Buying North Carolina Furniture - Is It Worth It ?

16 years ago

Several years ago, we purchased a Pulaski bedroom suite at one of the North Carolina discount furniture stores. We sent them a $2,000 deposit and were promised delivery in two months. The furniture did not arrive, so I began calling, to no avail. I was afraid we would never see our money or furniture. I ended up calling Pulaski Furniture (the manufacturer, contacting the Attorney General of North Carolina, etc. It took six months before our furniture was finally delivered.

As it was explained to me, many of these NC furniture vendors do not have the merchandise in their stores. They have to special order it from the manufacturers, who wait until they have a sufficient number of orders before they make another "cut" or "run." Apparently, it isn't uncommon to have to wait much longer than the quoted two months.

When the bedroom furniture finally arrived, there was some minor damage, and the delivery service sent a man out within a week to repair the furniture. We did save several thousand dollars but I wondered at the time if it was worth the hassle.

In March of 2006, we again ordered more furniture, this time a Pulaski dining room suite. Of course, it didn't arrive as promised in two months. It was more like four. When it finally got here, the dining room table was defective, two chairs were broken, a corner was sheared off of the buffet, and the glass in the china cabinet doors was permanently milky. The delivery service assembled two chairs, and left the others lying in pieces all over the living room floor. They scratched the bottom shelf of the china cabinet while trying to install the glass shelves. They installed the shelf brackets upside down, and tore off all the felt pads, so those had to be replaced, too.

After many letters and telephone calls, the defective table was replaced, only to discover that the leaves were badly damaged. Back went the table and the leaves.

The china cabinet was finally replaced, and when the delivery men were setting it on top of the china cabinet base, they left a screw on the base top, and scarred the top when sliding the upper section in place.

We waited for a long time before they ever brought a table back to us that was free of defects.

Finally, over a year later, one of the delivery men touched up most of the small nicks and scratches. The buffet was eventually replaced. I should be ecstatic that it only has one small nick in the very front edge.

The last piece to be replaced was the china cabinet base that they had damaged. The delivery service called before Thanksgiving, telling me they would deliver the base on Nov. 25th, 26th or 27th. They called again at the end of last week and told me they would be here on the 27th. It was due to arrive today, but they did not show up. This afternoon, I called long distance to High Point, wanting to know if they were coming. I learned that the truck was in Louisiana and wasn't scheduled to be in Texas until Thursday. The man said he'd call me back, but it's almost 6 P.M. now, so I don't think I'll hear from him.

Delivery will not be possible on Thursday, as I have other concrete plans that I cannot change at this late date. One year and nine months later, we still do not have an undamaged dining room suite. I cannot tell you how many times we have had to remove all the china from these cabinets and scatter dishes all over the house, waiting on these people to replace damaged furniture.

Some people are obviously lucky, I suppose, when buying furniture from NC furniture dealers. As for us, never again will we go through this.

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Comments (9)

mustangs81
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Najoba, That's a real shame that you have had those experiences. How frustrating!

Mine have been the opposite. I have ordered all my furniture from NC for the last 10 years. I have had nothing but good, smooth experiences. And the savings has been substantial. The last group of furniture was a bedroom set that sold at my local retailer (who advertises NC prices) for over $11,000. I ordered over the phone and paid $5804.00 including shipping.

