Furniture Purchasing Nightmares

This has been a long time coming.  I've debated whether to tell the whole story or keep it short and sweet.  I've decided to open with the short and sweet advice and follow it up with a lengthy whiny dialog to appease the morbidly curious.

Don't ever buy furniture at Rooms To Go!  If you see the perfect leather couch at Rooms To Go for $300 and see the exact same model across the street for $900, go across the street and happily spend the extra money. 

The amount of stress Rooms To Go has caused me has probably knocked 10 years off my life expectancy.  Here's how it happened.

Back in July of 2010, I bought about $4,000 worth of living room furniture because Rooms To Go was offering a good deal and gave me four years no interest and a 42 inch LCD television.  I was concerned about spending that kind of money, but the sales people are really good.

You should hear about their warranty, "it covers everything".  You spill acid on the couch, they'll fix it for you.  You get a hole in the armchair, they'll fix it for you.  As long as you believe what they say and don't read what they write, you'll be golden.

I had the furniture for about 4 months when they call and offer me the upgraded warranty that will cover even more defects and last longer and for only $200!  Wow, says gullible me, sign me up.  They did.

8 months into my furniture ownership the center seat in my sectional lost it's padding.  You sit in the seat and feel like you're headed to the floor.  "What's up with that?"  I ponder.  I called Rooms To Go and they are very nice and send out a customer courtesy van within a week to come have a look at the couch.

The guy in the van is real polite and comes in and turns the couch over and looks up underneath it.  Then he says, "I don't have the tools to fix this, but let me show you what's happening."  Underneath the chair is a canvas type fabric holding the cushion up.  It's ripped so the cushion is falling through the fabric. He takes some pictures and says he'll have to send it in to let Rooms To Go warranty department decide how to handle it.

This all sounds rather normal.  Then the bitch from Rooms To Go warranty department calls me and says, "This type of thing is not covered under warranty.  It's considered consumer damage and as far as Rooms To Go is concerned this matter is closed."  Click, buzz.  I swear to god I almost blew a gasket.

After I cooled off a bit, I called Rooms To Go customer care and talked politely to a lady who sounded like she was too nice to be working in the "customer service from hell" department.  She looked up my purchase and said, "Well, I see you bought the extended warranty protection.  You should contact them directly."  I asked for the contact information to give it a shot.

I called them and was told to submit a ticket online.  I went to their website and submitted the ticket.  Part of the ticket was indicating when the damage was noticed.  Eventually, they contact me and say that since the damage occurred within the first year, I was still covered by Rooms To Go warranty and needed to contact their warranty department directly.

I'd already suffered that trauma and didn't feel like doing it again.  Now that I've had the furniture for almost 2 years I'm thinking about submitting another trouble ticket and fudging the numbers.  If they can be dishonest and manipulative then that's the way they want to be treated right?  I've also thought that maybe I could fix it myself, but where's the fun in that?

I'm curious how Rooms To Go stays in business.  I can't even walk near a store now.  When I drive by one, thoughts of hurling my car like a guided missile into the glass doors go fondly swimming through my head.