SPECIAL EFFECTS UPHOLSTERY

Angel and a helper arrived to give us an estimate.  He said if he "didn't take the sofa on this trip, there would be a delivery charge".  I really didn't want them to take it then since I didn't have fabric yet, but agreed.  I bought fabric online.  Angel didn't say anything when I showed it to him, but after the sofa was reupholstered, he said "if you had been a designer, I would have told you that fabric was going to stretch."  The fabric looked awful and was inappropriate for the job- I asked him why he didn't say something before he reupholstered the sofa and I could have gotten my money back for the fabric.  He didn't reply.
I filed a complaint and Angel agreed to reupholster the sofa, saying the foam on the sofa needed replacing and the down in the cushions did also.  I bought new fabric and Angel reupholstered the sofa again with new foam and "down".  When he brought it into the house it had an bad odor (dead chickens?)  I mentioned it and he said he didn't smell anything. 
As it turned out, the "down" was really chicken feathers.  Down doesn't have spines, but feathers do.  Feathers are constantly working their way out of the fabric.
Angel has a nice workshop with several employees.  He does good work but seems to have a problem with honesty and attitude.

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First, let me state that Mr. Olmos did a very high quality job on our sofa and ottoman.  He did not follow our instructions completely (e.g. the back cushions were attached even though we asked that they be left loose) but we are still satisfied with the quality of the work.
When we first contacted him for an estimate, it took a little while for us to find a time for him to come over, but once we agreed on a time, he arrived right on schedule.  When he gave us the quote, I was a little shocked at how high it was, but he did not try any 'high pressure' tactics.  He simply said it was up to us if we wanted to do it.  We decided to save money by buying fabric ourselves, but even the, the cost was higher than a new sofa would have been.  Just be aware of that before you decide to reupholster. 
However, overall I was not happy with my dealings with Mr. Olmos.  It seemed to take quite a bit longer than we were expecting to have the work done, but we weren't in a huge hurry so that wasn't critical.  My major complaint had to do with a $75 pick-up and delivery charge that my wife and I feel like was 'tacked on' without much notice. When we originally talked to Mr. Olmos, we asked if he would pick up and deliver the furniture and he said they would, but he didn't mention a charge.  When he gave us the estimate, he didn't mention the charge. When we paid the deposit, the delivery charge was added to the bottom of the receipt but neither of us noticed it at the time.
Our furniture was finally returned and we paid for the rest of the work.  Only after the delivery guys left did we notice the delivery charge on the receipt.  The next day, I called Mr. Olmos to say I thought we were charged incorrectly for the delivery.  Mr. Olmos said it was a normal charge, but he immediately agreed to refund the charge.
If he had actually paid the $75 it would have ended there and I would be writing him a much more favorable review.  Unfortunately, the check never came. After about 10 days, my wife sent him a follow-up email, which he never replied to.  Finally, after a moth with no word, I called him again to say we still hadn't received my check.
He argued with me on the phone and kept telling me to find my original 'yellow' receipt from when they picked up the sofa and not the 'white' receipt from when they delivered it.  I said that may be true but the fact was he agreed to refund that charge and he had not.  He tried to make me put my wife on the phone (I suppose so he could argue with her) but I refused.  He finally agreed to send me the delivery charge but we were quite unhappy with each other when we hung up.
I finally dug through 2 months of old receipts and found the original 'yellow' receipt.  He was right that it was on that receipt (although, as I said, neither of us remember it being there when we got the original estimate).  However at that point, I was totally disgusted with dealing with him.  I called him back to say that he did not have to send me the $75 since the charge was on the 'yellow' receipt, but I would write up the whole story on Angie's List and he was certainly welcome to write up his side.
I have no doubt that Mr. Olmos is an honest man, but I cannot recommend him. 

Angel was great!  He was done sooner than promised, the quote was accurate, and the quality of the work was excellent!

They provided very fast and good quality service. Their prices were reasonable.

All cushions were old and the new foam was cut expertly and made the chairs look like new -- well, fabulous  but still the antiques that t hey are!  The upholstery was perfectly done, extremely professional. Angel was very prompt and got everything done more quickly than I had imagined-- only about a week. And I am very picky about everything, as is my husband, and we both are delighted. Angel is a pleasure to deal with

Angel was professional and easy to deal with. He gave me estimates comparable to/better than other upholstery firms.  Angel had no problem with the fact that I was purchasing my own fabric.  Many pieces were completely reupholstered from the frame up, with new cushions and padding. Overall, I am very pleased.  The only problem I had was that the skirts on two of the sofas did not hang well.  Angel said the fabric was the cause, that it was too flimsy.  He did take one piece back and reworked the skirt at no charge. I am not sure I buy the 'fabric' story.  The hard pieces/chairs were excellent.  Fabric repeats were perfect!  All in all it was a very easy  and successful experience for me. Angel and his crew did a great job!

I have called him several times. The first and second time I called they couldn't get the fabric and then I called and he told me he had it, so I took the chairs to him. I called again to check on the chairs and he told me had would check on it and call me back and I've yet to hear from him. I'm waiting on my husband to get back in town so we can go over there because he still has my three chairs. He is nice and friendly when you talk to him, but nothing has seemed to happen work wise. I won't use him again.

Well, out of the blue, I got a call saying our chairs were ready.  He apologized for the delay but offered no discount for having my chairs for OVER A YEAR!  The chairs are beautiful and he did very good work, but the grief was not worth it.  If this hadn't been for our 2nd home which is still in restoration from Hurricane Ike, I would have been more forceful, but we weren't in a hurry for the chairs and he knew that.

