Enliven — Local services in Emeryville

Genuinely, I wish them luck. I just also wish they would behave with more integrity. The owner’s responses here are also pretty unhinged, so I’d tread lightly given that he seems to be very involved in all of its operations.

(1) Deceptive listings on Craigslist.

I understand wanting to get your product in front of as many people as possible, but there are two options for listing on CL: by owner, and by dealer. It’s there so users can choose to filter ads for dealers who list hundreds of items in their stores. They falsely list ‘by owner’.

Even better, they give themselves an address in San Francisco’s Pac Heights neighborhood when they’re across a bridge in a different city.

(2) Inflated “original retail” numbers.

These kinds of things should tell you what you need to know about the owner and management, which is pretty important when you need to trust authenticity, details of the item (what fabric / what wood and finish / etc.), original retail prices, and delivery dates and times. All of which have been called into question by other reviews.

Edit: A response to their … spicy … response.

Enliven: “Are you so bitter that … “

🤦🏻‍♀️

Enliven: “I’m not a dealer in the way that Craigslist defines it (which is car sales by the way).”

🤦🏻‍♀️

Enliven: “I don’t have the time for haters like you.”

You’ve written 4(!) separate replies to me.

Enliven: “Even the Eames base models start at $6,500+. Lie after lie — and now you’re talking about integrity?”

Oof. Well. This is awkward.

A non-sale Eames chair starts at $5,395, at DWR. The most expensive dealer of their furniture. This also comes with customary 10-20% discounts from a rep at most every time of year and free delivery. And there you go, not only pulling your mask off, but also proving my initial point about you inflating retail numbers. (I’m leaving a screenshot here).

[He took this part of his reply down, and replaced it with a rant about price gouging claims. I only ever said that they sometimes inflate original retail numbers. He challenged me to find an example. And it was right there in his own argument that he doesn’t do it. Can’t make this stuff up.]

Enliven: “Unless you are Craig from Craigslist you’re in no position to tell us what to do.”

Alas, I am not Craig from Craigslist. He has provided us all a prohibited items and practices list, though. It’s short. Simple wording. Mis-categorization is there. I’ve uploaded a screenshot for you. Maybe this is a teaching moment?

Narrator’s Voice: it was not, in fact, a teaching moment.

Enliven: “In fact, they allow us to choose [to list “as owner”].”

Respectfully, no. They don’t. But the community moderated system isn’t perfect, and flagging your many ads means that they stay up, despite. Please consider listing it appropriately.

Enliven: “Why don’t you just scroll past them.”

I do. I also made a quick, factual review with receipts on this site … that’s made to leave reviews of a business Which you’ve called ‘evil’ and full of lies. Your behavior here has really educated us all.

Enliven: “We only post a few quality listings, not the spammy car ads that you see.”

“Honestly it’s unbelievable that you have this much time to hurt my small business with evil intent.”

Good golly. It’s one review. A factual review. On a site for reviews. With receipts of your behavior. Of something you actively do, refuse to acknowledge is misleading, and refuse to change. I don’t want to force anything. Just bring your behavior to the attention of others so that they can decide.

Enliven: “We even asked you to show just five listings out of our 2,000+ where we charge more than retail – and you couldn’t. Most of our inventory is priced 30–50% below retail.”

I said that you sometimes inflate original retail prices. Which you did in your reply, saying a base model Eames is $6,500 when it’s actually $4,300 on sale from DWR, or $5,400 normally priced.

But please don’t let me interrupt your rant, in which you are once again...

tl;dr: We paid for a rug, the owner promised to ship, then cancelled the order, took our money and ghosted us. We are in the process of filing a fraud complaint.

Full version: we found enliven mart through a Facebook marketplace posting. Based on the inventory they had on marketplace and this listing on Google, we assumed the company was legitimate. We were interested in a rug, and called the business to confirm they could deliver the rug to SF from the East Bay, speaking to Tenzin, who we assume is the owner.

On the phone the owner agreed to do local delivery. He followed up by text message to ask for our address and for our payment, done over Zelle. We sent our address and the Zelle to a contact registered as enliven mart, and the owner confirmed receipt.

That’s when things went poorly. We asked if he had any kind of order confirmation he could send. No response. The next day we asked if it had shipped. No response. We followed up the next day and the owner just kept texting “can I call you later?” but would never confirm a time or call us, and wouldn’t answer our calls.

We followed up again the next day - the day the rug was supposed to be delivered - and received a text saying “sorry this is not going to work, I am going to send your money back.” No money sent. It’s been daily check ins since then and the owner has not answered a single text or call. We finally notified him that we were going to have to file a fraud complaint. No response. So here we are.

We can’t tell if this business is illegitimate or wildly irresponsible. Either way, we cannot recommend doing business here.

Edit: After we posted this review, the owner told us that "we would never see our money again. I was going to refund. But not you will never...

Nobu the owner is the man for creating this store, and he is very helpful and accommodating. Highly recommend this store if you’re looking for Herman miller, or even hard to find European brands like Vitra and USM Haller.

I’ve bought 3 USM Haller pieces, an Eames dining table, a HM Noguchi coffee table, a Carls Hansen& Sons CH07 Chair, a FLOS Snoopy Lamp, and a Nelson pedestal table.

I never dreamed of being able to afford many of these (particularly USM Haller). I know everything he sells is authentic. He wants to ensure his buyers get a good deal. Is he the cheapest? Yes often. The only way I’ve gotten cheaper designer products is on FB Marketplace when someone is moving and in a rush to sell.

He gives me great advice and never pressures me. I’ve even backed out on buying one or two things and he’s been very cool and understanding about it. He’s curated an amazing selection of furniture and it’s my favorite...