Stainsafe furniture warranty: dispute of claim denial

Stainsafe furniture warranty: dispute of claim denial

We are currently in dispute with Stainsafe. We paid $169.99 plus tax for a worthless piece of paper. I would like to be added to your plethra of complaints so that I may save some other poor unsuspecting fool this headache. When I called to make my claim, their representative, “Marsha Jackson”, though courteous, did not inform me in any way that the brief, general description that I provided would be used while I was on hold to determine our claim’s eligibility. I am not a professional “furniture technician” and can not be expected to know Stainsafe's policies regarding specific terminology. It is absolutely unacceptable to base my claim’s status on the simple fact that I used the term “scratch” in my description, as such terminology is subjective to the individual speaker. It is also well below industry standards to casually ask a customer for a basic description without informing them that this description and this description alone will determine claim eligibility. I was under the impression that I was providing info that would be passed along to a technician who would determine an appropriate method of repair, simply providing info for a work order. I personally used my own judgment call at that moment that a cut or rip would be a completely torn open, busted split exposing the framework of the chair, caused, for example, by a knife accidentally sticking inches deep into the piece and being drug along. Prior to the denial, I had explained that it was not a “scratch” that was just visible in certain angles of light and so on, but that it is in fact damage visible from any angle and exposed the under layers of leather. in any company conducting legitimate business ethics, this would have alerted their rep to let me know that they base the claim status on the term “scratch” and therefore it was not a term to be used lightly, nor was it an appropriate description for what I just described. Had I been informed that I was providing the only info used for eligibility I would have been much more specific. When the rep returned, I pointed out to her that I was using the general term scratch due to the depth of the cut but that I it was still in fact a cut. She informed me that I was basically locked into my usage of “scratch”. This is not a legitimate business practice whatsoever. Additionally, when I questioned if I was to simply call back when the cut became larger due to worsening over time, I was told that such a claim would likely be denied because this claim would remain on our records and that a future tear would be noted as having originated from this “scratch” and thus would not be eligible for repair. This explanation is not even logical. If they are openly choosing to ignore my current CUT then they darn sure are going to fix it when it becomes a larger problem as it surely will over time. Regardless of any policy Stainsage may claim, there is absolutely no ethical way that my claim can be denied based on my unprofessional description. I am not responsible for terminology or industry jargon, and my description was based on the fact that the break in the leather does not go inches deep into the chair. That does not change the fact that there is a break in the leather, immediately peeling in spots. In addition, it will surely worsen with usage as the seat cushion is the area of the cut. If Stainsafe's policy is so strict concerning terminology and their own specific definitions of “scratch” versus “cut” versus “rip”, yada yada, then a qualified individual representing the company can

determine such upon inspection. Concerning the costs, surely the $169.99 plus $15.72 tax that we paid for our “warranty” can more than (repeatedly) cover the small cost associated with such a visit. It is not the customer’s responsibility to know how they define a particular damaged area. It is absolutely unethical to simply bank on a customer using the term scratch so that they can deny a claim. I informed Stainsafe that should this issue not be reopened and our claim be serviced to our satisfaction, I will be filing a complaint with the BBB, American Signature Homes and every other consumer organization that I can track down. I also told them that I sincerely hope that they have gathered from my written communication that I am quite capable of speaking to these organizations concerning this issue and do in fact, intend to create quite an impression should such be necessary, i.e., they continue to unfairly deny my claim. In addition, I will be looking further into the recent investigation of the company by a leading primetime investigative reports series and mailing them a thorough account of our experience in case they do a follow-up episode on your shady business practices if I continue to feel that my treatment was shady, i.e., this situation is not rectified. ***SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SHAZOM, SHAZOM, they have not even responded as of a week later.*** For the record, here is a brief GENERAL description in laymen’s terms of the damage to our chair so that PROPER action can be taken: As I was getting up from the chair I felt a terrible pain to my right foot. I had been sitting with my foot underneath my body (Indian-style, if you may) and I jumped up to see blood pouring from my pinky toe and a cut in the seat of the chair. My husband and I could not figure out what in the world could have cut my foot and looked for anything lying round. He thought perhaps that a staple or such had come through the leather and cut me, however that did not correspond with the length of the cut and the way the cut was peeling away from the edge of the area in a few small spots.

The damage is an abstract line that juts across the seat cushion, from the back towards the front. We later discovered upon closer inspection of my toe that a hunk of glass was embedded in my toe. Somehow a piece of broken glass had been transferred onto my foot and then across the chair and deeply into my toe. Our furniture is dark brown leather (officially “fudge”) and you can now see tan where the top layer is cut through and in some spots the leather is peeled back where the piece of glass must have made an angled cut into the seat as I got up/drug it across the seat with my foot. The glass pressed against the soft leather with enough force to embed itself into my toe about 1/3 inch up from the spot where it originally sliced into my skin. It had to be extracted using surgical tweezers and a numbing agent if that helps you get a better visual. The area will definitely become larger over time

without treatment.

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