My wife and I purchased a 3-piece upholstered couch set from Prestige for $2,000.00. For about $250 more we also purchased an extended 5 year manufacturer's warranty. We thought that would cover us.
Boy, we were wrong.
The first time they delivered the couches, the main sofa had greasy hand prints on it— they were so defined you could see each individual fingers— so we refused it until it was either cleaned or replaced.
The second time they delivered the main sofa the left front leg was not screwed in properly and wobbled; an easy fix with a screwdriver, but makes one wonder about their quality control.
Plus to top it off, we had to wait about 6 weeks before the love seat arrived. Thankfully, it arrived without incident.
After 4 months the couches started to sag as if they were losing their stuffing.By the 5th month they looked really bad, and were uncomfortable to sit in. (Back in my college days I bought a $400 couch that lasted longer than this!) Currently you are in risk of sliding forward and off the couch, it has gotteen so bad.
My wife's initial inquiries to Prestige concerning local repairs was a weird catch-22 situation: At first Prestige said they had no repairman. Then Prestige responded that they could send a repairman out, but since it was Prestige's repairman any work done would invalidate out manufacturer's warranty.
When we asked Prestige about the extended warranty they said it was out of their hands and we needed to notify the manufacturer. We had no contact information— we were not given any information at the time of sale on the warranty (EXCEPT for the fee.) After some finagling we finally got in touch with the manufacturer.
The manufacturer, located out in California, told us that the set was discontinued. To make matters worse, he had no information in regards to our "extended manufacturer's warranty." In other words, he had no idea what we were talking about and did not have a warranty program for us.
He did offer to call Alex, Prestige's ever-elusive owner, to ask about our situation.
It appears that Prestige has a lot of turnover in its billing office; during this time we've had to explain our situation (from scratch) to 3 different administrators. No one there had taken the initiative to contact us— each time WE had to make the call to keep the ball rolling. No follow-through from this company whatsoever.
We have a kept a detailed timeline of our dealings with Prestige, including the surprise Sunday 8:30am service call where the tech said he'd be out in 15-20 minutes. I was very specific in telling the repair tech that I was not refusing service (and I used those exact words) but that we would need to reschedule due to the ridiculously sudden announcement of a repair visit so early on a Sunday morning. When the repair tech said he'd contact the office to reschedule, in typical Prestige furniture pattern he never called me back.
There was a second repair call from the Prestige office made late afternoon where they announced they would be sending a repair tech by early morning. When my wife responded that she would not be available in the morning, that she'd be free anytime after 11am the office administrator said she'd check to reschedule. Again, we never heard back from them. After months and months, Prestige had only initiated two repair attempts.
The question of the $250 extended warranty has not been answered. No idea what they are going to offer to resolve this issue.
My wife and I have made dozens of phone calls demanding to talk to Alex: aall were answered with "we'll get the message to him." I've made two trips to the store looking for him as well— he was never on property.
Finally— and it's almost humorous— after all the attempts and demands to speak with Alex, he finally did call back from a CALLER ID BLOCKED NUMBER, forcing me to call the store demanding to speak with him. Once again, he never called back.
This is behavior we've begun to expect from Prestige Furniture: I have personally demanded to speak with him at least a dozen times, including visiting Prestige Furniture in attempts to contact him, to no avail. This voice mail was the one and only time he initiated contact with us. Other than that, his response to the BBB (see below) was the first acknowledgement that he is involved with this issue.
At this point in the game, I wholeheartedly recommend avoiding Prestige.in fact, I feel obligated to warn folks to stay away.
This is too much money and too much hassle to deal with terrible customer service over a faulty product with bogus warranty coverage. Look for bargains elsewhere.
UPDATE (11-12) No one from Prestige has called us to inspect the couch, or update us on the warranty. I'm thinking it's time to go to small claims court.
UPDATE (01-21) Filed with the Attorney General as well as the BBB. Still no word from Alex— and why not? He has our money! One would think that if a business owner truly cared about his customers and reputation, he would make an effort to resolve the issue— especially if there was a case opened with the either of these organizations.
If you have a problem with Prestige, please take the time to file a complaint with the Attorney General of Texas: the more the receive, the more likely they will take them to court.
Matt
Richardson, Texas
U.S.A.
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