City Discount Furniture

HORRENDOUS EXPERIENCE. I took a chance on this furniture store and was thoroughly disappointed from beginning to end. Upon entering the store, I was tended to by the owner who spoke little English. After settling on a sofa I was told that the item was «surely» in stock and that it would be delivered the next day (for an extra delivery fee). I paid for the item and delivery fees in cash and left with my receipt. it was from this point forward that the experience went awry.
Later that day the owner called me to tell me that the item was actually not in stock and would not be delivered for three weeks, or that I could pick out something similar. I drove back to the store and settled on another sofa for the same price, and was told he would contact me first thing the following Monday with the delivery info. Monday came and went, as did the rest of the week. Angry, I called the store Thursday evening and asked for info on my delivery, and to speak to the owner. An employee who spoke almost no English put he phone down, and proceeded to yell, presumably to someone else in the store, in a foreign language. He then told me he had no information for me but that the owner would call me back in one hour. Of course, one hour passed and no one called me back. I called them back again, got the same employee from the first call, and was told that the owner had left for the day. When I pressed him as to why the owner didn’t call before he left for the day, the employee, obviously caught off guard at my follow-​up question, said that the owner had in fact NEVER come in that day and that I «might be able to catch him around noon the next day.» At this point I was beginning to lose any patience that I had left.
The next day, Friday of that week, I decided to stop by in person at the time the owner was supposed to be in the store. I arrived to an empty store, and had to scream out «is anyone here!?» before an unkempt, non-​hygienic employee who also spoke almost no English, emerged from a back room. I asked for the owner and was told he has not come in today and he has no idea when he will be back, making little effort to find the owner’s whereabouts. At this point I lost my cool and whipped my receipt out and decided to call off the deal and get my money back. Well, this is where the truly disturbing part begins.
The unkempt employee told me that he could not do refunds and that «we are a little store, do not keep money on hand for refunds, and can’t possibly give me one.» He also said there was no way to find out the status of my order and to come back another time. Well that was it for me. I informed him that this is now a legal matter and I threatened to call Albany Police in front of him. I also told him I would be filling a lawsuit that day. I told him sternly that it is in his best interst to have the owner call me as soon as he gets in, and I stormed out of the store.
Well clearly my legal retaliation worked, because twenty minutes later the owner called me to apologize, and to say that my order would be delivered the next day, FULLY ASSEMBLED. It was obvious to me that this business normally tries to scam their customers first, and if threatened with lawsuits, only then will they follow through with the order and their hollow promises.
The day of delivery they were an HOUR later than the estimate, and came in a broken-​down, unmarked van, spraypainted with offensive graffiti. Two imposing men emerged and I was hesitant to even let them in. However I did, and to my utter disgust they delivered the order completely UNASSEMBLED. They told me they had other deliveries to make and had no time to assemble it for me, and that I was on my own. One of the delivery guys quipped that I «look like a smart guy and can follow directions and assemble it myself.» I demanded my extra delivery fee back, and was told to take it up with the owner. I was so sick of the whole set of events that I didn’t even bother calling him, I couldn’t stomach another argument with the lowlife. I ordered the two men out of my building. It took me three hours to assemble the thing.
The Bottom Line: don’t even consider walking into this store because you will deal with nothing but unprofessionalism and borderline criminal behavior from start to finish. There was no understanding from both the owner or his employees of how to treat a customer, how to run a proper business entity, or how to deliver on promises. To add insult to injury, the quality of the product you see in the store showroom is superior to the actual product they deliver, and it never comes assembled. AVOID! AVOID! AVOID!