered an outrageous re stock fee, didn't seem apologetic, and took his good old time getting out to see the furniture. It was horrible customer service and I see no reason why that's going to change.

Athomeinva, did you see all the pictures of the defective furniture on the mother thread? This isn't comparable to your situation as you have described it, as only the finish was unsatisfactory on your furniture. The stuff the OP received is trash. They would have to replace the legs and the backs, for starters, and repaint it all--- but even then, I'd be worried that the actual manufacture of the rest of the furniture was shoddy as well. I'd never actually SLEEP in a bed that poorly made for fear it would collapse.

If I were the OP I would send the certified letter, simply,written and with plenty of pictures, to the credit card company demanding a reversal of charges, and send the furniture store owner a certified letter stating that his furniture is now on your premises and he has ten days to collect it.

Aklvbd, you do not "have" to allow them to try to redress this problem. You are not a drama queen or a rude customer who has gotten "cold feet." You are merely a customer who ordered one thing and got something else entirely and inferior, and the extent of the problem has made you decide not to accept the merchandise or their attempts to fix it.

I really don't understand how this is somehow aklvbd's problem.

Amen kswl!

Thank you so much kswl, because I do feel like sometimes I am too much of a perfectionist, type A, what have you. I feel better thinking I don't have to readdress the problem, that I am right in my thinking that I should be getting top notch product the first time I ordered. How many chances do they get at my expense?

And thanks oaktomom!

Kswl- there does not appear to be anything in the pictures that could not be fixed but that may not even be an issue, it sounds like the manufacturer is willing to start over with new furniture that he personally inspects and then will let the buyers come look at it prior to delivery to approve. The manufacturer and shop owner are really trying to make things right. As for the high restocking fee, that is not that unusual for a custom order. There is no bed, the op said that it is a dresser and two nightstands.

Aklvdb- getting top notch the first time every time is not being a perfectionist, it is just being unrealistic. Unfortunately issues arise all of the time and the way that people handle them is what is important, the shop owner has been quick to respond and has offered you several options to try to fix this. You said that you had looked at other pieces of furniture from this manufacturer and they were nicely made so it is possible that, if given the opportunity to fix this, he could provide you with the quality of pieces that you expect.

athomeinva, I believe you must be the manufacturer or salesman who sold aklvdb that piece of crap bedroom set, or a masochist. She's already made the decision to ask for a refund (and rightly so in my opinion) so why don't you just leave this thread alone.

Huh? Kswl asked me a question so I answered. Such a very rude, unnecessary comment oaktonmom. This is a public forum, if people do not want to have all types (both supportive and possibly contradictory) of responses then there is no reason to post here. If someone posts something you do not want to think on then you can choose to ignore it but you cannot tell people to "leave the thread alone".

Athomeinva, I have not Been following the thread as closely as I should have, and I apologize. I did not realize that the company had offered to start over completely with the new furniture. I do think that is reasonable, because the OP liked it so much initially she may fall in love with it all over again. I thought their intent was simply to repaint.

I also didn't read where they said they would start from scratch. In any case, if they did in fact say that, it was extremely late in the whole discussion and after giving the OP grief. I still say that the OP has already made up her mind. Any advice to the contrary now is a moot point.

They did not agree to start from scratch, they agreed to repaint it.

athomeinva, the manufacturer has also not agreed to fix the construction defects discovered when the furniture was moved.

The manufacturer, after much hemming and hawing, has offered to take the furniture back and spend two months repainting it and have ignored the construction issues.

I don't see how you can defend their actions.

This post was edited by deee on Sat, Sep 13, 14 at 14:57

Sorry for the misunderstanding, one of the op's posts said that he had offered a new set.

I am not defending him, just realistic about the process. Usually the first action would be to try to fix the issues, if he is not going to address the construction issues then he is not fulfilling his obligation.

I work in the payments processing industry. It is in your best interest to put your dispute with the merchant in writing to your credit card issuing bank.
In your letter state that the merchandise was 'damaged and defective at delivery' then, detail -in bullet point form -the defects. Do not ramble, do not be emotional. State that you expect to reimbursed because the merchandise was damaged and defective. State that you no longer have the merchandise, and that you have advised the merchant you expect a full refund.
Do not pay the portion of your CC balance that you are disputing. They will reverse any interest charges on your account that accrue due to the nonpayment of the disputed item. Do not send this letter with your payment send it to customer service. Most credit card issuing centers will give special handling to thosse disputes sent via registered, return receipt requested post.

Thank you localeater for the indepth instruction. I will have a letter, and thank you for reminding me to keep emotion out of it. I will do point form.

I did pay off the cc as I had another big purchase that I needed the room for. From my understanding when speaking with them they could dispute and I would get the $ back.

Thank you again all!

As soon as you dispute the charge, the CC company will credit your account he amount of the disputed charge. It doesn't matter whether or not you have paid off your balance or not, only to the extent that you'll have a 4K credit, which may carry over if any new charges may be less.

Thanks nosoccermom, that's what I had thought based on all the previous posters experiences and my conversation with the cc company.