I thought the title would prompt people to read this blog right away. I hope so because it is a warning to all of you about buying a mattress.
I purchased the firmest mattress they had at City Furniture in Hiatus Road, Tamarac, Florida. Perhaps not the most expensive one but one of the most, over a thousand dollars. The salesman never told me that the mattress would sink about an inch before the first month of usage. When this happened I called City Furniture and was able to schedule a service visit for someone to come to my house and check the mattress out.
Somebody came, used some type of a laser beam and after 3 minutes of measuring told me that the mattress had indeed sank 1 inch. According to this man and his supervisor, whom I talked to on the phone while he was here, that was perfectly normal and I would have a case only if the mattress would have ceded 2 inches. Matter closed. NOT SO FAST!
I proceeded to write letters to City Furniture, Sealy Mattress and the Better Business Bureau. Only the BBB replied. Their answer, the first time was somehow siding with City Furniture as they insinuated that this furniture company had given them an answer which apparently was satisfactory. It was not. First because they did not copy me and I had no idea what was their reply, and second because at no time City Furniture assumes responsibility. They claim that they follow Sealy Mattress, the manufacturer's standards. It is clear that both City Furniture and Sealy Mattress' standards are way below the customer satisfaction standards.
The second letter from BBB, after my reiteration to them against City Furniture, is a document that I cannot understand. Actually I do understand but it makes no sense whatsoever. This is what they said:
" Thank you for letting us know that you are dissatisfied with the company's response to your complaint. We are therefore, unable to pursue this matter further and are closing our file. Your complaint will remain in our files and will become part of the information we issue to the public about this company".
How about that? Because I am dissatisfied with the company's response (which, by the way, I never had one) they close the file!!!!!
I thought that the BBB was there to find a solution for the customer, and not only to keep complaints available for reading to prospective victims.
I do not pretend to have the BBB continue with my complaint. They probably have no power to influence any company or anyone to adhere to customer service ethics. I can clearly see that their job is to receive complaints, contact the culprit and after a reply from these liars about their products, keep a big file for other people to see or to request. I suppose that is all they do to justify their job. But my complaint is not against them, it is against City Furniture and against Sealy Mattress. Of course, in a less than perfect society, where the main goal is to succeed or survive at any expense, it is to be expected that both these companies cannot be an exception to the rule. They set very low standards and they deliver very low customer service satisfaction.
I am stuck with a mattress,that according to them a 1 inch sinking is a "normal body impression". They do not specify weight of the users. Both my wife and I weigh together 300 lbs. I wonder what excuse will they find if the purchasing couple would weight 450 lbs for instance? Would 1 inch be sufficient or would they have the decency of accepting 2 or 3 inches?
I was a City Furniture client for many years. I will never purchase anything in that store again. I will never buy another Sealy mattress either. Both companies do not give a penny for their customers. They operate on volume, so what is one person like me going to alter their sales?I only hope that after you read this you ask all the questions I asked before buying, but including the one that never crossed my mind, such as:
"HOW MANY INCHES DO YOU ALLOW THIS EXTRA FIRM MATTRESS TO SINK BEFORE I CAN HAVE A LEGITIMATE COMPLAINT?". Keep in mind. Do not fall like me into believing that what you try at the store is what you are going to have a month later after usage.
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17 comments:
I have gone through a similar situation with City Furniture with a Simmons. We had a pleasent purchase of a bedroom set and mattress and were very pleased. So when we were ready to purchase a mattress we returned to CF. We purchased their brand "Kevin Charles" which has no rating on it in their store. After 7 days I could not sleep on it and had to sleep on the floor. When we went back in to exchange it I asked the salesperson what is the rating on the Kevin Charles and her answer was "oh they don't rate them, but it's a plush so it would be equivalent to a 5 (ver soft). I laughed and said no wonder I couldn't sleep on it...I need a 1 (firm). She actually led me out of the mattress section to show me a "firm" bed. We paid (yes we had to pay money for a less expensive bed than originally purchased)to exchange only to find out we were brought a "ultra plush mattress". The mattress is DIRTY but yet when it came in the house it was in some kind of packaging. A bit concerning. I honestly think this mattress is a return and they have a scheme in place....If you exchange once (per their policy) you will get whatever returned mattress is in the outlet center that has the same brand name you thought you were purchasing. NO one, not customer service, or the manager at Naples are willing to admit there is a scheme and the only thing they keep saying is "you returned one already". Yes we did and we paid more money to get a cheaper replacement. I am shocked in this economy they would be so quick to kick customers away. We had planned to purchase 3500.00 bedroom set, but now I will tell every perosn I know to stay FAR AWAY from City Furntiure!!!
