Unpleasant experience - Hancock Moore delivered by A&O

[jurislee]

We placed an order of one lennon sofa and two lennon chairs on 12/13/2013, with an estimated delivery in Feb or March. We were told by Duane that the leather we picked will be in stock from Jan 3, 2014, and then they will start making the sofa. 4 months passed, I called up in 04/2014 and was told that they just started making my sofa because Hancock Moore just got the leather. I find the excuse very lame as I cannot believe that the leather will need 4 months to deliver, but I accept the fact and appreciate Duane's efforts to push the manufacture date to April 16th.

A&O got my furniture on April 16th and i started the process of waiting the delivery. Nothing happened for another 2 weeks and then i was told that the delivery was scheduled to the wrong address (NJ instead of NY) because Duane gave them the wrong address (billing address instead of delivery address). Another week passed for A&O to re-route it. Finally, they said they would deliver on 5.5.2014 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and will call one hour before the delivery. We received a call on the day before and was told that the delivery will actually take place from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. I got up super early to make sure i will not miss the delivery call.

They did not show up on time - called the driver multiple times, the estimate goes from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Finally, they arrived the door at 11:10 a.m., more than 2 hours after the scheduled slot. I have to call in sick to get the day off from the work to wait for the delivery. The sofa and two chairs were delivered with reasonable care, and i immediately noticed a black (with very small tear) mark at the corner of the back of one chair. I asked about this immediately, and was told that this could be easily fixed by the furniture owner. Given that the items were packed in the paper box and they used the blanket all the time, I am not sure whether the damage is from the delivery or from hancock moore. I signed the bill of acceptance but smart enough to leave a note about this mark. I was also told by the delivery that one usually will not reject delivery because of a "small mark" like this. I tried to contact Duane about this, and got an email saying that this is delivery damage and i should reject the delivery.

I immediately contacted A&O and they asked for the pictures....still waiting for things to be sort out. Are the sofa and chairs beautiful? Yes. Am I entirely happy about the experience? No, with a purchase of $8000 including shipping, I expected better service and experience.

A few things i think parties in this incident can do better:

1. Duane, it would be better if you can (1) double check the delivery address when you charge the balance on the credit card; (2) to advice the scenario that the customers should reject the delivery - I do not receive expensive sofas every day and i do not know what to do under this circumstances; (3) provide an emergent contact number of Keeping Room. Unfortunately, today is Monday and i have no way to call Duane and asked for his advice.

2. A&O, not very helpful, (1) very limited delivery slots; i got the impression that if you do not accept the delivery time they assigned you, you have to wait another 10 business days; (2) not very friendly staff...i guess they are used to the fact that the delivery truck will be late.

3. Hancock Moore..yeah you made beautiful pieces, but delivery the items on April 16, 2014 for an order placed Dec 13, 2013...for more than 4 months (aka 32 weeks)? All i can say that these good things are for the rich and patient ppl...probably not for me.....

[wisejd]

Jurislee, Sorry to hear of your frustrations regarding your longer than expected wait and other obstacles between ordering and receiving your fantastic furniture pieces. Hopefully as you enjoy your new chairs and sofa; these will become a distant memory. The 'good' that can come from your sharing these events is in helping to prevent the frustrations of others, due to some prevention oriented improvements to the overall process, but also some adjustments to expectations.

Looking at your experience in reverse sequence, the "Black Mark (and very small tear)" in one of the chairs...

Duane and the Forum have offered very helpful advice regarding damage to furniture noticed during delivery. The question is one's perception of minor vs. more significant imperfections, scrapes, scuffs, etc. You have referred to your specific situation as "very small", which would direct me to make a phone call to A&O immediately and make note of the problem as well as getting some assurance that it will be mitigated by their firm. Additionally, as you did it would be important to document the issue on the "acceptance authorization form". Duane's advice has clearly been if you the customer believe that the issue is "small" and/or "correctable" you should sign the acceptance (with issue noted), rather than cause a significant delay in waiting for a replacement piece.

With regard to the Day-of-Delivery 'communications' and 'arrival time', your experience is not dissimilar to what often occurs. Most Delivery/Logistics company's advertising or process statements lead a Customer to expect excellent communications on the Day-of-Delivery directly from the driver. Also, it is not unusual to at first be given a four or two hour arrival window from the Dispatcher and then expect a Driver to call with a arrival window of 30-minutes. I don't think it is too unusual to find the Driver to Customer communications to be a little less wonderful than the advertised process statement. If you think about the daily events experienced by a Driver, you can appreciate why reality is typically more eventful than a Customer's first impression of Day-of-Delivery communications. Drivers often run into surprises during and between deliveries. Obviously Traffic, Weather, Driveways, Stairs, Lunch or Restroom stops, etc., etc. can impact both the Communication and the Arrival Time. Can you imagine if each awaiting customer kept calling the driver? No excuses, I'm just thinking of setting one's expectations.

