Great Blue Heron Furniture — Local services in Buda

ORIGINAL REVIEW MAY 2023: Great Blue Heron Furniture (GBHF) advertises that they "will happily replace or refund any accessory items that does not meet [their] customers' expectations," yet our experience with them was so different.

Let me preface this by saying that we didn't buy furniture from them through the traditional retail/website channel but rather through an auction hosted by Safari Club International (SCI). To exhibit their furniture there, GBHF is supposed to donate a piece of furniture to SCI's auction. This donation arrangement is between GBHF and SCI and really has nothing to do with us.

We bided on GBHF's donated "chair and half" through the SCI auction and won it for a lot of money ($4k+). To our dismay, when the chair got delivered, it was a totally different piece than what we paid for (it was an oversized chaise instead). We reached out to GBHF who told us they swapped the auction piece out at the last minute. Well, that's a bummer, because we weren't made aware of that last minute swap by anyone. Since we are local (Austin, TX), we asked if they would consider exchanging it for the chair we actually bided on (the one they originally posted/donated for auction), and the answer we got is that it was a donation to the auction so NO but they really wanted to help make it right so they could offer us a 10% discount for the chair we wanted and a $1250 credit to take back the chair they donated -- the chair that we paid $4k for.

To me, while they may have donated the chair to the SCI auction, (i) it was their choice to, so they could operate a booth there (it's called a marketing fee); (ii) they swapped out their "donation" at the last minute - no fault of ours; and (iii) maybe they were bitter about having to donate so they tried to "help" us by offering to have their donated chair taken back for a $1250 credit so they could turn around and sell it for $4k+ and making additional money off us on another chair by offering a 10% for the chair we wanted (10% is just a standard discount they offer everyone).

They make it seem like they really care about us as the customer, wanting to help make things right, but when Safari Club reached out to them to offer a fair resolution to help us as the customer, they declined SCI's offer too. So, in conclusion, while they try to appear to care about their customers, they don't. And now we are out $4k and have an oversized chair we can't use sitting in our living room.

UPDATED COMMENT APRIL 2024: Thank you for responding to my review. I actually wrote my original review in May 2023, right after the incident (hence the detailed recount of the matter), but for whatever reason Google did not have it published into the rating until last month. SCI told us they reached out to you to have you hold our chair for donation this year (2024) instead if you would consider taking it back. After they were turned down, they worked with us to refund the wrong chair, so SCI definitely came through for us and did what was right. To me, the two businesses (SCI and GBHF) should have come together to offer a solution to us as the customer in this awkward situation. Regardless, I'm sure the quality of GBHF's products are great like others have said, but my review reflects my opinion of the unhelpful, non-customer oriented customer service we received in our...

We purchased two loveseats and two ottomans and a chair from this amazing company for a new home which we purchased in a rustic design. I’m surprise there aren’t hundreds of reviews on them. They’re that good! .We chose their company from an online search. The customer service through Mat (who is the nicest most efficient guy you’ll ever meet) was the best we have experienced! Mat walked us through every choice possible, sent leather and hide samples and spent a great deal of time on the phone with us. Before beginning the actual production of our pieces he sent us many pictures of different cow hides to choose from and made suggestions for exact placement on the furniture. We were nervous about the finished product since we were not there in person through out the process but he took very detailed pictures upon completion of the furniture so we could see it prior to shipping. Now having said all of this. We are the PICKIEST people you will meet. If we are spending money on high quality furniture we want it to perfection. Great Blue Heron lives up to our standards and that is not easy to do. We have sent back all kinds of other furniture from other companies that was poor quality. Kristi coordinated our shipping and we knew where the furniture was every step of the way and she even rushed the order so we could have it by the weekend to enjoy. So... once it arrived I was so impressed I actually shed a few tears. This is the nicest furniture I have ever had the pleasure of seeing, smelling and sitting on. It is absolute perfection. The leather and croc is so pretty. The colors are stunning. The quality is very fine. Not cheap, thin or smelly hides. It is solid, heavy and beautifully stuffed. The seat is perfect without the sag of some leather products. We had a hard time getting one piece in through a very small door way we have but no worries, they even offered to foot the bill for a carpenter to help. We ended up just squeezing it in but they were so willing to help. Now, granted, the price point is higher than Chinese furniture but if you could handle it and see the beautifully oversized arms, high backs and support system on the sofas you would understand why. This is definitely a Texas company designing gorgeous furniture ina big way. The chair we purchased is big enough for two to snuggle if we want to. I’m going to try and attached pictures to this review for all to see what I’m talking about. If you want lodge quality, gorgeous furniture to last a lifetime please look into this company. I rarely write reviews but if anyone deserves...

Great Blue Heron is a high end American furniture manufacturer. I like to support American companies whenever I can, so I bought one of their 7 foot contemporary leather sofas for our home in Santa Fe. I made the mistake of having a friend go to the furniture store and sit on the sofa because I was out of the country on vacation. He told me it was great so I bought it. Well that’s the last time I take his advice. The cushions were hard as a rock, and sooo uncomfortable. We have a Restoration Hardware sofa at our home in Texas and we are spoiled by their down filled cushion cores. I told my salesperson that and he said no problem - Great Blue Heron will make you down filled cores just like the Restoration Hardware ones. I said OK - they sent me two new cores and charged me $450, Guess what - they were identical to the super hard ones that we had originally. As a consumer I was promised the down filled cores which was not what I received and charged for. The only reason I am giving 2 stars for the review and not 1 is because the design of the sofa and the leather and...