The difference that matters!

I just wanted to take the time to place a review regarding the level of service you can expect when you buy from Duane at The Keeping Room.

As I researched my 2 H&M sofas and recliner for my new home addition I was concerned that the fill in the standard cushions was going to be too soft for my tastes. I was actually more concerned with the look of them "slumping" over the years than the feel of the seats.

When I received the pieces my first impression was that they were not as comfortable as they could be due to the extra firm cores. But I decided to give myself a few months in order to break them in properly to see if they'd soften over time. They actually did "break in" over this period, but I still wondered in the back of my mind if I would have a more comfortable seat with the standard cores.

With all of this being said, I have to make certain to say that even with the firmer cores, my furniture felt better than anything else I had ever owned. They just didn't quite have that level of floating on a cloud I was expecting. :)

I contacted Duane here to let him know I'd like to consider replacing my cores to see if they did indeed make a difference. He let me know that it would be no trouble at all to have them replaced - And not only that, it would be free! Hancock and Moore offers free core replacements to the original buyer of it's furniture - How often to you hear that from a company these days??!

Duane placed the order and told me to expect the replacements in a couple of weeks. I was very happy and anxious to see what kind of difference they made.

I then heard back from Duane the next day with some bad news - All of these cores were going to cost me full price to replace as H&M only replaces the same kind of cores to original buyers! In other words, I could get lifetime replacement cores as long as they were the extra firm I had originally purchased. It looked as if i was going to have to spend another few hundred dollars.

I contacted Duane again and let him know I was disappointed, but I understood. He wrote me back and told me to sit tight - he wanted to talk to a friend of his at H&M to see if he could do anything for me.

Well - His "friend" turned out to be no other than the owner of H&M - Jack Glasheen! Jack told him it wasn't a problem at all to have the cores shipped to me - No charge!

I've gotten them and now I am pleased to report I feel like I'm sitting on clouds when I watch the Patriots kicking butt on Sunday! :)

Sorry this is so long, but I just wanted to share with people that this is the real difference when you buy from The Keeping Room. How many other stores don't even want to hear from their customers after the sale is made? And how many would just tell you that it's "company policy" to not replace cores instead of taking it to the owner of the company?

When you buy from H&M and the Keeping Room it's not only about the quality of the sale and the quality of the furniture. It's about the level of service you recieve after the sale. I couldn't be happier!

I did a lot of research before I spent so much on furniture, and other people's reviews made a big difference to me. So if this helps anyone else to form a decision I will have returned the favor. Thanks for reading!!

Thanks for the glowing review, Rob!

Glad the new cores feel much more to your liking - its good exercise to put those in the casing, eh? How'd you like to have that job at H&M 8 hours a day? <laughing>

I'm always glad to make phone calls on behalf of my customers and see if I can spend a little of my 'goodwill capital' to make things happen. I do a lot of business with H&M and they know and appreciate that. So once in a while I can get exceptions for things if I don't 'go to the well' too often, and in this case it was the non-standard core replacements for you at no charge. I may not be able to make it happen every time, but I'll always give it my best effort and try to work to make the customer happy. It doesn't always work out that way, and I won't ever make a promise on things I can't deliver - but I try to see things through the eyes of my customers and be as fair as I can be.

I have an admitted bias in favor of Hancock and Moore, and the reason is THEY tend to try to work in the retail customer's favor as well, and I have direct access right to the owner's on a first name basis. As an example:

A customer of mine in Alabama ordered some H&M pieces two years ago, and among them was a City and a Half Ottoman. She complained that with use, the top cushion was becoming unsightly in her eyes and had shifted a tad. She sent me photos. Well, quite honestly I looked at the photos and didn't see anything abnormal - they all look like that over time. Fact of the matter is unless you have tight top ottoman, any use is going to compress the materials in the top cushion and they're going to show some movement and overhang. Still I sent the photos to H&M for review. Their warranty dept. concurred that my assessment was spot-on, and there was no workmanship defects. I notified her that it was not a viable warranty claim and she replied that she was dissatisfied and would not be buying H&M in the future because of this.

When I was at Market a week later, I made mention to the Executives of this, and asked them how they felt about it. None of use like to lose a customer, whether their gripe has a justifiable basis or not. This is one very small piece of furniture and its two years old, but we all pulled up the photos again on the computer and reviewed them together. It wasn't a workmanship defect - but the customer had a perception of how this piece should perform over time and she was not happy. So a decision was made to allow her to get the piece fixed locally to her satisfaction by a local upholsterer in her area and H&M would pay up to $ 100 for the work (a device called a Regulator is inserted into the core and the internal material is manually moved around in position, takes about 10 minutes). That's what I call the Extra Effort made to satisfy the customer. Whether she will choose to do so or not is up to her - and we don't know if that will make her happy with the purchase, but we made a joint effort to do something for here when there really was no viable warranty issue.

We try!

I, too, had our sofa cushions replaced, Rob--but had to pay for them, and deal with decidedly unfriendly salespeople. So a story like yours does the soul good. :)

sorry to hear that Organic! :(