Problems with Thomasville Furniture
Complaint
Bill
Country: United States
My wife and I recently purchased a Felicity Sunlit Cherry Bedroom Suite from Thomasville Furniture. Our Thomasville saleswoman had led us to believe that our Thomasville furniture would be made in North Carolina, but when it was delivered we discovered that it was all made in China. Thomasville had built its reputation on delivering high quality American-made furniture from North Carolina -- but it appears that those days are now long gone.
The fit & finish of our Thomasville made-in-China furniture was poor. There's really no other way to describe it. Our bedroom suite has a total of 28 drawers. Many drawers weren't centered in their openings; some drawers were recessed in too far, and other drawers extended out too far. After 2 visits from Thomasville's repair people, we still have: 8 drawers not centered in their openings; 13 that extend out too far; and 7 that are recessed in too far. Thomasville's repair people told us that our remaining problems were non-repairable. So I guess we'll just have to learn to live with this poor quality.
When we purchased our furniture, we specifically asked our Thomasville saleswoman what kind of wood was used in its construction. She told us it was "entirely cherry". When we later asked Thomasville's repair people that same question, they looked at our furniture and readily identified over 5 different species of wood -- just one was cherry, and at least 2 were obscure, unidentifiable Chinese hardwoods. What we actually received was quite different from what we paid for. When we brought this to the attention of the management of our Thomasville dealer, they completely ignored our complaint.
At first glance, Thomasville's construction quality appeared to us to be quite good (i.e., dovetail drawers, etc.). But in places where it wouldn't be quite as obvious to a customer, some of the furniture's joints are held together with staples. That doesn't instill much confidence that the furniture will last for more than a few years. We would have expected to find that kind of cheap construction in bedroom suites that cost under $1,500 -- but not in a Thomasville bedroom suite that cost us over $5,000!
My wife's dresser arrived with a large 10" circular hole in the back of the cabinet. Rather than repairing this damage "before" the furniture was shipped, Thomasville's factory instead tried to conceal the damage by screwing a large Masonite panel over the hole. While Thomasville repaired the damaged back panel "after" we discovered it, the point is that Thomasville deliberately shipped severely damaged furniture to a customer with the hope that the damage would never be discovered. That's not what one would expect from a quality "world class" furniture brand.
Thomasville's furniture is shipped with a Chinese "plasticized" finish. In our experience, it attracts dust like a magnet and unlike a quality lacquered or varnished finish it's relatively soft and easily damaged. According to Thomasville's "printed furniture care instructions" my wife and I are not suppose to allow synthetics, rubber, or plastics to rest on the wood finish as they may damage the finish. That, of course, prohibits placing most lamps, clocks, radios, TVs, pens, etc. on top of your Thomasville furniture unless you first modify the bottoms of those products.
Everything at Thomasville seems to now be focused on charging its customers as much as possible, while at the same time cutting its costs as much possible. Even the screws that hold the knobs to the drawers have been cost-cut. Rather than extending the screws into the knobs by at least 3/8", they just barely touch the knob. The cost savings across an entire bedroom set has to be less than a dollar -- and yet amazingly Thomasville still went for it.
After contacting our local Thomasville dealer several times about many of these problems and receiving no satisfaction, my wife and I wrote to Ed Teplitz, president of Thomasville Furniture Industries -- and also to Ralph Scozzafava, CEO of Furniture Brands International. Furniture Brands International owns Thomasville, along with Broyhill, Lane, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, and Maitland-Smith. Neither of them ever responded to us. That pretty much sums-up our Thomasville customer satisfaction experience.
The fit & finish of our Thomasville made-in-China furniture was poor. There's really no other way to describe it. Our bedroom suite has a total of 28 drawers. Many drawers weren't centered in their openings; some drawers were recessed in too far, and other drawers extended out too far. After 2 visits from Thomasville's repair people, we still have: 8 drawers not centered in their openings; 13 that extend out too far; and 7 that are recessed in too far. Thomasville's repair people told us that our remaining problems were non-repairable. So I guess we'll just have to learn to live with this poor quality.
