Woodward Throwbacks — Local services in Hamtramck

I recently had a very poor experience with Woodward Throwbacks and am overall very disappointed. I acquired a bowling alley that I wanted to turn into a dining table and I had sanded and sized the table myself, but given a deadline needed help finishing the project. I asked WT for their help in completing the work and they agreed to finish the table by sanding, making fresh clean cuts, staining, sealing, and lacquering the table. They have made bowling alley tables in the past and so there was no concern on their part that they had the ability. I agreed to a price of $220 for the work and after they had the table a few days they increased the price by $100, which I agreed to as some of the work was not as clear to them in my description over the phone.

They turned the project around within a couple weeks and when it arrived at first everything looked fine. I did notice that the lacquer finish seemed to have an odd texture I am not accustomed to, but didnt worry about it. Within a few days, the finish started to crackle off. It started from flex in the table, but after a few days of use i realized that the finish was not only flaking off of the areas of flex, but also on the sides of the table and areas where flex hadn't occurred. I contacted WT about my concerns and they were very quick to push blame onto areas other than their own responsibility. I called the manufacturer of the lacquer and after sending them images was told that it was their opinion that the lacquer was laid incorrectly or that the preparation of the surface before the lacquer was applied was done incorrectly as the fishing was coming off easily with only a fingernail.

WT again refused to acknowledge their involvement in the problem and at no point offered to at least come and look at the table with their own eyes even after I sent multiple images and videos of the finish cracking off with my fingernails. They refused to help other than to offer to drop off more lacquer for me to do myself, which given the fact that I hired them to finish the work to meet my deadline and to take weight off of my own shoulders was a joke.

After calmly complaining for several days, they finally offered to refund me the costs of the lacquer itself ($50), and did not acknowledge the increase in work it would now take to not only redo their work but UNDO their work to get the table in good working shape. I paid them over $300 for the work they did and I am disappointed that not only did they not stand by their labor and their product, but it took me a week of complaining with them to even get them to offer $50. Overall the experience was very unprofessional in the end.

I have since contacted a company in Plymouth I have dealt with before that does furniture refinishing and I have had good experiences with and they came to my home, driving all the way from Plymouth, to look at the table. They immediately said that the texture I noticed in the finish was very strange for the type of product they used and was a sign of being done improperly as spray texture shouldn't be noticeable.... it should be smooth like a grand piano finish when complete if done correctly, and that in order to fix the table I will have to strip, re-sand, re-stain, and reapply a new sealer and lacquer... essentially starting from scratch before I hired them, which is the same thing the lacquer manufacturer told me.

The finish continues to flake off to this day on all sides of the table and I am so disappointed that such a cute and interesting company could drop the ball so poorly and accept no responsibility for their...

UPDATE: Megan gave me a call to offer suggestions on caring for my table. She even purchased a wax to have delivered to my home! I will admit that when I arrived at the shop, I could have asked questions, but I was trying to make pickup a quick errand. Getting the table home gave me time to look at it more closely and stimulate some wonderings. My recommendation is to add product care tips to product listings based on desired look and how these repurposed metals may age. I’m grateful to Megan for helping me understand more and I raise my review from 3 stars to 5.

I was very pleased with my email correspondence with Angelica and Megan. Angelica was helpful in getting me current photos of the table I was interested in. She passed me onto Megan to arrange pickup. Megan was really nice over email and in person, welcoming me and thanking me more than once for my purchase. I think she’s the one who I met along with Ginger the dog. She put Ginger away after the dog sweetly welcomed me into the warehouse (the dog was not in the showroom). She walked me to my table and helped me load it into my car. We needed to detach the leg for it to fit so she got some help. I’m sure I recognized the guy with the power drill as the co-owner. He hardly said hello to me before detaching the leg. I guess he was busy, but I appreciated the assistance. Upon getting the table home, I realized it would need some TLC to look like it did online. I wasn’t expecting to do the touching up that it will require and I feel it should have been made to look like it’s online photo for my scheduled pickup. The top is beautiful, but the leg is rusty and dull. I’m happy with the overall quality, but I was hoping for a more polished, although...

I went here during the hours they said they were open: closed. They even had their hours posted in the store window, which I was within. Still closed.

Shows a total disregard for people’s time. Update your hours and stick to them.

EDIT: if you check their hours and visit them in that time and they’re closed, they’ll blame you for being “confused”. Then ask why you didn’t call without considering that some people come from other countries, some people have phones with dead batteries, and some people just don’t have phones at all.

The better question is why not just be open when you say you will. Instead of responding with a snarky response, admit you made a mistake and commit to doing better. It does not make you look good to offer poor customer service and then double down with a rude response.

I followed your rules, you weren’t there, take accountability instead of lashing out.

Edit 2: this review was left on Monday but I went to the store last Friday at 3. Feel free to update your IG story with...