Complaint Rating:

I recently purchased several pieces of furniture from Savon Furniture on Washington Blvd. in Sarasota. The gentleman who sold me the furniture, Phillip, was very friendly and helpful. However, since the purchase my experience with Savon has been akin to a very bad nightmare. This is what has taken place in the last two months:

1) When I bought the furniture in Sarasota I gave Savon my cell phone number (Ithaca, NY, which is my home). The furniture was to be delivered to my father's former home in The Meadows Community. Because he used to live there, his phone number appeared in the computer system. I provided all of my contact information but told them they could call my father since he still lives nearby in Sarasota and I live in Ithaca.

2) Savon called my father to set up a deliver date of the bedroom set, entertainment unit and corner table. The delivery was set for a specific date in May and he was given a four hour window. They arrived several hours after the four hour window.

- The bedroom set was missing the footboard so the bed could not be put together.

- The mattress was the wrong model (not the super firm that was ordered)

- The box spring was not the same model ordered

- The entertainment unit came with the central unit and two left units instead of a left and right.

- The left unit was missing a wooden shelf and a glass shelf

3) Another date was scheduled to deliver the correct right unit and the footboard.

- The footboard was delivered; however, we discovered that a label covered a huge hole in the footboard.

- When I returned from Ithaca to Sarasota for another visit I also noticed there were several scars on the entertainment unit, probably occurring during delivery.

The reason I returned to Sarasota so soon was the doctors thought my Dad had a stroke and he was in the hospital. While dealing with the stress of my father's situation, I called Savon about scheduling the delivery of the correct mattresses. I gave them my cell phone number to schedule the delivery date.

1) However, they called my father's home phone and, of course, since he was hospitalized no one was home and the delivery truck came and left a calling card.

I drove to the store and talked with Eileen at the front desk and Justin, the store manager. I explained that it had been determined my Dad had a fractured neck, not a stroke and that they needed to call my cell phone, not my father's phone. We scheduled a date for the mattress exchange.

1) A call was made to my father's phone despite the fact that I had provided

my cell phone number to Eileen and to Justin.

2) I called Justin to complain about this repeated error and asked if he could get the truck to return that day to my house. Justin said 'when no one is home, the truck cannot deliver and it was not possible.' I explained again why no one was home and asked him if I needed to pursue a legal path to get any action and he said 'if I'm going to threaten him, he'll hang up. He would not take my abuse.'

Philip, the salesman calls me to ask what happened with the mattresses. He was calling because he was not able to receive his commission until I was satisfied with my delivery of the purchases. I was very surprised about this since he had no responsibility for the delivery process yet he was in essence held responsible. I explained the sorry situation to him and he called me back that day and scheduled the delivery for the mattresses the next day. This time there was a successful delivery and the correct mattresses arrived without a problem. I also told Phillip about the missing shelves and the hole in the footboard.

My father was still in the hospital post-surgery and I went to his house to handle some matters for him. While there, I get a call from Eileen ' once again she called his phone instead of my cell phone despite the fact that she knew I was with my Dad every day, all day, in the hospital. She told me she wanted to schedule a service call to look at the footboard. When I explained the situation with my father as well as that the footboard hole was huge (and the men who delivered the mattress wrote it up as proof that the store needed to replace them) she talked with her managers and was able to schedule a delivery date. Once again she asked for my name and cell phone number (by now I had given both to her at least 5 times previously). She told me the 'headboard' would be delivered on the following Tuesday. I once again told her it was a footboard, not a headboard and that I would be back up north the following Tuesday. So, she was able to get it delivered on Thursday (this was a Tuesday).

1) On Wednesday I get a call that the service man would be there. I thought that meant the delivery, and despite the fact that my father had passed away and was to be buried on that same day I arranged for a neighbor to be available for the service person.

2) The service person arrived and asked what was needed!?! He had no idea why he was sent to the house'.

By this time I didn't care if I ever heard from Savon again. The only thing that mattered was my father and handling his affairs. On Thursday, the day of the scheduled footboard delivery there was no delivery.

I asked my sister to call because I didn't want any further communication with them---they said they didn't know anything about the delivery but Eileen would be in later that day. When my sister talked to Eileen it turned out that although Eileen scheduled the date it was impossible to keep because the delivery personnel needed a 3 day window after her call, not a 2 day window.

My sister then schedules a delivery date for June 27 when both of us have returned to our homes up north. I give the store my neighbor's phone number and tell them if they call my father's number they will reach no one as he passed away.

I called my neighbor in Sarasota today and she told me that the delivery was scheduled for between 2:00 and 6:00 on the 27th. She received a call at 9:15 p.m. from a man saying he wanted to deliver the footboard. As she was home alone and didn't trust that a delivery was taking place so late at night she told them not to deliver and she would reschedule.

I imagine that some day we will have a footboard without a hole and that shelves will eventually arrive for the entertainment unit. One guarantee I can make is that I will never purchase anything from Savon or Kane furniture again and will tell everyone I know who is shopping for furniture to go elsewhere.