Hive Modern Design

RETURN NIGHTMARE. Be prepared — if you buy something from this store you have to live with it even if turns out to be awful. This is a third party supplier– take my advice and buy directly from the company manufacturing the product. Hive had MUCH more restrictive return options. Maybe if you live West Coast it makes sense to use Hive, but certainly not East Coast.

Gorgeous design items, for sure. But then: sales people who know little about what they’re selling; customer service that lacks follow up, and can be resentful if you ask too much of them; lead times for overseas times that takes twice as long as estimated. Hive is great if you’re in California and want to avoid DWR sales tax. Otherwise, look for what you want somewhere else.

I have ordered a Saarinen dining table, several Series 7 chairs and Series 7 barstools from Hive Modern. I was able to time my purchase to get everything on sale, which is practically a necessity given that the manufacturers set the price of this style of furniture quite high. Delivery was ok, within the timeframe promised, but still quite long considering the cost and that I was eager to have my new furniture. There were periodic updates on processing and shipping available on the account page, so that sort of helped. In the end everything looks great, and I didn’t have any major customer service issues. I appreciated the discounts, free shipping, and absence of sales tax, which I think saved me almost $ 4K.

I don’t recommend these guys. They charge your credit card immediately even if your order doesn’t ship for 2 months! That money could be earning money during that time! I don’t know another retailer that charges your card without shipping the product. I recommend Y-​Living instead, they charge upon shipping only and have better communication.

I live in Seattle, but purchased lighting from Hive Modern via their website. The lighting is from a European manufacturer, although none of this is clarified on the Hive Modern website. When we received the lighting, it is wired for US electricity. However, the appliances are intended for European light fixtures — so the sizings don’t match up with where we need to install the lighting. Hive Modern will not accept returns on lighting. So now we’re stuck with 2 lights at a total cost of $ 206 that we can’t use because the sizings are for European standards and won’t work with our standard US ceiling boxes. What a bummer. And the website said nothing about this complexity before we made our purchase.

Dreadful customer service. The web page says, you will receive your item in 10 days and then takes 2 months, to arrive. Best to buy directly, they are only brokers taking commission. Never again

I ordered the case study daybed through Hive and called them beforehand to inquire about shipping charges/​service, what to do in case there are damages to the product etc. I was told specifically that paying for inside service would include unpacking of the item and removal of packing material. When the delivery guys showed up at my house however they said this service was not included. When I called Hive to inquire about this confusion they said basically there are only seven people who work there are no one makes mistakes. There was no apology and even the slightest consideration someone there may have been mistaken about the delivery options with this particular item. Although the furniture is lovely I would most likely not order through Hive again. If there are customer service or damage issues I would not be confident they would be able to or even want to help me in any way. Better to order directly from the manufacturer even if it costs a little bit more.

I placed a multi-​thousand dollar order here for in stock ‘Quick Ship’ items and emailed the next business day to inquire when the order would ship out. Instead of someone actually taking the few minutes of time to reply to me, they just sent the automated ‘order shipped’ email when it shipped the following day after.
One would think, especially when spending this kind of money, that Hive Modern would at the very least reply to order inquiry emails, but nooo! Quite impersonal customer service here I must say.
They have a great website and this may be a lovely store to shop in person at if you’re local. It seems like a small quaint boutique type furniture store. But really, they can do much better and seem to have a long way to go in terms of customer support.
I also didn’t like the shipping carrier they used (CEVA) — they did not even show up during their own scheduled 4-​hour delivery window…
I will give pause to ever placing an order here again.

I renovated my flat in NY and ordered Cherner chairs from Hive wanting to try a different company rather than my usual go to DWR. After a friend who sat on my chair with a wet jacket for about 30 minutes, the stain washed off and I contacted Hive for customer service since Cherner never responded. Of course Cherner would not fix the chair (My office has West Elm chairs and high traffic wear and have been wet via moves in/​out several times and the stain never came off) and offered for me to pay $ 350 for a new top of the chair portion only. I talked with Hive who did not even want to understand my point of view that a chair that cost $ 750 should not be as delicate as to this degree. Simply trying to explain my point was responded with the customer service rep telling me that she does not want to argue with me and it seems like I was arguing with her. I was dumbfounded by the reaction and then to the lack of reaction to the situation. I will definitely no longer purchase designer furniture from Hive. Would rather work with DWR or YLighting who stand behind their customers.

Day 1:
I purchased a Blu Dot table from Hive because they advertised it as being in stock. It turns out that they have a history of displaying items as in stock that are backordered (see the other reviews here).
Day 2:
I received an email from Hive after my purchase that told me that I would have to wait a month to receive the table – when I asked how this would impact the return policy if I have a problem with the table they promptly told me that there is no return policy on backordered items… how convenient for them. I decided to just deal with all of this because the quality of the table was worth it…
3 weeks later:
I then received an email from a review service that Hive uses and submitted an honest review to them, hoping for the merchant to demonstrate some good customer service. Instead, I received an email from Hive telling me that they decided to cancel my table order because of my review – apparently I offended them by being disappointed.
Luckily I was able to speak with the owners of the Blu Dot furniture company directly and they honored the sale that I missed because of all of this.
Most recently:
To make matters worse I have still not received a credit for my purchase from Hive even though they cancelled my order. Luckily my credit card company is helping me resolve this…
I would love to have a civil discussion with the owner about what went wrong here. I hope it was just a mix-​up.

