Ethan Allen — Local services in West Des Moines

Actually, my starred rating is a bit inaccurate, since we experienced superior service from staff at our local West Des Moines, IA, store, but had considerably less satisfactory experiences with the delivery side. Here's our story:

A week before delivery (and after having been notified by Rose, the designer who worked with us in the purchase and ordering phase, that all of our purchased items, except for one piece, had been received at the warehouse), my husband talked with the manager of the Kansas City warehouse, the location from which our furniture would be delivered. He talked with Eric, the manager, about each piece and was assured that they'd all be delivered the following week.

However, when the delivery people arrived at our house, they had only two nightstands, an art piece, and a side table. Missing were the platform bed/headboard and a double dresser. They had paperwork for the dresser but discovered that it had not been loaded on the truck. They had no information about the missing bed.

We were quite disappointed, of course, and discussed the situation with Joni, the manager of the West Des Moines store, and Eric, the warehouse manager. They assured us that the remaining items would be delivered the next week. They were, but more difficulties ensued. The bed had some sort of manufacturing error so that the frame couldn't be attached to the headboard. And the dresser had a small gouge on one of the bottom drawers. The delivery staff told us that we could send the defective bed back to Kansas City or try to get a "technician" to fix it.

We chose the latter option and then spoke with Joni, the store manager, who was very empathetic. The following Monday she and Amy, the designer who does the "visuals" for the West Des Moines store, came to our house to deal with the situation. Amy had obviously done her homework ahead of time, arriving with a plan and a big toolbox. She spent about an hour working on the bed and was able to solve the problem. Joni, in turn, arranged to have one of her staff repair the gouge on the dresser drawer so all is well at our house, as we await the final item we've purchased (a tall dresser that we've been told will arrive in December).

At every point in this process, which began in June, we have had positive experiences with Joni, Amy, and Rose at the West Des Moines store. They have been professional and efficient, and have been terrific communicators, demonstrating concern about our order and a dedication to solving the cascading problems we experienced. They deserve a 5-star rating.

On the other hand, we have been disappointed by the consistent difficulties on the delivery side. Having invested a great deal of money in fine Ethan Allen furniture, we were expecting higher quality service. That side of the purchase-to-acquisition process deserves only a 2-star rating.

We love our new furniture and enjoyed our contacts with the local Ethan Allen staff. We're hopeful that Ethan Allen's corporate gurus can straighten out the sort of problems we've experienced regarding manufacturing defects and...

Update to response. A representative of Ethan Allen was aware of the issue within and hour of delivery who saw the pictures. I did call my sales agent on this matter and was told someone would be getting with me soon, so how can it be on the delivery service? Great customer service would be proactive to ensure the customer is taken care of ASAP instead of the customer have to call back over a week after delivery to address the issue.

Not sure what Ethan Allen considers as quality control but it's not the same as mine. Ordered a custom dining room table that took almost 3 months to get and whoever stained the pieces and let the product leave the factory should not be working in the industry. Very noticeable areas where the stain was lighter that the other parts. The delivery team noted the areas and took pictures and were in the system for my sales person to see within 30 minutes of delivery.

Almost 2 weeks after delivery had to call the customer service to see when I can expect them to correct the issue and they were trying to blame the delay on the delivery company for not notify them which is totally wrong when it was in their system 30 min after delivery. I thought Ethan Allen was a reputable company but they have serious issues with quality control and once an issue is identified by the delivery company customer service is non existent.

Rose the sales person was great but after it leaves her hands the customer service...

We purchased Ethan Allen living room pieces before kids over 30 years ago, and, now that we are empty nesters, we returned to EA seeking comfortable, quality furniture we knew will last for years to come. Carolyn Johnson, Design Consultant from the West Des Moines, IA location, helped us select the perfect pieces and fabrics for our oversized great room and dining room. We were concerned with the scale of the space in relation to the size of a sectional and other pieces that would work with it. Carolyn used the actual room measurements with the EA room/furniture software, and presented us fabric and room options we may not have otherwise considered. We especially appreciated how she listened to our thoughts and concerns every step of the way, yet she was not hesitant to offer her opinion if asked. After the sale agreement was made, communication with Carolyn was prompt, and she reached out to us and made the extra effort to keep us informed of the eta of the delivery throughout our wait. We are VERY happy with our furniture, and highly recommend Carolyn Johnson and...