Leather Furniture Center

Buying online can be a risky business if you are not completely certain of the reputation and integrity of the company you are doing business with. At a minimum you have to do your due diligence and check Google and other search engines under the search terms Leather Furniture Center Complaints and Leather Furniture Center Reviews.

Also check review sites such as Yelp.com. In the case of Leather Furniture Center there is an additional concern -- this is a very generic name for a furniture business and apparently there is more than one company that does business using this name.

Flexsteel apparently uses the Leather Furniture Center name for online sales of its furniture. It appears, however, that this program is handled through various retailers and not by the manufacturer itself. This means you also need to research the individual retailer you are dealing with. One of the most common retailers who appears to use the "Leather Furniture Center" name is a retailer in Florida known as SFR Shops. A quick review of complaints with the Better Business Bureau reveals 12 problems registered within a relatively short period of time. Although they appear to have resolved ten of the twelve complaints, that is still a fairly significant number for a small company over a relatively short period. Also, check for complimentary reviews. If there are only one or two, do they sound believable or could they have been sent in by company employees.

In addition there is this other complaint that I located:

SFR SHOPS, LEATHERFURNITURECENTER.COM ETC. SCAM COMPANIES

SFR Shops Complaint by Jasdea
SFR Shops LLC or leatherfurniturecenter.com sold damaged goods, did not uphold delivery date, blamed the shipping company, would not return inquiries in a timely manner, lied and stated we would get refund and now they are saying we will have to pay shipping when we no longer have product, won't tell us what the shipping amount is, one person tells us one thing and the next person we talk to says something different. When asked to email their suggested terms for resolution they will not as they don't want to be held accountable, guess they weren't listening when we told them we have it recorded on the phone or all the prior emails. Buyers Beware. When you look at Flexsteel for their retailers SFR is not one of them, wonder what flexsteel thinks about this? 3083a5d

When dealing with an online retailer it is extremely important to check out their warranties. Look very closely at the fine print. If something goes wrong with the shipment or if the furniture arrives damaged, how does the company say it will handle the problem? Is there a clause that states the company has sole discretion to determine whether a problem is your fault or theirs? Are you required to pay hundreds of dollars for return shipping if you decide to refuse the furniture? Is there a hefty restocking fee instead of, or in addition to, the return shipping fee? A substantial percentage of online furniture purchasers keep products they are not completely happy with rather than incur the expense and inconvenience of returning the furniture.

Once again, it comes down to the trust you have in the company you are dealing with. If your only relationship is that they are slightly (or considerably) cheaper than their competitors be aware that you are accepting a big risk.

Online furniture retailers often work on smaller profit margins than brick and mortar retailers. While that may seem to be an advantage that permits you to buy at lower prices, that is not always the case. The cost of customer service personnel, sending out a repair person or authorizing a pickup and second shipment can easily be more than their expected profit on your sale. From a strictly financial aspect, it makes perfect sense for furniture companies to simply walk away from the problem and hope you eventually get tired of complaining when they know that solving your problem fairly will result in financial loss to them.

Disclosure - I am the owner of Simplicity Sofas, a manufacturer of Furniture for Small Spaces and Tight Places, with 95% of our sales online direct to consumers. We do not usually sell leather furniture so I am not trying to sell to you personally, but I am extremely concerned about the overall relationship between online furniture retailers and consumers, and to prevent abuses by online retailers and to educate consumers about how to safely buy furniture online.

Jeff Frank, Owner
Simplicity Sofas