Before any one buys from this company, please read about our experience:
We went to the Ashley Furniture store in Midland, Texas on Labor Day looking for a sectional couch and cabinet for our home. We were really excited to say the least but all that changed within the few weeks after purchase. When we got to the store, we were greeted by Shawn (Floor Salesman) whom we informed that we were just looking around and have not made up our minds since we just walked into the store. As we walked the showroom, we kept seeing Shawn peeking around corners and following us the entire time. This made my wife very uncomfortable and started making the showroom feel like a used car lot. Once we finished looking around and decided on what we are interested in, we approached Shawn about the items we were wanting, but had some concerns. One, the couch we were wanting was showing a price on the floor at $1275.00 but on the website, it was listed for $879.00. He said that was odd, but they would honor the website price. The other item, a rustic wine cabinet had no price on it and he came back with a price of $1230.00, but the website stated it was $750.00. He apologized and said he would honor the website price as well. This was a step in a good direction and we decided to go ahead and start the purchase process. We told Shawn that we had Ashley Credit through Synchrony Bank and we would be using that as a form of payment and he said that his manager had to verify that the account was good. His manager asked for the credit card and disappeared into his office and came back out about 5 minutes later saying that it was good. This struck me as odd, but I did not think anything of it at the time. (The reason he took the credit card is explained further below). When the paperwork was finalized, Shawn came back and stated that if we bought more we could get the 5 years no interest promotion going on. I told him that we were under the understanding that the 5 years no interest was part of the deal and he said that they had a meeting in the morning and were instructed that nothing under $3000 could be sold using that promotion. I asked to see it in writing and he said it was verbal from the management at the store. I showed him the flyer and it did not state a minimum on interest free purchase and he said that does not matter, it is up to management. If I wanted to buy another piece, then he could see what he could do, but not on what I was getting at the moment. At that time, my wife and I decided not to go forth with the purchase and go to Rooms To Go next door since they had the same couch there for $889.00 and offered the 5 years no interest, but they did not have the cabinet, since it was unique to Ashley Furniture. Shawn told us to hold on and he would talk to his manager, the same one who took our Ashley Credit Card into his office earlier. He came back and offered us 36 months no interest on the purchase and we agreed.
Once all the paperwork was done, he had us start to sign and explained that since the paperwork was completed in the system, if we changed our mind now, it would cost us over $400 as a restocking fee. This I know was false because we had not signed anything, but this final "tactic" really did not matter at the time. He also stated that the furniture was in stock in Lubbock, TX and would be delivered within a week.
Two weeks later, we get a letter in the mail from Synchrony Bank telling us that our "request for credit line increase" could not be approved for the amount that we "requested", because of banking restrictions. First off, we did not request an increase and it showed the request was done on the day we were shopping for furniture at Ashley Furniture. This made me very upset for the fact that the Manager of the Midland, Texas store requested an increase to our credit line without our approval and now it shows up as an inquiry on our credit report as a "hard inquiry". We called the Ashley store in Midland and after a lengthy conversation with the manager, his final words to my wife were "What do you want me to do? You cannot prove I did that."
The furniture finally arrived at our home about 3 weeks later. The couch was in good condition, but the wine cabinet was damaged and put together incorrectly by the Assembly Team in Lubbock according to the driver of the delivery vehicle. I took pictures of the cabinet while it was still on the truck and refused delivery of the cabinet since it was damaged. The assistant to the driver of the delivery vehicle state to me that if I do not take the cabinet now, I would be waiting for LONG time for another, so it was in my best interest to take it now. I still refused and that was the end of that.
More to story, but no more room on Yelp...look at Ashley Furniture on Facebook for rest of experience. read more
