Lin's Touch of Elegance — Local services in Bedford

Incredibly disappointed in the experience we've had here. Paid $1057 to have a very small chair reupholstered, refinished and stained - upholstery was satisfactory but the wooden arms and legs of the chair were simply oiled, not refinished and stained. A second chair has been upholstered with the wrong fabric twice so far after having initially had a replacement selection made for us when our selection was unavailable and subsequently having the wrong fabric ordered by her staff the second time. We were at no time told our initial fabric selection had been discontinued by the company. We were not given the opportunity to select an alternate fabric - the choice was made by the owner. When we were dissatisfied and offered by the owner to have it corrected, we selected a new fabric and asked the employee who helped us to call the manufacturer in our presence to insure availability-which she did. When we were called to pick up the chair, we discovered that it had been covered in the wrong fabric AGAIN. When we felt it reasonable at that juncture to terminate the contract for service and request a refund of the $1500 paid to date for the second chair, we were denied by the owner. The owner offered us $750 which we declined. It should NEVER be the customer's obligation to "cut the losses" with a business who has made mistakes twice. We've had to initiate civil action to pursue a refund. Unfortunately I'll think twice about supporting small local business as a result of this disheartening experience. after more than a year of attempting to negotiate with this merchant, we're still out $1500+ ......multiple attempts to resolve this matter without civil litigation including through the Better Business Bureau. Settlement offers were insulting low - less than half of what we've paid. Merchant feels it's reasonable to expect us to pay for upholstery that we never selected TWICE - first time, she selected a replacement fabric without informing us our original selection had been discontinued and second time her employee ordered wrong fabric but settlement offers were inclusive of upholstery costs. We were also expected to pay for work that was never contracted for as well as work that was contracted for and never completed. Negotiating appeals processes is time-consuming and expensive. We chose to not obtain legal counsel since we'd already invested so much money with this vendor to begin with. Overall, unethical small business willing to forego reasonable customer service and quality workmanship to keep failing small...

Special pieces of furniture tell a story that is worth preserving. To save that history while maintaining the functionality of a piece of furniture, careful attention to detail must be maintained. Lin has the ability and desire to construct a repair plan that allows maintenance of the original features of an item while providing repairs to allow the piece to obtain functionality.

Lin was able to repair a many decades-old rocking chair that had been sitting in storage for a significant period of time. Although the chair has quite a history behind it, it had been essentially relegated to sitting in wait for the day it would be disposed in the nearby dumpster. A broken leg separated the union to the rocker, preventing it from being used as it had been for many years in the past. Lin was able to repair the leg to adjoin it to the rocker, in addition to finding a matching lacquer to apply to the worn rocker bottoms. The piece was repaired to such a high standard that it sits proudly displayed near the middle of the living room, a much different environment than the storage room where it was consigned for a substantial period of time.

Lin also provides very appropriate pricing, especially when taking into account that the utility of a once unusable rocking chair was restored to full functionality. In a time when disposable furniture has become more prevalent, Lin uses her craftwomanship and creativity to help keep the history of quality furniture alive...

Fast, Convenient, & Very Friendly,

We have six structurally sound bar stools , but the seats were badly in need of repair, the original faux upholstery worn from heavy use. We considered buying leather upholstery on-line, and attempting to repair ourselves. But before we undertook this effort, we made an online search of upholstery services near Bedford and Johnstown, and found a few, including Lin's Touch of Elegance. It is conveniently located in beautiful downtown Bedford, so we took one of the seats in to see what we could find. We were very happy with her large selection of fabric books & choices, and with Lin and her staffs helpful, pleasant and friendly manner in assisting with fabric selection and explaining what would be done to complete the job. And in a short time, we choose the leather fabric and placed an order. But now we needed to deliver the other 5 seats from our home 30 minutes away. So Lin offered to meet us midway the next day at a spot convenient for both of us to deliver the seats, saving us even more time! And just 4 days later she had ordered and received the material, and completed the leather upholstery of all six seats. The stools now look more beautiful than original due to her quality top notch craftsmanship. Thank you Lin for your personal touch, fast and so friendly service, and quality work. Our next furniture repair or upholstery need will be coming to your shop.

Thank You Gary...