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Thread: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

  1. #1
    levitt11 Guest

    Question Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    Require you to make an appointment to see the salesperson whom you met originally, only upon calling them today for an appointment on Saturday when myself and my husband are available (due to being care givers, which she was told this) - only to be told she will not be there - and we should come on Sunday (her day off is Friday). Sunday will not work for us, and during the week they close too early for my husband to get there (5pm), and I specifically told her we would be coming on this Saturday when I went there on Tuesday this week.

    Would it be wrong of us to go on Saturday and seek another salesperson? Yes, Duane instead of making that long ride to you, I finally found a high end furniture store that carries H&M furniture not more than an hour away - took some looking - but located it. But was told by appointment only, and to bring a detailed floor plan of our living room with all the furniture already placed there on the floor plan. I'm thinking okay I'm doing the work for you - and you are trying to sell me a sofa that I'm telling you is already too long for my needs; as well as I'm really in the market for a recliner, and may have my Henredon reupholstered - but she seemed to have ignored this factor.

    Is it truly this difficult to deal with salespersons with H&M furniture, as I'm flabbergasted to be honest
    They also carry Stickley, Kindel, Baker, Pearson, and a range of others as well.

    Or do we take down furniture piece name, number, color(s), etc - and call you about the pieces for pricing and have you ship them up here to us, we are in PA. My initial reaction after calling today was disturbing to say the least, when I though hmmmmm, we set this up on Tuesday for Saturday, now you are out of town as my "salesperson", knowing I have limited time available to me.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default Re: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    Well, obviously they are working on commission, but they have also allowed the sales staff to control the customer - which means Management has a managing issue. Not good, as you can see it has left a bitter taste in your mouth! And they are not willing to accommodate YOU and your schedule so I'd not worry too much about that salespersons' commission. You tell the salesperson when YOU are going to be there and if they want the sale they'll get themselves to the store to meet you. Simple as that. I will ALWAYS stay late or come in on Sundays for folks that want to make a purchase (I will not for 'lookers', however - they have to come during regular store hours). I've come to the store as late a 10 p.m. for customers and interrupted painting my house on a Sunday to meet someone here (I will show up in painting clothes, however!) That's what retail is.

    As for them 'telling' you what you need, that's arrogance and poor salesmanship. I make suggestions all the time, but never hard sell someone. The only reason for a hard sale is a quick sale. Get you in and out as fast as possible. I've spent hours and hours with folks exploring possible pieces and ultimately want everyone to be happy with their purchase because quite frankly - at this level of build this stuff lasts a long time - and if you're happy with it you'll tell your friends. And if you're unhappy, you'll tell your friends , too! I'd rather have a positive review.....

    I'd not bother with this store. They're treating you as a 'mark' and nothing else. Telling you when to be there, and what to buy. Sounds like they will give you "X" amount of time as well if you do go, and then push for a quick close to the sale. If they treat you like that before you buy, imagine if you have an after-the-sale issue?

    I won't encourage you to shop another store and call me with names and numbers, because that's a bit too much 'vulture' for me, but I'll be glad to help you from a distance any way I can, including mailing out free leather samples, etc. Keep in mind the Price Increase on H&M is effective this Monday and its a pretty good increase. If you can make a buy decision before that date you can save a little cash no matter what dealer/store you choose to use. The price increase is nation--wide to all the dealers.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Richmond, VA
    Posts
    125

    Default Re: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    No, this is not typical. I believe your "salesperson" works on commission.

    Quote Originally Posted by levitt11 View Post
    Would it be wrong of us to go on Saturday and seek another salesperson? .
    Absolutely not.

    The best solution to your dilemma is here:

    Quote Originally Posted by levitt11 View Post
    Or do we take down furniture piece name, number, color(s), etc - and call xxx about the pieces for pricing and have xxx ship them up here to us, we are in PA.

  4. #4
    levitt11 Guest

    Default Re: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    Okay, so my reaction to all of this was not unfounded. My husband came home for lunch today and I told him of our dilemma and he said you must be joking after all the time you spent researching this, then going there, and to top it off the accident you ran into on the way back, and the time you spent trying to get home <eek>.

