Valentino Custom Designs

Wow… Deja Vu! Wish I could review on Etsy, but shop is shut down right now! That is partly due to my case against Valentino Designs. Very responsive when they want your money, but just wait… and wait… and wait some more. Finally got half of my stuff after 6 months of fighting. Sad part is the products are nice. Too bad they can not run their business! I hope Etsy kicks them off for good this time. Still having to fight for my money they owe me. I could spend all day writing about all the problems, but not worth my time. If you need some furniture go to this shop instead. They do business the way it should be done.(2ndCenturyFurniture)
Jerry M

I wished I read the reviews before I placed my order with Joe Valentino Jr at Valentino Designs. I placed an order 8 months ago and waited patiently for a picture and delivery date. Both were promised and were never received. I begged Joe to call me on my phone which he never did. He only sent me messages via Etsy and finally some text messages. Excuse after excuse he finally promised a delivery date the day before Thanksgiving. I was having a houseful of company and desperately wanted my buffet for the holiday. The delivery never arrived and I never received a phone call. He again sent me a message via Etsy stating the truck broke down outside of the city. I said I would meet the truck and pick up the buffet but no response and still not one picture. He responded hours later saying the truck was towed away. I even offered to drive to PA to pick up the buffet with my trailer. Joe never responded. I believe he never even finished the buffet and the whole 8 months I waited was a complete lie. The only positive part was that he did give me back my refund which I never requested back. I just wanted the buffet. This was the worst experience I ever had with a business. Joe needs to learn how to be honest, follow up and CALL his customers when they request it.

If I could give fewer stars, I would. There is only one other Unilocal review of this business and from reading it they had the exact same experience that I did. We found this business through Etsy but to our detriment, we did not place our order through Etsy. Perhaps our experience would have been different and we would have treated like real customers if we had; perhaps not.
Our contact was primarily with Joe Jr. He was very responsive to our initial inquiry for a kitchen island and was quick to take a hefty deposit from us. That’s when the communication stopped and our phone calls and emails stopped being returned. He told us our kitchen island would take 8 weeks because they were very busy. Fine. But when we contacted him after 10 weeks of hearing nothing and he would not get back to us we got very worried.
When he did finally return emails (he never once returned a phone call), at first he told us our island was in progress and was being finished up. He then held onto our deposit for 4 more weeks with no communication. After 16 week (4 months), we were convinced that there was no island, he hadn’t even started it. We demanded a refund (which we finally got after several more weeks). We’re convinced the island was never started, after 6 months of keeping our $ 700 deposit.
If you dare order something from this business, do it through Etsy. At least then you have some recourse and your phone calls or emails might actually be returned. But order with this company at your own risk. You’ve been warned.

We placed an order for a piece of furniture from this business by giving a deposit of half the cost on Janurary 16^th, 2015. The terms were that we would receive the completed piece in 8 – 12 weeks, a photo of the piece prior to delivery for approval (we chose paint color, etc.) and that it would be delivered in person to our second home or shipped to a distribution center.
There were many problems and on June 7^th (2015) we requested a refund of our deposit. We considered ourselves to be very patient customers, but we waited long enough and put up with much aggravation. When Joe stated that he had put through a refund via Paypal, I contacted Paypal and they said there was no refund. Paypal advised me to contest the charge (it wasn’t my idea). I told them I would talk to the business once more before I did this. Here is Joe Valentino’s response.
” If you open the claim I will in fact dispute it with pay pal as well and I believe they will side with me and again it will only just delay the refund”
«Tell you what I just figured out how to send it now so it has been issued. I have no idea when you will get it back on your card but that’s on you to figure out with you bank. This has been the worst transaction ever for me and you have been the most unreasonable customer. Again just so you know for the future and you can ask pay pal but you are wrong in how you demanded the refund and If you order something custom and I go out of my way to build and make and finish for you then you have to wait for it. Go ahead an ask pay pal and they will tell you the same. Goodbye and thanks for totally screwing me over and costing me lots of money when all I was doing was giving you one heck of a deal on a gorgeous piece of furniture.»
June 5^th, 2015 — «first of all I had already said your island will be ready for shipping this week. Im not sure why you keep emailing me twice a day. Also I am the owner of this business. Please keep your communication with me on your project. I said I would provide pictures and collect the balance»
June 5^th, 2015 (later in the day) «Everyone always wants pictures and thinks they are getting taken or something.» Joe said it was already wrapped for shipping, that is why no photos. We never saw photos of our piece and it is our belief the reason was the piece was not yet built. The goal line was always getting moved.
We believe we were harshly treated, the terms were violated and we were right to ask for a refund. We never received an apology, just told we were rotten customers.
In the end, we got a refund and things worked out splendidly for us. We found a new island (from a large store, no more buying from strangers in another state) within days of receiving our refund, for ¹⁄₃ the price and we absolutely love it! It was installed in our kitchen within a week of buying it. Never will I wait 20+ weeks for a piece of furniture or even consider it. We took a chance based on a blogger’s post on her good experience, but it wasn’t the same for us.