Monday, March 23, 2009

The table saga continues

Remember this post about when I got a new dining table?

Remember this post a week later about how the dining table was damaged?

That was 4 weeks ago. For 4 weeks, the furniture store had my tabletop in their back room and periodically they would work on it, then they'd have to wait for something, then they'd do something else, then they'd have to wait some more.

Finally FINALLY they called and said the table was finished! Ready! And would I please come pick it up? Soon?

Today we made our way over to the store and made our way to the back. The backroom guy had to call for help to pick up the very large and heavy tabletop and he happened to get the store manager. They picked it up, flipped it on its side, folded the leaf into its hidden compartment, and attempted to close the two sides together over the leaf.

Humn. They seemed to be having a little trouble.

They opened it back up and pushed harder. They looked it over and tried again. They tried to close the brackets but they were having trouble with that.

They finally got it closed and brought the tabletop over. The general manager asked if we had ever had trouble closing the table and latching it. Well, yes when we brought it to them, but it seemed like the least of our worries at the time and we planned to keep the table open with the leaf out anyway.

He asked how long we had had the table. He laughed when I told him WE had it for 1 week and THEY had had it for 3 (actually 4). He then stated that he didn't like the way the table was acting and he wanted us to be completely happy with our purchase. So they are replacing the table with a new one.

Did you get that?

A brand new table.

All that work to fix the tabletop - the extra time, effort, and materials the guys used to make it perfect - and we're going to get a new table out of it after all. In fact, they are delivering the new one to us on Friday. We went ahead and took the old one home and set it up so we can have a real place to eat until the new one arrives. We've been eating on our pub-height chairs that are exactly the same height as the tiny card table we've had to use. That's been an adventure and I was ready for it to be over!

In spite of the long wait, I still love Value City Furniture and I still love this manager, an awesome guy who doesn't quibble over things. We're going to go ahead and get 2 more chairs for the table since it will comfortably seat 8 and it's always nice to have enough chairs at the table for guests. Like tomorrow when the neighborhood social committee comes over. We can sit around our table with plenty of room to spread out notebooks and calendars, sip coffee and tea, and snack on...something.

Now to figure out an elegant snack worthy of my elegant table. And keep L and the glue far, far away from it!

1 comment:

jinksto said...

I didn't realize that you wrote fiction. This is a GREAT story but a little unrealistic as that kind of customer service just doesn't happen any more!

Seriously, it's very cool of them. If we need furniture in the future we'll certainly go to them first. Thanks for sharing.