Thursday, January 10, 2008

Leon's Furniture... Hmmmm!

We have a large furniture store chain here in Canada by the name of Leon’s Furniture. We have had an account there for a number of years as we have bought many appliances from them such as a fridge, a stove, a dishwasher, a couple of washing machines, a clothes dryer plus a few other odds and ends. We have also purchased from them a few pieces of furniture. This past December, after the insistence of my wife, we decided to buy a new couch and love seat. After her bugging me time and time again, we headed out to Leon’s to make our purchase.

We spent over an hour checking out the couches. Leather, cloth, soft, hard. big, small, patterned, non-patterned, expensive, cheap… and so on. The courtious salesperson who helped us on occasion kept her distance much to my satisfaction, unlike some of the vultures who circled around other patrons waiting for them to make their big decision. I swear I must have sat on 5000 couches and love seats before we finally selected the one we liked. Well… maybe just fifty. We left satisfied with not only our decision but also the service.

… Until they delivered our purchase a few days later.

The moving men skilfully delivered the furniture to the living room and I agreed to unpack the stuff. Upon signing for the contents of the delivery, I ushered them to the door and bade them good bye. The problems began when I returned to the living room to unpack the furniture.

The lack of quality in the workmanship of the couch and love seat were much to be desired. The skirt around the couch was ripped off in a number of areas, there was a hole in the skirt fabric of the love seat and both of the bottoms of the two pieces were ripped. There were staples sticking out of the front of the couch where there shouldn’t be any staples at all. It looked like a person who had too much to drink constructed the furniture…Either that or a fork lift had a head on collision with the stuff.

Needless to say I was not impressed.

It doesn’t end there. They exchanged both pieces for us and promised that they would inspect the new stuff before delivering it. Upon its delivery, there were still quality issues to deal with. They are now in the process of exchanging the love seat a second time after we found hardened hot glue on its arm.

So… “Why don’t you just return the stuff for good and get your money back?” you ask. Well, we love the looks, we love the pattern, we love the comfort level and we want the furniture and as far as I am concerned, we are going to get what we want and if that takes ten returns at Leon’s cost, so be it!

So, I am not suggesting that Canadians stay away from Leon’s Furniture, I am simply suggesting that you properly inspect your purchase before signing that you are satisfied.

I hope that everyone else who shops there has better luck than us!

29 comments:

Kostas said...

This happens everywhere.
The enterprises are condemned with annihilation, when they do not observe the two basic beginnings, that she wants the modern marketing.
-Quality and
-Service.

Golden To Silver Val said...

I will agree with above...no one seems to take pride in their workmanship any longer. Sad, but oh so true. I'm glad that they were able to satisfy you and did it graciously.

none said...

It's all made in China. I had very similar problems with mine.

Cheryl said...

Sorry you had to go through this. I always inspect, and I'm sure you will from now on. The couch looks so comfortable. You will enjoy it when you have both pieces in perfect shape. And then you'll have them for a long, long time.

Janice Thomson said...

Good advice Dave. I too had the same problem with Leon's because of shoddy workmanship. I eventually went elsewhere. Hope it works out for you.

PS: only 3,277 days left till retirement? LOL!

Anonymous said...

I love the look of the couch too and good for you for demanding that the quality match what I am sure was a fine price!
This is my first visit but I'll be back, Dave. Found you at Gypsy's.

heiresschild said...

i'm so glad you're doing that Dave because people don't realize when they let things like that go without notifying the business, the business thinks everything's ok, and they'll keep on giving that same quality of service. however, when people speak up, it makes the business more responsible in giving quality service.

Wanda said...

I know what it's like to find the perfect couch and love seat. We did, and thank goodness, it was delivered in good shape. That was 6 years ago, and I still love it.

Sorry you had so much trouble..but stick to what you love!!!

geewits said...

That's funny that you got..."a fridge, a stove, a dishwasher, a couple of washing machines, a clothes dryer plus a few other odds and ends" and now a couch and love seat from the same place. Just last week I was looking around and thinking how almost everything in this house was bought from a different store. Maybe after this experience your next big purchases will be bought from different stores?

Angie Weid said...

Thanks for your comment on my video. Always glad to entertain!
Happy Friday!!!!

Lynn said...

