Harlem Furniture

We have two toddlers...always a challenge when buying new furniture. We purchased a Lakefront sectional from Harlem Furniture in August, 2007. Not only do all spills and stains come off easily from the microfiber fabric, it has no sharp angles that might hurt a child. In addition, the sectional comes in pieces, which makes it possible to arrange it differently and to move pieces from one room to another. It's light enough to move a few sections upstairs for a guest bed, for example (the pieces hook together to make a comfortable, stable bed). Several guests have slept on the sectional and found it very comfortable, including a picky mother-in-law. To sum up, the sectional is easy to clean, child-friendly, versatile, and was altogether a great value. The staff at Harlem Furniture was very helpful and the delivery service was prompt and excellent.

Up until my most recent purchase from Harlem, I was completely satisfied...however they've totally lost a customer over something that was preventable.

Last May I purchased a leather chair to go with the sofa and loveseat that I already had from them. Unfortunately they had discontinued my style...so I went with a chair that was similar. After about 4 months with the new chair and ottoman, I went to get up out of it and with my elbow on the armrest to help get up out of it...I heard a snap. The frame to the chair broke and I called a technician to come out and look at it. The first technician sent in his information to Harlem and I got a call from their "customer service" department telling me that they were not going to honor the manufacturer's defect warranty because I put pressure on the armrest. After trying to reason with them that an elbow on the armrest wasn't any sort of abuse...I got them to send out another tech. That tech marked it as a manufacturer's defect and I got a call from customer service again saying I could go and pick out something else to replace it (after seeing it was just cheap laminated plywood for the frame...I knew it wouldn't hold up).

So I go into Harlem in Lombard and the sales people first say they don't see anything in the system that I have a credit. They call the CS department as I shop for something for a replacement. Unfortunately I can't find a chair that matches...but I found a bed frame that I liked and decided I'd just apply the credit toward that. The CS department tells the associate that it has to be a chair and that the credit is only for the chair and not the ottoman. So I had to haggle with them to get them to take back the matching ottoman with the chair. (If you're called 'the room place' you need actually help people create their rooms). After an hour and a half in the store and a big hassle with talking with their customer service department and sales people that had to keep running back to the manager...I finally got them to apply the credit toward a bed frame (I ended up spending an additional $300 to get what I wanted)...but after that hassle I will never step back into a Harlem furniture again. Could have been a simple process, but they had to be difficult and lost a customer over it.