Terribly Inadequate Across The Board!
Written: Jan 30 '07 (Updated Feb 07 '07)
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Bedroom Furniture Direct as well as Racks and Stands are only two of CSN Stores on-line offerings. There are many, many others. Although I placed my entire order through Racks and Stands, it did include a complete bedroom set from Bedroom Furniture Direct.
My original order date for both the Audio Rack and the Bedroom Set was October 31, 2006. The Wood Technology audio cabinet arrived in absolute perfect condition with good instructions to follow while putting it all together. There were no mis-fits on any of the pieces and everything came together quickly and beautifully.
The Bedroom Set, from World Concepts, is from the Sonora Collection in Black. I ordered 5 pieces, the platform bed, two nightstands, the dresser and the chest. The set was originally back-ordered and finally arrived on Black Friday, November 24, 2006. This set included "White Glove Platinum" service which meant that all pieces would be delivered, assembled and placed in my bedroom. Before actual delivery, the set was to have undergone inspection of each piece by the delivery company, William B. Meyers out of Stratford, Connecticut.
When I called upon the delivery company to ask about delivery date and if there was any damage I was told that there was only damage to the foot-board. Thinking that this would not be problematical and that a replacement would be ordered for the foot-board, we set up the delivery time and date.
A team of three workers arrived at my home at the designated time and date and began to construct the platform bed in my bedroom. Not only was there damage to the foot-board, there was damage to the headboard and side rails as well. The number of supports given, only three, for the mattress would void any mattress manufactures warranty. These slats were warped, not screwed in or nailed down and held in place by two small pieces of wood on either side of the slat that would serve as a bracket in which the slats would fit. That works if the slats are not warped but there were still at least 3-5 slats missing!
When I asked about it I received no definitive answer from the delivery/construction lead man.
Next came the rest of the furniture which had been assembled in their truck or before loading. Each was full of dust and debris from the truck or wherever and each had a number of areas that were damaged. Paint was missing, paint was touched up but not smoothed, drawer fronts and shelves were warped, the back of one drawer was split right down the middle and on and on. I brought most of this to the attention of the delivery team and noted most of what we saw on the delivery slip. After they left, I cleaned all the pieces only to find more damage. I noted everything I found and contacted the company Monday morning, November 27, 2007.
When I did I was connected to a supervisor by the name of Todd Fratar who would handle this mess. He asked me to take digital pictures of the damage and forward them to him. I did so that day. In the interim, and after not hearing from Todd Fratar again, I wrote a letter to the President of CSN stores, through Racks and Stands which I never received a reply from. I again tried to reach Todd Fratar by telephone and e-mail but was not getting a response from him either, however, on December 6, 2006 I did receive an e-mail from him indicating that all pieces were to be replaced. And so...I waited...and I waited, then I waited some more.
On January 8, 2007 I received a telephone call from my credit card company asking if I had heard anything further from CSN. I had refuted the charge on my bill when it arrived so I would be covered if CSN did not come through. I was advised, by my bank, to e-mail them again and give them a deadline as to delivery or possible cancellation should the set not arrive by the delivery date of February 8, 2007. That gave them 30 days to deliver the product and also alerted them to the fact that my bank was aware of the situation. On January 18, 2007 I suddenly received information that my order had shipped on January 17, 2007! The scheduled delivery to me was listed as January 22 - February 2, 2007. As of today, January 30, 2007 it has still not arrived in Connecticut to be delivered by William B. Meyers, Inc. By the tracer I look at daily I see that it has taken over one month to be picked up by the original transfer company out of Arizona to be delivered to Home Direct Cross Dock in Indiana and it was unloaded twice! On January 29, 2007 it was loaded once again, presumably to get to Connecticut at some point!
How can I recommend that anyone do business with CSN stores? I cannot after what I have been through with them. I've written yet another letter to the president of CSN Stores. I would take bets that this one will not be answered either! So a big thumbs down to CSN, their delivery people and their merchandise.
Addendum to the chaos:
I was informed this past Friday, February 2, 2007 that William B. Meyer, the delivery company in Stratford, CT was ready to deliver my new bedroom set this week. When I asked about the White Glove Platinum service, which includes inspection of each piece, delivery and in room set-up, I was informed that no such service had been authorized although the first delivery was White Glove Platinum. That meant the delivery company would simply drop the entire set at my front door...period. They offered to e-mail CSN Stores and I said I would also e-mail my contact there. This morning, Monday, February 5, 2007 I again received a telephone call from the delivery company telling me they could deliver tomorrow! When I asked if they had received permission from CSN to inspect the furniture before delivery I was told that they had taken it upon themselves to do so but never heard a word from CSN. Neither did I. We set up for tomorrow morning but I had assumed they were also going to pick up the defective set and decided to call back to ensure that this was indeed going to be the case. It is a very good thing I called because I discovered that CSN Stores had also NOT instructed them to pick up the defective set! Again the e-mails went out but I have a promise from the delivery company that they will indeed remove the furniture I have and wait for the authorization to return it to them. What a fiasco!
On Tuesday, February 6, 2007, I received my furniture delivery and, as promised by the delivery company, they did indeed remove the defective set. This set is a major improvement over the other, however, we did have to swap out two drawers that looked warped with two of the old ones that were intact. We also swapped out the rails to the platform bed because the new set was worse than the old one! I insisted they leave the three slats that came with the new bed so my mattress warranty would not be voided, so now I have six supports, which should be adequate. The two things I still don't have are the Warranty Information or the Care Instructions for the bedroom set. They say they're looking into that. Well, they've been looking since November...with no sign of them yet! The parent company, CSN Stores, did get involved but only after I notified the BBB of their actions. After I wrote them, I had a response in 20 minutes! The title of this writing still stands. They are terribly inadequate across the board...and more so since I have no apology from them for anything that has transpired.
Recommended:
No
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Sonora Bedroom Set - 5 Pieces
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Epinions.com ID:
border13
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Location: Danbury, Connecticut - USA
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Hobbies include Movies, Music, Travel, Sports, Good Food and Enjoying Life.
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