I had problems with a desk that I ordered. Each time it came into the warehouse the color wasn't right (and we are talking waaaay off on the color). After the third time the store told me that they would not try again, and they refunded my money. Which really made me mad...cause the desk would have been perfect.

I hope that Leon's gets it right soon.

BBC said...

I haven't bought any new furniture for years. I'm not hard on it so it lasts for years. Of course I'm not picky about how it looks or if it shows a little wear.

Most things I have now were given to me.

Akelamalu said...

I just hate it when that happens. It's not only annoying it damn disappointing too!

sandy said...

Gosh that's a beautiful couch. It seems now a days that it is hard to get quality merchandise the first time around, always needing to have it returned and replaced. That has happened to us so many times. But it looks like you got a beauty and hopefully you'll have many comfortable evenings sitting there.

sandy

beachgirl said...

I have also had issues with quality before. And phone calls were made, new brought in. I only hope your delivery windows are better than ours.

Enjoy your new furnishings.

Unknown said...

don't know wy I just found your comment on the blog I don't use very much. Where did you ever hear about Chip Raman?

Karen said...

Well I hope you eventually get what you paid for Dave and that it will provide you with many years of comfort. I applaud you for sticking to your guns and making sure you got exactly what you had purchased. It sure does look comfortable. Have a great weekend.

GMG said...

I was thinking of asking «Why don’t you just return the stuff for good and get your money back?», but as you already mentioned it, I think you may always save it for the next visit of the Queen...;))
Have a great weekend!

heartinsanfrancisco said...

Wow. There seems to be no pride in craftsmanship anymore. At least Leon's is willing to make it right, which is more than some merchants would do.

I hope it works out well with no further returns, and you can begin to enjoy your new furniture.

Becky Wolfe said...

I like the choice! It certainly looks nice. Too bad about the poor quality but I hope you get what you are satisfied with in the end. Shopping for couches sure is an ordeal. I remember checking out countless ones before I finally decided and now, 4 years later, I still adore them and they are sooo comfortable for sleeping on (which in my current state of unrest has been a blessing cuz I move to the couch almost every night) Hooray for good customer service!

Mother of Invention said...

Through doing a major renovation that is only 1/3 done, I have come to know what you're saying and it is certainly Buyer Beware! I can't believe how many angles and details about a product you have to consider before purchasing something! I swear we bought our house in less time than it took us to find just the right gas fireplace! Mind you, at $4600 we wanted to be really precise. But there are always unforeseen problems as you found.

We had a horrible experience with Sleep Country and found that Christine Mcgee's claim that the dekivery guys were very polite and careful right down to the booties they wore, was anything but true! They were rude and gouged our wall in a few places after going against our warning that they wouldn't get it up our narrow stairs! They had to pay for a plasterer to come for a few hours to fix damage and then Christine gace us a gift cert for $50...but it shouldn't have happened.

On that note...enjoy your new pieces!!!

CS said...

There used to be a place in town that was a bg warehouse with a locked door - you had to ring a bell to be admitted. They could get you any kind of furniture, and good quality, for about 60% of retail. All you had to do was describe it, and they would get it for you. Also appliances, carpet, you name it. One of the last of the great places to shop. When they closed their doors, I was heartbroken.

Lara said...

yeah, in Romania they even turned the wonderful Ikea concept into a piece of crap, pardon me... no further comments...

Anonymous said...

This is so funny beause i own the same set and have had nothing but problems with it skirt falling off stuffing from arms shifting and 3 broken springs and its not a year old and to m suprise leons in not standing by there warranty and said we didnt use ot properly. SO buyer beware dont go leons

Anonymous said...

First of all whoever said it's made in China is a frigging idiot. Most of the furniture is Canadian made and ordered from furniture depots near the stores. Secondly, it's not Leon's fault that your furniture was crap, it's whoever they ordered it from. Too often people are too quick to assume that furniture is made through the company, it's not, it's all ordered in from other furniture companies; Leons is just a depot. God I hate reading stupid complaints about Leons.

Jack said...

I worked for leons as a delivery driver, A company that employs very shady practices with garbage furniture made in China.. STAY AWAY FROM THIS STORE ...

Jack said...

Very crooked company

Jack said...

Hey Dumb Ass I worked for them and it's mostly all
shit crap from China ... Even with the discount they offered me I still wouldn't buy there crap furniture!!!
And customer service sucks...

Jack said...
This comment has been removed by the author.