WHITLEY FURNITURE GALLERIES

Having purchased six upholstered dining room chairs from Whitley we have encountered three of the chairs to have developed a swish sound when anyone sits on the chair. It is not only awkward but makes one feel singled out when shifting or repositioning. This was almost a $3000. purchase price. I have contacted the original sales person who passed me along to the manager of customer care. Having spoken to her directly twice and left messages two other times, not once has she returned any of the calls with a solution as she promised. This has now become a part time job for me to follow up and try to engage in speaking with her, Beth Driver or the sales person, Susan Blakeley. Very unprofessional and unacceptable for a locally produced product.

The store is very large, has an excellent selection of furniture and the sales people I encountered were helpful and friendly. The dressers we bought were made in the USA and are very good quality. I'm not sure where the nightstand was made. It also seems to be very good quality and I especially love the style and look of it. We did not encounter a problem until it was time for delivery. Our dressers were to be brought to us on a Saturday morning; between 8:30am and 9:30am. We got a call Saturday morning at 9:00am that as they were loading the dressers on the truck, they noticed a flaw and would not deliver them. We were told we would have to wait another week before they would be brought to us. They explained that once furniture is received at their warehouse, it goes through a four step quality check. The last person to do the check is the person loading the truck. He decided that the stain had an issue and needed to be touched up. The delivery person would not let us decided if the finish was fine with us, he just refused to put it on the truck. Our furniture had arrived a week before it was to be delivered to us. I don't know why the first three people deemed the dressers to be in good condition. If the stain had been touched up immediately upon arrival to the warehouse, they would have been delivered to us on time. In order to avoid this issue with the nightstand, I told the store I would pick it up from their warehouse. The nightstand was ordered around May 20, 2013. I called the salesperson at the beginning of July to check on the order. He called the warehouse and discovered that it had arrived sometime in June. The people in the warehouse claimed that they had called us. We have caller I.D. and an answering machine. We did not have a record of any phone call from the company. With these two transactions, my opinion is that this company has a problem with a lack of communication between its employees. This in turn creates a poor costumer service experience.

In April 2011, I contacted the sales person to let him know feathers continuously poked through the sofa, the cushions sagged, and the sofa and pillows had an ordor. A sales manager explained poking feathers were common with down fill and he suggested I regularly rotate and flip the cushions to help the sagging/worn look and spray the furniture with febreeze. By August 2011, feathers continue to poke through the sofa and cushions, the cushions (front and back) still sagged and looked worn, and there were lots of loose threads. I again contacted Whitley and emailed photos. I began to wonder whether or not I unknowingly purchased used furniture rather than new furniture. Whitley Galleries denied the furniture is used. I was offered to return the furniture but would be charged a $1500 restocking fee. I declined. In 2012, the furniture continues to look bad. I attempted to contact the owner of Whitley Gallery via email. Though my email was read, I have not been contacted. It is now October 2012 and the furniture continues to look old, worn, and faded; fabric hangs from under the sofa and a chair; and there are faded spots on the cushions of the other chiar. Given the furniture has been solely used by one person, there is no other explanation for the worn condition other than it was used when purchased. Each and every day I look at this furniture and I am very disappointed with it. And though I did not plan to purchase furniture again so soon, eventually this furniture has to go. Though Whitley Gallery was recommended, my experience there has been less than satisfactory. I would not purchase from Whitley Gallery again. My advice would be if you purchase furniture on the discount floor, ask whether or not the furniture is new or used.