Do not trust anything VNTG or its owner!!!…read more
I purchased small pieces from VNTG with good luck over the years, and used to loved going there to shop whenever they had sales. Because of this, I consulted and paid VNTG to reupholster a large amount of antique furniture that was my mother's and grandmother's. It took weeks longer than expected to get it back, but the first part turned out fine.
When the initial reupholstered furniture was returned, we made arrangements with VNTG to pick up several pieces of antique furniture to sell on consignment. The furniture included various antique chairs and other pieces, plus a baby grand piano -- all in good condition. It took two trips for VTNG to pick it all up. We were promised both trips I was told that Michael would email us a consignment contract as soon as the furniture arrived at VNTG's warehouse store.
After months and months of back and forth, I confirmed with the woman who had made the pickup arrangements that, yes, she remembers well the furniture being picked up, delivered to VNTG, -- and that their movers had damaged the grand piano moving it. She remembers this because this was all at the beginning of the pandemic and they were having trouble getting good movers willing to move the piano. Again I was promised that she would make sure "Michael" would call me to resolve and make sure to send me the consignment contract within a day or so. More weeks and months of back and forth letting VNTG know they had our furniture and Michael still had not sent us our consignment contract. Still nothing! Just broken promises. Never a return call.
Finally, I went to VNTG to look for my furniture myself. I scoured the entire warehouse, loading docs, every room, everything. All of it, literally all of it, VNTG had already sold during the months waiting on "Michael or someone" to get us our contract. Not a single piece of my furniture was still at VNTG. At that time, the woman working said she didn't know what might have happened. I was told to call back and talk to their office manager.
After numerous attempts over several days, I finally managed to catch VNTG's office manager by phone. She seemed to be the most honest person I'd talked to there and sounded completely deflated. She said she quitting after working there for about a year and only had a a few days left. She shared she was leaving because she spends all day getting nothing but complaints just like mine, passing them on, only to get a call back again that no one from VNTG was responding but her. She admitted that VNTG doesn't keep good records of what comes in, from whom, or when and who it is sold to. She said Michael never returns calls. She suggested I talk directly to the owner and she would have the owner call me back right away. I had to insist she give me the owner's cell phone number just in case I didn't get a return call. The owner, like everyone else, never returned my call.
Two days later, (because I had insisted on getting the owner's cell in advance) I called the owner and told her the whole history -- names of people I had worked with; details of the furniture picked up by VNTG; the movers dropping and breaking a leg on the grand piano; who I had followed up with; what happened each time (i.e., Michael or "someone" was supposed to contact me, never got a call back ever; and that they had sold my furniture without paying me. The owner, who was at the Cleveland airport and was flying back into Cleveland at this time, promised me she would personally look into it as she was heading to the VNGT store from the airport. She confirmed she had my phone number on her cell and would be back in touch.
That was a year ago. I have never heard back from the owner or anyone at VNTG!
MY ANTIQUE FURNITURE AND BABY GRAND PIANO WHICH, KNOWING VNTG'S PRICING, WOULD HAVE SOLD FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IS GONE! VNTG SOLD IT AND NEVER PAID ME MY PART OF THE PROCEEDS (HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS!)
Furthermore, I have learned that VNTG doesn't do its own upholstering any more. The first part of what they upholstered for me (my grandmother's and Mother's antiques) they did in house. The second part (three bar stools) was outsourced and they failed to inform me. It took more than a month longer than promised to get back. In the end, I had to pick it up at the third-party outsourcer myself because VNTG was so unreliable.
I cannot discourage you enough from trusting VNTG. When the owner knows what is going on and that her customers are being lied to and cheated then does nothing -- you know that behavior is condoned by the owner herself.