Now as to the Address mix-up; I think your case is somewhat of an anomaly with the Billing and Delivery Address being in two different States. Your suggestion amounts to prevention via inspection, or double-checking important data items between parities in the supply-chain. I do find it a bit unusual that you didn't receive communications from A&O with the wrong Address in that communications ...or perhaps that is how you did notice the discrepancy.

Finally, to your original Four-Month cycle between Order and Manufacturing Date... This cycle-time when buying Furniture is not unusually long, as many furniture items/styles are built across planned build cycles. I believe in your case these normal 'cycles' were not the issue, but rather a supplier delay in the availability of the leather was the culprit. I think the improvement opportunity here deals with pro-active notification from H&M to The Keeping Room and to You would have helped to re-set expectations, but not improved the total cycle. Clearly only H&M could have known that they didn't receive the leather when expected.

Again, thanks for sharing your story ...while your frustration can certainly be felt by those of us reading about it, the help this might provide to future buyers is aided by the existence of this great Furniture Forum and Duane's dedication to his life-long Furniture Business and Customer Delight.

[asaasa3333]

Thank you for sharing the experience. I just found today that my order which was placed in early March is expected to be shipped in two weeks. I will keep this in mind and inspect furniture carefully, search the forum for what to do if furniture delivery damages product. Maybe this begs a "furniture delivery sticky" - perhaps there is one already.

[asaasa3333]

I clearly don't know the site. Lots of info on shipping. Will have to read and take notes.

[wisejd]

Here is a thread that has quite a bit of information on Home Delivery...

http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...hipping+damage

[drcollie]

We placed an order of one lennon sofa and two lennon chairs on 12/13/2013, with an estimated delivery in Feb or March. We were told by Duane that the leather we picked will be in stock from Jan 3, 2014, and then they will start making the sofa. 4 months passed, I called up in 04/2014 and was told that they just started making my sofa because Hancock Moore just got the leather. I find the excuse very lame as I cannot believe that the leather will need 4 months to deliver, but I accept the fact and appreciate Duane's efforts to push the manufacture date to April 16th.

Sorry your furniture was not made when you expected it to be done. As you know, I can only check dates and give out the best available information at the time. Yes, dates get altered. Some builds run late, others come too early (I have an two H&M orders in my storage facility right now because they arrived much quicker than anticipated and the customers are re-decorating the rooms). Most run on schedule. What you do not see behind the scenes is that often they will go to pull leather that is 'in stock' and find there are too many flaws in the hides. As an example, the H&M computer may show 600 s.f. available and your project needs 480 s.f. When they lay out the hides, there is only 400 s.f. that is usable, the rest is unsatisfactory or is from multiple dye lots so they have to order more hides based on tannery time frames. Secondly, H&M refuses 28% of all incoming leather as not up to standards. They inspect every shipment and over a quarter of it is returned as sub-standard, so another batch has to be ordered. If the leather arrives for your project and is rejected, then its another 4 to 6 weeks to get a new batch in. H&M will not use sub-standard hides in their production like many other companies will do. The above two scenarios are the primary reason for delays. Its unfortunate that H&M does not advise their dealers on order status, nor can I check it on the computer. The only way to do checks is for me to make a phone call, and with appx eighty orders ongoing all the time, I don't do that automatically but am always happy to do a status check when the customer requests it. Just call or email for updates.

A&O got my furniture on April 16th and i started the process of waiting the delivery. Nothing happened for another 2 weeks and then i was told that the delivery was scheduled to the wrong address (NJ instead of NY) because Duane gave them the wrong address (billing address instead of delivery address). Another week passed for A&O to re-route it. Finally, they said they would deliver on 5.5.2014 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and will call one hour before the delivery. We received a call on the day before and was told that the delivery will actually take place from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. I got up super early to make sure i will not miss the delivery call. They did not show up on time - called the driver multiple times, the estimate goes from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Finally, they arrived the door at 11:10 a.m., more than 2 hours after the scheduled slot.

As to the incorrect address you refer to, I only have one address for you in Jersey City, NJ. There was never any mention of an address in New York, either for shipping or billing, not even on the copy you signed and returned to me. Two to three weeks delivery time from day of pickup is the normal East Coast time window, however. West Coast is three to four weeks. As far as accurate timing, these are commercial trucks coming in the most heavily trafficked interstate in the USA - up I-95 to you in New Jersey from North Carolina. They have several stops along the way and mind-numbing traffic jams in Richmond, Washington DC, Baltimore and Newark DE before they even get to New Jersey. The fact they call with updates is about the best they can do, they cannot control the traffic flow on the highways. Also, if the delivery before yours or two or three held them up, it throws off their whole schedule. They are not arriving to you from a local warehouse facility, they are usually driving several hundred miles and you are one of many stops on the route.

It would be better if you can (1) double check the delivery address when you charge the balance on the credit card

The delivery address was correct based on the information furnished to me. Perhaps you moved and did not notify me of an address change? Best thing to do is to confirm the address when the delivery company calls - they do so well before the actual delivery date. Just verify when they make the first contact and that is at least a week before they begin routing.

