Hi all
Just want to share my experience....unfortunately, not a very good one....
I have ordered 4 sets of furniture from Life Story....later renamed to Living Story....in April. The male sales person then was very good. He gave my wife and I very good introduction to the company and also the products they have. He mentioned that more products are being shipped as we were talking. AND....he said that they are HI-END furniture shop ready to invest in shoprooms at popular malls...such as Park Mall...an example he gave.....and are ready to complete with more established brands like Life Storey, AIR, OM, etc....
He was very convincing and we ended up purchasing 4 sets of furniture....from catelogue, without seeing the actual items...that's the level of trust we had....and honestly the items in the showroom are nice.
We ordered in April and arranged for the furniture to be delivered in June. That sales man (later realised he is a senior sales manager or maybe even a partner) even thank us for giving them time to settle in and PROMISED that there will not be any delays, since delivery is two months later.
One month later, the shop called us to go to the showroom at Genting (yes...still in Genting warehouse and until today never see any hi-end showroom of theirs in any major malls) to see the actual pieces. They managed to show us 3 out of the 4 sets we ordered.....so far so good...
Oh...that was my 2nd visit to the shop...and that senior sales person did not even say hello to us...or smile. He was a total different person altogether. We even smile at him...he just sat there as if we were invisible...that's the impression my wife and i got....we thought well, maybe he was not feeling well that day....
I found this thread and got a little concerned. So I called them again....that was one week before delivery.....the delivery dept said that all items have arrived and ready to be delivered......good.....no problem then.
Still feeling uneasy, we went to the shop again on the weekend before delivery, that's 3 or 4 days before the items are to be deliver to my home and 2 days after my conversation with the delivery dept...guess what?.....A lady (I must say a professional sales lady) told us that only two items are ready for delivery!!.....we were disappointed and angry...how can items just become "unavailable" within a couple of days?????
And this male senior sales person came over....AND he was not polite at all....his attitude was as if I owe him a large sum of money....They started to give some excuses and stories, saying that sometime newly weds couple requested to have furniture earlier and so they try to accommodate and will inform the other buyers.....BUT in my case nobody called me and worst, I just got confirmation that all items were ready for delivery 2 days ago.....and a couple days later the status changed without informing us.
After further discussion, the conclusion was that they will delivery the 2 available items, loan us a set (dinning table and chairs) and owe us the 4th item.
Oh....forgot to mention, we paid 50% of the total amount as deposit on day 1.
On the day of delivery, the 3 items were sent over as promised....while setting up the coffee table....they realised that there were alignment problem so need to bring back to the factory....while they were setting up the coffee table, i noticed scratches on the glass and moulds on the wood......I commented to the delivery men, anyway, they need to bring a new set over since the alignment is out, so I did not pursue further.......and they delivered the coffee table on the same evening....a little hic-up but so far so good, right?...wrong!!....the coffee table collapsed on the next day!!!.
I called that professional sales lady immediately.....she said she will arrange for a replacement...but after analysing the design, I think there is some design problem that's why the table collapsed. I called them again and insist on changing to another model....and they agreed after some negotiation.
I went back to the shop...the 4th time...to select a new model and to discuss on the issue. This senior sales person, knowing that I am there to discuss on the issue, decided to assign a junior sales person to handle me....he walked out of the showroom and started chatting with the other sales people......for half of the questions I asked this junior sales person, she needed to walk out to ask him....I then got impatient and requested for this senior sales person to come over....instead he went upstairs and call a phone downstairs....we ended up talking on the phone.....this is the lowest service level I have ever encountered. Can you imagine that? I was there with some issues...instead of working with me to solve the issues, he decided not to manage me, prefer to have a chat with colleagues....and worst used a phone to talk to me when we are in the same building!!!....
That's when I decided to ask for my deposit back, since he is no longer interested in our transaction....but the SENIOR sales person mentioned that I cannot, as it was written in the sales order that deposit will not be refunded....I think that I have a case against them, since they were not able to deliver all items as per sales order. And one of the items collapsed within 24hrs.
But after some thoughts, I decided to negotiate with them, minimise lost and end all communication with them.....I did not want to spend any more time and effort with them.....
After 3 rounds of negotiation on phone, the arrangement was for me to pay for the single item that is delivered and working....but I have to pay GST and transport ($80!!!) which were waived as we bought 4 items initiately....and they gave us back whatever is left from the deposit
I decided not to go into further discussion and accepted the arrangement. It is just not worth it. Too much frustration....
My advice to all is to be very careful if you have dealings with them. Keep checking on the status and make sure you get hold of one of the Partners. The lady whom I communicated is professional. I understand she is one of the partners and also a supplier.
I am not sure if they are the "hit-&-run" type...so far they are still advertising in the papers....BUT 5 floors of furniture....er.....5 floors, yes...filled with furniture....don't think so.....QUALITY furniture....er......depends on how quality is defined
If you have not dealed with them....well, do consider the experience shared here....
In the end, I went to a more reputable shop to buy the other 3 missing items. I paid just a few hundreds more but I got myself a bigger dinning table and two more dinning chairs....nett, spent a couple hundred more, received better service and product quality is much better.
