Last summer, I searched for a console table on the internet and came across Kittinger Furniture Company’s website (www.kittingerfurniture.com) which was very impressive to me. Their website claims “a timeless tradition of superb craftsmanship and quality known throughout the world” and “Kittinger is a company dedicated to quality”. I contacted their sales customer representative – Ms. Liz Schelble to ask about the console table on their website. Ms. Schelble promised me “The console table will leave Kittinger in perfect condition. You should have no worries what so ever!!! ” in her email dated July 23rd.
On August 24th, I ordered Kittinger’s console table for a total cost of $3562 through their retail store – Kittinger Gallery from Ms. Liz Schelble via email and phone. The mahogany console table was shipped from Buffalo N.Y. On October 21st 2009 with their arranged white glove service. It took 29 days to deliver the ordered piece to my house arriving unsealed, unpacked and unboxed on Nov 19th. The next day, my husband and I discovered dark circular marks (which I thought that were unprofessional cleaning marks from not cleaning along the wood grain) and patches of whitish haze on the table top when we viewed the table FROM THE BACK. I called Ms. Liz Schelble and reported the problems right away around 7:30am P.S.T. On Nov 20th.
I have been deceived for 5 months (from Nov. 20th to April) to eventually realized that Kittinger could deliver a defective table to us. We found Allied Furniture Clinic from Ethan Allen to inspect the table on April 16th and learned that the table top issues are actually sanding swirls and inconsistent blushing finish. These are factory defects. Sanding swirls are circular scratch marks over the whole table top UNDER the finish. The application of stain made the scratches show up. Therefore, the scratches resulted from faulty manufacturing. At this point, I am convinced the reason that Kittinger changed the first offer to find a qualified individual to inspect the table and that they would have someone come to fix it without inspection is to cover up the fact that they sent us a defective table. Kittinger did not even bother to reply our certified mail dated April 17th which they received on April 23rd per returned receipt. I have concluded that Kittinger does not intend to live up to their assurance of the exceptional quality and stand behind their product as promised before I bought the table. That’s a misrepresentation.in addition, I found out Kittinger is not a BBB accredited business and their BBB rating is F. It is inconvenient to have a table in our home that we cannot use it due to this dispute. Our house is not a public storage place.
Kittinger’s website claims “the finish is flawless” and their warranty states: “Kittinger Furniture is always manufactured in accordance with the HIGHEST STANDARDS FOR QUALITY and is warranted to the original purchase to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for three years from the date of invoice”. That is what I paid for, but not what I received. All I have wanted from the beginning is a table that matches the quality standards that Kittinger claims, not a defective piece reflecting poor workmanship. If the claims they make on their website and Ms. Schelble’s email as well as their warranty are true, Kittinger should not have sent us a defective piece in the first place. If the poor workmanship is just an exceptional error, Kittinger should send us a replacement piece consistent with their reputed quality standards which they still refuse. This dispute has now been going on for eight months. I request Kittinger to refund me the full cost of the table ($3562).
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