When we purchased our furniture, we specifically asked our Thomasville saleswoman what kind of wood was used in its construction. She told us it was "entirely cherry". When we later asked Thomasville's repair people that same question, they looked at our furniture and readily identified over 5 different species of wood -- just one was cherry, and at least 2 were obscure, unidentifiable Chinese hardwoods. What we actually received was quite different from what we paid for. When we brought this to the attention of the management of our Thomasville dealer, they completely ignored our complaint.
At first glance, Thomasville's construction quality appeared to us to be quite good (i.e., dovetail drawers, etc.). But in places where it wouldn't be quite as obvious to a customer, some of the furniture's joints are held together with staples. That doesn't instill much confidence that the furniture will last for more than a few years. We would have expected to find that kind of cheap construction in bedroom suites that cost under $1,500 -- but not in a Thomasville bedroom suite that cost us over $5,000!
My wife's dresser arrived with a large 10" circular hole in the back of the cabinet. Rather than repairing this damage "before" the furniture was shipped, Thomasville's factory instead tried to conceal the damage by screwing a large Masonite panel over the hole. While Thomasville repaired the damaged back panel "after" we discovered it, the point is that Thomasville deliberately shipped severely damaged furniture to a customer with the hope that the damage would never be discovered. That's not what one would expect from a quality "world class" furniture brand.
Thomasville's furniture is shipped with a Chinese "plasticized" finish. In our experience, it attracts dust like a magnet and unlike a quality lacquered or varnished finish it's relatively soft and easily damaged. According to Thomasville's "printed furniture care instructions" my wife and I are not suppose to allow synthetics, rubber, or plastics to rest on the wood finish as they may damage the finish. That, of course, prohibits placing most lamps, clocks, radios, TVs, pens, etc. on top of your Thomasville furniture unless you first modify the bottoms of those products.
Everything at Thomasville seems to now be focused on charging its customers as much as possible, while at the same time cutting its costs as much possible. Even the screws that hold the knobs to the drawers have been cost-cut. Rather than extending the screws into the knobs by at least 3/8", they just barely touch the knob. The cost savings across an entire bedroom set has to be less than a dollar -- and yet amazingly Thomasville still went for it.
After contacting our local Thomasville dealer several times about many of these problems and receiving no satisfaction, my wife and I wrote to Ed Teplitz, president of Thomasville Furniture Industries -- and also to Ralph Scozzafava, CEO of Furniture Brands International. Furniture Brands International owns Thomasville, along with Broyhill, Lane, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, and Maitland-Smith. Neither of them ever responded to us. That pretty much sums-up our Thomasville customer satisfaction experience.
Comments
I brought a drawer back into the store and could see that there was no grain. The salesman said all pieces of wood are different. I asked why all the wood on their floor was burly with lights and darks and why all the picture on the Internet looked like that. He said I would need to talk to the manager.
In the meantime, I asked my friend who helped me pick out the piece, to come check it out. He couldn't believe the difference. I took him back to the store where he said there was no comparison. The salesman again said grains are different, etc.
So, today I went in to see the salesman. He started talking company policy and then said that all sales are final and that it says that right on the receipt. Well, I never noticed that and I thought Thomasville was a reputable company with high quality furniture. The manager said he would have to send an inspector out, there would be a restocking fee, I assume a re-delivery fee too and they would send me another piece of the same wood. I said that I didn't trust their ability to send me a piece that would look like the one in the store. I asked them to just switch it for the black finish. Apparently that's not possible. I could have the one on the store (with a nick in it) and a black side table also off the floor. I said I didn't want black and ginger.
So I came home to put a dispute on the credit card to hold the payment. VISA says that if the company's policy is all sales are final, they cannot make them change that.
The manager said he will not make a snap decision and he will call me on Monday.
Already, a drawer track has broken on our Drawer-Chest (model 42711-311). This drawer was only opened a few times (used to store winter sweaters)before the track broke.
The furniture is also an unbelievable dust magnet as others have noted. The dust clings to the surface of the furniture instead of to the dampened dust cloth.
Alas, I never saw any negative posts before buying our furniture. I hope this website will help others be alert to the situation.
a purchase agreement when you first placed the order and the furniture can't be returned.They tell you that they make repairs or give exchanges. Mind you they are the ones that determine if it is warranted.