ASHLEY FURNITURE

I ordered my couch this past mid September. Due to Covid difficulties the sales associate at the time told me it would be delivered in about 6 weeks during late October with perhaps some small delays (inferring 1 week or 2). She had given me an online business card with a business number attached. During this time and throughout this whole experience there has been a lack of communication and straightforwardness on Ashley's end. 1 week before my supposed October delivery date I contacted the sales associate (after hearing nothing from Ashley's) and had the following correspondence with her: ([*** Link removed ***] through the aforementioned business card information. This is one of the rudest responses I have ever received in retail and makes me not want to ever go to Ashley's again. In this correspondence she states that the delivery will now be pushed to mid November and to cancel I will have to forfeit 10% of the full amount I have paid for a "restocking" fee even though the product clearly can't get stocked for months to half a year. After calling Ashley's corporate customer service hotline (after not feeling comfortable with the Ashley's associate) I was able to find out that delivery is now to be pushed until at least January. I was told to call back a week later and see if anything has changed as it is only an estimate. Another week later I have called their hotline again and informed there will not be an estimate until 12-16 weeks from 11-18-2020. This is unacceptable, so I called the Ashley corporate line again. They informed me that most stores in this situation have been waiving the 10% fee and that this is more than reasonable given this timeline but because all Ashley's are owned independently then I must reach the store for a refund. I have called the store line multiple times and have yet to get a call back or have anyone answer the phone. Do not order from Ashley's (this one especially) and do not trust their sales associates. That is what I will post everywhere and tell everyone at this point in time. 5-6 months for couch delivery for an original 1 month delivery is beyond unreasonable. The associates at this facility have also made it difficult to get back the money I paid at every step by not communicating well at all. Products should not be sold to customers if they can't be delivered.

The sale was a fair-to-good experience. We paid in cash. Troubles started when we needed to reschedule delivery. We had a specific need because our previous home had been burned out in a wildfire. That need was to have an AM delivery on a specific day when we were to move into our new but completely empty home. Several furnishing and appliance companies were delivering all new purchased goods on the same day, since we had nothing left after the fire. Utility companies were due in at the same time. First, in trying to reschedule, we were told Ashley could not time their deliveries, that "the computer does that... it can't be changed" and delivery would be between 3 to 6 PM. After several phone calls, pleading with all levels of management for help, we were told by "Ron," their Customer Care Manager, that he had "moved mountains" and they would deliver in the AM. They did NOT show up. At one point during the day we indicated the delivery should be cancelled. We were told in no uncertain terms that our cash "sales contract" did not allow for refunds, only store credit! The truck showed up at about 5 PM. They delivered the wrong bed. They left without unwrapping the night stands. They would not deliver the correct bed until 6:15 PM the next day, at which time it was too late to allow them to set up the bed. We did it ourselves the next day. Ashley Furniture uses a third-party delivery service. Their management actually uses this as excuse for not being able to make accommodations to their special needs customers.

The two delivery guys showed up right on time. They had the pieces put together in no time at all and even moved the pieces around so I could decide how I wanted the room to look. I call this above and beyond the call of duty. I love my new furniture. Cindy, my sales rep, basically left me alone until I found what I thought I wanted. I am slow at making decisions about spending large amounts of money. I must have gone to the store two or three times until I finally made my decision. The credit application process was easy. I liked the 33 months interest free offer. This is basically 'free use' of their money while I pay it off. In this economy, this is good news for the furniture buyer. The bedroom suite looks great in my new home and I am enjoying my first real 'set' of furniture. I am planning on going back to buy a few more pieces.

The salesperson was very patient and didn't "crowd" us. The delivery came on the day scheduled and the delivery staff was very professional. There was just a minor problem with the kitchen set as one screw was missing for the foot rest which they immediately ordered. Also, the first delivery was one hour late outside of the 4 hour window they gave me. l would buy more furniture from them. Because of this inconvenience, they did give me a customer loyalty gift card.