My wife and I decided to purchase a teak coffee table from Teak-Collection.com in June. The table arrived in mid-November, which was much longer than promised. The crate containing the table was undamaged, but it was sealed with literally dozens of long nails. Some of these nails gouged the table legs. The real disappointment came when we assembled the table and noticed several large, dark patches all over it. Closer inspection revealed that these patches were a mixture of sawdust and dark epoxy. They were all over the table, filling holes in the wood.
Many of these holes went all the way through the boards too. Clearly, the wood used to construct the table was not of a grade suitable for furniture production. Although the table was supposed to be constructed of reclaimed teak, the process of reclamation and furniture production that was detailed on the website did not mention filling in holes with this ugly epoxy. The table costs over $500, and after the long wait we were really let down. Then I looked at the companies return policy, which requires the buyer to pay a 50% restocking fee and the shipping cost to return the table (which weighed 179 lbs in the packing crate). (The table was assembled in Indonesia, and my guess is that their production costs are less than 50% of the retail value, meaning that there is no impetus to send out a quality product—they make money whether or not the customer is satisfied.) I called the company around 11/20/04 and left messages, asking to speak with someone about the condition of the table, but after a month, I have not received a reply (today is 12/17/04).
I also e-mailed the company a mosaic of digital pictures from the table with descriptions, but haven't heard anything in response. I contacted the Better Business Bureau two weeks ago about this situation, and they have been unable to make contact with anyone in the company. We really regret buying from Teak-Collection.com, and I would not recommend that anyone purchase anything from them.
0 comments