It's all about customer service, right? Doesn't matter what you're buying, if you're treated well; treated fairly; with respect: you'll be a happy customer, right?
Last month I started shopping for some new seating. I had two concerns: cost and size. I was not content to go the Berkline or Palliser $500/seat route yet I didn't want to go the Jaymar or Elite $2500/seat route either. Additionally, I can't accommodate chairs that are 35-40" wide either. Low and behold, I found the Fortress Californian. The Californian is their Quick-Ship, only-comes-one-way model. It's genuine leather on all the body contact areas and a matching faux leather elsewhere to keep costs down. Best of all, it was only 32” wide (22” seat with 5” arms – as opposed to the more typical 24” seat and 6” arms). It was price-fixed (same price at all resellers) at $1099 so it seemingly didn't matter where I bought it. Seemingly is key here but we'll get to that later.
Since I was buying it sight unseen, I wanted the ability to return it without a restocking fee if I was dissatisfied for any reason. Ultimately, I’m looking to buy three seats but with the potential of a return, I just wanted to start with a single chair because it would be much more economical to return one than three. If I like it and decide to keep it, I’ll buy two more.
There seemed to be two respectable places to buy it: The Theater Store and Stargate Cinema. So I decided to look into their respective return policies. Stargate's website didn't state their return policy. At the time, there was a link for it but it did not take you to where it was supposed to. The Theater Store specifically stated 30 Day return for any reason. So, on February 20th, I ordered it with them and their site also specifically stated 7-10 day delivery. The next day, Feb. 21st, my credit card was charged and I was emailed a statement but this statement now mentioned a 10-14
business day delivery. That's TWICE as long! In the grand scheme of things, it really didn't matter a whole lot but I was hoping to have the chair here by or before the GTG on March 15th so either one worked but the latter was just a bit more 11th-hour.
On March 6th, 2 full weeks after placing my order, I still hadn't received any notification that it shipped so I called. My salesman didn't seem at all concerned or even happy to help me and passed me off to some flunky CS rep who was equally inept. He put me on hold for about 20 minutes and when he got back on the line, simply said Fortress was out of stock and the chair had to be made. They expected to have it completed by March 9th and it should ship by the 11th. Alright, that works. Just barely, but it works. The chair should arrive the Friday of the GTG. Friday comes and goes. No chair. No contact. No shipment notification. No nothing.
Monday the 19th I call again. I explain that it's been 21 business days since I placed my order for a quick-ship 7-10 order and I fail to see how this is considered quick-ship. Naturally I'm put on lengthy hold again and then told the chair is made but Fortress is waiting to hear from the shipping company as to when they're picking it up but they expected that to occur that very day. I was also told I would be given notice of shipment and a tracking number by the next day. The next day, Tuesday, came and went. As did Wednesday and Thursday. Nothing.
I contacted Stargate and spoke with Ken. I explained the situation and even told him why I chose the Theater Seat Store over Stargate (return policy). I continued that I was considering cancelling my order and reordering it with Stargate. Ken informed me that Stargate has a similar policy and that if I chose to do so, he was there to help. I opted to give The Theater Seat Store one more business day (Friday the 23rd) to get their shit together and told Ken I'd contact him next week. I heard nothing Friday or over the weekend so first thing this morning, I contacted Ken and asked him to find out just how soon he could get me this chair. Before he could get back to me with an answer, FedEx Freight calls me and says they'll be delivering a package to me this Thursday from Fortress Seating. Unfuckingbelievable! I have half a mind to refuse the delivery! Needless to say, I won’t be buying the other chairs from The Theater Seat Store.
