Crest Home Furniture

My wife and I ordered two Flexsteel rocker chairs from here recently. Anna Marie was very helpful in helping us pick out the chairs and order them. About 6 – 8 weeks later our chairs arrived, and we picked them up and brought them home. This is when the nightmare began. After about a week, I noticed that the fabric on both of the chairs had started to ripple. Additionally, the fabric on the arms of the chairs had started to become unraveled, and the cushions started to actually take the shape of our legs, leaving leg indentations in them. This was after maybe sitting in them for a couple of hours total. So, we called Anna Marie and were told that we would have to file a complaint with their customer service department.
We filed a complaint via e-​mail and sent in some pictures. We were told that they were going to send a a guy out to look at the chairs to see if they could fix them. This was irritating to me, as the chairs were brand new, and I felt that they should replace them. They told me up front that, «that’s not Flexsteel’s policy». However, once they saw the pictures and realized that the chairs wouldn’t be able to be fixed, they agreed to take them back. I asked them for a refund, as I was concerned that if the chairs were already breaking down after a couple of weeks, that the quality was poor. They refused to provide a refund, and told me that my only option was to return them for a new set. So, we agreed to do that. However, we had to pick another fabric, as they told us that they were afraid that the same thing would happen again. So, we chose a new fabric and 6 – 8 weeks later, our new chairs came.
When we went to pick up our second set of chairs, I asked Anna Marie what the difference in cost was. She hemmed and hawed and wouldn’t answer my question. So, after going back and forth, I told her that we weren’t leaving until she told me what the price difference was. As it turns out, there was a $ 70 difference in the price of the chairs. I told her that I would like that refunded on my credit card, and she told me that «Flexsteel’s policy is that if they have to replace defective products and the price was more expensive, that the customer had to pay the difference, but if the price was less expensive, the customer had to eat the difference!» I was like, «are you kidding me?» That’s fraud. She told me at that point that she would «check with customer service» to see if there was anything that they could do.
When we got home, we opened up the plastic on the new chairs, and the first one had the back of the chair torn off. The top 3 –4 inches of the back of the chair had a one inch seperation in it, and the staples that hold the back on were torn out. Additionally, all the way down both sides of the back of the chair it was separated in numerous places. On the second chair, the inside support of the back of the chair was balled up in one corner, and the other side had no support, so when you pushed on the back of the chair, the fabric was all loose. We called Anna Marie immediately, and were again told that we were going to have to file a claim with customer service.
This time I demanded a refund, and was again told that they would not be giving us a refund. Instead, they wanted to send out an upholsterer, who would repair the chairs, and that they we wouldn’t even be able to tell that they were damaged. I was also told that I wouldn’t be refunded the difference in the price of the chairs, as that’s not «Flexsteel’s policy».
After a number of conversations with their customer service person, and getting nowhere, I consulted with a consumer complaints attorney. He suggest that I contact Flexsteel directly, to make them aware of the poor service that I was getting from their distributor, Crest Furniture. Additionally, he suggested that I contact my credit card company and see if they would get involved on our behalf, and finally, if that didn’t work, to file a consumer fraud complaint with the state of Illinois, which I could do online. I did contact Flexsteel directly, and they told me that in no way, shape or form was that their policy. Additionally, my credit card company also agreed that they should take the chairs back, and contacted Crest directly to let them know that they would be reversing the charges on my credit card for the full amount of the chairs. My attorney also told me that it is indeed fraud to charge your customers more for a product that costs less.
After all of this, I got a call from their customer service department and was told that they have some good news for me, and that after talking to Flexsteel, they have decided to go against their policy and give us a refund. I had to laugh, as they played it off like they were doing me a favor, when in fact getting my attorney involved is what changed their tune. After all of that, I would highly recommend that you not do business with this company. May the buyer beware.

I worked with Anna Marie at the Crest Furniture in Lisle. I was very satisfied with the service she provided. I went in and out of the showroom over a period of several months as I shopped for new furniture, and she was always very patient and helpful. I was doing a lot of research and Anna Marie never pressured me to buy, as I experienced at some other stores. She really won my business because of that. I really felt that Anna Marie did a thorough job of answering all my questions, even when it took some investigation and phone calls on her part. The other stores I looked at did not put in any such efforts. Also, the furniture came in on time. I was given an estimate of 6 – 8 weeks, and it came in on the low end of that range. I had to do a little juggling on scheduling the delivery, but once that was worked out, the delivery was careful and efficient. I would go back to Crest Furniture again, and I would definitely look for Anna Marie.