Ashley Store — Local services in Tucson

So I keep making the mistake of opening up internet browsers after having a generally good day. I don’t know why I have to go and ruin it by having bad news vomited into my eyeballs and since I raw dog life with no meds, I have to take it like a man and sit in disgust and reflection afterward thinking about the collapse of society. That being said, this is America and we do what we do best when frustrated and fed up with the state of affairs. We go to therapy. Just kidding, most people can’t afford that. Retail therapy. Just kidding, we can barefuly afford that either, but that’s what credit cards are for. It’s, you know, magic money that you hope you can ignore owing back by hedging bets on solar flares knocking out digital infrastructure.

Anyway, I was in the mood to go purchase things I don’t need to fill the void that wasn’t already getting plugged up by microplastics. I needed to up the dopamine with something high ticket, something elegant, something that made me feel better and more important than other people. Furniture.

If my generation can’t afford a home, at least we can cosplay like we can and go furniture browsing. And i’m not talking Craigslist or second hand stores. There is a certain thrill to rolling the dice on secondhand furniture, though. You do get to play the game is that a cigarette burn or an artistic design flair? Bodily fluids or just beverages? Pet hair or human hair. You get where i’m goin. There is a bigger thrill, however, in knowing a couch is fresh leather, polyester, cotton or nylon and only a few strange butts have sat in it; that it’s yours to claim. Your throne for the taking. It gets me excited and I feel like a topical conservative Ohio senator just thinking about it.

Boy oh boy, there’s no shortage of furniture stores on the ol’ googles. There’s “Sam Levitz”, but that sounds like a lawyer you go to when you’re in too deep with gambling debts. There’s “La-Z-Boy” but I’ve always hated the way they spelled it like a 90s rap group. Then I saw “Ashley Furniture”. I liked the way it wasn’t possessive like “Ashley’s” as if you were raiding her estate after a bankruptcy. It was Ashley Furniture. The furniture is very ASHLEY. And the ratio for cool to horrible Ashleys i’ve met in my life is like a 60:40 ratio. Pretty good odds.

I walked into this sprawling fever dream and was immediately on planet housegasm. There were partitioned off areas for all things bedroom, kitchen and living room & I imagined I was an eccentric billionaire and one of my properties was just an Ashley Furniture store where everything was functional- stoves, faucets and all the electric and plumbing and how cool it would be to throw ragers and have every section be a different vibe. Like the most Karen warehouse rave ever. But then that dream was interupted when a sales associate said “hello, sir, is there anything I can help you with?” and then I put on a vague, French accent and said “no no no just lookeeng” and started walking away but that’s when the gummie kicked in and I felt like I was going to be trapped in limbo like in Inception. So I came back with a nervous look and said “actualleeee, can you show me le couches?” Which was a dumb question because we were literally surrounded by them already.

He then kindly guided me through several different selections but then when I saw the price tags I had to hide my anxiety even more. “What sort of budget were you looking to work with, sir?” and then I did a weird french giggle and saw that there was a blocky, beige Polyester ottomon on markdown for around $150. So I perked up and said “I will have to come back for le couch as my wife, she does not trust my couch expertise but she does trust my taste in ottomons”. Long story short, I now have an ottomon on layaway because I got nervous and made an impulse purchase in fake french with a maxed out credit card. And yes, I will try sleeping on it and I will pretend to like it and you won’t tell me otherwise. Thanks Ashley, i’ll be back when my crypto...

TL;DR: Don’t buy furniture here.

THIRD UPDATE (still less than one star if possible): 4/6/2024: Received our loveseat today (despite delivery date of April 3rd, for which we rearranged our schedules). We now have three matching pieces of living room furniture. Still no refund for the discounted ottoman they sold us. Ashley tells us it’s on Sam Levitz. Sam Levitz tells us it’s on Ashley. Don’t know who to believe. My partner bought an ottoman from Ashley (now not part of Sam Levitz) to replace the cancelled/discontinued one when we were in the Ashley store last week despite my recommendation that we not. The thought being the current ottoman sold by Ashley is as close to the same look/style as we’ll be able to get, and that it will be a wash price-wise once we get the refund from the original ottoman. We were promised by Ashley that the newly purchased ottoman would be delivered with the loveseat because even though we bought the original furniture from Ashley when it was part of Sam Levitz, Ashley coordinates delivery. The ottoman was not delivered today. We’re now being told it will be here on April 10th. This will be the FOURTH time we’ll rearrange our lives for someone to be home to receive furniture. I’m not optimistic.

