American Furniture Warehouse, Pueblo Colorado
Head board made in Viet Nam emits awful odor from leathe

Purchased bedroom set from American Furniture warehouse 3 years ago in Pueblo CO. Bought a second home in Phoenix AZ where Furniture was placed and we wintered there. Started noticing a year ago that there was a strange odor we noticed when we slept. It was fleeting and would come and go... It got stronger, so we thought it might be in the carpet, had that professionally cleaned... Still the odor would be present and it would be faint but noticeable. Finally, we sold the AZ home and moved the furniture back to Colorado... That is when we discovered the odor was being emitted form the King size wood and leather headboard. Upon closer examination, by physically smelling the headboard, noticed it was coming from the tack strip surrounding the padded leather center of the headboard. We finally found the source of the horrible odor!

We called American Furniture Warehouse at 800-992-7997 and spoke with a customer service rep. She was not helpful at all, was sort of abrupt and advised she had never heard of anything like this and since we had purchased it 3 years prior and it was not considered a manufacturer's defect, there was nothing they could do. I asked for the Manager of customer service which she reluctantly transferred me to. I spoke with Rick Wheaerley, Corp. Customer Service Manager. He was of little help and his attitude wasn't much better. It appears that customer service is not this companies forte. Anyway, after hearing the story, he suggested we use "febreeze" on the tack strip... That led me to believe he had heard this story before as he suggested this as a solution to the problem immediately. I asked him to send someone from his company down to see (or smell) for themselves, he refused saying there was nothing they could or would do further.

I strongly disagree that this is not a manufacturers defect... It is, it is bad chemical or product usage in the manufacturing and assembly of the item. I don't know what type of glue or material was used to adhere the tack strip around the padded leather headboard, but it smells awful and may be harmful, I am not sure and don't know how to find out at this point. If anyone can help, please do.

By the way, febreeze helped for about 1 day, then the odor was evident again. The reason for smelling the odor at night is because that is when we sleep in the bed and our head is closest to the head board. It is not as noticeable otherwise.

Jake Jabs obviously doesn't require his employees to offer decents customer service or even manners. They seem to be of the same ilk, no matter whom you speak with, they are somewhat aloof and indifferent and a bit rude as well.

Company: American Furniture Warehouse, Pueblo Colorado
Country: USA
State: Colorado
City: Pueblo
Address: 4711 Dillion Drive
Phone: 7195425169
Site: afwonline.com

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