I wasn't looking to get my money back...just make it right....maybe a store credit,or something. I think local TV stations should get involved in these types of situations.
EG:
I feel for you. We are in the same boat, but unfortunately our only way to get satisfaction is to write about it and warn other people. I hope that many other people have read your comment and my blog. We have no real Better Business Bureau. It is just a front to justify that somebody cares about the customer. City Furniture, Sealy Mattress, Simmons, and all others are the 50%of the world that lives off the other 50%. I would like to get more comments from other disappointed customers so I can email the whole thing to City Furniture, as a way of getting back at them.
Thanks for commenting
Experience at the Wellington Green Mall City Furniture in West Palm Beach, FLORIDA.
If I knew about these messages before I had purchase my Mattress set I would had gone to a different store. I started noticing their customer service was very bad after I asked the sales person to give me a call to replace my mattress set. I had to call several times in order for him to respond. Still yet I have not heard from the customer service that is the one who will make the exchange decision. The issue was that the floor mattress was totaly different from what we got. The second day we went to speak to them I asked for replacement and the lady started to mention that it will cost $299 for King size etc., and I have to give a 10 days try to see if the mattress set down. I will ask everyone to stay away from bying from these type of stores that will not honor costumer service satisfaction. The more people are aware of these type of behaviors the less sales they will get in return.
Frustrated Customer.
Thank you, thank you Thank you, for your comments. I was just about ready to buy a new mattress "Kevin Charles " by Serta, and now I will not even think about buying it there at City Furniture. And yes , the salesman did not know how to answer my question about the rating. He also pushed the $299.00 exchange policy on me. He also was in a big hurry for me to buy and put down some money even the sales tax of $70.00 . He said once the day is over the sale price I gave you is over. Well that was a Red flag for me. I'll shop elsewhere now. They just want you money and don't care about enything else.
WJJW IN NAPLES,FL
SAME EXPERIENCE - do NOT buy Kevin Charles. City Furniture stinks! We are $1400 into this little escapade and still DO NOT have a mattress we can sleep on and we let them take our old mattress. You can only exchange once so we are screwed. This is NOT the bed we tried out in the store, the exchange is even harder than the original mattress we bought. The sales clerk keeps telling us to roll on it and it will get softer but after almost 25 days it is KILLING us - I am haven't slept, we are both stiff and in pain. Unless you are going with the temperpedic brand I DO NOT recommend buying a temperpedic "type" mattress and I certainly do not recommend shopping at City Furniture. What a huge ripp off. I feel so cheated.
Update to detsie: So after filling out my customer service card in a scathing fashion I actually get a call from customer service today - never from the salesperson who sold us the mattress and exchanged the first one (even though I called her to let her know how unhappy we were - not so much as ONE phone call back). I told customer service how much of a rip off it is to have spent so much money and still not have a bed we can sleep on that doesn't leave us in excruciating pain. She said they will exchange it one more time (for another $200 of course) and to please pick a mattress I like this time. I replied that on both occasions I "thought" I picked a mattress that would work but BOTH were so much firmer than they were in the store and that we were not getting used to the mattress - these were supposed to be soft plush mattresses and they were not. I will still warn everyone against the Kevin Charles brand - I think they stink. Customer Service gave me until Monday to go spend more money and get a third mattress. At $1600 total so far we could have and probably should have just gone with the higher end mattress. Before this is over I'll have spent $2,000 to end up with lower to mid range tier mattress. What a SHAME! I'm still up in the air whether I feel like giving them more of my money or just suffering and trying to sell it at a loss on craigslist or something and just going somewhere else.
