To whom it may concern: I am writing this letter on behalf of my brother, James (goes by Darriel), who has lost his hearing due to a disease called MELAS.in January, my husband and I took him to Rooms To Go, Mall of Georgia to purchase a new living room set. While there, he also decided to purchase an entertainment center. The salesman was very nice, helpful and patient as we have to write everything down for Darriel, he does not know sign language.
When finishing the purchase, I explained to the salesman that the delivery service will need to use the "711" service for deaf people to contact him. This system types what you say to him and he can talk back to you. I was assured that this was added under instructions to his order. His original delivery date was January 31 for the couches. The entertainment center was to be delivered at a later date.
January 31 came and went, and my brother contacted me and said, "I never got my couches". My husband contacted Rooms To Go and was told the delivery people came out but could not get an answer at the door. Well, my brother said he had never received a call, didn't know they were coming, and cannot hear them when thy get there if he's sleeping or something. Anyways, they acted like they had done nothing wrong and were doing him a favor to reschedule the delivery date. We just agreed, reset the date and gave them my husbands cell phone number to contact about delivery since it would be on a Saturday.
On the next delivery date, Saturday February 23, the couches and entertainment center were delivered to my brothers and they had contacted my husband as requested. However, the entertainment centerthat was delivered was missing pieces. My husband was told by the delivery people to contact customer service and they would send someone out that day to bring the missing pieces. My husband did so, only to be told it was impossible to have someone out there that day and told him they would just deliver a new one on Friday, March 7, still acting like we should be appreciative to them. He also told them about the previous delivery mishap and the customer service associate informed him that the first delivery had failed not because of what they told us previously, but because they couldn't even find the address. Did someone contact my brother by 711 as requested? NO! This time, my husband again explained to them to use "711" to contact my brother as the delivery date was on a Friday and my husband would be at work. He then contacted the store manager, Randy, trying to get this delivered faster and explained to him about contacting my brother through "711". He said he would do what he could, but would make sure "711" was on his information and he would call my husband back on Monday, which he never did.
Yesterday, March 7, the new delivery date, they delivered to Darriel, a table. A table? Yes, a table... I have no idea where they got a table from. Darriel had not even ordered a table with his living room set. My husband again contacted customer service and told them he just wanted Rooms To Go to take the entertainment center back and wanted a full refund. He was informed he would have to contact the store manager for that. He then called the store and spoke to Kimberly Johnson, the regional office manager. She told him the store manager, Michael, would be there at 12, but she listened to what my husband had to say. Since my husband was at work, my Mom and I decided just to go up to the store to try and get things resolved.
When we arrived, we found Michael and I started to explain our situation. He stopped me mid-sentence and said "Oh, this is the deaf situation, I've already taken care of that." I proceeded to ask him how and he explained (not very nicely), he had approved a full refund for the entertainment center. I asked about delivery charges and he agreed to that too, all the while trying to brush me off.
As I kept questioning him as to when they were going to pick the entertainment center up, he continued to grow more and more frustrated like I had no reason to be upset. Finally, when we had worked out all the details and I was waiting for the print outs of all they were promising me (I don't take anyone's word for it anymore), I told them that if this was one of their family members all this would not be ok with them. This is when Kimberly Johnson came into the conversation and was very nice about the whole thing. She calmed me down and finished and resolved the situation at this time. The entertainment center is supposed to be picked up on March 12. She also signed the refund papers they printed for me which the store manager refused to do.
This has been a ridiculous ordeal. Any doctor will tell you that undo stress is not good for Darriel and Rooms To Go has put him through 2 months of it. My husband and I have purchased my Mom's living room set, 2 personal living room sets, our kitchen set and our son's bedroom set before bringing my brother to purchase furniture there. We will not ever spend another dime in this store. The rudeness and arrogance of the associates, with exception to Kimberly Johnson, is frustrating to the customer. After all, we ARE the customers, buying THEIR product, putting money in THEIR pocket.
I also write this complaint to present the issue of delivery service to deaf people. There are a couple of courtesy calls they give you before your delivery that are automated. The only way to communicate with people like my brother is through "711". An automated system cannot exactly call 711, right? So what do they do with deaf people? When they actually read the special instructions to use the "711" system, they call when they're about 5 minutes away. My brothers phone "rings" with a light. If he's still in bed, and hasn't got a previous call during the week to let him know when they're coming, how is he supposed to know they are there?
Beth
Flowery Branch, Georgia
U.S.A.
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