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  • Report:  #627801

Complaint Review: Kittinger Gallery/Kittinger Furniture Company - Williamsville/Buffalo New York

Reported By:
MCWR - Issaquah, Washington, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:

Kittinger Gallery/Kittinger Furniture Company
5363 Transit Road, Williamsville/Buffalo, NY 14221 Williamsville/Buffalo, 14221 New York, United States of America
Phone:
716-876-1000x16
Web:
www.kittingerfurniture.com
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Last Summer, I searched for a console table on the internet and came across Kittinger Furniture Company's website (www.kittingerfurniture.com) which was very impressive to me.  Their website claims "a timeless tradition of superb craftsmanship and quality known throught the world" and "Kittinger is a company dedicated to quality".  I contacted their sales customer representative-Ms. Liz Schelble to ask about the console table on their website.  Ms. Schelble promised me "The console table will leave Kittinger in perfect condition.  You should have no worries what so ever!!!!"  in her email dated July 23rd, 2009.



On August 24th, 2009, I ordered Kittinger's console table (L39  D17 1/4  H30) for a total cost of $3562 through their retail store - Kittinger Gallery from Ms. Liz Schelble via email and phone.  The mahogany console table was shipped from Buffalo N. Y. on October 21st, 2009 with their arranged white glove service.  It took 29 days to deliver the ordered piece to my house arriving unsealed, unpacked and unboxed on Nov. 19th, 2009.  The next day, my husband and I discovered dark circular marks (which I thought those were unprofessional cleaning marks from not cleaning along the wood grain) and patched of whitish haze on the table top when we viewed the table FROM THE BACK.  I called Ms. Liz Scheble and reported the problems right away around 7:30am PST on Nov. 20th, 2009.



I have been deceived for 5 months (from Nov 20th, 2009 to April 2010) to eventually realized that Kittinger could deliver a defective table to us.  We found Allied Furniture Clinic from Ethan Allen to inspect the table on April 16th, 2010 and learned that the table top issues are actually sanding swirls and inconsistent blushing finish.  These are factory defects.  Sanding swirls are circular scratch marks over the whole table UNDER the finish.  The application of stain made the scratches show up.  Therefore, the scratches resulted from faulty manufacturing.  At this point, I am convinced the reason that Kittinger changed the first offer to find a qualified individual to inspect the table and that they would have someone come to fix it without inspection is to cover up the fact that they sent us a defective table.  Kittinger did not even bother to reply our certified mail dated April 17th, 2010 which they received on April 23rd per returned receipt.  I have concluded that Kittinger does not intend to live up to their assurance of the high quality and stand behind their product as promised before I bought the table.  That's a misrepresentation.  In addition, I found out Kittinger is not a BBB accredited business and their BBB rating is F.  It is inconvenient to have a table in our home that we cannot use it due to this dispute.  Our house is not a public storage place.



Kittinger's website claims "the finish is flawless" and their warranty states: "Kittinger Furniture is always manufactured in accordance with the HIGHEST STANDARD FOR QUALITY and is warranted to the original purchase to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for three years from the date of invoice".  That is what I paid for, but not what I received.  All I have wanted from the beginning is a table that matched the quality standards that Kittinger claims, not a defective piece reflecting poor workmanship.  if the claims they make on their website and Ms. Schelble's email as well as their warranty are true, Kittinger should not have sent us a defective piece in the first place.  If the poor workmanship is just an exceptional error, Kittinger should send us a replacement piece consistent with their reputed quality standards which they still refuse.  This dispute has now been going on for eight months.  I request Kittinger to refund me the full cost of the table ($3562).  I did not purchase an heirloom quality piece of furniture with the intention of having to repair it before even using it.



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