    Yes, I felt like I was being "sold" and I'm not used to that - my last furniture store I dealt with, we had a very good customer/salesperson relationship with the person we dealt with exclusively for years - unfortunately this store is no longer in business. We were never over sold, sold, nor felt like we were taking up someone's time - our salesman was always extremely helpful to us, to the extent when we needed to move our furniture into storage temporarily - he allowed it to be moved into their store, for storage in their warehouse for a nominal fee. That is a salesman worth his weight in gold to me.

    Though Duane you may feel vulture like with my suggestion, I made it to my husband as well - taking down the information of the pieces we are interested in and calling you - he also liked that suggestion as well. Another reason being - this woman salesperson was not cooperating when I asked about other cushions for sofas and/or recliners and I did inform her I had done my homework for the H&M product line. She did not even take the time to discuss this with me - big mistake! As my personal jeweler has said over and over, never judge a book by the cover, not that I went in there dressed completely down, but heck it's almost 100 degrees up here - and I wasn't going dressed to the hilt either.

    She is out of town going to NY to visit her daughter and she told me those plans cannot be changed - period! I told her if that was the case, we cannot come on Sunday, due to care giving arrangements - and after talking to my husband I'll make a decision - and I see no need to return a call to her. If we go Saturday - we will look around - take down information - and truly unless I really feel they are able to give me some fabulous deal - and I run into a much more customer orientated salesperson - I'm taking down information and just leaving the store - and most likely you may receive a call from us.

    That Sadler Recliner you told someone to look at - I literally went there with all the information on it - and specifically asked to see it to sit in it - she tried to steer me to all types of others rather than the one I requested - I kept telling her price was not the object - please let me see and sit on this piece. It was very frustrating!!!

    Thanks to you Duane, I can pick out a piece of H&M vs Stickley and most others at a glance, after reviewing this site for hours and hours on end That "Lone Ranger Chair" they had it on the floor, and I recognized it immediate <lol>.

    That drive to you is still a possibility, need to talk to my husband again, sigh. Only we would come down Friday night and stay over night to make it easier on the both of us.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default Re: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    She probably didn't want to discuss cushion cores because she most likely didn't know the options. I see that a lot. You have to be pretty familiar with a product line to know all that, because each company is different and she might have to go look it up. Lots of salespeople object to having to go look something up, so thats fairly typical.

    A quick story....

    Many years ago a young man with a winning smile would come into my store and just 'hang out'. He had dirty blonde long hair, was in his mid-20's, drove a ratty old Dodge and wore rags for clothes (literally). But he was always pleasant and loved the handmade tiger maple furniture. I'd chat with him on his regular Saturday visits when he'd usually spend an hour or two in the store and he'd always leave with the same parting words 'One day I'm going to come buy a bunch of this stuff'. I'd smile and say to myself "probably not Alex, but you never know". He never monopolized my time and was always welcome....but he never even bought a pair of $ 2.95 candles over a period of two or three years.

    Then one day....he DID come in and buy everything in the store. He had the same ratty car, the same clothes with the holes in them, the same dirty blonde long hair. I thought he was joking with me, but he went around and said "I'll take this - and this - and this - and that" until he had bought $ 50,000 worth of stuff. I was stunned. I said "Alex, what's going on here? Did you rob a bank?" No, he had not. What he had done however, was write a stock picker program back in the 90's that took him several years to bring up to speed. And it worked. He had made investors millions of dollars and was now a millionaire himself. I was his first stop after buying a beautiful new house in Bethesda MD - I rated above the car dealer. Over the next several years he completely furnished three homes through my store, becoming my single largest customer I've ever had. One day he told me "Know why I only shop your store? Because you never judged me when I was just a stupid kid with a dream. You always made time to talk with me, even though you knew I couldn't afford anything in your store."

    And that - is why you never make a judgement about a customer.

    If you decide to drive to Virginia, try to make a trip out of it. I'm only two miles from Historic Mt Vernon and of course we have all the usual museums and such downtown. There's even a new Hampton Inn just a mile and a half away:

    http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Virginia.html

    And if you need me to be open Friday evening .... I can do that.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  6. #6
    levitt11 Guest

    Default Re: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    Good story <smile>...and that is how my jeweler thinks as well...when we went there to look at diamond necklaces to match an antique diamond bracelet I had...you would have thought both my husband and I were bums the way we looked that day <lol>...but he knew us...and when we showed him the bracelet and told him the value...he knew exactly the range I was looking for and what exactly I wanted...and showed me one piece...but my eye was drawn to another right away...of course it was priced much higher than what he was going to show me...and that is what we purchased right then on the spot. A year later I went back to have drop earrings made to match the necklace, custom made to my specs. He spent all the time needed to get them exactly as I wanted them.

