I set up an appointment with Bodner and Beardsley through a reference from the internet company Service Magic. Sean Bodner came out on July 27th for a consult. I paid him $100.00 in cash for his visit which they said would be applied to my order.
We made another appointment for a follow up visit for August 8. They brought out fabric for window treatments on this date and I agreed to purchase fabric, their services and a few furniture pieces for a total of $4,137.81. They said they required a $2,000.00 deposit which I paid by check. They told me "it would take awhile" - I responded with "about 8 to 10 weeks?" They nodded yes in response.
One week later, I called and asked the status of the fabric and to see if they could or would cancel the furniture portion of the order. This was about $1300.00. I was willing to accept their answer - after shopping for these same furniture pieces, I found that they charged too much. I called them numerous times. It took them more than a few days for a response. They agreed to cancel one of the 3 items. I accepted this and thanked them for this concession.
In the first week of October, I called for a status of the order. It took a few calls and days for them to respond. Sean talked to my husband and told him it would be two more weeks.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt and gave them another 3 weeks before I called for status. Again, it took a few phone calls before they responded and when they did, Sean told me that these things take time and he could not even give me an approximate delivery date. It was now 12 weeks from the time of my deposit.
I got very angry and threatened to go to the BBB. He emailed me on November 1st, the day of our conversation, that he was sorry our conversation went as it did, but once again, could not give me an approximate date.
I emailed him on Nov. 16th & tried to explain my perspective on the situation. I ended the email by asking him the status of the order. I waited a few weeks but did not get a reply from Sean, so I called him. He claimed he did not get my email. (I have a confirmation that it went through) and we discussed the situation. He apologized for the delay. I thought he may have bitten off more work than he could chew, so I offered to cancel the order. He offered to cancel the furniture portion of the order, which I accepted, but said he could not cancel the window treatments.
We set an install date for Dec. 12th - I said I was open all day. He could not give me a time, so I asked him to call me when he found out the actual time of day. I did not get a call or an email, so I called him on Dec. 11th, & left a msg to let me know what time they were coming the next day. He never returned the call.
Needless to say, I did not get my window coverings and am out $2100.00. Dec. 12th was 18 weeks from the order date.
Just a note, I called a few custom drapery places and the time frames ranged from 6-15 weeks - 15 WEEKS AT THE VERY LONGEST. I was told 18 weeks is ridiculous. The Better Business Bureau was unable to locate them - they have now moved/split from their storefront.
Per people in the neighborhood, there are quite a few people looking for them with stories similar to mine. Don't know what their gig is but they sure ripped me off. If you value your money, stay clear! (less)
0 comments