Buying a mattress has been one of the most frustrating, horrible experiences ever - I'd rather get a root canal!
Be WARY - DON'T buy if you "get that feeling", don't believe them when you see a ton of your style mattress in their close out section - We said "well there are a lot of returns on this particular style" l like idiots we believed when they said "oh no, no thats not it at all - they could be back here because they got wet or multiple reasons - this is a great mattress, these are not from returns" LIES LIES LIES.
Even though they are trying to work with me - I just want everyone to purchase from a mattress retailer who will let you switch as many times as you need to get a comfy mattress. DO NOT purchase from a retailer who only lets you swap it once.
Thanks for providing this Forum/Blog for City Furniture Customers that are not Satisfied..
We relocated down to Naples area from the North, but I arrived later than my wife. We purchased a sizable dollar amount of furniture for bedrooms and living room. Unfortunately we purchased a mattress from a Salesperson that said anything to get the sale..(She is no longer there of course)Not once was any of the "warranty information, time frames, technical aspects, known problems learned from previous complaints, or how the manufacturer warranty and extended warranty would be implemented" discussed!!
Basically we had the delivery scheduled, and I never slept on the mattress until several months later. I noticed the depression, talked to several salesman at City Furniture, and they assured me that with our warranties, customer service would take care of these issues..Of course we waited several months, turned the mattress, (same depression problem..called customer service..schedule a tech for measuresments...3/4" with no weight whatsoever, on the mattress cushion...We were told there is no defect, comfort is not an issue, climbing out of the depressions each night/morning was just part of the product characteristics..
I asked to talk to management, and the Customer Service Mgr. Jan Olsen indicated "that it was a Sealy problem, and her "word" was law for resolving customer issues for City Furniture, and upper managers or owners were not part of the corporate solving of customer complaints".
All of these complaints are so similar on the Blog, but I am sure there are many more that have given up or just put up with the City Furniture attitude..
Most of the US owned companies that are in business, that I have dealt with over the long haul will provide a resolution to legitmate customer complaints or issues with their products.
My experience with City Furniture may indicate to me, that its a foreign owned company or on shaky financial ground due to their sketchy sales practices, and customer service policies that I have observed while being a customer.
Yes, I am sure we are all out of options, but the social networking and internet may make a dent in their business, and convince some customers or even City Furniture employees to go elsewhere.
I will be contacting BBB and research the Media here locally to possibly give more exposure to their business practices that are detrimental to providing customers with consistent quality of merchandise and backing up the sale to achieve customer satisfaction along with clears disclosure during the sale and after.
Oh well, I feel a little better venting on this Blog..but now my back aches...
Thanks
CRM
Thanks for providing this Forum/Blog for City Furniture Customers that are not Satisfied..
We relocated down to Naples area from the North, but I arrived later than my wife. We purchased a sizable dollar amount of furniture for bedrooms and living room. Unfortunately we purchased a mattress from a Salesperson that said anything to get the sale..(She is no longer there of course)Not once was any of the "warranty information, time frames, technical aspects, known problems learned from previous complaints, or how the manufacturer warranty and extended warranty would be implemented" discussed!!
Basically we had the delivery scheduled, and I never slept on the mattress until several months later. I noticed the depression, talked to several salesman at City Furniture, and they assured me that with our warranties, customer service would take care of these issues..Of course we waited several months, turned the mattress, (same depression problem..called customer service..schedule a tech for measuresments...3/4" with no weight whatsoever, on the mattress cushion...We were told there is no defect, comfort is not an issue, climbing out of the depressions each night/morning was just part of the product characteristics..
