Walter E. Smithe Furniture in Chicago, IL is a store with misleading sales practices, no returns and no service after the sale. Their sales people are trained to sell you more stuff and add on lots of extra details, but if you have a problem you can just forget about any service after the sale. I placed an order with Walter E. Smithe for an oversized couch, chair and ottoman for the living room of a new condo I was purchasing. The sales person told me to go ahead and place the order since it would take a couple months to complete the order.
The next day I called the salesperson to say I reviewed the measurements for the living room and the furniture would not fit. This call and several other phone calls I placed were not returned so I finally went back to the store. The salesperson and the manager told me they would not modify the order or give me a refund because they have a "72 hour change policy" — even though I did notify them within this time frame.
To compound the problem, I paid with this purchase taking advantage of their zero interest plan (this is done through their finance company Household Financial). I made several calls and wrote several letters to the owner and to Household. Household refused to help and no one at Walter E. Smith wanted to listen. I also wrote to the Better Business Bureau and their advice was to file a claim in small claims court.
After a great deal of wasted time and money, I settled this dispute with the store to keep my credit report clear. I paid them nearly $1000 and never received any goods or merchandise in return. No one at Walter E. Smithe ever apologized and they refused to take responsibility. I have never been treated this poorly by any merchant ever. My advice would be DO NOT SHOP AT WALTER E. Smithe furniture. Fields and other furniture retailers are much more reliable.
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