Ashley Furniture ROCKS!

cnvh · #1 11/20/08, 09:35 PM

I posted a thread a few days ago re: my parents' dog eating the arm cushion of our sofa last weekend... basically, she's Little Miss Destruct-o when left to her own devices while the humans are away from the house, so we put her in a crate next to our sofa while we went out for dinner... came back and found that she had managed to eat the arm of our sofa THROUGH the crate while we were gone.

So, Monday morning I started asking around trying to find an upholsterer. I got a recommendation on a local guy, so I called him; he said to contact Ashley Furniture (where we had purchased the sofa, about 4 years ago) to see if I could obtain a yard of the same fabric so he could fashion a new cushion.

Monday afternoon I called our local Ashley store, and they directed me to call Customer Service. I had to leave a message, but not 10 minutes later, I got a call back from a very nice woman named Michelle. I explained the situation and gave her my name, she looked me up in their system and was able to verify my address. She said they had our particular sofa on file, so I asked her if I would be able to purchase a yard of the fabric.

She asked me which cushion was damaged; I told her. I could hear her typing away at her computer for a few moments. "Well, it looks like there might be a delay in shipping of about 3 weeks, but I went ahead and ordered the new cushion for you; it'll arrive directly to you via UPS, and you can give it to your upholsterer to sew on."

"Wow," I said, "that's awesome! How much is that going to cost?"

"Nothing," she said. "No charge."

"Huh? Did we pay for some sort of warranty that I forgot about?"

"Nope, we'll just get it sent out to you. No charge."

Holy crap!!

And even MORE holy crap-- the cushion arrived TODAY, just three days since I talked to her!! It's the entire piece of fabric for the arm of the sofa, already sewn together-- skirting, batting, zipper for the cushion pocket, everything-- all the upholsterer needs to do is remove the ruined section and sew the new piece on; he won't have to "create" a new piece at all.

Is that great customer service or what????

I guess during these nasty economic times, businesses are doing anything they can to keep their customers... well I'm pretty sure they have my business from now on!!

MariaAZ · #2 11/20/08, 09:49 PM

I LOVE Ashley! And the thing is, their customer service has always been awesome, not just lately. We've not had to call on them for something as dramatic as your problem, but we've always found them fast and courteous. They're the only furniture store I shop at.

BeeFree · #3 11/20/08, 10:11 PM

They now have a great extended warrenty you can purchase that sounds awesome too. I just about bought a couch, chair, recliner, and chaise from them last month, but thought about it and decided I just wasn't sure if that color was what I was wanting.

When I do decide I will probably buy from them because they had good furniture and it was reasonable.

Country Lady · #4 11/20/08, 10:11 PM

How do their prices compare? Is it high end furniture or just average?

MariaAZ · #5 11/20/08, 11:53 PM

I'd say it's in the middle. They aren't the cheapest store price-wise and their furniture isn't cheap and flimsy, but it's not like the stuff you'll see in a high end store either. I think it's good quality at a good price and I've been very pleased with everything we've purchased. They are quick to respond to problems and their field people are wonderful.

One thing I really like; when we go into our local Ashley store, we are greeted by a sales person who introduces him or herself, gives us a quick lowdown on what's going on sales-wise then STEPS BACK. They don't follow the customers around, though they DO check back every so often to see if there are any questions. DH and I occasionally go in to just window shop and the sales staff always make us feel like we're welcome to just look.

Country Lady · #6 11/21/08, 12:00 AM

The nearest one is about 40 miles away. I've been thinking about possibly a recliner, chaise sofa and bench seat for the end of the bed. I just might stop in there and see what they've got.

Cat · #7 11/21/08, 12:20 AM

It's great to see threads like this...somehow Ashley has entered my 'awareness' as far as furniture stores go even though I've never actually been in one (probably not one within 250 miles) and seeing a thread like this means that I will definitely check them out the next time I come across one...

BeeFree · #8 11/21/08, 01:32 AM

You can shop through what they have online, but the prices are not listed. I was told the reason the prices are not listed is because they are different depending on what state you are in.

