JTsMom
05-03-2005, 01:42 PM
Just wanted to warn you all about this company- it's a long story though.
We ordered the dresser for our son's nursery from them back in March and have had nothing but problems. I'm going to paste the letter I emailed to their corporate office to summarize for you guys
To Whom It May Concern:
I would like to describe to you my experience with your store at the Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise, Florida. My husband and I were shopping primarily for a dresser for my son's nursery about a month ago (3/20/05). We were very happy to discover the exact dresser we had in mind when we saw the Sea Island collection. We had a few questions we wanted to ask about the piece, so we waited patiently for someone to come assist us. As we waited, we continued to browse. We found several other pieces that we thought would go perfectly in our home, including a large entertainment center from the same collection. After waiting quite some time, we finally gave up and went to the customer service desk to ask them to send someone to help us. Eventually, they did send a salesperson, Henry Moraes over to us.
Henry answered our questions- one of the biggest concerns I had was when the dresser would be in, as I am due in May and need to finish setting up the nursery as soon as possible. Also, because of our expanding family, we had scheduled a move to a larger home on the 15th of April. We wanted to be sure everything would go smooothly with our time frame. Henry explained that although the dresser was not in stock, it would be in the Sunrise store no later than the 10th. I asked if there was any possibility that it would be delayed, but he assured me that could not happen under any circumstances, and explained that the dresser would be shipped to Georgia, then their store, and that they were always on time with this schedule. Henry also explained that we had the option of paying an $80 delivery charge, or that we could pick up the item ourselves. Because of the time frame, we reasoned that we would in fact be able to pick it up on the day we moved, since we would have a moving truck and several helpers- obviously, at 8 months pregnant, I'm not able to lift heavy pieces of furniture. This fact sealed the deal, and Henry rang us up.
On Wednesday the 13th, 2 days before we were supposed to pick up the dresser, I recieved a call from the store at 7:00 in the evening, explaining that my piece had not come in 3 days prior as it was supposed to. I was truly shocked that Henry had misled me, and that I was only finding this out now! I explained the situation to the woman who had contacted me, but she said she didn't know what to tell me. I asked to speak with someone who could help, and she put Henry on the phone. I reminded him of what he had promised us, and asked why nobody had called several days earlier, but he said there was no way for anyone to know that the product hadn't come in, and that there was nothing he could do about it. I find it very hard to believe that NOBODY in that store is aware of what merchandise is delivered, or not delivered. I told him that I was very disappointed with this situation, and asked if there was something he could do to make it right. His reply was that the manager who was working would "just say no to anything" he asked them to do, and that he would prefer to wait until the next day to speak with the other manager. I reluctantly agreed, and he promised he would call back the next day with some sort of a response for me.
The next day came and went- no call. Friday, Saturday and Sunday- no call. Yesterday I called the store again and asked to speak with Henry's manager. I was told Henry was not working. I explained that was fine, I didn't want to speak with him anyway, I wanted to speak with his manager. The employee said she would get me another salesperson to help. I explained again that I wanted to speak with a manager. She replied that he was probably helping someone else, but that I could hold if I wanted to. I agreed, and waited about 10 minutes. At this point, she came back on the line and expressed surprise that he hadn't picked up the call yet. She offered to take my name and number, but I told her I would prefer to wait. She said she would page him again. 10 more minutes passed, and came back on the line again and said that it would probably be "a long time" before he'd be able to speak with me. I explained that I was very reluctant to hang up because I had waited 5 days already for my phone call to be returned, but she said she would personally explain to the manager how important it was that the call be returned in a timely manner. I agreed, and ended the call. No call was ever recieved.
At this point, I am appalled at the way this business is being run. I am so disappointed in my experience with American Signature, a company who says right on their website that "customer service is a priority" that I can't imagine ordering the other furniture we had planned on buying. I am a member of several national internet groups, including one that reviews products and services for parents, and one for new home buyers, two groups who are very likely to buy a lot of furniture in the near future. I had hoped to report back to them about the wonderful furniture and service American Signature offers, but I'm sure you can see that would be impossible for me to do t this point.
Honestly, I'm hardly expecting a reply at this point, but I'm hoping that someone in the corporate office cares at least a little bit about the type of reputation American Signature is creating for itself.
Sincerely,
Since then, I've been in contact with their office manager at the store I ordered from. She was pretty helpful, gave us a $150 credit, and threw in free delivery. I was really happy with that solution. She explained that the salesman should never have promised a timely arrive- in fact, the collection we chose is backordered all the time. At that point, she promised she would call when the furniture arrived and set up a delivery time. It was due in no later than the 28th or the 29th. On the 28th, I called to check on the status. They said that it had in fact arrived (which makes me wonder why I had to call them).
The next day, the manager called to set up a delivery date- Wednesday the 4th. They will not give you a time window until the day before the delivery though. Today I got a call from them saying my window was 8:30 to 11:30. I explained that this window would not work for me b/c I have a Dr. appointment at 11:00. The person I spoke with said she would see what she could do and call me back.
A couple hours later, she calls back to tell me the exact same thing, not even remembering that we had spoken earlier. I re-explained everything, and she actually told me to call and change my Dr. appointment! She said they had me scheduled for the first stop, and that it would probably be there in time for me to make my appointment, but when I asked what would happen if that didn't work out (can you imagine why I would doubt them?) she wouldn't give me a response. She just kept repeating, "Let's assume it will." Yeah, sure!
I asked to speak with the manager who had been helping me earlier- she said there is nothing she can do about it either. So, keep your fingers crossed for me, and keep this in mind should you ever choose to spend your hard earned money at this store! I will never spend another penny there, I guarantee you that.
