I spent $1900 on a Douglas sofa/recliner combo, only to have it break two times in 2 months. After a month, the left-side recliner was sticking and difficult to close, we called, and they sent a repairman out to fix it. About a week or two later, the right-side recliner completely broke to where large parts actually broke off.
I called customer service, spoke with the same person who was just out to repair the left-side recliner, and the gentleman stated that he would just order a whole new recliner since it had broken to such degree.
Two months later, with no phone call from the Roomstore telling me the new recliner was in, I called them. I left two messages that were NEVER returned. I went into the store and spoke with the manager, Cecil Doolittle. He apologized for the non-return of my calls, stating that the message line frequently doesn't call customers back, and it was a problem they were looking into.
Then, he looked up my account on the computer and stated that a left-side recliner was waiting to be delivered. I had never received a call about this and not only that, but it was THE WRONG RECLINER! Mr. Doolittle apparently corrected this and assured me that they would have the right recliner within 2 weeks.
Two weeks later, there was no call and no recliner. At this point, I was tired of dealing with unprofessionalism and a brand-new, broken recliner, and asked to speak to a supervisor/regional manager. I was directed to Tim Walters, I left several messages using all three of my available numbers, and ended up playing phone tag with him for a couple weeks because he would only call my home number. I have yet to speak with Mr. Walters personally. I also left a very detailed message of my problem with the president, only to be sent back to Mr. Walters for service. The last message I sent, I asked for a refund on the sofa and for them to take it back.
After this last message, a secretary returned my call and stated that the Roomstore WOULD NOT give me a refund, that they would instead return the sofa to the manufacturer and allow me to re-select a different sofa. I stated that I did not want to re-select, that I no longer wanted to deal with their company, that the item was defective in 3 different ways within 4 months (the fabric had begun to split at this point), that satisfaction was guaranteed, and I was not satisfied.
She said she was sorry but that there was nothing else they could do. I also asked her why I could not have a refund, because the sofa was defective and that they would be returning the sofa to the manufacturer in either case. She did not know why. After going nowhere with my request, my husband and I went to the store to attempt to re-select.
When we went in the store, we were approached by Matt, a salesman, who was very gracious in helping us find something. As soon as we told him we were a re-select customer, he "rolled" his eyes and changed his demeanor entirely, giving us the impression that we were now a waste of his time. He begrudgingly made some calls to check, coming back to tell us that they knew of no authorization to re-select, and that I would have to call the main office.
I left a detailed message with Mr. Walters again, and after two weeks, am still waiting to receive a call back. I am very disappointed with this, as you can tell by the length of this message, and cannot believe that a large company would treat their customers this way. I spent almost $4000 total and have nothing to show for it. When I found this website, I was shocked that other customers had encountered similar things and I will definitely take this to every Consumer Advocacy group and Better Business Bureau I can find. Thank you.
Rachael
Peoria, Arizona
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