SECOND UPDATE (would give less than one star): 3/29/2024: Learned today the ottoman has been discounted so we won’t be getting one. No notice was provided about this other than the delivery guys telling us they didn’t have any record of an ottoman for us. Had to spend an hour in the store today to get this straightened out. Still hoping to receive the loveseat - here’s hoping it doesn’t get cancelled and discontinued on us… I will never buy something from Ashley Furniture again, and I will tell everyone I know about this experience so they too do not spend any money with Ashley Furniture.

FIRST UPDATE (one star): 3/23/2024 After a month delay, two items (of four) were delivered this morning. We have been told one item is on back order and should be delivered within a week. The other item, we were just informed, was cancelled. We didn’t cancel it. We don’t know why it was cancelled. Now we are stuck waiting to learn what will happen next as they delivered before the store is open and calling Ashley customer service is pointless as they tell us we have to speak directly with the store. At this point, depending on what we learn when we speak with the store, we will likely cancel the entire order and have them come pick up what was delivered. This has been a ridiculous experience. This reflects terribly on Ashley, that they allow stores to operate in this way. Timelines are a joke. Customer service is a joke. I highly recommend you look elsewhere for furniture or know that you are likely in for a wait significantly longer than quoted, poor communication, and just all around issues with your order.

Original Review (2 stars): 3/1/2024: Had an overall positive experience buying our furniture. At the time, we were quoted a month (max) for delivery. We were able to make that work. Fast forward a month and we’re told it will still be another month for delivery and that there is no guarantee that this new timeline is accurate. So just be aware that while they will quickly sell you something, they in no way have an accurate idea concerning how quickly you’ll receive your furniture. Talking to them, we’re basically told “it is what it is.” No apologies and nothing to be done about it. Regret not buying from Ashley Furniture directly (online). Ashley has had good customer service, but have been limited in their ability to do anything because we bought through a third party store. They over promise and under deliver. We will not buy from them again...

0/10 stars would highly not recommend - no way this place has 2500 reviews with 4.4 stars:

The sales people: worse than a used car lot, from the second you walk in they bombard you asking if you want a "good deal." Have you ever been to a touristy place in Mexico where the kids run around trying to sell you "chicle?" Incredibly similar vibes. Curiously, they all carry tablets; the curious part is that when you decide to buy something, they bustle off to their manager to "run the deal buy him." Our sales person came back about 30 minutes later with a handwritten invoice as he hurried us to the cashier trying to sell us a credit card on the way. When I stopped him, to ask why the price had increased $800 from the advertised price on the display, he looked embarrassed and said he had to go speak to his manager again. Another 30 minutes later he came back with a different handwritten invoice for the advertised price. At that point we were so annoyed we left and sadly made the choice to come back the next weekend.

Tread, lightly as they will try to bait and switch you too.

I still am perplexed at the reason they all have tablets if they hand write invoices other than to rip you off.

And to make matters more annoying, once you try to check out they take you to the one "cashier" in the entire god forsaken store where you will wait another half hour for them to try to upsell you on warranties, services plans, and yes.... over priced pillows. Honestly embarrassed I went through with the purchase but I think I was so frustrated that with the hours of my life I had wasted in this dump that I felt I needed to leave with something in hand to justify the massive was of time.

The Quality: GARBAGE. On first delivery of the bedroom set - the delivery men refused to remove our old furniture as the sales person had promised. Then, when they realized the bedframe was missing a piece, they left the half constructed frame in the middle of the room and promtly left telling me someone would call me. Noone ever did, I spent several more hours on the phone trying to procure a full bedframe.

But wait, it gets worse!

The bedside table we bought made out of aesthetically appealing mango wood was infested with, we found out a month later, BORE BEETLES!!!!! They eat through the furniture and leave saw dust, similar to termites. And if you are lucky, they might infest your entire house! Apparently the treatment is fumigation - THANKS Ashley.

The customer service: hard to believe, but worse than 1 & 2 above. Three times I called their "customer service line" only to have their outsourced call center tell me they couldnt find my invoice number....convenient right? When they tried to transfer me to the store three times... you guessed it - no answer! Clearly because their employees are too busy running around trying to rip people off to have time to actually help someone. Out of frustration I went back to the store in person this last week and after spending another 30 minutes in line waiting for the only cashier in the god forsaken place, I was told she found my invoice and would send an email to "corporate" and someone would get back to me. She refused to give me the invoice number so I could try to trouble shoot on my own with customer service, refused to copy me on the email, or give me a number to call corporate. But I was reassured a "technician" would be sent to my house to assess the furniture. One week later, as I am sure you can imagine. STILL NO CALL!

The long and short: save your self the time, the money, the self respect, and the infestation of bugs at your house, and drive to Mesa and buy some furniture at Ikea - you will not regret it and you will...