I had never bought a brand new couch before and I decided that it was finally time to treat myself to one. I did some looking around/researching for a few months before deciding that I wanted to order from Birchwood. I chose them because they are a) made in Canada and b) have a reputation for building high quality furniture.
At the beginning of September 2020, I went to the retailer with the sectional model and fabric already chosen and placed my order. I was told I would have my brand-new, beautiful, custom-made sectional in 6-8 weeks! YAY!
So, I get called away to work for a few months and during this time I called the store for updates on a semi-regular basis once the 6 week mark hit. I was told it was taking longer than normal, most likely there was a backlog of orders at the factory. I figured it was no problem at all since I wasn't home to get it.
I finally got back home from work ~ Jan 2nd. I called the store and the couch was enroute from Calgary. We set up a delivery date, and I counted down the days til my fabulous new sectional arrived!
It was now almost February. As soon as it was unloaded from the truck, I realized it was the wrong colour. I had chosen a fabric that was a deep, forest green. The sectional in my living room was beige. I calmly explained to the driver that it was the wrong colour. I get that stuff happens so I wasn't too bothered about it. He told me that I would get to keep the incorrect one in the meantime while I waited for the correct one to be built and sent. I already waited over twice the time it should take to get a new couch, whats another month or two? No problem!
So a few weeks went by and next thing I know, I'm getting a call from the store. I thought it would be them telling me my new couch was in and I answered the phone, hardly able to contain my excitement. The person on the phone told me that the fabric I selected wasn't available. I told him that was okay as I would already be waiting for them to build the new couch so I didn't mind waiting a bit longer for them to get the fabric restocked.
I received another call a few days later, from the store again. This time they told me that the fabric had apparently been discontinued. At this point, I started to get frustrated. I had already paid for the sectional in full ($4000,) AND waited 6 months just to be told that I would under NO circumstances be able to get what I had paid for.
I was told that I could choose a new fabric from any grade and would not be charged the difference. I asked about upgrading to leather, and got LAUGHED at and told "leather is an extra 20% and that won't happen." So I picked a different fabric for the couch as well as a few different fabrics for the throw pillows that would come with it. When I was looking through the swatches on the website, I noted that the original fabric I had chosen was still displayed. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. If something is known to be out of stock, TAKE IT OFF THE WEBSITE!!!
Anyways, so I phoned in my revised order. At this point, I did not feel very good about this transaction. Even with the new fabrics I picked out, I would not be getting anything even close to what I originally had in mind. Once again, a few days later, I got a call from the store. They told me that Birchwood ONCE AGAIN did not have ANY of the fabrics that I wanted in stock. Not only that, they had all been discontinued.
By now, I was extremely frustrated. The only colours they ACTUALLY had in stock (they only sent me a proper list after I spoke to 3 different people from the company and eventually the owner,) were brown, beige, and grey. It was only AFTER all was said and done and they had my money that I learned I'd have to settle for something I didn't even want. I felt completely taken advantage of.
I was sick of the song and dance so I told the store I would just keep the couch and I wanted a partial refund. They offered me $450 and I had to talk them up to get $600.
Do NOT waste your time doing business with this company....
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