Baer's Furniture Co. Inc. — Local services in West Melbourne

On Sunday October 15th, 2023, my fiancé and I visited Baers Furniture on 192 in Melbourne and had a rather brief stay. As soon as we stepped into the store, in less than one minute we experienced a disheartening series of encounters with three associates. We felt a sense of neglect and exclusion during this short duration. We were overlooked by an associate shortly after walking into the store. One of the female associates made direct eye contact with us but chose to disregard our presence and instead warmly greeted the individuals who entered the store after us. This couple mentioned they were simply browsing, and the associate proceeded to give them her information and walked away.

Undeterred, by this experience we proceeded to inspect a sofa near the entrance, hoping for a different interaction. However, our optimism quickly diminished as another female associate passed by us without acknowledgment, prioritizing the same couple that was just greeted by the first associate moments ago.

The experience left us in disbelief, as both associates had completely ignored us, leaving us feeling undervalued and disregarded as potential customers.

To our surprise, the third and final associate approached us as we stood near the furniture arrangements. We hoped for a welcoming greeting and an inquiry into our interests for visiting the store. Unfortunately, this male associate, like the previous ones, failed to engage with us. It was disheartening and frustrating.

In the moment, it was hard not to consider the possibility that this lack of acknowledgment was racially charged. All the associates and the couple they attended were white, while we were left feeling overlooked. This added a layer of disappointment to the already unpleasant experience.

Feeling disrespected and unwanted, we promptly made the decision to leave the store without a second thought. The recommendation we received for this store earlier in the day lost its credibility in our eyes. We vowed never to suggest this store to anyone. Instead, we decided to spend our hard-earned money at a place where we are treated with the respect and consideration we deserve—somewhere that recognizes our worth and refuses to render...

BUYER BEWARE!!!  We are long-time Baer's customers that unfortunately will never shop there again.  We purchased a very expensive Natuzzi couch and chair from Baer's and when it was delivered it was broken and the end piece was clearly used, even the delivery guy said "it was on the truck wrapped in plastic, not even in a box".  We never accepted the pieces and told the delivery guys about the issues, they agreed to send a service technician out to fix the pieces.  Over several months we had 3 service techs come out and the last one said the only thing he could do was put a few screws in it to hold it together but then said "I don't really recommend doing that."  So, we didn't.  This went on for months and never did we have a fully functioning couch.  Because we assumed Baer's would make it right, we went back to the store and picked out another piece and requested a refund for the Natuzzi.  For 4 months we went back and forth with the store manager, Bob Resnick, to try and get a resolution as they were now saying that they wouldn't refund us but would give us a $6,000+ store credit. That was unacceptable to us since we were never delivered the fully functioning Natuzzi we bought.  Ultimately we took our issue to David Baer himself and he was even more unresponsive to our concerns.  His final decision was that because the product was delivered to our home, at that point it became ours and therefore no refunds could be issued.  This is truly infuriating because I'm sure if you ask the delivery guys they will tell you one part was delivered in used condition and never did we have a fully functioning couch.  So BEWARE when they deliver a product to your home.  If it's not right you'd better refuse it at that point or it's YOURS, regardless of the shape it is in.  Worst customer service I've ever experienced.  At one point Bob Resnick even said that he agreed with us but there was nothing he could do. They did give us a store credit but it took months of back and forth and an in person visit to Bob's office to get something in writing.  This caused so much anxiety and frustration. ...

Went to Baer’s on 192 yesterday and had the most god awful experience we’ve ever had at a furniture store. “Deborah B remember me” single handedly ran us out of the store. My boyfriend and I, 26 and 28 years old, stopped by to look at some bedroom sets because we are moving next month and when we first walked in we were greeted by Deborah. She called herself “Deborah B remember me” and we definitely will always remember her but not for good reason. We immediately got locked into a 15 minute conversation about how they are the best and their furniture is all quality blah blah blah, to be expected of course. We told her we have a tight budget and still have time before moving so we are not here to buy anything today just getting a feel for what’s available. After that we were hoping to casually walk around and browse the bedroom sets. That’s not what happened… the rest of the time we were walking around we could feel her breathing down our necks following us a little too closely listening to our every comment about every piece of furniture we saw and constantly chiming in. After my boyfriend made a very casual comment to me in passing about how one piece of furniture was cool looking we got trapped into another 20 minute information overload conversation about that piece of furniture even after we reiterated that we are not buying it nor do we need it we were just looking and making personal comments to one another. Finally after we made it out of that conversation alive we decided we could not take it anymore and ran out of there as quickly as we could. Even as we were making our exit she was still calling out to us. I understand a man’s gotta eat and she was just trying to make a sale but her desperation made it the WORST shopping experience we’ve ever had. We went to several other furniture stores on 192 after that and every single other experience was 100% better than that. Big yikes!! Definitely put a bad taste in our mouths to ever go back...