Neko Chairs 5460 and Vestige Chairs 4970

The Neko Chairs 5460 and Sumptuous Ottomans 4841 are Garfield Chestnut. The Vestige Chairs 4970 are Weston Blueberry (I read Duane's High Point posts so I knew about the new blues). However, I was stupid, DID NOT order from The Keeping Room, and I paid the price (twice).

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The large gap between the chairs was supposed to be a The Tides sofa in Garfield Chestnut but it was damaged during white glove delivery twice! Of course, now the leather has been discontinued so I have to chose a new leather. I learned my lesson and I called Duane last week. As soon as I order some leather swatches and chose a new leather, I will order the sofa again but this time all of my business will be sent to The Keeping Room. Once the sofa gets delivered, I plan on ordering several additional pieces of furniture from Duane.

So what have I learned:
1) Duane's everyday price is cheaper than the best "once a year" furniture sale price that is offered by any of the major furniture dealers in the midwest.
2) You can put white gloves on gorillas but that does not guarantee a successful delivery. Subcontractor delivery makes or in my case breaks the furniture buying experience.

Yes, the delivery service is always the bug-a-boo when not buying locally. It's hard to find the balance between damage-free, service levels, and price.

I usually have two alternative conversations from customers....

1) The person looking for the lowest possible price. They've called everyone and spent hours in a quest for that last dollar buy, having every dealer quote on a spreadsheet. I come in usually near the best on the cost of the goods, but often they don't like the shipping cost price that I pass onto them. They say "Dealer X does it for half that, or its free!". My reply to that is that I have tried almost every shipper out there. That service that is half the price on shipping? He's the one that doesn't have a truck that runs, drivers that just got out of jail or recently finished their substance abuse program, and only goes into your area when is truck is full, and it that takes 6 weeks so be it. I've used THAT GUY before, it wasn't pretty. Like most things in life, you get what you pay for.

2) I want it left in the factory box/packing to my driveway.: I agree, this is the best way to minimize damage. And I have carriers that will do that, unpack it in your driveway and bring it into your home. The problem here is those boxes occupy huge amount of cubic feet in a truck. So the rate has to be much higher to carry them like this. A boxed sofa takes the space of two unboxed ones, so in effect you will pay close to double the standard rate quote for that service.

Currently I use West Express and A&O Delivery ad my default delivery service, who work professionally and in tandem with one another. They are not the fastest, or have a perfect damage-free record, but they strike a new balance between service and cost. Damage rates run around 3% with them, which is acceptable (unless you are in that 3%) and they have never refused to remedy a damage issue, though there is a hassle factor involved when it occurs to you. As for the cheap guys, you're on your own to contract with them if you like.

Thos Neko chairs are so handsome, that's one of the best looking pieces H&M makes. And Weston Blueberry is a spectacular blue - quite a leather.

what color is the wood on the Neko chairs? Thanks.

The finish is Mahogany.

Thanks, Kevin. You made excellent leather and color choices on those chairs.