In April of I purchased a sectional and a set of end tables from the Sofa Express store in Easton. At that time, I was preparing to move to a new apartment and wanted to order furniture in advance so that they can be delivered to my new apartment in July. Before I placed the order, I was informed by a sales associate named Jerry Eldridge that the furniture was not in stock, so it was possible to place an order for the furniture and hold the furniture for a July delivery date once they become available. The scheduled delivery date for my original order was July 23; during this three-month period I had contacted Sofa Express twice prior to my scheduled delivery date to confirm the delivery address and the delivery date, but each time I called I was given my old address as the delivery address and had to update that information.
On July 20 a representative from the delivery department contacted me to inform me that the delivery of my furniture has been delayed because a piece of the sectional that I had ordered was not available because it had been “unreserved” in the system for no apparent reason and that it would not be available for an additional two weeks. I was also told by the representative that she would check with the “Order Fulfillment Department” to “pinpoint a specific date” that the sectional would become available and call me back, but that never happened. Furthermore, when I asked the representative to confirm the delivery address I was told once again an incorrect address.
When I called the Sofa Express in Easton to cancel the existing order; Jerry Eldridge, the sales associate for my order, informed me that the order would be canceled and disconnected the phone call before I had a chance to even ask any more questions.
I then went to the Sofa Express in Tuttle Crossing to place a new order because I was very frustrated with the level of service being provided by the Sofa Express in Easton. However, in hindsight it is clear to me that perhaps I should not have even bothered to give Sofa Express another opportunity for my business because my order with the Sofa Express in Tuttle Crossing was equally problematic and discouraging.
At the Sofa Express store in Tuttle Crossing I placed an order for two leather sofas, two end tables, and a glass table. I was originally informed by my sales associate, Alex Hong, that the sofas will be ready for pick up on August 1, but the coffee table and end tables will not be available until August 9. Given my previous experience with Sofa Express’s delivery process and the fact that I needed at least the sofas by August 3 for my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary party, I scheduled to pick up the furniture instead of attempting to schedule another delivery and risk another potential delay. I was told by Alex that he will check up on the order periodically and if any delays or problems should arise with the furniture pick-up he would call to let me know.
On August 1, I spent $60 to rent a U-Haul truck and drove it to the Sofa Express warehouse in Grove Port to pick up the sofas; however, when I arrived I was told by a customer service associate at the pick-up window that the sofas will not be available until August 9, but the coffee table and the end tables are ready to be picked up. When I contacted Alex at the Sofa Express in Tuttle Crossing I was told that the availability of the sofas were delayed until August 9 because the shipment containing the sofas had not been opened or inspected. Alex apologized and offered to reimburse me for the U-Haul rental by sending me a $60 gift certificate and delivering the furniture I ordered (the two sofas, the end tables and the coffee table) together for free when it becomes available; further, Alex promised that the delivery will be on the Saturday of that week (August 11) so that I did not have to take off from work again to wait for furniture delivery.
On August 7 I received a phone call from the delivery department confirming delivery of my furniture on August 9 instead of August 11, as originally promised. When I told the customer service associate that I was promised delivery on the 11th, I was told that delivery date was not reserved for my order, and that the earliest available Saturday delivery date would be August 25. When I called Alex again, I was told that there had been a lot of orders waiting for Saturday delivery, even though at the time I spoke to him on August 3 he was confident that the furniture would be able to be delivered on August 11. Alex again apologized and offered to send me a $75 gift certificate for the inconvenience instead of the $60 gift certificate as originally promised and that it should arrive within a few days. To this date, I still have not received the $75 gift certificate that Alex had promised. I had contacted him to check on the status of the gift certificate, and he stated that it would arrive in 1-2 weeks, which is apparently a lie.
On August 15, two sofas were delivered, but only the bases for the two end tables and a glass top for the coffee table arrived. When I asked the delivery person why there were only these three pieces I was told that those were all of the pieces that were ordered. Again, I called Alex Hong, my sales associate; I was told again that there appeared to have been a “glitch” in the system, and that this would be straighten out. I was offered a new delivery date of Saturday, September 1.
On August 20, a customer service associate at the delivery department called to confirm a delivery date of August 22; after I told her that the order was scheduled to be delivered on a Saturday, I was told that the 22nd was the actual delivery date scheduled for this order and that if I would prefer, there is a Saturday delivery date of August 25th available. Once again, I had to update my delivery address with the customer service associate because an old address is still associated with my order. The last portion of my furniture was finally delivered on August 25: OVER A MONTH after the originally scheduled delivery date. Apparently my order for furniture that costs thousands of dollars is just not good enough, because in order to have the order completed I had to spend an extra $60 rent a truck so I can drive to your warehouse and find out that there is no furniture, take off 3 days from work to sit at home thinking that you would actually deliver on the date you promised, wait for a $75 gift certificate that never arrived (it probably never got sent out to begin with), and make countless numbers of phone calls to the store and the delivery department.
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