NEW ENGLAND FURNITURE REPAIR

It went well.  They did a beautiful job.

I bought an ebony bowl in Tanzania and a chunk broke from the rim and it cracked down the side in transit back. This guy told me he could repair it. When my wife showed up to get it today, there was a chunk broken from the other side and a crack down the other side. He told her it had been repaired before. Which is an outright lie. I bought the bowl brand new, from the guy that carved it, in April 2009. It was never broken before. He broke it trying to repair the other side and did not have the courage to admit what he did. Further, the repair work is poorly done. So poorly done that the bowl is still cracked on the side where he broke it. I would never trust this guy with anything again.

Everthing in prior Angie's reviews is true. Overall excellent workmanship. Extremely slow (5/18/07 - 10/9/07) to complete work. Not exactly professional - won't give receipt for furniture left with them, you have to bring it in yourself (but they delivered finished product), difficult to reach by phone. Stephan was my contact at their shop, and he is very personable. The upholstery work was done somewhere else. The final product looks great, but it was built up differently from the original. I should have listened when Stephan said they strip the old upholstery and stuffing, repair and refinish woodwork, then send to upholsterer -- where he builds it back up and upholsters "as he thinks it should look". Thus I got back very nice looking furniture, at what seems to be a high price - but it no longer resembles my grandmother's 1940's couch, chair, and footstool.

I found the person at New England whom I spoke with to be dismissive and discourteous. I would have appreciated knowing if they have people to refer to their customers who can pick up and deliver pieces to their shop, that would have been helpful information.

The repair is discernible only on close inspection. They matched the patina of the wood perfectly, and I am very enthusiastic about their artistry and craftsmanship. Although NEAFRSI does not pick up or deliver, a friend with a stationwagon was able to assist me in transporting the damaged chair to their workshop. I was not in a hurry to have the repair completed, although I felt it was done in a timely fashion. I did not ask for an estimate--the repair needed to be done.

THEIR WORK IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. DO NOT EXPECT TO GET YOUR PIECE BACK SOON, BUT THE FINAL RESULTS MAKE IT WORTH THE WAIT. PRICING IS REASONABLE CERTAINLY NOT CHEAP, BUT ALSO WITHIN OTHER COMPANIES ESTIMATE RANGES. BE AWARE HOURS CAN BE A LITTLE TRICKY. THE SHOP IS OPEN 7-4 MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES THERE WILL BE SOMEONE IN THE SHOP OVER THE WEEKEND.