Complaint Review: National Furniture - Cambridge Ontario

June 6th, 8:59 p.m.

At the end of February of this year, we purchased (minus $500 owing) a couch and loveseat from National Furniture on Hespeler Road in Cambridge. We were told it would take 2 - 4 weeks to deliver. It took much longer. It took me calling Pat (Manager) several times to get a loaner loveseat as we got rid of our current furniture to be ready for the move in date. That in itself is another story!!

NUMEROUS TIMES we called, and no response, messages taken, no calls back, or a quick return call and then our concerns dismissed or not addressed at all. We got a call that our couch was finally ready ... but the loveseat was not, but that they had a couch for that instead. I said this was no good, as we had one inch of clearance for the loveseat and it will not fit, I would have ordered two couches had I wanted two couches. "But this is much better" they said. I don't care, I want what I ordered. Then they said they could give us a chair ... again, not what I ordered (and paid for).

When speaking with Pat, he always spoke to me like I was an idiot, telling me what we ordered or had said, even if I knew it was a flat out lie. 2-4 weeks turned into over two months. In the end almost half a year later and NOTHING is accomplished, still getting the run around.

They showed up with the couch, and the renter loveseat. The loveseat, torn, ripped, scuffed - anything but decent to look or sit in! When they were getting ready to leave, they told me they needed a check for the balance. I said NO WAY, not till I get what I paid for. I insisted the delivery guys talk to Pat on the phone, I dialed and handed the phone over.

Pat said I needed to give him the money or they would take the loveseat AND the couch. I told him to take the couch AND the loveseat back and give me my money back if that's what he wanted, but I was not giving him one more dime for something that is taking longer than expected and I had doubts would ever arrive (which as I write now, realized was the best thing I could have done).

He said and I quote "You can't play hardball with me." I said leave the loaner loveseat and leave empty handed, or take both the couch and loveseat and return my money, and handed the phone back to the delivery guy and said "It's his choice." He told them to leave as it is. I'm not getting swindled!!!

For the next two months, we had numerous calls into National Furniture, few of which were ever returned and we ended up calling back. "We'll get back to you" ... "It'll be ready next week" ... "It's on the boat from China" .... whatever excuse they could give.

We called mid last week and finally got a hold of Phil. We were informed that we would be getting the couch and loveseat we had now, as a new set to make sure the colour was the same, Jason stressed it was the same model and it was confirmed.

National Furniture pulled up this evening. MUCH later than we were told by Pat. My daughter was due to go to bed, but the entire house was up and waiting.

They came in, and said that I should come look at it before they brought it in, as it was heavy. By now I had ripped my living room apart and cleaned all the furniture up, and dragged the couch and loveseat out of the room to get it ready for pick up.

I went out to the truck and straight away I could tell by looking at the packaging, that this was *NOT* the same furniture. They opened the packaging on the couch, and not only was it NOT the same black, it was a different feel, both to the touch and to sit on. It sits like the rental loveseat we have which sits like a brick box and NOT like the set we bought.

I called Jason, confirmed it was the WRONG set, and he said send it back. I called Pat on the phone, and said I was NOT happy. Again, as with the other times we spoke, he talked to me in a condescending manner. I told him not to talk to me like I was an idiot. I said it did NOT feel in any way like what we bought, not to mention that it didn't even look the same. The flat, tightly seamed back and front were puffy like my grandparent's Lazyboy, and NOT what we ordered and paid for!!

Paraphrasing, it went kind of like this:

"You can't tell me you remember how it feels when you first sat in it, the leather breaks down and feels different after half a year!" Pat said. "The couch you have is 4 months old, this is new and better"

"I know EXACTLY how it felt as that was the reason why I bought it!" I said. "I spend 12 - 16 hours a day in a custom made chair for my back as a graphic designer every day, I know specifically how it felt, I have had posture problems and back pains and I know how my furniture feels to sit on it!"

We go on back and forth, I tell him that I know, it's a bunch more excuses and I didn't want to hear them. He told me we ordered an upgrade, and I said we did no such thing. I couldn't even take these pieces because we measured the others to fit within an inch of clearing the wall. The driver's apologetic again just like the first ones we had, said this happens all the time and wished they could make it right for us. This is UNACCEPTABLE ... deplorable customer relations, service and manipulation.

Where is our loveseat that we paid for 5 months ago????

Today we called again to try and get ahold of Pat. Again we were told by Phil this time, "this is a better set" (no proof of that of course). He said we should be happy with it. Despite telling him numerous times that he's NOT our interior decorator, we want the look, sit, feel and style that we physically came into the store and bought. It's like ordering a Harley Davidson and they deliver a Honda and say "you should be happy", or buying a gown and having them deliver a suit instead ... NO, I want, what I ordered.

Phil was as rude if not worse than Pat today, telling us what we want. We told him to take it all back and give us our money back so we can get a matching set elsewhere and he said no. We said we'll have to explore legal options there as they have our money for a product they did not supply.

It's the run around again, Pat telling us we need to only talk to Phil, and Phil telling us to only talk to Pat - they misrepresented their abilities to provide a product in a timely manner, lied about the delivery date, and tried to swindle me when not around Jason. They tried to bully us into a sale, and this should be held against them to the highest extent of the law. What if I was an elderly person - they would prey upon them harder than the worst scam artist out there, run with the money and not look back. These people need to be put out of business.

Jason

Waterloo, Ontario

Canada