Kelley Furniture

Full review
Buying a home is very difficult, and quite expensive. Furnishing it is just as difficult and rather expensive, too. Of course, one who has a new home they must furnish will always look for a great deal.

That is exactly the position in which Craig and I find ourselves. We closed on a townhouse on 9/30/04, and are in the process of renovating / remodeling / redecorating it. Believe me, it is no small feat. The trials and tribulations of what we have gone through will be posted throughout several reviews on Epinions. At least, that is our intention.

Tonight's topic, my first topic in my Homeowner Horror saga, deals with Kelley Furniture Online Store. Obviously, it has to do with the furnishing of our townhouse.

As I stated in my introduction, new homeowners are always on the lookout for great deals on furniture-- among other things, of course. I was searching online for a new bed, and discovered a few online furniture stores that I have never heard of before. Among these was Kelley Furniture, located at www.kelleyfurniture.com. Kelley Furniture is the fifth site on the list when you do a search for "Discount Bedroom Furniture" on Google. I visited Kelley Furniture after I had tried the first four.

When the website first loads, you are completely overwhelmed by the choices available to you. There are 44 categories of furniture that you can peruse. They are:
Accessories, Home Accents * Baby Cribs, Baby Furniture* Baker's Rack, Kitchen Racks * Bar Server, Bar Table, Bar Stool * Bean Bags, Bean Bag Chair * Bedroom Furniture * Bedroom Sets * Bombe Chest, Bombay Chest, Bombe Furniture * Bunk Bed, Kids Bunk Beds * Canopy Beds * Cheval Mirror, Wall Mirrors * Coffee Table, End Table, Cocktail Tables * Comforters, Discount Linens * Complete Furniture Collections * Daybeds * Dining Room * Dining Room Furniture * Dining Room Furniture, Dinette Set * Easy Lift Chairs and Recliners * Entertainment Centers, Entertainment Center * Futons * Game Tables, Chess Table * Hall Tree, Seating, Bench * Headboards * Headboards, Headboard * Hope Chest, Cedar Chest, Blanket Chest * Iron Bed, Metal Beds, Iron Beds * Jewelry Armoire and Jewelry Boxes * Kids Bedroom Sets * Kids Beds * Kids Furniture * Kitchen Furniture * Living Room * Loft Bunk Bed, Loft Bunk Beds * Metal & Wood Beds * Office Furniture * Plant Stands, Plant Stand * TV Stands * Vanity, Vanities * Wesley Allen Beds * Wesley Allen Daybeds * Wine Rack, Wine Storage Cabinet * Wood Beds.

Kelley Furniture works with 12 different manufacturers. These manufacturers are Acme, AMAC, Bush, Coasters, Fashion Bed Group, Hillside House, Homerica, MFG, OSullivan, Powell Furniture, Wesley Allen and YHH. Anyone who needs something for their home will not be at a loss to find it on this website.

In order to find something, simply type what you are looking for in the search box and click on "go." If you return too many results, you can be a little more specific in the "advanced search" section. It is a very well-put-together website. You would think that you would have a terrific shopping experience.

The prices at Kelley Furniture are indeed discounted. You can literally save hundreds on items... That is, if Kelley Furniture allows you to.

Over the weekend, I found a Cimarron Bed Queen Size Metal Bed manufactured by Powell Furniture for $40.99, marked down from $60.98. This is the description of said bed:

Queen Size Cimarron Metal Bed
Fully assembled. Headborard 55" tall, Footboard 43" tall
Brushed Copper Finish
Constructed of steel with decorative aluminum castings.
The Complete Metal Bed come with an optional extension that you remove for the footboard so that it sits lower.

Although the Headboard and Footboad are already assembled, the Bed Frame will need to be attached with minor assembly.

This Complete Metal Bed includes: Headboard, Footboard and a Sturdy Framing System to hold Your Mattress, (Mattresses, Linens, and Accessories are not Included.) Please make sure when ordering your Complete Bed that you order the proper size Bed to fit your mattress. Please see mattress sizing chart below.


The other sizes were $400, but the Queen was $40.99. I thought it was a misprint, so I clicked on it to add to my cart to see if the price would change. You can imagine my excitement when it didn't! I plugged in my MasterCard number. I was charged, and immediately received a receipt for $140.99. (Shipping was supposed to be $100, according to the checkout screen.) I printed absolutely everything out-- the ad, the description, my shopping cart and the confirmation email.

On Sunday, I checked to see if the price had been changed. I was delighted to see that it was still $40.99 for the queen Cimarron bed! I couldn't believe that I was going to get this bed for such an incredible price.

