Maybe $5,000 isn’t a lot to furniture retailer Raymour & Flanigan, but it is to Jeff and his fiancée. That’s how much they dropped on furniture during a “VIP” sale at one of their stores. Most of the furniture has been delivered and is pretty great, but the two recliners they ordered were due to arrive weeks ago, and still haven’t showed up. It’s not that the furniture isn’t there, Jeff explains. The real issue is that no one seems to care about keeping the couple updated. They would like to know when they’ll finally be getting something to sit on.

In early March my fiance and I moved into our new house and we needed to furnish it. Lucky for us we went to Raymour and Flanigan in [redacted] during a VIP event we purchased over $5000 worth of new furniture at what we thought was a good price. Most of it was stock items and colors and they were delivered on time, no problems. We also ordered two recliners that were not an ‘in stock’ color but was available from the manufacturer as shown in their fabric sample booklet. We were told it would take 6-8 weeks but usually takes less time than that.

6 weeks rolls by with no word. 8 weeks rolls by with no word. At this point I call. I’m told the current status is now mid-May. I asked what the problem was and why I was not notified of the delay. They told me my sales man was actually from a different store and would have to call me back with an update. Days go by with no call. At this point my frustration is mounting. I have a nice house with otherwise beautiful furniture, just nowhere to sit!

I call again and immediately ask to speak with a manager. The manager hears my story, says hold on, and passes me off to someone else. This person now tells me the estimated window is late May. I ask again what’s going and again they tell me my salesman is from another store and they’ll have to update me. I tell them that’s ludicrous. I spent $5000 in their store and I don’t care who the salesman is, I bought it there. After that I’m put on hold again and the person comes back and tells me the manager will get in contact with the vender as the vender is closed now. I’m told I’ll receive a call back tomorrow with an update. Tomorrow comes and no call.

I’m fuming now because I told all my friends and family how I got a good deal, how I love my furniture (that I do have) and how I can’t wait to get the chairs to complete my home. People keep asking me about them and I keep getting embarrassed saying I don’t know, I don’t know. Since they’re custom colors I cannot cancel the order according to Raymour and Flanigan. At this point my frustration has mounted and I’m about to file a dispute with the bank card I put the purchase on.

I don’t mind the delay at all. What I mind is the lack of communication, being ignored, being misled, and being left in the dark. Had they called me in the first place and said we’re sorry your order is going to be late because of this or that then I would have been perfectly fine with that.

All I can say is I don’t feel very much like a VIP at this point.

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