I was also told that what you choose is ordered and they deliver it free of charge. What they have in the store is just to show.

cnvh · #9 11/21/08, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeeFree

You can shop through what they have online, but the prices are not listed. I was told the reason the prices are not listed is because they are different depending on what state you are in.

I was also told that what you choose is ordered and they deliver it free of charge. What they have in the store is just to show.

Yeah, they don't have stock on-hand in the stores as far as I know... when you order something, it's either shipped from one of their warehouses or else they make it when you order it. (And since this piece came to us so quickly, I can only assume it's made in the USA??)

As far as "free delivery" goes, maybe that varies from store to store, but here you have to pay for delivery, unless you opt to pick it up yourself at the warehouse-- which is what we did, since their warehouse is only a few miles from us (closer than the store, actually) and we were in the middle of moving, so we had the U-Haul anyway.

They have a very nice selection of everything, the salespeople are friendly but not hovering, and the prices seem reasonable for good sturdy furniture-- I think our sofa was about $700? But this customer service really blew me away and I had to share... glad to hear that other people have had similar experiences!

tiogacounty · #10 11/21/08, 10:22 AM

At least a decade ago a locally owned chain here got real big into Ashley products. They advertised agressively, and it paid off, they grabbed a huge market share in this area. A funny thing happen though. Eventually, a lot of folks who bought their products had the same opinion. Looks good in the store, prices are great, wears poorly and falls apart fast. Seriously, I haven't heard a positive comment about them in years. I do have at least two neighbors who did have battles with the store getting warranty service. Don't know who is to blame, but I'll pass on the brand.

whiterock · #11 11/21/08, 12:53 PM

I bought 2 leather sofas from them 2 years ago, and not the most expensive, bout $700 each, haven't had a problem with em yet, comfortable, look good, not real heavy, but seem well built.
Ed

MariaAZ · #12 11/21/08, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiogacounty

At least a decade ago a locally owned chain here got real big into Ashley products. They advertised agressively, and it paid off, they grabbed a huge market share in this area. A funny thing happen though. Eventually, a lot of folks who bought their products had the same opinion. Looks good in the store, prices are great, wears poorly and falls apart fast. Seriously, I haven't heard a positive comment about them in years. I do have at least two neighbors who did have battles with the store getting warranty service. Don't know who is to blame, but I'll pass on the brand.

We have a few "mega" markets that are like Walmart, where they have a full-service grocery store but also a wide variety of housewares including furniture. One of these stores sells Ashley furnishings, but their items are nothing like what Ashley sells in their own stores. In fact, I don't believe our Ashley store even carries the items that are sold in the mega market.

tab · #13 11/21/08, 03:12 PM

I bought Ashley furniture about ten years ago. It still looks good (aside from the war wounds inflicted by the cats) with no real wear points and it works fine. The love seat is a pair of recliners. I would certainly look at the brand again!

Sparticle · #14 11/21/08, 03:15 PM

someone should send this to Ashley.

mnn2501 · #15 11/21/08, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MariaAZ

One thing I really like; when we go into our local Ashley store, we are greeted by a sales person who introduces him or herself, gives us a quick lowdown on what's going on sales-wise then STEPS BACK. They don't follow the customers around, though they DO check back every so often to see if there are any questions..

the one time the DW and I went to Ashley we had a sales woman follow us around like a vulture and in looking around we were not the only customers to have 'shadows' - we finally walked out because of it and never went back. Don't know where you go, but my experience was completly different and because of that I will never go back.

cnvh · #16 11/21/08, 05:06 PM

Usually whenever we go in a place like that (where they have salespeople to help you), if we're just looking, we tell them that and they leave us alone (after telling us to find them if we have any questions or some such). It's when they approach us and say something like "so what can I send you home with today?" or "is this your husband?" to my friend who happens to be with me that I get annoyed. But I've never had someone "tail" me if I tell them up-front that I'm just browsing.

Anyway, I intend to send AF a nice thank-you note for their customer service... if they're smart (them or any other company for that matter), they'll Google this sort of thing and read their own feedback in formats like this.