I asked to talk to management, and the Customer Service Mgr. Jan Olsen indicated "that it was a Sealy problem, and her "word" was law for resolving customer issues for City Furniture, and upper managers or owners were not part of the corporate solving of customer complaints".
All of these complaints are so similar on the Blog, but I am sure there are many more that have given up or just put up with the City Furniture attitude..
Most of the US owned companies that are in business, that I have dealt with over the long haul will provide a resolution to legitmate customer complaints or issues with their products.
My experience with City Furniture may indicate to me, that its a foreign owned company or on shaky financial ground due to their sketchy sales practices, and customer service policies that I have observed while being a customer.
Yes, I am sure we are all out of options, but the social networking and internet may make a dent in their business, and convince some customers or even City Furniture employees to go elsewhere.
I will be contacting BBB and research the Media here locally to possibly give more exposure to their business practices that are detrimental to providing customers with consistent quality of merchandise and backing up the sale to achieve customer satisfaction along with clears disclosure during the sale and after.
Oh well, I feel a little better venting on this Blog..but now my back aches...
Thanks
CRM
Thanks for providing this Forum/Blog for City Furniture Customers that are not Satisfied..
We relocated down to Naples area from the North, but I arrived later than my wife. We purchased a sizable dollar amount of furniture for bedrooms and living room. Unfortunately we purchased a mattress from a Salesperson that said anything to get the sale..(She is no longer there of course)Not once was any of the "warranty information, time frames, technical aspects, known problems learned from previous complaints, or how the manufacturer warranty and extended warranty would be implemented" discussed!!
Basically we had the delivery scheduled, and I never slept on the mattress until several months later. I noticed the depression, talked to several salesman at City Furniture, and they assured me that with our warranties, customer service would take care of these issues..Of course we waited several months, turned the mattress, (same depression problem..called customer service..schedule a tech for measuresments...3/4" with no weight whatsoever, on the mattress cushion...We were told there is no defect, comfort is not an issue, climbing out of the depressions each night/morning was just part of the product characteristics..
I asked to talk to management, and the Customer Service Mgr. Jan Olsen indicated "that it was a Sealy problem, and her "word" was law for resolving customer issues for City Furniture, and upper managers or owners were not part of the corporate solving of customer complaints".
All of these complaints are so similar on the Blog, but I am sure there are many more that have given up or just put up with the City Furniture attitude..
Most of the US owned companies that are in business, that I have dealt with over the long haul will provide a resolution to legitmate customer complaints or issues with their products.
My experience with City Furniture may indicate to me, that its a foreign owned company or on shaky financial ground due to their sketchy sales practices, and customer service policies that I have observed while being a customer.
Yes, I am sure we are all out of options, but the social networking and internet may make a dent in their business, and convince some customers or even City Furniture employees to go elsewhere.
I will be contacting BBB and research the Media here locally to possibly give more exposure to their business practices that are detrimental to providing customers with consistent quality of merchandise and backing up the sale to achieve customer satisfaction along with clears disclosure during the sale and after.
Oh well, I feel a little better venting on this Blog..but now my back aches...
Thanks
CRM
Thanks for providing this Forum/Blog for City Furniture Customers that are not Satisfied..
We relocated down to Naples area from the North, but I arrived later than my wife. We purchased a sizable dollar amount of furniture for bedrooms and living room. Unfortunately we purchased a mattress from a Salesperson that said anything to get the sale..(She is no longer there of course)Not once was any of the "warranty information, time frames, technical aspects, known problems learned from previous complaints, or how the manufacturer warranty and extended warranty would be implemented" discussed!!
Basically we had the delivery scheduled, and I never slept on the mattress until several months later. I noticed the depression, talked to several salesman at City Furniture, and they assured me that with our warranties, customer service would take care of these issues..Of course we waited several months, turned the mattress, (same depression problem..called customer service..schedule a tech for measuresments...3/4" with no weight whatsoever, on the mattress cushion...We were told there is no defect, comfort is not an issue, climbing out of the depressions each night/morning was just part of the product characteristics..
