Review of The Keeping Room - Duane is THE BEST!

[Damask]

Long overdue (almost a year), but finally here is our review of The Keeping Room:

We purchased Hancock & Moore Sundance Sofa (4716), Sundance Loveseat (4716-2), and custom Plantation Bench (045) through The Keeping Room, and our buying experience was absolutely WONDERFUL! Duane is THE BEST, period!!!

I started shopping for furniture at brick-and-mortar stores about a year ago... We were moving to our new house and needed a lot of furniture, family room being top priority... After a few weeks of checking out many local, and not so local, stores, I finally found the sofa I loved - H&M Sundance! Once I saw it, there was no going back. The salesperson, at the store where I saw it, had very little knowledge... it was like pulling teeth to get any information... All I got was "H&M is top of the line", "get protected leather", "order asap because it will take ca. 16 weeks (!)", "order asap because our sale ends soon".... I'm a researcher at heart, so as soon as I got back home, I got online to do my homework. Soon enough I found MyFurnitureForum and the learning began... What a journey! Thank you Duane sooooo much for creating this fantastic forum, and for continuously sharing your knowledge, and thank you all who post your findings, photos, and advice here!

Duane is amazing! He is the most knowledgeable and honest furniture salesman I've met (though not in person; we've exchanged posts on the forum, emails, and I had the pleasure of talking to him on the phone). I've had a chance to speak with quite a few salespeople over the past year, and nobody came even close. And if it so happens that some additional information is needed (be it customization for example), Duane will get it for you with the speed of light. He will listen to what you say and advise accordingly. As many other of his customers, I found all his recommendations spot on! Be it choice of best suited models, leathers, trims, cushions, customization, even layout... - Duane knows it all inside out, and will give you the best advice there is. You will wonder how have you ever managed to buy any furniture without him :)

Duane is a kind man, very easy to talk to, and I found him very calming when my stress levels were rising due to overwhelming number of choices and time constrains (H&M prices were to increase and their long distance sale policy was about to change). He's very patient and understanding. He answered my numerous questions and quoted the prices without making me feel like I was bothering him, in a more than timely manner, and without the slightest hint of pressuring me into the purchase (which I felt the minute I stepped into so many brick-and-mortar stores).

Duane devotes a lot of time and consideration to his customers, and will go the extra mile for them. When we were choosing the leather and the timing was getting tight, Duane sent us his own leather samples. He's very observant and proactive, even sent us leather samples before we asked for them. Later on I needed the Leather Magic cleaning set and he went to the Post Office to ship it the same day so I could have it before leaving for vacation. I mentioned to him that I noticed a tiny rubbing off on the welt corner (normal wear on painted leather, nobody would notice except me, and I did only because I happened to get close to it), and before I knew it, he had a touch up kit sent to me. Thank you Duane!

If all that wasn't enough, Duane will give you the best price possible; and in my case, and I bet everyone else's, that price was significantly better, even including shipping, than any other dealer's in my area - who often charge a delivery fee anyway. Plus, since I'm out of state, the shipping cost was still less than the tax I'd pay buying locally. Would I like to buy locally from someone I can talk to face to face, who would come to my house to advise me on the layout and color schemes, whose store I can visit to see actual furniture and endlessly browse through the leather samples, who'd know what they are talking about and guide me instead of just selling to me, who'd offer me a fair price and trustworthy after-sale service...? Sure I would. But in case of H&M that turned out to be simply impossible.

I'm thankful to Duane for offering his services long distance as I would be lost without him! I was heartbroken when I learned last year that H&M was restricting its long distance sales policy... luckily for us they haven't managed to enforce it yet, and hence we are in the process of shopping with The Keeping Room again - this time H&M Austin High Back Tilt Back Chair and Ottoman - and the superior experience of doing business with Duane continues. It doesn't feel like "doing business", it feels like being guided by a friend who just happens to be in that business.

I expect that Duane will tell you that sometimes things may go wrong and not every customer will be as pleased as we are... Leather turns out to be out of stock, the order gets delayed, the color of the leather turns out different than the sample you had (get CFA if you worry about that), the delivery takes longer than planned due to delivery company's schedule in your area or unpredicted circumstances, the furniture got a dent or a scratch during transportation, etc. etc. BUT this is all true no matter where/ who you order from, and if anything happened to my order, I couldn't imagine anyone handling it better than Duane. Because Duane truly cares!

To sum it all up, if you consider buying any furniture brand that Duane carries, I highly recommend The Keeping Room!
Once again, THANK YOU DUANE from the bottom of my heart!
J.