Furniture Distribution Center — Local services in Tampa

The review to end all reviews. You are going to want to read this in its entirety

I have never actually bought from them, and neither should you. We worked for them as delivery drivers for a period of time. You know those old movies that take place in the the 70s where scumbag businesses did deals that would screw people over and they would skip town to avoid any trouble? That's these people. I will make this an easy list of things to consider.

We were thrown into the mesh and forced to do unethical things which ultimately had me leave because we could not bare it. The negative reviews are true, your furniture has a chance of arriving damaged. Not all the time, but we delivered damaged furniture literally every night we worked.

1- Return Policy.

By my calculations about a 20% chance of something being damaged. And don't expect to return it, countless times I would call back and take pictures of the damages to take back and you know what the response was?

"Tell the customer we will be there tomorrow to pick up the piece and exchange it".

This would keep the customer happy for the night, but as you guessed, no one would ever come or call. Naturally the customer would call again and their response is always ... "Well you bought cheap furniture.... what do you expect!!!!!" There is no return policy. If you end up getting damaged furniture, you're out what you paid and stuck with it. To be fair, we delivered many good pieces that had nothing wrong with it. Aside from being subpar. The issue is when there is a problem with the piece, there is absolutely no accountability whatsoever.

2- The customer service.

Oh the customer service. They are awesome at that. I mean really really good. I read a review where it said they didn't wear name tags, well you should know at least that. Howie (Howard), is the owner and Victoria is the GM. They are great sales people, and they have to be. I'm not so much bothered by how they sell because quite frankly low end furniture stores are all similar. What bothers me is what they would comment about customers behind their backs and how incredibly racist these people are. Things that I would not dare repeat or put here but it made me sick to my stomach. Commenting on everything from social class to ethnicity and skin color. It was repulsive.

I also read that they "push" quite hard on making the sale in the first minute or so. That's because they are exploiting a natural human instinct to have the customer "buy on impulse". Which again to be fair, many other businesses do. Which is why they offer, SAME DAY DELIVERY, so they can minimize on buyers remorse. That just sucks. I would imagine a furniture store just wants their people to be happy with what they buy. Howard would often gloat about his process and laugh because it does in fact work.

They also want to "guarentee the sale" based on impulse. Very often a certain color and set was sold out and no one would bother to see if it was in stock. Even worse, they knew it wasn't and sold it anyway stating that they "made the sale" and would drag out the transaction for weeks until the shipment came in. We had one lady wait two months. That's talented customer service.

3- Quality of the furniture.

Again in all fairness, the furniture does look good and the prices are low. However, the quality of the furniture, is subpar. The "leather sofas" will peal. They are not real leather. Cannot tell you how many times I answered that question. One lady got made at me because I told her it was not, and the sales lady told her it was. People, it's not. What I did find that was nice were the tables. Again not great quality, but they were strong and held their own and rarely came damaged. Even with delivery neglagence, they were well packed and reasonably priced.

That being said, we had the greatest amount of issues with the sectional sofas. Those, in my experience, do not hold their own, and have a chance of just being a headache.

I am running out of characters but I hope you get a general idea of what Howard and Victoria are like....

I read through the reviews here before I went to this location. Here's what set off my suspicion:

Most of the ratings are either 1-star or 5-stars.

Many of the 5-star ratings were from accounts that had no other activity aside from this single review.

Many of the 5-star ratings were simply spouting lines nearly identical to their ads (example: OfferUp ads). Very few, if any, of those reviews sound as if they were given by a real customer - they sound like paid spokespersons in a car (dealership) ad.

Most extensive reviews were from those who had problems with the service and the staff.

They have 2-3 times more reviews than very popular furniture stores nearby.

I decided to go find out for myself what was up with this place. Before going, I did some research with newcomers to the furniture sales scene in Tampa. I gathered up some knowledge on product acquisition methodology, some common danger signs, etc.

The shop is clean and visually not bad. However, within about 20 seconds my initial good impression was crushed. A saleswoman came up and began to instantly ask me about which couch I wanted to but and if I'd made a decision. Not 15 seconds later, the manager stepped out of the back. None of the employees wore name tags that day, manager included. I think the easiest description of the manager would be that she has a Russian accent.

Having just saw me in the store and coming out of the back room - which had was a one-way window to view the store, by the way - she instantly started to haranguing me about my chosen product. Mistaking my bewilderment for indecision, she asked me for my preferences. In less than a minute she was pushing me to buy the sectional couch my indicated preferences matched with (an Ibiza black leather sectional - white on display).