    That is want I want from a furniture place as well, someone whom will spend the time with me/us to give us what we want - not sell us what we do not want. We pretty much know what we are looking for - we just need to make sure it will fit our space. Your site has been invaluable to me, since I found it. I believe in quality furniture, I also believe in furniture made in the U.S.A. that is also quality.

    People whom judge others based on looks or what they drive, or how they dress make mistakes - as you found out in the future someone to be one of your largest customers - simply because you never judged them. We don't flash what we have, we simply look, for lack of better words "simple" to others in dress and appearance; that suits us fine.

    I talked to my husband, he happened to call, and I told him how about a trip down to you instead and leave on Friday night, so you providing info on a Hampton Inn is great. So let me see what all I can arrange, since it is Thursday night, and I may go back to this store tomorrow and take a picture or two and get some info off of a recliner I loved there to get the #'s and color info off of it. Of course I was being shown around so quickly, I didn't get a chance to write anything down at all, another thing that irked me. We've been to Baltimore Inner Harbor many times, and to Washington, D.C., and over into the Alexandria area, so we are somewhat familiar with the area. Just never knew you were there

    Husband wants to take the boat to Rockhall this summer for a week or so, that is another trip we are trying to put together.

  7. #7
    Monique Guest

    Default Re: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    I hope you do get to go to Duane's store. It is worth the trip. We went up a couple months ago, met Duane, and placed our order on the spot. He gave us plenty of time to look around and patiently answered all of our questions. We decided on one leather and then rec'd a sample of the actual leather H & M was going to use on our pieces. We decided it was too dark and switched to another leather. We received our sofa and chair today and we are pleased. Be sure to try Duane's favorite BBQ place while you are there. It is worth the trip.
    Monique

  8. #8
    levitt11 Guest

    Default Re: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    Well we are definitely heading down there tomorrow night after husband gets home from work and we grab something to eat. We made a reservation at the hotel he suggested, so this way we will be fresh Saturday to look all around his shop. We do intend on finding something, I'm on a mission <lol>, and husband is as well - after I told him of the one recliner I sat in - he said go back to that store - take your camera with you - take pictures and get the info off the tag - he would like to sit in it as well <lol>. We have looked over the collection site here for sofas - size is an issue for us - nothing much larger than 83" in length - and possibly have found a few that would work for us - really are interested in a recliner - that is foremost on the list of items to find there.

    You said BBQ !!! You really want me to tell my husband this <smile>, that is his favorite thing to eat. Then I'll have to rent a hotel room for another night, just to clean him up <grin>.

    Duane, we are both looking forward to meeting you on Saturday; this will be an adventure. Being care giver's it's not easy for us to get away - we have to plan carefully to make a trip like this. If it's hot, we will be dressed down, we dress for the weather, and as boater's we definitely dress for the weather

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default Re: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    Its going to be ~ hot ~ on Saturday! See you then, I'm in at 9:30 a.m. and the store is usually quiet in the morning, but gets busy in the afternoon.

    Here's your BBQ place, about 8 miles south of the hotel on the same road (US HWY 1). Worth the trip and you must get the homemade pie. <G>

    http://www.dixiebones.com/index.html

    The other good place to go not too far away (about 15-20 minutes from the hotel), but you must call ahead to get on the wait list an hour ahead of time:

    http://www.greatamericanrestaurants.com/mikesmain/

    See you Saturday!
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  10. #10
    levitt11 Guest

    Default Re: Is it normal for a high end furniture store to..

    Okay, casual it is then <grin>, and I've taken note of the eating establishments and downloaded their info - oh it will be a difficult decision - I like Mike's menu - husband will like Dixie Bones <lol>. Maybe I'll drop him off there while I head to Mike's <smile>. Yes, we plan on getting up early at the hotel on Saturday, eating breakfast there, then heading right to your store, figuring the earlier we get there, the less people will be there first thing.

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