Room Store complaint (Columbia, MD)

Room Store complaint (Columbia, MD)

October 7, 2005

I have recently made my first purchase from Room Store, and based on this experience, it will also be my last. During a Labor Day weekend sale, my family ordered a bedroom set for our children, which was scheduled for delivery on September 16. The set contained a bunk bed, dresser and night stand. Upon inspection of the furniture after the delivery and installation was complete, my husband and I discovered numerous problems. The bunk bed was assembled in such a haphazard manner that it is currently unsafe. The footboard has been put on backwards (i.e., facing into the bed instead of out into the room.) The side rail is warped, yet the screws were forced into it despite the fact that the holes do not line up. The rail is now cracked from the technicians having forced the screws in. The ladder has been hung crookedly. One of the dresser drawers will not open. The finials on the top of the bunk bed are missing altogether. Two walls in my home have been gouged by the delivery. When we called the store we had placed the order with (Columbia, MD) we were transferred various times and given multiple other numbers to call to follow up, and were told that a technician would come to our house the following morning to see if any of the furniture could be put together properly until new pieces were ordered. At 9:00 Saturday morning, I called the store manager (Janet Regin) to attempt to get the problem fixed. She promised to have a delivery manager call me. The delivery manager called within a few hours, and I explained the problems to him as well. He gave me a number for the home damage claim, and said he would need to order a new bedroom set from the warehouse in North Carolina, and that it would be in stock on Tuesday (September 20.) He promised to call me within 30 minutes to schedule a delivery time for the new, non-defective pieces, and also to schedule a technician to come to the house to look at the pieces we already had to see if they could be usable until the new furniture arrived. Just before 2:00, I called Ms. Regin because I still had not heard back from the delivery manager. The receptionist who answered the phone said that Ms. Regin had just stepped out, so I left a message asking her to call me back with the contact information for the delivery manager so I could contact him directly. The receptionist also gave me a toll-free number for the delivery office. I called the delivery office, and they had no record of anyone having spoken to me already. They also said that there was no man at their office who would have called me, and told me to call the store back to determine who this person was. After being on hold for 5-10 minutes, I was able to get an appointment for a technician to come to my home between 2:00-6:00 to inspect the bed and verify my assessment that the pieces were defective. When I called the store, they told me that they did not have a delivery manager onsite and that I should contact the delivery office for questions. I requested that Ms. Regin return my call to clear up the confusion. Later on Saturday, a driver (Miguel Aybar) did arrive at my home and inspected the furniture. He confirmed that the pieces were defective, verifying that some holes were drilled in the wrong locations and that some holes had not been drilled at all. He also indicated to us which items on the packing slip corresponded to the pieces that were damaged so that we could properly identify them when we followed up with Ms. Regin. My husband spoke with Ms. Regin again and attempted to clear up the confusion. She had not returned my call regarding the delivery manager's lack of response because she considered the matter resolved by the fact that someone came to our house to look at the defective pieces. I explained that I needed to schedule the Tuesday delivery of the new furniture. She responded that the replacement pieces would arrive at the store on Tuesday, at which time someone would inspect them and call me to schedule a new delivery time. I requested that someone call me at my office on Tuesday morning and gave her the number. She agreed that either the delivery manager or she would call me "first thing." I received a message on my answering machine on Monday afternoon from someone in a customer service capacity ("Tammy," no last name or number was left) asking if everything had gone well with the delivery. I was not able to call back on Monday evening after I got home from work. As of 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, I had not received a call from either Ms. Regin or the delivery manager. I called the store, but Ms. Regin was not scheduled to report to work until 12:30. The receptionist looked my account up in the computer and told me that a technician was scheduled to put the furniture together on September 23. I asked for Tammy, and was told that she would be in at 12:00. At approximately 1:30, I called to speak to Tammy, who acted sympathetic when she heard the story, and offered to transfer me to Ms. Regin, who did not answer the call. I left a message for her to call me back. Ms. Regin called me back, and I reviewed the status (that I was waiting for a call from the delivery manager regarding when the acceptable furniture would be delivered.) She said she would call the deliver manager (whose name she did finally give me, Rodney Manning) and would call me back regarding scheduling. I reiterated that I needed to establish a delivery time today in order to ensure that someone was available at my home to accept the delivery. Mr. Manning called me later