We ordered the dresser for our son's nursery from them back in March and have had nothing but problems. I'm going to paste the letter I emailed to their corporate office to summarize for you guys
To Whom It May Concern:
I would like to describe to you my experience with your store at the Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise, Florida. My husband and I were shopping primarily for a dresser for my son's nursery about a month ago (3/20/05). We were very happy to discover the exact dresser we had in mind when we saw the Sea Island collection. We had a few questions we wanted to ask about the piece, so we waited patiently for someone to come assist us. As we waited, we continued to browse. We found several other pieces that we thought would go perfectly in our home, including a large entertainment center from the same collection. After waiting quite some time, we finally gave up and went to the customer service desk to ask them to send someone to help us. Eventually, they did send a salesperson, Henry Moraes over to us.
Henry answered our questions- one of the biggest concerns I had was when the dresser would be in, as I am due in May and need to finish setting up the nursery as soon as possible. Also, because of our expanding family, we had scheduled a move to a larger home on the 15th of April. We wanted to be sure everything would go smooothly with our time frame. Henry explained that although the dresser was not in stock, it would be in the Sunrise store no later than the 10th. I asked if there was any possibility that it would be delayed, but he assured me that could not happen under any circumstances, and explained that the dresser would be shipped to Georgia, then their store, and that they were always on time with this schedule. Henry also explained that we had the option of paying an $80 delivery charge, or that we could pick up the item ourselves. Because of the time frame, we reasoned that we would in fact be able to pick it up on the day we moved, since we would have a moving truck and several helpers- obviously, at 8 months pregnant, I'm not able to lift heavy pieces of furniture. This fact sealed the deal, and Henry rang us up.
On Wednesday the 13th, 2 days before we were supposed to pick up the dresser, I recieved a call from the store at 7:00 in the evening, explaining that my piece had not come in 3 days prior as it was supposed to. I was truly shocked that Henry had misled me, and that I was only finding this out now! I explained the situation to the woman who had contacted me, but she said she didn't know what to tell me. I asked to speak with someone who could help, and she put Henry on the phone. I reminded him of what he had promised us, and asked why nobody had called several days earlier, but he said there was no way for anyone to know that the product hadn't come in, and that there was nothing he could do about it. I find it very hard to believe that NOBODY in that store is aware of what merchandise is delivered, or not delivered. I told him that I was very disappointed with this situation, and asked if there was something he could do to make it right. His reply was that the manager who was working would "just say no to anything" he asked them to do, and that he would prefer to wait until the next day to speak with the other manager. I reluctantly agreed, and he promised he would call back the next day with some sort of a response for me.
The next day came and went- no call. Friday, Saturday and Sunday- no call. Yesterday I called the store again and asked to speak with Henry's manager. I was told Henry was not working. I explained that was fine, I didn't want to speak with him anyway, I wanted to speak with his manager. The employee said she would get me another salesperson to help. I explained again that I wanted to speak with a manager. She replied that he was probably helping someone else, but that I could hold if I wanted to. I agreed, and waited about 10 minutes. At this point, she came back on the line and expressed surprise that he hadn't picked up the call yet. She offered to take my name and number, but I told her I would prefer to wait. She said she would page him again. 10 more minutes passed, and came back on the line again and said that it would probably be "a long time" before he'd be able to speak with me. I explained that I was very reluctant to hang up because I had waited 5 days already for my phone call to be returned, but she said she would personally explain to the manager how important it was that the call be returned in a timely manner. I agreed, and ended the call. No call was ever recieved.
At this point, I am appalled at the way this business is being run. I am so disappointed in my experience with American Signature, a company who says right on their website that "customer service is a priority" that I can't imagine ordering the other furniture we had planned on buying. I am a member of several national internet groups, including one that reviews products and services for parents, and one for new home buyers, two groups who are very likely to buy a lot of furniture in the near future. I had hoped to report back to them about the wonderful furniture and service American Signature offers, but I'm sure you can see that would be impossible for me to do t this point.
Honestly, I'm hardly expecting a reply at this point, but I'm hoping that someone in the corporate office cares at least a little bit about the type of reputation American Signature is creating for itself.
Sincerely,
Since then, I've been in contact with their office manager at the store I ordered from. She was pretty helpful, gave us a $150 credit, and threw in free delivery. I was really happy with that solution. She explained that the salesman should never have promised a timely arrive- in fact, the collection we chose is backordered all the time. At that point, she promised she would call when the furniture arrived and set up a delivery time. It was due in no later than the 28th or the 29th. On the 28th, I called to check on the status. They said that it had in fact arrived (which makes me wonder why I had to call them).
The next day, the manager called to set up a delivery date- Wednesday the 4th. They will not give you a time window until the day before the delivery though. Today I got a call from them saying my window was 8:30 to 11:30. I explained that this window would not work for me b/c I have a Dr. appointment at 11:00. The person I spoke with said she would see what she could do and call me back.
A couple hours later, she calls back to tell me the exact same thing, not even remembering that we had spoken earlier. I re-explained everything, and she actually told me to call and change my Dr. appointment! She said they had me scheduled for the first stop, and that it would probably be there in time for me to make my appointment, but when I asked what would happen if that didn't work out (can you imagine why I would doubt them?) she wouldn't give me a response. She just kept repeating, "Let's assume it will." Yeah, sure!
I asked to speak with the manager who had been helping me earlier- she said there is nothing she can do about it either. So, keep your fingers crossed for me, and keep this in mind should you ever choose to spend your hard earned money at this store! I will never spend another penny there, I guarantee you that.