They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go:
What are you looking at, you ask. No, it’s not the design work of a drunken Martha Stewart, but it might as well be. And no, this is not what Mrs. Dough and I had planned when we set out one fateful afternoon in October 2007 to buy new slip covers for a sofa and the two chairs pictured above. No, this is the handy work of Crate & Barrel. How did this happened, you ask. Here’s the time line:
10/01/07: Mrs. Dough and I travel to Crate & Barrel and order slip covers for a sofa and two chairs. Crate & Barrel tells us the slip covers will be ready in early December just in time for Christmas, and we naively believe them. We also pay a deposit of more than $500 toward the total cost of the slip covers.
12/22/07 @ 1 pm: Having not heard from Crate & Barrel, I call and learn that the slip covers are in. They couldn’t explain why they hadn’t called us, but I go in, pick up the order, and make the final payment.
12/22/07 @ 2:30 pm: Back home I unpack the slip covers for the couch and one chair, and realize that the slip cover for the second chair is missing. I call Crate & Barrel, and they say they’ll get back to me.
12/26/07: Having not heard from Crate & Barrel, I call back. What we eventually learn is that the slip cover for the second chair was not fabricated for some reason, and they have resubmitted the order. They ask us to return part of the new slip cover for the chair so they can match the dye lot. So we take the new green stripped slip cover off of a pillow on the chair to the left, and return it to Crate & Barrel. We put the old flowery slip cover back on to protect the pillow. Crate & Barrel tells us the second slip cover would be ready in four weeks. Again, we believe them.
~1/31/08: Now we are told it will be ready in another four to six weeks.
~2/15/08: Now they tell us it could be until June before it’s ready. At this point we are also told that they will provide some financial compensation for our troubles, but that they would discuss this with us when the order was complete.
~3/12/08: I begin wondering if this is God’s way of saying we shouldn’t spend as much as we did on three slip covers.
~4/1/08: We learn that they think it could be soon.
4/17/08: We are still waiting.
We’ve been extremely patient through all of this. The sales manager has been very apologetic, although that alone doesn’t solve our problem. Hmm, maybe writing about this situation on a blog and then sending a link to the post to Crate & Barrel’s CEO and the Consumerist will help. I’ll let you know.
Published or updated May 23, 2011.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Good Layout and design. I like your blog. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. .
Jason Rakowski
I would request (demand) a refund. The likelihood that you get matching slip covers after all this is very small. Not to mention how long it took to complete the order.
Patrick and Nan, I agree completely. I’m too embarrassed to tell you the total price we paid.
6 months…I think I could have learned how to make slipcovers and made you slipcovers in that time.
Mrs. Micah, is that an offer?
For a $500 deposit, all the striping on those slipcovers should perfectly match and they should fit the chair well. They don’t. I’d send it all back and demand a refund.
if you get your $ back from C and B, check out todo es. Somewhat cheaper slipcovers (but I’d stay away from stripes…for the reason above poster noted)
Emily, thanks for the suggestion.
Even $500 for slip-covers is krezzy! Just scrap all your chairs and couches and buy an entire new set of IKEA couches/chairs (good quality, actually) for significantly less than $1,500. They come with slip-covers, and new slip-covers are nowhere near $500. Of course, they’re all solid color… but solid color is cool.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/rooms/living_room/
I agree with other commentors; return everything and get a full refund.
Yikes! A refund is definitely in order. In fact, C&B should refund your money AND give you the slipcovers, that is if they ever complete them.
Shawn is right about Ikea except they sell much more than just solid color slips. I bought a floor-model Ektorp sofa in the ‘as-is’ section of the Houston store for $199. I also purchased a white slipcover for $60. (It’s in the washer right now and will look good as new when done.) Ikea lowered the price on lots of items and the white slipcover now sells for $49 online. See here: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80047602
I have printed slipcovers for when I feel like changing things up. The Ektorp line of furniture is shaped much like your chairs.
Go get ‘em! Good luck!
This is an outrage!! I can’t beleive Crate & Barrel would do this! Keep us updated on the saga!
Holy Moly!!! I was thinking about buying one until I found this site. I think I’ll look elsewhere. NOT WORTH IT!
Stay away from Todo Es is my advice! I also was promised delivery several times and in december I was promoised a refund. Now almost six months later they will not even return an email much less refund my money. There are forums popping up in several areas that are full of the same story about this company.
I just read my post and I thought I might clarify that it has been almost six months since I placed my order… not six months since December.
~3/12/08: I begin wondering if this is God’s way of saying we shouldn’t spend as much as we did on three slip covers.
Do you think god is really worrying about how much money you spend on stuff?
Thanks for the heads up about C &B
I was just about to buy furniture from them. I’ve rethought that…
Good luck with your catastrophe. They owe you a refund and new slipcovers. Demand it.
Cindy