In July, I took a friend to High Point to give her an idea of what to expect. I have to say that I was really surprised to see that the savings weren't nearly as great as what I had experienced over the last 10 years. Perhaps it was Furnitureland South's pricing; I have never used FLS. Since it was an exploratory trip and not a shopping trip, I didn't check with other wholesalers.
ilanab
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Can I ask a stupid question? When you order direct through the stores you go in blind - just seeing the pictures on the web?
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Look at the websites online. Try searching for NC Furniture, discount furniture, etc. You may want to try entering the manufacturer name also. Then you just call with the manufacturer, item numbers, leather numbers, etc & get quotes. Make sure they take credit cards as payment as you can always dispute with your credit card company if you do not receive your furniture but if you pay by check or money order you are stuck.
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$128 sounds like a reasonable shipping cost if it is very heavy. Would it be low-down, nasty and/or stupid of me to try to get the local store to discount some more? Not at all, just don't expect them to match the other price since the store has already paid to have the item shipped to them. Most stores would gladly take a bit more discount if it means losing your patronage if they don't. Just bear in mind everything involved in serving you from a store vs. buying something over the internet. It's probable that a headboard will arrive at your house via semi truck. They will leave a giant box at your door and away they go. Now you get to unpack it. There's cardboard, shrink wrap, styrofoam, possibly a piece of scrap wood nailed to the bottom of it. If there are any damages or scratches, good luck getting the manufacturer or shipping company to help you out. If you are the type who wouldn't mind dealing with these things, it might be worth the savings to you. The few dollars more you pay at the store covers the huge amount of time spent by stores on a daily basis trying to recoup the cost of damaged items, missing or defective pieces, disposing of the huge amounts of packing materials, all added to the cost of the property, building maintenance and repairs, utilities, taxes, paying the people who do all of that stuff, etc... These are the factors to weigh when making your decision.
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Did you pay your deposit on a credit card? If so, and you have a written estimated delivery date on your sales order, you may be able to cancel via a chargeback through your credit card company. This is a civil matter, there are no 'laws' that will assist you on an issue such as this. Quite frankly its not worth the hassle to try to begin a legal action in civil court. '30 days' delivery on any special order upholstery should set off alarm bells. While it can be done, its rare. Shipping time alone is typically 7 to 10 days in and of itself. At this point you are what....3 to 4 weeks out? (if you can believe them). My advice is to just sit tight and be patient a bit longer.
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valley57
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
We ordered a whole house full of NC furniture (living room, dining room, kitchen table and chairs and two bedroom sets and were very pleased with both the price and the furniture. Only one item (headboard was damaged) had to be replaced. Since we ordered so much our delivery was as promised. We would find furniture in department stores that we liked and would call down for a price quote--each time it was at least 25% to 50% less then the prices in the department stores. We used a company called Blacks Furniture but I believe there are many with very good service. Prices do vary from company to company in NC.
msjay2u
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
okay I live in NC and was trying to find a bedroom set. I had a hard time finding a furniture store here and really wanted to buy a NC deal but did not know where to fo. I wound up buying from overprice Rooms To Go. I was wondering how to get in on those NC deals. Where did you get the name of the furniture stores to call? Thanks
natal
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Bought a Bob Timberlake entertainment armorie from High Point Furniture Sales. Delivery was predicted to take 8 weeks, but was shipped in 2. The top piece was damaged in shipping and the replacement arrived within 2 weeks. A local furniture repairman had to come and adjust the pocket doors. High Point arranged and paid for his services. I saved over $800 buying online. And yes, it was sight unseen. Still can't believe I took that chance, but very glad I did!
pahance
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Najoba, what a terrible experience you've had with these people. I would report them to the Better Business Bureau. I'll bet they've gotten complaints about them before. If you decide to try doing business with another dealer in the future, give the BBB a call first.

I remember when all those NC furniture dealers used to advertise in the back of decorating magazines - there were tons of them. That is how we found the one we eventually went with years ago when we purchased a dining room set (with no problems, btw). I never see these ads anymore. Wonder why?
Britt
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
We haven't had any problems and have saved a ton of money ordering from furniture stores in NC. We use actual brick and mortar stores. Most recently we've been using Boyles. Service is great and the prices have made it worth it for us.

Britt
karezz
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I've also had very pleasant experiences buying in NC. I live in NJ and find that I save an average of $1,000 or more per room of furniture I buy. That savings even includes the shipping charges. I usually find what I like in my area - so I can see it, feel it, and test the quality. I've used Boyles and several other larger stores and would definately shop this way again.
mustangs81
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Ilanab, To your question-In my case, I purchased two ways, I got the manufacture and sku #'s from the pieces on the showroom floor at the local retailer. Then called many of the wholesales in NC to compare prices and shipping costs. So I did see the pieces. When you purchase locally, you aren't usually buying the display pieces either. The second way that I have made selections is to spend 2-3 days in Hickory or High Point shopping the enormous furniture malls. This is like a vacation for me as I enjoy the experience. I bring samples, pictures, room dimensions, camera, and make voluminous notes on what I see. Then come home to think it though, call from home to make my order.

This book is a MUST HAVE if you are serious about NC furniture shopping-whether you go to NC or shop from home. I went to a workshop that the author conducted in my town (Tampa). It was helpful but at that point I was a pretty seasoned buyer and it just confirmed what I had learned through my own experience.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Furniture Factory Outlet Guide

Buying North Carolina Furniture - Is It Worth It ?

Comments (9)

mustangs81

ilanab

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