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Do not buy ashley furniture... It is basically high style crap. They offer a high style "look" to mass consumers at an affordable price; albeit the "look" does not fool me... It still looks cheap because it is cheap.
I grew up in a home filled with ethan allan furniture, purchased in the mid sixties. I believe my father spent around 25k to purchase an entire household of “traditional” furniture. Interestingly, after 40 plus years of service, almost every piece of that ethan allen furniture collection is accounted for and is still in use today. My parents divorced in 1990 and the collection got spread out to the family when my parents downsized their real estate and went their separate ways. I have at least 4 pieces of this furniture in my home today. I recovered two very comfortable "big" rockers in the mid to late 90's at a cost of $800 total and they are still in my living room today... Very comfortable too! Fyi... Ethan allen is not the only “quality” company out there, in fact I suspect that even ethan allan has lowered their quality to be competitive, like everyone else, these days. But if you do your research, you will find that there are “quality” furniture manufacturers out there.
I realize that not everyone can afford expensive high quality furniture and I also realize that we live in a "throw-away" society, but the fact remains that quality furniture that “lasts” will cost you thousands and thousands of dollars. What you spent on entire suite of furniture is probably what it would cost to buy one "significant" piece of “quality” furniture, such as a sofa. Beyond that, most reputable stores will tell you that people actually replace their furniture, especially heavily used chairs and sofas / couches, every 7 to 10 years. Subsequently, there's a huge market to sell mediocre furniture at affordable prices. For these reasons, companies like ashley exist; people simply don't want to pay a lot and they don't plan on keeping it that long. Even manufacturer’s like thomasville, flexsteel, bassett, broyhill and lazy-boy (The one’s you see advertised all the time) are not that great, in terms of quality; while they are better than ashley, for sure, they will end up in a land-fill, much sooner than buying a “quality” piece of furniture. What’s most important is the fact while those manufacturers quality may be good, you’ll end up being dissatisfied with the look and performance of these pieces, much sooner than if you’d bought a “quality” piece of furniture.
Recently, i’ve been looking for some new furniture (A leather sectional) and I have been doing a lot of searching at stores and on-line. I actually stopped in at an ashley store in kenosha, wi, last weekend, just for the heck of it. Having never stepped foot in an ashley store, upfront, I believed that it would be crappy quality, but I figured I would check it out anyways…w're all trying to save a buck these days and I figured if I could buy something cheap it might be worth it. Well, I spent about 5 minutes in the store and walked out realizing that i'd be throwing my money away because i'd end up replacing it (Or wanting to replace it) within 5 years.
They say "quality is long remembered, long after the price is forgotten" and i've lived by that mantra in everything I buy... I've actually owned 2 cars in the last 20 years, but I bought the car I wanted and got every option I wanted, both times. So when it comes to my upcoming furniture purchase, i've decided to stick with what I know and buy the quality piece. I've looked at upholstered sectional couches from $1100 to leather sectionals upwards of $7000. I want leather and I want quality, so I am honing in on an internet retailer, club furniture (www.clubfurniture.com), which offers high quality at a reasonable price, albeit it's still going to cost me 3 to 4 thousand dollars. Of course, i'm going to try to beat them down on the price, especially in this market, but i've realized that this piece will probably be with me, for the rest of my life, even if it winds up in a basement rec-room. If I buy a cheap one, I know I will end up tossing it to the curb and buying something else, down the road, which, in the end, will end up costing me more money; that’s just the way I roll.
Sadly, there are not as many people willing to pay for quality these days; that's why the “mass marketers” have been advertising what we want to hear…”that we can have it all for cheap.” with that in mind, do your research, save for what you want, even if you have to “wait for it” and remember…”you get what you pay for.”
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
What in particular did you find ro be crap? Which lines did you see.. They have three levels of quality at Ashley. Were you in corporate Homestore in the Atlanta area?
Ashley Furniture exceeds that of competitors dollar for dollar. I could get technical but you can call storess and ask a Sales manager for specs.
I have worked in furniture for 30 years as a designer. Im very very picky about quality but not everyone like yourself has a budget for high end. Price doesnt always mean quality and I understand that too.
Ethan Allen is a moderate by the way, not exactly what I would call high end and definately over priced for the level of quality but they carry a specific style and have tried in the last 5 years to catch up with the market. Their quality has suffered because they have sacrificed aome quality to be competitive wuth online furniture sites.