Overall it was very positive.  They did an outstanding job and it was done within a week.

Angel was very responsive from first contact.  We called on a Saturday and met him at the shop.  He explained the process, timing and yardage needed to do the project.  (I purchased fabric from another location, but fabric is available at the shop as well).

We returned with our fabric and one of the chairs.  Angel made a template to fit the details of the furniture and produced the tie-on cushions. 

The work was done in the timeframe promised and was of exceptional quality.  These were not simple pieces, and they fit beautifully.  The workmanship is the best I've seen (zippers are covered, piping and seams are flawless).   All remaining fabric was returned as well.

We are thrilled to have found Angel and will be returning to Special Effects for future projects.

price

Excellent experience. Fair pricing. Angel provided estimates and accomodated adjustments and add-ons as requested. A professional to work with...results met or exceeded expectation. Highly recommend.  Will use again.

Great!

The seat cushions on our sofa had become less than comfortable.  The cushions had always been a little on the soft side, but over time had become painfully so.  The sofa is less than five years old and the fabric is still almost like new, so all I needed were the actual cushions put into the same fabric.  And, fortunately, the fabric is in the form of a zippered cover so stuffing a new cushion inside would be an easy enough (and inexpensive) upgrade. I found Special Effects via this site where I saw the good reviews.  I gave them a call, found that they do make sofa cushions, and made the drive down there with my cushions.  I worked with the owner who suggested a grade of foam he thought I’d be happy with (based on my comments about not wanting something too soft) and he wrote up a work order for foam and down cushions.  I asked about turnaround time and he said it should be about a week, maybe less.  Great! A week later, when I had not heard from them, I called to get the status and he said that he was waiting for a shipment of foam and was expecting it in a few days.  After another week of silence, I called back and spoke with someone else (who turned out to be the owner’s wife) to find out about the cushions.  She was unable to find the work order and asked me to describe the cushions (apparently her husband had to leave town for a family emergency so he wasn’t there).  Uh-oh.  I was starting to get worried now.  Anyway, to make a long story short, she knew the cushions I described and asked what type of replacement cushions were supposed to be made.  After I told her, she said they would be ready in an hour!  Huh?? Anyway, I drove back down there the next morning and picked them up, brought them home, and put them on the sofa.  These cushions are fabulous!  They are so comfortable and our sofa is like new.  So I guess this is an ‘all’s well that ends well’ kind of deal. I have a feeling that the misplaced paperwork for my order was an anomaly, but it did contribute to the delay of my job and added to my stress level a bit (since the fabric on the cushions matches another piece in the furniture set).  I’d give them a ‘A’ overall if it was for the work alone, but I have to deduct a point for the snafu.  Would I use them again?  Probably.  They do nice work (I did see some larger jobs at their facility they had done).  I drove my cushions down there because they fit in my car, but they do offer pick up service for those larger upholstery jobs.  They also custom make furniture.

Very good experience.  I contacted Angel by email and he answered all of my questions through a series of emails.  I provided the chair, ottoman and upholstery cloth to be used.  He had a very extensive offering of materials, but I had purchased mine before I contacted him.  The ONLY negative, was that they did not contact me when the work was done.  That said,  it was done within the time promised.  I  highly recommend Special Effects Upholstery.

The work is Superior.  It took him approximate  1 week to complete and the cost  was $50 plus tax.  A+ all the way.  Beautiful work at a great price.  I will definetely use him again!

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I've never had furniture re-upholstered before, so I was torn between having this done vs. buying new chairs. I first took in the 2 wing back chairs. I took my own fabric, but they have lots to choose from in their shop. I explained to Angel Olmos, the owner, that I wanted any leftover material because I was going to look for an inexpensive ottoman to be covered to match the chairs. Angel said he could make an ottoman to match the chairs. I am very pleased with Angel's ottoman. The wooden legs and the stain he used match the chairs perfectly. Also, because it's custom made, I was able to get exactly the size I wanted. I was so happy with how the chairs and ottoman looked that I took in the 2 antique chairs. It's been a very good experience, I'm very happy with my "new" furniture and I will definitely use Special Effects Upholstery again.

Perfect! The chairs had hundreds of studs in them from the previous upholstery. I tried to pull them out myself so I could do it but it seemed impossible to get them out. I found Angel on Angie's List. He quoted $35 a chair with me supplying the fabric. He has hundred or so fabric books at his workshop and I found one there that I liked so he took care of ordering it- the price was spot on-no major markups. He had them ready in less than a week and the table repaired flawlessly. When he quoted me the $35 a chair he forgot to add on the $15 per chair for the foam, so when I went there to pick them up he honored the $35 a chair even with me insisting that $50 was more than fair. The table leg he fixed had a nasty break in it and it's now flawless- he is a true craftsman. Highly recommend!!!

Excellent communication, nice work.

Angel is great to work with. He understands exactly what you want and delivers in the final product. And besides the work quality - he's just a nice person.

Angel & his company did a fantastic job. I provided the fabric. His estimate was fair and his craftsmanship superb. The chair was done within two weeks. I would highly recommend this company.

Pleasant on first call. Set expectation to meet the need. Responded with email quote and agreed to meet or beat deadline.

I found them through Angie's List. We dropped the sofa off and we picked it up. They did a good job. They were very polite. I think that their price was a little bit high, but we very good recommendations about them.