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Sofa, as delivered.
How it Began
How it Began
I purchased a sofa about three years ago. At the time of delivery, one of the leather cushions had an abrasion/cut. I'm not sure how Stickley Audi's factory didn't see this cut while doing quality control, is something I don't understand. The installer of the sofa saw it right away as he took it out of the shipping box. I called the Strickley and they admitted that this was a defect that should be addressed. I mention this obvious fact because they later claimed that that "surface" defects where not covered by their structure warranty. But at this point, the cut in the leather was covered and they send out a repair person
Stickley Audi's Hot Vinyl Solution
Stickley Audi's Hot Vinyl Solution
Stickley Audi's "repair" person attempted to fix the scar in the leather by filling it with hot vinyl paste! The results were as horrible as one might expect. The vinyl did "blend in over time" -- the amount of time the repair hoped to use to escape my house, I assume. It immediately cracked and did "blend in" at all. Stickley Audi's sales person admitted that the "repair" wasn't good and asked me to send the cushion back to Stickley Audi's factory in North Carolina. I asked why the cushion as to be sent back. I was told it was for "color matching". My first mistake was to accept this statement. Color matching is valid when the leather's color has changed time over a long period of time, but this sofa was just built by the factory. But Stickley Audi is a high-end store and I paid a lot for this sofa. I assumed -- wrongly, it turned out -- that they would make this cushion right.
Cushion "repaired" by use of hot vinyl by authorized repairman from Stickley Audi, no less.
The same cushion starts to deteriorate in the same location as the original defect.
The Problem Returns
The Problem Returns
The supposedly new cushion came back about a month after we sent back the cushion. We could tell right from the start that the cushion wasn't normal. After a few months, it deteriorated to the appearance you see to the left. We don't know if the cushion was badly repaired at the factory or they sent a second defective cushion. In the end, it doesn't matter. We purchased a sofa for a lot of money and believed we would get a sofa in good condition. That didn't happen.
Stickley Audi's Peace of Mind Warranty
Stickley Audi's Peace of Mind Warranty
Stickely Audi me a "peace of mind" warranty that was to cover accidents. I was told at the time that any damage that was not done intentionally would be covered. Stickley Audi refused to admit that the cushion was the original cushion, poorly repaired. So they sent me to their peace of mind contractors.
The contractors sent out two "leather technicians". They were very pleasant and tried to sell me on services for other leather couches I had in my home. The main tech called back to his shop to "take care of the cushion" and suddenly his expression changed. He no longer said they were going to take care of the cushion. He said he had to take some photos on his crappy flip phone so as to "do research" back at the shop. I had already sent them high resolution photos and what his shop could determine from low res photos that two leather techs could not tell from seeing the cushion, I don't know.
A few weeks later, I received a letter from the contractor saying that the damage was due to skin oils and thus not covered. First of all, we had some areas on the arm rest that did have some stain from skin oil and it was nothing like the damage to the seat cushion. Our skill wasn't in contact with the seat cushion, and the peace of mind warranty was supposed to cover anything that was not intentional damage.
After many calls with this contractor and with Stickley Audi, we finally found out why the tech's "we'll take care of it" because a blame game -- with us being the losers. Stickley Audi had discontinued the type of leather used on our sofa. Strickley Audi not only sold us the sofa but they manufactured it. This also confirmed why the damaged cushion was given a botched repair job by the factory and not replaced, as we were originally told.
Stickley Audi sold us a discontinued sofa and an extra peace of mind warranty that was impossible to be used because there was no more leather available. I assume the saleswoman, Balya, got a bonus selling a discontinued leather style and for selling a premium warranty policy.
The real reason for this situation is that Stickley discontinued this color of leather. I cannot prove, but suspect that the sales people knew that this sofa color was going to be discontinued and that the piece of mind warranty was going to be useless --- other than to make them a commission.
Next Steps
Next Steps
Stickley Audi made a huge mistake is hoping we would go away. They keep tell us that why are we complaining after such a long time. But we started complaining the day of the delivery! That fact that they misdirected us, ignored us, ignored the BBB, and then continued to ignore us was their fault and not ours.
We don't know which options are still open to us but we are going to share our experiences with Stickley Audi so that other people will not make the same purchasing mistake we made.
The Better Business Bureau Comes in
The Better Business Bureau Comes in
I went to arbitration with the peace of mind contractor. I was able to prove that their letter about skin oil was false. After that admission on their part, I asked them to come back to my home to look again. They refused. This is when I heard for the first time that the leather could not be had. I was amazed. Stickley Audi owns the factory! How can they not be able to repair one of their own sofas? The contractor offered to return the full amount of their peace of mind warranty. One doesn't buy insurance only to be told that the money can be given back if one needs the insurance. Yet, there I was.
The original saleswoman, Bayla Kallstrom, had retired. Her replacement, Sheri Abate, sent me on the long and painful road with the peace of mind contractor. So, my next stop was the manager, James Torres. After listening to my story, I was told that I could fix my cushion by spending $4,000 to re-cover the entire sofa in another style of leather. The sofa's price tag had been $6,000.
This is when I went to the BBB to arbitrate. Stickley Audi lost the arbitration. (case #12134607). One would think that an external party validating my side of the story would make Stickley Audi realize that I was not being unreasonable in having an undamaged sofa. This is more than the "customer is always right" -- something I don't believe to be true -- it was the customer and the BBB.
One would think that being found to be in the wrong would get some resolution. It didn't I was not surprised since one of the factors in my winning the case was that I caught James in a lie. He wrote to the BBB that contrary to my statement that the sofa could not be repaired that the "sofa was still being made". He then had to admit that the leather -- which was the entire issue -- was no longer being made.
I don't think the BBB took kindly to his trying to pull a fast one.
Stickley Audi's Integrity
Stickley Audi's Integrity
I have been told numerous times by Stickley Audi's staff that they pride themselves on their integrity. Yet..
- I was sold a sofa that was discontinued without being told
- I was sold a $500 peace of mind warranty that was both not correctly described nor could have been used.
- When I came back with the cushion the second time, I was told I needed to use the warranty firm when it should have been considered an original defect and thus handled by the factory.
- The warranty people lied in their letter declining service about the stain being from skin oil.
- James Torres lied to the BBB about the fact that cushion was still being manufactured.
- Stickley Audi admitted that the second cushion was an original defect and I that I should not have gone to the warranty -- and this by the woman who sent me to the warranty people! -- yet didn't feel that this admission meant that Stickley Audi should be responsible for the defect.
- Instead of standing behind their product, I was invited to buy the sofa a second time.
- Sheri told us that the warranty people were third parties and thus our problem was with them. Only after I showed that the peace of mind warranty was purchased through Stickley Audi and at the same time as the sofa, did her attempt to throw the warranty people under the bus stop. I don't like the warranty people due to their lies, but I consider them a type of victim.
- I offered twice to buy a new cushion to replace the defective one and only then did they admit what the warranty people had admitted: it could not be had.
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