I asked to talk to management, and the Customer Service Mgr. Jan Olsen indicated "that it was a Sealy problem, and her "word" was law for resolving customer issues for City Furniture, and upper managers or owners were not part of the corporate solving of customer complaints".
All of these complaints are so similar on the Blog, but I am sure there are many more that have given up or just put up with the City Furniture attitude..
Most of the US owned companies that are in business, that I have dealt with over the long haul will provide a resolution to legitmate customer complaints or issues with their products.
My experience with City Furniture may indicate to me, that its a foreign owned company or on shaky financial ground due to their sketchy sales practices, and customer service policies that I have observed while being a customer.
Yes, I am sure we are all out of options, but the social networking and internet may make a dent in their business, and convince some customers or even City Furniture employees to go elsewhere.
I will be contacting BBB and research the Media here locally to possibly give more exposure to their business practices that are detrimental to providing customers with consistent quality of merchandise and backing up the sale to achieve customer satisfaction along with clears disclosure during the sale and after.
Oh well, I feel a little better venting on this Blog..but now my back aches...
Thanks
CRM
I purchased the LEO sofa set with warranty June 23, 2011 and I have had nothing but problems. I have emailed and called and the customer service is awful. My sofa after 3 months started to sink, they changed the foam it sanked again, the arm rest you can feel the hard material and customer service told me that it was normal wear and tear after having the sofa for less than 6 months and I had been complaining after 3 months of having it. I have since sent a complaint to the the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau and I have put in a dispute through my City Furniture Card that will suspend my having to continue to pay on the furniture that is not comfortable. At first I asked for a store credit but because of how terrible the customer service has been I asking for my money back to go to a company that will value me as a customer. I WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANYTHING ELSE FROM CITY FURNITURE AGAIN!
Tonja E Carter
We purchased a Memory Foam Kevin Charles in November 2010. Within 2 months the top pad started to ripple. The side railings started peeling. Customer service said they couldnt deliver both at the same time and to call back. After 4 months, they finally clarified that the railings are wear and tear. They cannot be replaced. We paid for the deliver for a new bed. It started to ripple withing 2 days. I called, they said its 49.95 to come out and pay for deliver. I dropped the subject; didnt feel like fighting and didnt have the time to fight. Now the bed is beyond any suitable condition, the legs for support beams will not stay in place; its about to give out. I weight 100 lbs and my BF 170lbs. Considering small claims and stop payment on the card.
We purchased a Memory Foam Kevin Charles in November 2010. Within 2 months the top pad started to ripple. The side railings started peeling. Customer service said they couldnt deliver both at the same time and to call back. After 4 months, they finally clarified that the railings are wear and tear. They cannot be replaced. We paid for the deliver for a new bed. It started to ripple withing 2 days. I called, they said its 49.95 to come out and pay for deliver. I dropped the subject; didnt feel like fighting and didnt have the time to fight. Now the bed is beyond any suitable condition, the legs for support beams will not stay in place; its about to give out. I weight 100 lbs and my BF 170lbs. Considering small claims and stop payment on the card.
Yes please!! Help us local news stations!!! We need these companies that don't care about their customers outed, so our fellow Americans can spend their money confidently!!
Interesting- we are renting a home for two months, and the bed is so comfortable. I am sleeping better than I have in a long time. I decided to look and see what type mattress it is so when we move in to our new home, I can purchase the same mattress. It just happens to be a king size "Kevin Charles" memory foam mattress. Hmmm... your posts have me rethinking that plan.
First of all, for all you poor people who think the BBB is some sort of government agency who are able to do something, please let me explain something... the BBB is a marketing company and nothing more. Companies pay to belong and agree to be good businesses, but there is no law in place to say that if you’re not a good business they take away your business license; they can’t because they’re not affiliated with the gov’t. So in essence, a business can say they are members of the BBB to have that recognition. Since they pay to be members, the BBB is going to side with their clients more than a complainant. So when you look at companies in the future, do not take into account that they are members of the BBB- it means nothing.
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