On Monday, I checked the status of my order. My order was still there for the price that I paid, but the price of the bed in the online catalog was changed from $40.99 to $400.99. I didn't want to be charged that amount, so I called Kelley Furniture, located in Laguna Hills, Ca. It was 6:00 my time, so it was 3:00 their time. I spoke with someone and said, "Hi, this is Candice Cook. I placed an order for a Cimarron bed over the weekend. I'd like to know the status of that order." The girl put me on hold by laying the phone on the desk, then spoke with someone in the background.

Suddenly, an email appeared in my inbox from Kelley Furniture. I opened it and read it. It said, "Your ofrder, 1925, has been cancelled. Please contact us with any questions." The girl got back on the phone and told me that the bed order had been cancelled because it is backordered for 3 months. I told her that I wanted to speak with the owner.

Kelley herself got on the phone and reiterated that the bed was backordered for 3 months, and my credit card wouldn't be charged. I told her how I noticed the price glitch. She said, "Oh," and then hung up on me. I called back immediately, and no one answered. I left a scathing message about how I did not appreciate the false advertising on their website, that I wanted the bed for the price I paid for it, that I knew other people had ordered it for the same price and my attorney would be in touch with her if I did not receive the bed for $40.99.

I called Craig to let him know what was going on, and I sent a couple of emails to the people I knew had tried to purchase the bed. Craig called his friends that had purchased the bed. Again, I called Kelley Furniture because I hadn't heard back from them.

Once again, Kelley got on the phone with me. I told her that I didn't appreciate being hung up on. She explained to me that her "phone died" and to please call her back on another number. I called the other number, and she answered. I told her exactly what was going on, and she apologized. She then told me that I would get the bed for the price originally offered. I thanked her and we hung up.

Approximately 15 minutes later, I saw that someone had tried to call my cell phone. I listened to the voicemail, and it was Kelley. She said, "I heard your threatening message you left on my answering machine and I want to talk with you. I don't appreciate being threatened. You're probably embarassed, which is why you didn't answer the phone. I'll be waiting for your call." EMBARASSED?! I called her back immediately.

Kelley answered immediately and was very defensive about the message I left her. She gave me some sob story about how they really don't do business with Powell, so it would take 8 weeks to ship to me, that she was surprised that there were so many orders for this bed, how the bed is more expensive to her than the $40.99 listed on the website... You get the idea. Kelley offered to sell me the bed at cost plus shipping: $100 for the headboard, $100 for the footboard and $50 for the frame. That makes $250. The bed was supposed to be $400. That's a $150 profit on their part! The bed that I purchased was $209 under invoice. I understand that a business is out to make money, but they made this mistake. They should have eaten the $209 for the 4 beds that were ordered and made it up with the profits from other full-price sales. Hey-- They made the mistake.

But, no. In response to the mistake that was made and I (among others) would have reaped the benefits of a new bed from, I had the owner of the company whining on the phone, making excuses for a mistake that should have been caught. She didn't even offer any sort of resolution. This just isn't how a business should be run.

Several of the items on the website didn't load properly. Pictures were missing, links weren't clickable and items were put in the cart at the wrong prices. There are a lot of bugs that Kelley Furniture Online Store needs to work out.

Another thing is that Kelley told me that it would take 8 - 10 weeks to ship the bed, as Kelley Furniture doesn't carry it in stock. However, the statement on their index page reads, "Kelley's Furniture Store is proud to offer Items From our Showroom to you on the internet." When you click on the Shipping & Return Policies section, it reads, "Bedroom and dining room furniture and children's will usually take 3 to 4 weeks, (depending on the cutting schedule)...". However, I was told that shipping would take 8 - 10 weeks. That's more than double the time advertised on the website!

Yes, Kelley Furniture Online Store has a nice selection on its website. Yes, the site is easy to navigate. However, that's not what is the most important aspect of an online store. Customers must be able to purchase products from the site! Customer service is VERY important! An online store should operate as a retail store, not as though someone is selling out of their garage.

If you're shopping online for furniture, it's a good idea to pass Kelley Furniture Online Store by. It's just not worth the headache.


UPDATE: How's This for Ethical?
I told Kelley about Epinions and how there was a review that said Kelley Furniture did a poor job. All of a sudden, This User appears and writes a glowing review of Kelley Furniture. While I was on the phone with Kelley, I told her about Epinions. She read a bad review that I referred her to, and whined about Epinions and how Spevack probably bought from her through her eBay store. This is just ridiculous.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Will The Harassment Ever End?
Kelley called me again and yelled at me continuously about Epinions and what I wrote about my experience. She demanded that I revise what I wrote in this review, and that she will send me an email with the revisions that she wants. Believe me, if I get it I will certainly post it here!