Furniture Fiasco of 2011

So, I do not like to do marathon shopping days. I'll last a while if I am fed occasionally. So on February 13th, the Hubbs and I went TV stand hunting.

It all started at Target, the furniture quality did not seem to match the higher price ($250-ish) and the low price stuff was going to fall apart if we sneezed too hard. We liked how it looked, but we knew we could do better.

Then we decided to head up the Pike, hitting several stores:
Pier One - awesome store, but didn't have the furniture we were looking for.
Haverty's - beautiful store, awesome customer service, I was not about to pay $700 for a flippin' TV stand. 
Room Store - kinda dingy, sales people were too busy talking about their weekend to help us, prices and selection were not that great anyway.

At this point I was done, but being a good wife I agreed to Marlo. There we hunted for a TV stand and found one we liked! It was pricey at $400, but it was solid and would last us. So it took the (not to be ageist or racist) older, foreign guy about an hour to process our order. I was frustrated but we left with a TV stand ordered and a painting in hand (buying the painting got us free delivery).

Two weeks later our delivery Saturday came, the guys showed up and dropped off a big box. They asked me to sign, I asked them to assemble it. They said that wasn't part of the deal, I guess I misheard the sales guy. Hubbs and I go to set the thing up and its a coffee table. WTH?

I call the customer service line who says my TV stand is on the truck still and the guys are in Gaithersburg and she'll call me back with an update. I get no call, so I call and of course the customer service line is closed. I call the store and am not allowed to speak with a manager, I have to speak with the little old sales guy who tells me he can set up a swap on Tuesday because they do not deliver on Sunday or Monday, and I tell him I need the earliest time slot because its my day off. He says some one will call me Monday to confirm a time frame.

I call them Monday to find out my pick-up (NOT delivery or swap) is scheduled for Wednesday (a day that I work 7am-7pm) and I have to set up a separate delivery time, but there are no more of what I ordered in stock. UGG! They can sense my frustration and just tell me they will refund me my money.

The workers come to pick-up the box on Saturday and instantly say "That's a coffee table, not a TV stand." Where were you a week ago?

I call the store to confirm the pick-up and they inform me I have to come back to the store to get the refund. OMG. I am about to... no, I lost it!!

I contacted the BBB and told them my story. Two days later, I get a call from a corporate manager pouring apologies all over me. She offered me a $100 gift certificate, which I declined and stated "Lady, I don't even want anything for free from your company." She apologized more. Then she offered to have me fax directly to her office my credit card info so she could refund me with out me returning to Marlo. I added she can also apply that gift certificate to the painting we have hanging so I don't have to return that either. She did. I was happy.

A week later, I found something I liked at World Market.com. I went to World Market on Friday and bought it. The Hubbs is currently assembling it. <3

The end... almost... I'll post a pic of the awesome, stylish Hako TV Stand when it's done.