La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries

Beware of La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries. My wife and I decided to replace a swivel chair with a more comfortable recliner. We did no research prior to going to the Mesquite La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries. We based our decision strictly on our perception that La-Z-Boy was a sound and reputable furniture brand. We special ordered a recliner in leather and wood colors that match the existing furniture in our living room. I should have used my intuition when we first arrived at the store and walked away because the salesperson was very unprofessional. First, he would not stay with us as we looked at various recliners on the sales floor even though the store was empty, and we had to constantly look for him to ask him questions. When we placed the special order, he told us that a special order would take no longer than six weeks to arrive from the factory. He said that salespeople are trained to say that, but it only takes four weeks. My wife and I paid 100 percent for the recliner, which cost approximately $2,040 with a five year warranty and home delivery. The printed invoice stated that it would take six to eight weeks for special orders to arrive. After six weeks passed, I never received a phone call from La-Z-Boy, so I called. The first time I called, the salesperson said she had no idea why it hadn't arrived. I called a second time a week later, and a different salesperson looked up the status of the order and he told me the factory had moved the date out several more weeks. He said he had no idea why it had been delayed. Finally after the ninth week, I called a third time and the saleperson said it had arrived. Apparently no one at La-Z-Boy cared enough to phone me about its arrival. When it took so long to arrive, I started worrying about the decision. First I looked on Angie's List, but I only found a listing for an Arlington La-Z-Boy location. Then I did a search on the Better Business Bureau's website, and found out that the Dallas chapter of the BBB had given La-Z-Boy an F rating. The Dallas BBB had processed 39 complaints about the Mesquite location in the last 36 months. Of the 39 complaints closed in the time period, only 8 had been closed in the last year. Also, I did other searches about La-Z-Boy using search engines and found hundreds of consumer complaints about product, sales, repair, and warranty issues that have gone unresolved amongst various La-Z-Boy locations. The chair I ordered finally delivered today, and it appears to be in good shape for now. Based on the poor service at the Mesquite store, the bad BBB score for that location, and online unresolved consumer complaints about La-Z-Boy in general; I feel lucky. However, I will never purchase another La-Z-Boy product. I told my wife that this is the last time that I go by a brand's perceived reputation instead of doing research about the purchase using tools like Consumer Reports, Angie's List, and the Better Business Bureau.