National Furniture Mfg. Co. ripoff High Point North Carolina

National Furniture Mfg. Co. misled us from the very start concerning our purchase of a $700 Thomson Crown Computer Armoire. Prior to deciding to go with National Furniture my wife and I went through a long decision process developing our buying criteria. We narrowed our criteria list to two items that we would not live without:

1) The Armoire must be completely made of real wood (meaning no particle board - except for the back of the unit)
2) It must arrive in a reasonable amount of time after placing the order.

We personally spoke with National Furniture sales representatives on several occasions and each time they assured us that our criteria would be no problem and so trusting them we made our purchase.

We mailed our deposit check in on 9/06/02 and were assured that our Armoire would arrive in November 2002. November came and went, as did December with no Armoire or reasonable explanation for the delay.

In early January 2003 I called to cancel my order for non-delivery - and was informed by the same helpful sales person that if I cancelled there would be a 20% cancellation fee, and that National Furniture reserved 9-months to make delivery.

Of course the terms of delivery were spelled out in the fine print of the agreement, but were not stated as possibilities in the sales call, or any follow up call that we made inquiring about our Armoire.

Finally in February 2003 we contacted National Furniture again and were told that the Armoire would be delivered in 2-3 weeks. We mailed the balance due to National Furniture and on 3/4/03 the Armoire arrived.

Note: 9-months may possibly be considered acceptable if you are ordering North Carolina furniture from California - but I live in North Carolina only 2 hours away from the National Furniture Mfg. Co. office.

We paid an extra $90 to have the Armoire assembled on site - but the Armoire was assembled prior to arrival and was covered in thick dirt and dust suggesting it was stored fully assembled in a filthy warehouse for months prior to shipment. Additionally it was scratched in several places.

After careful examination of the Armoire while cleaning it I discovered that the left side of the Armoire was made of particle board, while the right side was made of solid wood. I was very angry with myself for ever dealing with National Furniture Mfg. Co. - but did nothing because I didn't want to go through the hassle of returning the Armoire that took 7-months to arrive in the first place.

After the delivery agents quickly placed the Armoire where my wife wanted it, they left telling her that normally they would have a 'scratch' marker for her to touch up the scratches but since they did not that she should contact National Furniture and they would provide one. My wife did so, and was promised by National Furniture that they would send one by mail immediately.

Big surprise - they never mailed it. On 4/14/03 my wife called and requested the 'scratch marker' be sent as promised, and let the office manager know that she was not happy about being deceived about the particle board in the Armoire.

My wife was promptly told by the National Furniture office manager that National Furniture does not send 'scratch markers' to customers and that it was the drivers fault for saying that they would. The office manager went on blaming everything on her employees stating that none of the problems we experienced in our purchase had anything to do with National Furniture Mfg. Co. My wife ended the conversation telling the office manager that it is her responsibility to train her employees and that everything they do does reflect directly on National Furniture Mfg. Co. and that we would let as many people know of our experience as possible.

I sincerely hope our message helps someone avoid a large hassle with this company. They have convinced us to never again order furniture online - even from a company with a web site with a reputable appearance.

Eric
Huntersville, North Carolina
U.S.A.