2/2/11

When liars sell you a line..

Here it is February 2nd, and we don't have a sofa to sit on. Happy Ground Hog Day! Punxsutawney Phil's shadow eluded him, an early spring is to be both expected and contemplated regardless the measurable snowfall, ice dams, heaping snow banks and the frozen rain, spring will come we are assured :)
Personally I don't worry about springs timeline, if winter comes and all that, furthermore I enjoy Winter.

I do however wonder if my housemate will ever see his new couch from Restoration hardware and if not the couch he has already paid half for, then perhaps his money.
November past we decided to sell the Ashley suite we bought in August of 07, it's looks surpassed it comfort.
Lucky for us my housemates (a brother from another mother) brothers friends wanted it, fortuitous for them as well for it was a bargain!

Not so old and sold, nice looking but sadly in the end not comfortable for us, keeping this group was not an option, I do however wish that I never ever recommended we look @ RH!

Since then we've parked ourselves on a second hand Roche Bobois chaise we unearthed in the now defunct American Am vets thrift shop.
I'm particularly fond of the chaise, it's reclining back and arm, the material, a suede body (not ultra, thanks)the down/foam blended cushions and the wonderfully down-filled back pillows, a treasure found, however 6 feet of space for two or four piles of gold is simply inadequate.

I like to lounge.

After much debate, questions, pro & cons and endless measuring we carefully chose a large-ish 48 inch inch deep, couch from Restoration warehouse, I stress only after seeking Customer service advice on the comfy Lancaster sofa( we did try it out at the store, twice) would fit in our modest 2 family Oak Square home.
She told us to check with their delivery service (EMM on Demand) and that if "it did not fit we could chose one that did".
Reassured (me not as much, I'm an over thinker) Coach contaxted the delivery service, gave them the measurements on both the door and staircase dimensions, they gave him; a shouldn't be a problem, it would fit" .

It was imperative, we absolutely had to be sure it would fit both our needs and in our home, with RH's policy "returns or exchanges are prohibited on custom orders with the exception of manufacturer defects or damages" We were in the market for a sofa, we were ready for some comfort after all.
What was custom about it you ask?
The stone washed denim fabric, in their sand colour and down/ foam cushions, costlier than their standard. Period.

After just days short of 3 (long) months, we longed for the new couch.
Delivery was Jan 31 'tween 12- 2 comes and with it happily a comfortable place to sit, watch, read and live, nap ~ yahoo!!
In earnest preparation for both the sofa's arrival &the slow trek to spring, come the 30th I vacuumed and washed both the living room wall and the then empty, salty and sandy, wintered staircase and top landing.

Jan. 31, noon, I'm running a wee bit behind that morning I was washing the rubber mat from the evenings salt marks & reading to move it, when the doorbell rang shy of noon.
I busy on the landing Coach let the delivery Man in,
I on the landing, as his boots are by my nose. thinking oh great, He did not asked him to wipe his boots crusted with snow and salt, what is wrong with people that they need to be asked?
The shrinking violet I am, NOT- I asked him to please wipe
his feet, he throws me a WOOT look; stomps a couple of time inches away from me ( remember I'm crouched down) and then proceeds to SLAM his steel toed boots into my oak risers again & again and again!
I proceed to lose my mind and voice!

He took his look around the living room and came back down to the porch where I now was.
He pointedly told us "he could leave" I told him I own the house, pointing to my mate, this man paid for the sofa… so no I didn't think he could.
Perhaps he didn't think, or maybe he thought he entered College land where no one owns the hovel in which they dwell and he could ram his steel toed boots... the clod right by my ears!

tick, tick, tock..

After (in my opinion) a couple of half hearted attempts and enough padding on the landing to make me unsure if this sofa could now fit. they said, no it won't fit.

I said -
we called and asked both RH, & delivery ... said it would fit -!

He who lives in a barn & slams wood, says -
it's a "selling point", and that they have a problem with these sofas all the time, wtf?!

They push, I silently plead & even gave out a can you pivot it (lol if friends didn't flood my memory) it was deemed a definite NO go.

Graceful & Friendly delivery team kindly told us they could leave it jammed in the stairwell, such (___a___) class act. we are now flustered and frustrated with the failed delivery behind us, disappointment fresh 2:30 or so, He who believes retailers have honour, my dear sweet housemate calls and speaks to a RH salesperson on the phone, he said he could pick out another couch and gave him a refernece #.

Today, groundhog day we decided on the same sofa at 88 inches, the depth dropped to 43 inches.
He calls and customer service said - halt you lose your 50% deposit!

What?? we now have to deal with Ruby, I'll let you know how it comes out, because in the end it turned out that the couches felt was ripped!


Oh and add insult - he just told me the felt was damaged,
I never did see the under belly of the monolith, the back
was locked against the other side of the stairwell.
Now why the heck didn't my housemate
Q1) tell me & the felt was ripped.
Q2) and why didn't he take a photograph of the damage ?!



I'll let you know how this turns out but I assure you,
RH is not getting the free lunch they now seek.
They'll never see another red cent from this side of the hill.



update the so called 24 hours have turned into 48 not a call nor an email of the photos, do I trust they will shoot the sofa that was brought , here? NO I don't and I see no reason why I should do you?

5 comments:

  1. I've had a nasty experience with them, I will never purchase a thing from them agian.

    Good luck.

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  2. grr @ RH
    a well written account M~, a great read even tho I knew the story :)
    Fingers crossed that they play fair this time, although one wonders at the wisdom of dealing with them again, oh yes you're right.
    xox

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, we are going to get a refund. A lesson well learned take pictures if there is something wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes but it's March 1st do you know where you money is for the deposit??

    ReplyDelete
  5. Andy, Coach the deposit is still earning money in there bloody bank account no doubt.

    Anon, I've no doubt, so have we, a nasty experience and the money is still being held in their account.

    Thank you for your comments all.

    ReplyDelete

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