I have seen subpar construction in all of the upper.moderate lines like Thomasville and Ethan Allen.
Basically Macys, Havertys, American Signature sell similar construction quality. I would personally buy Ashley Millennium over any of these. The reason is they all use other manufacturers overseas .
Ashley at least owns their own plants in the US and a own a couple oversees. No furniture manufacturer but Ashley owns all of the plants that manufacture their furniture. NOT ONE.
Ashley has basically three price points and levels of guality in upholstered and case goods.
Good, Better and Best (Millennium). Their Millennium line is select hardwood and comparable to better lines such as Henredon, etc. Actually in a few of the sets its better and a third of the price because they actually own the forests the wood. No middleman. Last time I checked they manufactured the cardboard shipping boxes, nuts and bolts.
Not bad for a guy that started by building furniture in his baen with only a highschool diploma.its still owned by this man and run by son and grandson in Wisconsin.
Out of the top 10 furniture manufacturers in the world not only is Ashley number one but sells more than 2 thru 10 combined.
I would buy from an actual Ashley corporate store through. Lots of stores sell Ashley but only corporate stores sell only Ashley and resolve issues better. I think these stores are mainly in the Atlanta area.
If one side of the store is Ashley and the other side has another brand, its a reseller and not corporately owned . Most issues are from resellers.
I have designed interiors for residential amd commercial spaces ranging from small college apartments to mansions for hundreds of people over the years. I have designed furniture for a few clients.
The author should take a look at the leather Transistor recliner series at Ashley when looking for leather seating. All Ashley recliners have steel construction on moving parts that exceed industry standards. These also have three levels of quality. All have a minimum 2.0 high density foam and hardwood frames. The higher price points have 3.0 high density and some have coil seating.It ain't cheap to go for the higher quality lines there but should last many years.
Recliners dont usually last for generations if used heavily or by heavy people. That should be considered when looking at price. I would always purchase the 5 year extended warranty on power recliners by the way
Just saying.
For other readers, always ask a Sales Manager to give you the specs on the items you are considering. Compare apples ro apples when shopping. There are so many brands that used to produce quality furniture that no longer do.
Dont be mislead into thinking Soild wood is the best either. There are new composites and veneers that withstand warping, stress and will last longer. Actually high quality veneers cost far more than a hardwood. It takes a level of skill and the veneer might be great on a surface but not so great in joints.
Look for French joints and dovetailed. Ask about the type of adhesive used, they type of coil in seating, type of clamps. Eight way hand tied has given way to serpentine and if the serpentine wire is made of a mulitstrand coiled wire, its hard to beat.
But what do I know. I have only been at this for a lifetime.
I completely agree with PMC. Coincidentally, we still have a Club Furniture leather chair and ottoman that is probably 20 years old and still looks amazing and is super comfortable. I found their customer service to be as top notch as their merchandise and would highly recommend them for any future leather furniture purchase.
Ashley Furniture is CRAP. We purchased a dinning room table and chairs. When it was delivered it was wobbly and as were some of the chairs. When we called the store we were basically told there was nothing that could be done because we accepted delivery. This was in 2013. The condition has gotten progressively worse. When we called the warranty company they were beyond rude. Manufacturer's defect is what they called it -- and not covered. Call the store. The store put me on hold, and then disconnected the call. When I called back I ended up in a voice mail system. Left me information -- but never got a call back. My last dinning room set lasted 25 years and was still going strong but was outdated. Big mistake going to Ashley Furniture for a replacement. Tell your friends and family to stay away ... Ashley Furniture is disposable garbage.
I bought a whole house full of furniture spending $11, 000. cash. Before it was delivered I asked for a refund on part of the furniture realizing it was not of good quality and I was told there are no refunds. It took them two months to deliver the furniture and when I got it, it was crap! I have had the furniture for 9 months now, four broke beds that won't stay together so my children are sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Every week I call for a service tech and they tell me someone will call me next week to come out. I never get the call. I have been taken advantage of and have no more money to spend on furniture. I hope people read these posts before buying from this company. Ashley furniture truly does suck!
Thanks for the insight. I will never shop there again. I was given the 0% interest for 2 years and after 18 months all of that interest was applied. The store said the sales rep put in 18 months for the promotion instead. to top it off the furniture is crap.