Joining the Growing Gang of the Angry and Unsatisfied
Written: Oct 07 '09

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Last summer we did an extensive remodeling of one level of our home including a brand new "office" for our middle school daughter. We spent over $3,000 at PB Teen for furniture and other matching amenities. What we really liked about PB Teen was the styling. When the furniture came, I was not overly impressed with the quality. For Wal-Mart or Target, it would've been okay, but it also would not have come with that kind of price tag. I expected better from PBT. But we still liked the look so we kept it.
Fast forward one year and a few months. The furniture is still holding together, but we did discover a problem with a matching bean bag chair purchased by my mother-in-law as a gift. The chair consisted of two pieces, a washable outer shell and the inner bag. Well, the chair has been used lightly over the past year, however, when we unzipped the shell to wash it, we discovered that the a seam on the bag had failed in two places and the stuffing had spilled out into the shell. This bean bag chair wasn't cheap (nothing at PB Teen is really), it cost well over $100. It was clear that this was a failure in workmanship and not abuse. There was no tears or punctures in the bag, it was simply a poorly stitched seam.
We called PB Teen's customer service and got absolutely no relief from the rep or their supervisor. In their mind, the purchase was over a year old and they were quite firm that they had no obligation to us whatsoever. Well, that's true, they had no legal obligation here, there was no implied warranty on this chair...but it certainly should have lasted more than a year. We spent a lot of money with this company, their prices are no bargain basement, and we expected a whole lot more from a company that charges the prices they do for the quality product they sell. PBT most surely either has an extremely high operating cost or is making a ton of profit by selling high fashion/low quality items at a premium price. Again, had it been from a thriftier store with a lower price tag, my expectations would have been lower. But from a company with Nordstrom-like prices, I expect Nordstrom-like customer service. I didn't expect a new item for free...but I did expect some courtesy and an attempt at meeting me halfway on this purchase. Nothing. Nada. No relief whatsoever.
They have lost a customer for good and gained a loud detractor who will tell anyone who will listen to be very wary when making purchases from this company. If you're satisfied with your purchase, then you'll be fine. If not, or something goes wrong with your purchase down the road, you're in for a disappointment because they will not own up to the quality (or lack thereof) of their products.
PBT should be mindful that customer satisfaction goes a long way towards their bottom line. The old addage holds true that a satisfied customer may tell one friend about their experience, but a dissatisfied customer will tell 10.
Recommended:
No
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