OAK EMPORIUM

On 11-15-13 I visited the site looking for a large TV stand.  The store owner William Vogel drew up just what we wanted and said if we ordered it that day we would have it before Christmas.  I ordered the stand and gave him a $1400 deposit. The stand along with a TV was going to be my wife and my present to each other.  As Christmas approached several calls were made to the site to inquire about the stand and we received stories like it is going to be built to it was built and waiting for a couple extra pieces to be made.  No December, no January, No February, and finally delivery on March 13th.  One time he scheduled delivery in February only to have his worker call late the day prior and say it was not delivered yet.  The owner told me multiple times he would call me back with updated information.  The only time he called was the second week in March to tell me it had come in and we scheduled the final delivery.  I like to shop from small local businesses rather than "big box stores", but also expect local customer service.  The quality of the piece was very good, the price was high, the service STUNK.  If he has a piece in the store that is what you want buy it, if you order special be aware you cannot believe anything he says.

We purchased a large, custom-built  media chest from Oak Emporium at the beginning of February 2011. Since it was a special order and coming from Arizona we were told it would take 6 to 8 weeks to receive it. It was delivered the first week of April. When they brough it into my house I saw that it was stained the wrong color. To make a very long story short, after going back and forth with the owner and the salesman, it was reordered in the correct color.



We received the replacement piece in June - the color was perfect. However,  original unit came with leaded glass doors but the  replacement unit had plain glass panes in the doors. We were told it was no problem - they could be switched out --- except when they tried to switch them they weren't the same size!!! The door openings were measured and the glass was reordered. Two months later - the replacement glass was delivered and IT WAS THE WRONG  SIZE AGAIN!! Their representative blamed the furniture manufacturer -  said he measured the openings correctly but they were made incorrectly at the factory. So, the openings were re-measured and the glass was ordered again.



It is now the beginning of March 2012 and we still do not have the glass. Both my husband and I have called to speak to the owner, who never seems to be in -- or we get their voice mail (during store hours), I called about an hour ago and still have not received a call back which prompted me to write this review.



 I swore I would never buy anything from them again. However, shortly after I received the piece that was the correct color, I had to go into the store to get some shelf pegs because there were not enough delivered with the wall unit. On my way out, I spotted a counter-height dining set that was just what I had been looking for. Since it was not a special order and could be delivered quickly, I purchased it. I am very happy with the dining set ? which is why I gave this store a C grade instead of a D or an F. I would probably rate it a C- if it was available.

 

There is nothing wrong with the furniture itself. It is solid , well-made and looks terrific, hence my A grade for quality. My advice is that if you are shopping there, do not order anything that has to be custom built or special ordered. If you can?t get it from the showroom floor, look elsewhere. If I can't find something I need somewhere else it will be my furniture store of last resort if I ever need anything custom built again.



Update:  The 2nd set of glass was delivered in May 2012 and it was the correct size. However - one of the panels was broken in two. I sent them both back and made the comment that I didn't want either one of them.  I was concerned that if I accepted the unbroken panel, that I'd never get the other one replaced - or it wouldn't match



The owner states he gave us a $500 discount. The truth is we held back $500 at the time of delivery because the product was incorrectly made.  Finally - in early 2013 we did finally receive the correct glass doors and were not charged. Oddly,  the only way we knew about them was that my husband was near the store and stopped in to check on the status of the glass.  Turns out they'd been there for quite a while and they never contacted us.  The owner told my husband: "your wife said she didn't want them" because of the comment I made when I sent back the broken pane.  The fact they were sitting in their warehouse and they never called to see if we were still interested was just amazing.

SUPERIOR QUALITY CUSTOM MADE FURNITURE, WE ARE VERY PLEASED.