I’m slowly furnishing my space with beautiful pieces from Hive Modern. This store may not be for everyone, but for me it has everything I love-​quality, excellent service and Clive who unpacks and sets up your order in your space.
I once had an issues with a piece damaged in shipping, handled immediately and I was able to keep the damaged piece until the new one arrived. No attitude just great service and product. Show room is small but you get the idea… lots of ideas!

I recently ordered a Saarinen tulip table along with four Eames side chairs on line. The process was very simple and easy. I also called with questions about certain other pieces and the customer service was very courteous and helpful.
The chairs arrived as promised and in perfect shape. The marble table top had a small chip, about the size of a dime on the edge. A quick email to Hive Modern along with a picture of the damage was all it needed to have replacement top ordered. I am very happy with the quality of services and the product line Hive Modern carries.
I will definitely order other furniture pieces from Hive.

Long story short I should have just paid the extra $ 50 in tax and purchased what I wanted locally. Instead I went with Hive Modern, product was listed as in stock on their site but wasn’t really (apparently they just order from the manufacturer so in stock still means 3 – 6 weeks for delivery). They got my order wrong then blamed me for the error; classy. All and all totally not worth the effort. Maybe they do a better job in person? Either way from my experience and the others listed here if they’re not local to you you’re probably better off just shopping local.

LOVE the store & wish i could afford to own most things in it… especially that Vitra sofa that i have no room for ;)
i’ve been virtually stalking them for a while now but it was lots of fun to actually see some of the cool stuff they carry.

Similar experience to MJK, placed order, they billed my card then no news. When I called they said it was backordered several weeks. Still no news…

I recently bought a sofa from Hive in Portland and I have to say that the experience was completely positive.
Patrick was helpful, willing to send fabric samples and make suggestions all by phone even though I live 550 miles away. They were organized and the delivery service they use was excellent.
These people know their products well and are friendly and helpful. I’d recommend them to anyone.

For Modern furniture, this is a great resource! I came by to look things over & was instantly smitten by the furniture & various tabletop appointments. Very captivating, indeed. While we want more modern touches in our home, the fact is that we have 3 boys (and their huge feet…), a less-​than-​well-​behaved terrier, and a parrot who occasionally waddles around. To put it mildly, we do not have the lifestyle which allows for $ 10,000 worth of ‘living room’ seating, if you know what I mean… Still, I can dream.
There are many light fixtures here which are great looking and I will be back… with my entire life savings… If you check this spot out, be certain to bring your wallet with lots o’ green!

Just ordered some Eames dining chairs online from them and service was awesome (the chairs I ordered were «quick ship» items, which I guess means they’re in stock).
+no tax if you’re in CA, and free shipping for I think any order over $ 100
+had the chairs I wanted in stock!
+I ordered the chairs late Monday, they shipped out on Tuesday, and I got ‘em Thursday (to LA)!
+very prompt customer service (they even replied to my comments in the order comments box… I’ve never had any company ever read those! I’ve left comments like «your mom takes orders 24 hours a day» at other places and they’ve never replied)
+/​-​prices are MSRP (pretty much what everyone else all the same stuff for) but I think that’s to be expected — the designer stuff they sell is rarely less than MSRP
–my only very very minor nit is shipping info didn’t show up in my order history (but they replied promptly when I asked about it)
I wish I’d ordered all my furniture from them, but I’ll definitely be using them again.

We have been looking to buy an Eames Chair for some time now. The place in San Francisco (Design within Reach) where we almost bought one wanted to charge us $ 250 for shipping this VERY expensive chair. They wouldn’t even let us pick it up ourselves at the store! After filling out the entire order there, we cancelled it when they told us at the end about the shipping charges.
We then went to Hive’s online store. First, it was good to see they had a brick and mortar location in Portland that reviewers liked. Makes them seem more for real.
Second, Hive’s price was the same as the place in SF. Third and best of all, there was no shipping charge.
So we bought the chair online from Hive. It arrived a few days later in perfect condition. The shipping company called us a couple of days ahead of time to make a delivery appointment.
We are happy with Hive and would order from them again.

The only reason that Hive is not 5-​stars is because, while I love to look at modern furniture/​household items, I don’t think that I would ever have them in my house. But I adore the minimalist look and the bright cheery colors.
This is a great store to find smaller items, see the picture of Mr. Suicide for an example. Funny and very modern gifts for those people on your list that either a) have everything, b) are extremely rich and you must impress them with a quality gift, or c) like weird, modern things that no one else has (or has ever seen before).