(2) to advice the scenario that the customers should reject the delivery

This is written out on the sheet of paper that is enclosed with your receipt and mailed to you. The information sheet that I think nobody reads! It comes with every receipt on how to handle deliveries and what to expect. I have heard twice this past week "You don't really expect me to read that, do you?" How can I make customers read the material I send them? I'm all ears if you have any ideas....

[(3) provide an emergent contact number of Keeping Room. Unfortunately, today is Monday and i have no way to call Duane

Sorry, but I'm not on call 24/7. Everything you need to know is sent on that information sheet enclosed with your receipt and that also has recommendations on what to do in the event of delivery damages. This information arrives via U.S. Mail many days before delivery. Yesterday was my day off and I was on my motorcycle out in the mountains of West Virginia. The store is closed Sundays and Mondays. I responded with two emails from my mobile phone a few hours apart to the several that you sent to me when I saw them during fuel stops during the day. Back at work today, I spoke with A&O and as we discussed on the phone they are going to send in a mobile repair tech at their expense to do the touch-up.

Buying furniture long distance is not for everyone and I state that very clearly here in the forum. You may want to consider buying locally for future purchases as a local dealer will be able to service to a higher standard than anyone shipping pieces. There are always trade-offs, you get price advantages buying distance but you may get superior service working with local dealers on things that are important to you such as more accurate time stops, stores being open when the delivery arrives, etc.. Hope that helps address some of your concerns and complaints.

[Marjflowers]

I will not comment on the above exchange, although I have thought about it for several days. I will, however, relate some of the very best advice I received before going into my first management job. It stayed with me all these many years because I believe it applies to all human relationships, not just supervising people. The advice is simple:

"Praise publicly. Criticize privately." Or, as we call it in the South, manners.

[jurislee]

Thanks everyone. I guess it is a sort of expectation issue. I ordered "cheap" furniture from macy's, saloom and durham. They are all on time (even within the 2 hour delivery slot) and I am just disappointed when my delivery is 2.5 hour late after the designated window while A&O has been viewed very highly on this forum.

I am glad to see that people are taking these critisim seriously and i apologize if my high expecation makes me sound like a demanding customer.

The solution proposed by A&O is to pick up the sofa and move it back for restoration,as their budget is ONLY 80 bucks to fix the sofa while an techinication in NYC would cost 230 bucks. They regard the shipping back and forth is free to them, while it would cost us to take time off from the work and wait at home for them. Again, finger crossed about no more damages on the pick up and re-delivery.

My suggestion to fellow customers: (1) there is always two sides of the story, and you are responsible for your expecation and experience. If you want everything go well, please ask a lot of questions and make more calls. For example, i remeber i did mention to Duan on the call that it will be shipped to NYC, but the place is under renovation and it is too early to talk about the delivery in Dec when we placed order. But of course, both parties forgot about this 4 months later. (2) check the items carefully, it seems like it is always cautious to reject a piece if there is a small mark. In my case, if i reject, the delay might be another 2 weeks, but now we are looking for at least another 3 weeks for shipping this back and forth.

Finally, i hope everyone can understand where the frustration comes from. I guess no one would expect to wait for more than 5 months (till the last restored chair comes to my apartment) unless you are clearly advised of the possiblity before the order.

I have to say some of the things i said in the post to Duane may not be fair, as i was super helpless and panic when i cannot reach him on Monday. However,I did read Duan's pre-delivery letter. I am happy to post the letter on the forum. To me, the letter is very general and more like a disclaimer for Duane, instead of a handy cheat chart for the customers. For example, it did mention the delivery damage is on A&O, but it did not mention which mark (leather mark) is normal and which marks can be delivery damages. It also did not mention what to do when you see an unusual mark, call Duane? call A&O? Propose another solution? I did not know all these things untill i write a bad experience on this forum and find the sticky post. For another example, it says it might be delay in manufacture due to lack of leather, but did not tell you how long the delay would be. One week, two weeks? Who would expect a 4 month delay without being told specifically? Now i know why every dealer loves his disclaimer letter.


However, just to be fair, Duane's price is the best if you want to buy Hancock Moore. You just need to expect some loss of "hands on" if you buy furniture long distance.

[jurislee]

Thanks for the advice, I guess this does apply to most human relationships. However, customer satisfaction may be the only exception. If a customer cannot share the experience publicly or provide constructive advice, how can a company improve its service? What is the point of providing the customer survey all the time? While you can MANNERS in South, you need exceptional service and performance to thrive in the service industy in everywhere around the world.

[wisejd]

Actually there have been numerous studies on Customer Feedback, including the well-known TARP STUDY, which states that a customer is seven times more likely to formally document negative feedback than positive feedback. I do understand and appreciate the politeness of marjiflowers comment, however when companies are striving to stay competitive, the Voice of The Customer is always an imperative to listen to. Also an attitude that Problems are Treasures has to permeate a Company that is dedicate to Continuous Improvement and Customer Satisfaction. I also, don't quite see why there isn't some bargaining room on a local repair as I can't see the round-trip actually being looked at as free. Maybe they have empty trucks returning as a routine, but the chair does take room on the outgoing run; not to mention the specific stop at your place two more times.