American Freight

Deceptive or Inept
Not sure which, but certainly one or the other. So let me walk you through our experience in purchasing a mattress at AF.
As my wife and I enter we are immediately greeted by a friendly associate one bright Saturday morning. We explain we’re looking for a new king size mattress and explain what budget we have to work with. He shows us several models and invites us to try them out and he’ll be back to see what we have settled on. We didn’t see him again.
Next we’re met 20 minutes later by Johnny «Charisma», who in a deadpan delivery tells us the mattresses we were looking at were «crap» and for what we need, recommended some other options (obviously $ 300+ more than what we’re looking for, but meh, salesmen).
We finally settled on one that was about $ 180 more than what we were looking for, but we figured the quality and comfort would pay for itself. So we told Mr. Charisma we wanted the mattress. He said none were in stock, but would have to order us one. He asked if we just wanted the mattress or set. We said just the mattress please to which he countered, «I can’t just order a mattress, I have to order the set.»
So…why the option?
Any who, we order the mattress only (imagine that) and were informed there would be a $ 40 delivery charge paid to the driver when they arrive. No problem. He tried talking us into another mattress that was $ 50 more expensive, saying they’re all «basically the same». (Really? Even the «crap ones?») We inquired if they also remove the old mattress. The salesman said they could take it to our dumpster. (It should be mentioned, that both my wife and I are disabled, that’s important for later.)
So Tuesday comes around and we get the call that they can deliver. They restate the $ 40 delivery fee and say it has to be «cash only.» I said that I was not informed it was cash only, as I only had checks. Plus, being disabled, it isn’t easy to get to our bank. He said the delivery men were not a part of their company and were, in fact, independent contractors (and only working in cash tells me there’s some tax evasion going on). However, since I did have a doctors appointment that Thursday, I could swing by and hit the ATM. They said ok.
Now, Thursday comes, I have the $ 40 (in untraceable, off the radar, cash) and they said they’d be out. At 1pm, they show, and before even a «how do you do», they ask for their cash. My wife then shows them the bedroom where the new mattress goes. She told him where the blue dumpster was to which he said, «ohh no, we don’t remove mattresses.» I said that’s not what Mr. Charisma said, and he pointed out again they don’t work for the store, so «whatever.»
I said, well take it back. We can’t physically move the old one ourselves. I called AF to cancel my order and the salesman went into customer service mode and said he would make it right. He would call them and call me right back. 2 hours later, I end up calling. He said they’re on another delivery and when they’re done he’ll get an eta and call us back. 2.5 hours later, I call AGAIN, and talk to someone who has no idea what I’m talking about (I think it was Johnny Charisma again, but I can’t be sure). After being on hold awhile, (enough to write the bulk of this review), he says the previous guy had no business making that promise as they have no authority over the «2 Men And Don’t Give a F&$#» delivery drivers. So I said, cancel my order. Now, bear in mind, they have the mattress, and they have the paperwork, yet if we want our money back we have to go there and sign forms and what not. So we’ll be off to see them Saturday, and never deal with them again in life.
Be sure to follow our adventures in mattress purchasing as we will be going to Quality Mattress Outlet, where I’ll write a review on the experience there.
***UPDATE***
In under 5 hours from writing the original review, I have been in touch via message/​email/​and phone with customer service, corporate, and the store manager. To their credit, they did rectify the situation and delivered the mattress (and removed the old one) @ no charge. I was impressed with the promptness of the response and I’m now a true believer in Unilocal.To be fair, I did raise the rating from 1 to 3 stars. It should of been a 4 or 5, had this been the case from the beginning. Alas, the bulk of the issue stems from the company they sub-​contract with, and they would be wise to find someone else more willing to work. I’m not going to need a mattress for awhile, but the wife and I will think about using AF in the future.