on Tuesday afternoon, telling me that he would not be able to deliver and install the replacement furniture until September 23. I told him that this was not acceptable, and he countered with an offer to deliver early on Wednesday morning (September 21.) He said the equipment would be loaded off the truck and he would call me by 6:00 a.m. to confirm that the material was suitable and installation would happen around 7:00 a.m. At 6:40 a.m. on Wednesday, Mr. Manning called to tell me that the truck had not been unloaded yet, but that a delivery would take place absolutely no later than 10:00 a.m. I had arranged for someone to be at my house for a portion of the morning to accept the delivery. At 10:10 a.m., a representative from the store called my home and said that the material was damaged and would not be delivered. I am appalled and furious that the furniture was not inspected immediately, as promised, and that no one showed the slightest respect for my time and the time of others to follow through with informing us of the problem until after the "absolute latest" time had already passed. When I called the store to speak with Ms. Regin, I was told that she was not in the office. I asked for Tammy and was told that she was out on vacation for a week. I asked for the name, address and phone number for a regional manager, and was given a toll-free number to call since "we don't have that kind of information." The toll-free number was the customer service line, and the representative (Betty) transferred me to the complaint line so I could leave a message. The message said that a response was guaranteed by the next day. Later that day, my husband received an email from an Irlene Smith, who identified herself as the store manager. We were confused by this, as Ms. Regin had been representing herself as the store manager during the entire process. Ms. Smith clarified that she was the store manager, and Ms. Regin was an office manager who reported to her. Ms. Smith took down the details of the problem and arranged for a new delivery on Friday, September 23. When the technicians arrived on September 23, they re-installed the damaged pieces of the upper bunk, but determined that the guard rails were too long. The finials were not included in the delivery. My husband requested an appointment on September 24 with Ms. Smith. He took the incorrect rails with him to show Ms. Smith the problem. She promised to contact the supplier because this set of rails was the third set to be wrong, and we still did not have finials. During the week of September 26, my husband emailed Ms. Smith for updates. She responded on September 30 that the finials were ordered and that the short rails would be ordered. She hoped for delivery on Saturday (October 1) and would check on the measurements as soon as they arrived so that new installation could take place as soon as possible. On Monday, she said the "problem had been found" and order was being keyed in the following day, and that we should be able to have a delivery on Friday. We assumed that delivery would take place on October 7, although we never got a confirmation that anyone was scheduled to arrive. We called Room Store at 8:45 on Friday morning to find out if delivery was scheduled. The computer showed a scheduled delivery time of 1:20-5:20, which had never been reported to us. Luckily, we had someone available for the afternoon. The technicians showed up at 12:40, and when they attempted to install the rails, they discovered that the problem had not been solved- the rails were still the incorrect length! This indicates to me that either the claim that the rails were being measured to ensure that they were correct was a blatant lie. If it was not a lie, it shows that the person tasked with verifying that the materials were correct is unable to do simple measurement of a straight piece of wood. In addition to the complete lack of response and service regarding the delivery and assembly of the bedroom set, my husband and I have asked for, but not gotten answer about, a reduction in cost. Ms. Regin agreed to waive the delivery fee, but has not responded to our request for at least a 10% cost reduction. She informed me on Saturday that she is not authorized to reduce the price by that amount, and that she would speak to her supervisor. At this time, we have requested that our credit card company withhold payment until this is resolved. If we are not granted at least a 10% reduction in cost, we will return the entire set and shop elsewhere. At no point has anyone from Room Store (either the store itself or the delivery office) made any attempt to expedite the process or to rectify the situation or compensate us for our trouble (and for their own lack of professionalism.) Each concession (removal of delivery charge, scheduling an early morning delivery) has been initiated by me or my husband. Each new set of rails (as of today, there have been FOUR,) which are allegedly being checked to verify that they are correct, has had the same incorrect measurement. As I said at the beginning of my letter, this was the first time we have patronized Room Store, and it will likely be the last. The complete lack of customer service we have gotten has been appalling. Phone calls have gone unanswered, blame has been shifted, and we have been lied to. Even if this matter can be resolved, we will never to shop at Room Store again, and also recommend to our friends and family that they not patronize the Room Store. I have submitted a copy of this letter to an online consumer service (complaints.com.) Karen

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