I decided to go with the flow and do a little investigating. I asked about a return policy. She said there was none and justified it with the prices being so low: doesn't make sense. I next asked about their policy on damaged delivery as many people have indicated in the reviews here.

Instead of going the usual route and giving me a quick run-down of an accountability process/checklist, she simply said "there won't be any damage." That raises eyebrows: they are not confident enough to put their money where their mouth is. I asked why the prices were so low if the quality was assured. Her answer? "We are a wholesale retailer."

This immediately set off alarm bells because there was no longer any chance this was a truly transparent business. Part of an honest business model is transparency with customers. I already knew about their acquisition methodology coming in: They get product from auctions done by other retailers - damaged good and return item auctions. This is why their sale price for a certain set can vary between (for example) $600 and $800 for the same piece over the course of a month or two. A clever methodology and a reasonably common one - there's nothing wrong with it inherently. However, I very much do not appreciate being lied to and at this point I was 95% sure this business was about as bad as the negative reviews here describe, so I instinctively narrowed my eyes.

The manager must have gotten spooked by that and told me she'd give me some time to think, skittering off to the back room. When she came out again a few minutes later, she pushed me to buy. On a whim, I said yes but then indicated I wanted to pick up the item myself. She instantly went into full panic mode. They advertise same-day delivery and setup, but sometimes the delivery personnel don't stay for setup and they don't check for damage on the goods. In her panicked state, she said she was already paying the delivery drivers - why would I want to come pick it up? When I stood firm, she backtracked and said she didn't want customers picking up items because sometimes they stabbed the furniture through the transparent, plastic wrapping. At that point, I was 100% sure. I told her I would need to discuss this with my roommate and left.

Sound like an honest...

please read till the end and I'm sure I will get a response from the store when there done reading. I wish I would have read the reviews on here before I purchased my furniture because I would have not came close to this place. I went in on Feb.3rd ordered my furniture, she said they don't have it in stock they are waiting for shipment that if I'm lucky it should be in by the 20th if not then defentley by the 27th I was ok with that. The weekend before the 20th I got rid of my old furniture thinking I was gonna get lucky and have it by the 20th she seemed so honest.I called a couple days before the 20th to see if I would get lucky and the guy (husband) was so rude with me over the phone telling me that I will not get it on the 20th and defentley won't get it on the 27th.i was blowen about his rudeness,he lied told me it was over sees when the wife has already told me it was sitting at a port waiting for a p/up.confronted the husband about that and he was like yea it's sitting at Jacksonville port.asked him if he has any trucking company's that can pick up this furniture that my daughter and I was sitting on the floor he started telling me that Wal-Mart is a bigger company so trucking company's are gonna go with them before they will a small distributuon(he compared his furniture store to a Wal-Mart)Then I told him that he has lost a customer forever that I will never be back,His response was (I'm sorry to hear that)I was so shocked and blowen with his words. He just didn't care. So I waited till after the weekend of the 27th and no phone call for my delivery. I called on that Monday to find out where is my furniture and the wife answers all she had to say was we will call you when it comes in she had no time or date for me. I told her I want to cancel my order she then said it will cost me $50 to cancel I was like WHAT? I don't even have my furniture and no idea when I'm gonna get it and I'm canceling because y'all won't deliver my order not because I just want to cancel. She kept persisting to charge me a cancelation fee Then she hung up on me. I was so upset in tears I left my job to go up there. I walked in yes at this point I lost my cool I was totally beyond upset. I told her I want to cancel my order and I want a full refund she told me she has to charge me I was determined in front of the customer that she was dealing with,that she was not gonna charge me nothing, well then here comes the husband walking in from the back , he told me that there are many customers waiting over 2 months for there furniture in front of the the new customer I was like really that's something to brah about. He just seemed like he didn't have a care in the world. Then I told him I want a full refund he threathen to call the cops on me I told him please do cause they defentley need to be here right now. He then got up and walked away . the wife then basically bought me for another week and told me that if I don't have my furniture by the March 7th then she will give me my full refund again I'm giving them another week I said ok write that on my receipt.the whole week no phone call still waiting. My daughter and I are tired of sitting on the damn floor every night so Saturday I went to Mattress & furniture supertore(google them awesome) and they had exactly what I wanted better quality super duper better customer service so I ordered it yes it cost a little more but the experience that I went through with this company a lttle more was well worth it.And I had my furniture delivered that same day.After I left there I went back to the distubution center and again demanded my FULL REFUND there was like about 10 customers in the store she asked me if I didn't want to wait till the 7th I told her no I'm tired of sitting on the floor. She took my receipt went to the back Then came back up and asked again if I want anything else.she said rooms to go customers has to wait too.Omg.DO NOT GO HERE there liers and...