The Great Chair Debacle

[rubyslippers]

Hello everyone, I need one of those "it will all be okay" pep-talks. My husband and I moved into our new cottage over Christmas. We are doing without some things "on purpose" so-to-speak. We are taking it room by room, piece of furniture by piece of furniture, etc. etc.

Anyway, we have had a desk chair in our living room holding the space for a side chair to complement our couch. Anyway, we searched in a lot of places and for upholstered furniture, I tend not to buy used / vintage so to speak. We were searching for quality paired with affordability. My sister actually has a precious chair from IKEA, but she really wasn't thrilled with the quality. So, we went up a "notch" in regard to retailers.

I don't want to disparage the company on this thread because I believe this is a one-time deal; however, it just ruined my day. Waiting for my chair to be delivered today was like waiting on the cable-guy. They give you a delivery window and you just feel, well, kind of trapped. Anyway, the delivery guy couldn't have been kinder or more prompt, so as my husband helped settled things I kinda stayed out of the way.

After the delivery guy is out the door, my husband is trying to get the room set up to surprise me and he calls me in two minutes letter. They delivered the wrong chair! I literally received a virtual loveseat. The chair is the same material and the same color - - otherwise, it is a different chair. It is not intrinsically unattractive, but it SWALLOWS our little cottage. We called the delivery hotline to try to get the chair picked-up ASAP. (We were afraid the cat would scratch it - - a fact of life we accept - - but, we didn't want the liability). Then, we called the store. Yelling at managers was involved. I also believe my kind sales associate made an honest mistake, but I'm sure she did not have a nice day at work.

Anyway, they realistically cannot swap the chairs out until next Saturday (shipping, delivery, scheduling, etc.) - - demanding more immediate attention just got exhausting. So, in the interim, all removable parts of the chair (cushions, pillows, etc.) are closed in the second bedroom. Now, the chair has literally been slip covered with fitted sheets and beach towels.

I don't know why I was so angry and broken hearted today. I guess it is just one of those things that in this economy, we saved for four or five months so we could buy a chair in cash. We tried to be sensible. Anyway, this chair is NOT the chair we ordered by any stretch of the imagination. I carefully checked the measurement "specs" on the stores website to confirm the chair we were expecting is actually exponentially smaller and it is. The trade-out will take place next Saturday; so, this has just turned into a mess.

Anyway, the problem will be remedied - - one way or another. I guess there is a reason I love my vintage finds. They are usually personal; the sellers tend to stand by their pieces. I know they are "as is" so-to-speak. I also know I get to work on them and "fix-them-up". Most of the time, I have a lot of success with vintage finds. I just wanted to get something I could change the throw-pillows on and have a nice comfy squashy chair to finish out the living room.

I still really don't know why I'm quite so upset; maybe this is just the straw that broke the camel's back this week. It really did ruin my day. So, I'm moving on so-to-speak, but I'm grouchy.

Thanks for listening everyone. I'm just trying to take care of my little home and this was just too much. I just wish they could have sent the delivery guy back today. The thing isn't that heavy; I would honestly return it to the local store if I could today borrowing Dad's truck. Sadly, the thing is just too darn BIG! It is really the WRONG chair.

Okay, enough ... I don't want to fill up the entire band-width of the forum venting. This isn't a "real" problem in the grand scheme of things, but it is terribly frustrating.

[annielinz]

Rubyslippers, I feel for your situation. I had a somewhat similar thing happened when we first moved in to this house many moons ago. I was young, very naive and well stupid. We ordered some furniture from a inexpensive place but to us newlyweds it was money hard earned. So the couch and love seat came, looked good, waved goodbye to the delivery folks. After moving the furniture into place I realized the material on the back was coming undone. Did what you did, called, complained,cried, long story short it took weeks to replace.
Not one to learn from this experience, it happened again. This time I was older and somewhat wiser. I ordered a dresser for DD's room. It arrived and its also wasn't the one I picked out:mad:! This time I told the guy (remember I'm wiser now), he said keep it for now and call the company and they'll replace. Well long story short we did keep it, ended up liking this one better. So my moral of this story is to make sure you check before they leave and secondly companies make mistakes.
It's ok to vent, it is frustrating. I'm glad they are going to replace, please post a pic when it arrives.

[ChapterTwo]

I sure do understand that you had your heart set on getting the chair today...the RIGHT chair, and what happened was a huge disappointment.

Keeping that in mind...
I think you will see, as you go through life, there are things that annoy the heck out of you, and REALLY BAD THINGS that can happen. Fortunately, the chair incident falls into the first category. Now, I am not minimizing your disappointment, just trying to (as I have learned to do) say that in the big scheme of life, this is a tiny speck.

To summarize:

1) The store somehow sent the wrong chair, you had your hopes up to finally get the chair you'd been looking forward to, in the right place.

2) NEVER (ever, ever) let a delivery person leave until you have inspected the item that he brought. Take your time, look for scratches, look for missing parts, look for discolorations. But ALWAYS look at the item and do not allow yourself to be rushed.

I am truly sorry that everything didn't turn out the way you wanted to, today. But I am sure that the store will rectify the situation ASAP. Try NOT to yell - they tend to listen and try to help you more when you're in control. I find the phrase, "THIS is unacceptable" to work like a charm if they tell you something that won't work for you. Keep asking for that person's supervisor, and work your way up the chain, if you are not getting satisfaction. If need be, tell them that you're having company on "such and such day" and you MUST have that chair before the date. Tell them that's why you ordered it when you did.

Trust me that, in time, you'll look back on this and (sort of) laugh. (Been there, done that...) :o

[rubyslippers]

In the grand scheme of things, I concur that this is not any big deal; however, I do have some of those big grand scheme of things happening in my life right now. So, I think this was just the final straw. I really appreciate the words of wisdom. Have a good day all.

[ChapterTwo]

Then, Rubyslippers, I understand even more why the chair delivery impacted you the way it did.

BIG hugs to you, and I hope that everything starts working out for the better for you!

[rubyslippers]

I posted a new thread asking more or less: Where do you shop when you need upholstered furniture? In hindsight, I didn't really tell the "whole" story as I re-read my very long post. I do not like to engage in confrontation; calmly explaining the situation to the 100% satisfaction guaranteed hotline and to the local store did not garner a positive response from the retailer. The manager at the local store escalated the situation; then, the ugliness that ensued was more in my own mind's eye to tell you the truth.

At first I just thought I had buyer's remorse. Then, I was so exhausted I just ended up crying. Our move to our new home has been more or less effortless. Sure, we huffed and puffed moving things into the house at warp speed. However, we are very very very fortunate people to have found our little cottage. I guess the cookie just kind of crumbled today. So, thank you all for listening. Now, please click on over to my thread inquiring about your upholstery purchases where you can help me out now that I have a little perspective on the matter.

[mac78]

I am sorry you had to deal with a wrong delivery. I am sure the excitement of getting it and putting your room together....well, was just frustrating when it was discovered the wrong chair came.

I hope you are having a better day. :)