I will never purchase another American Leather product. Here's why.
I am a long-time customer and decided to research their sofa beds and other items for my home that is being redecorated. While their product is good, my experience with customer support, from the reps to the highest level, was disappointing at best.
My first encounter was with an American Leather Rep working for a third party who offered the sofa beds at a significantly reduced price. I asked questions to understand the products' differences, but he could not explain them and became rude and unprofessional.
I contacted Brian Golden, the CEO, to alert him to the need for customer service training. He appeared grateful and connected me with the President of American Leather, Veronica Schnitzius. She had been made aware of the situation, so she began the conversation by letting me know that customer service is an area of the company that she is working on. She either had or was having a meeting that day about improvements. She expressed her gratitude for my taking the time to tell them about my aggravating and disappointing experience, thanking me for not going immediately to another vendor. Something she acknowledged many customers would have done given the circumstances. With customer service at the lowest point in my recent memory, I felt that my input made a difference.
Veronica asked me to meet the area rep who would explain the product differences. It was a considerable inconvenience, but when she alluded to a discount to compensate for my time and aggravation, I believed it would be worthwhile and addressed when I met the rep. It was not. We met at a store that carried the sofabeds, where she explained all of the features and benefits of the products in the store but was unable to explain why I should or should not purchase the American Leather sofabed from the third party (the store didn't carry the same product the third party carried). Had I realized I was meeting her for another sales pitch that did not include a discount, I would not have gone to the trouble. This meeting was on January 21.
On or about March 20, almost two months after my initial contact, I reached out again to Veronica to let her know the outcome of my meeting and that I was disappointed that no one cared to find out. I mentioned that I also received an email from my local store rep about a 10% discount on American Leather sofabeds.
After an aggravating experience and a disappointing response from everyone at American Leather, the solution offered to elevate and regain my loyalty was the firing of the third-party rep! It is appalling that a President would first share that with me and think I would be satisfied, especially since my first contact with the CEO was about improving the customer experience and additional customer service training. Yet, at the end of the day, I was offered the same 10% discount, nothing more, nothing less, and a rep was fired, much to my shock.
American Leather is an unprofessional organization that should value the employees they hire and train them on all of its products so that they are equipped with the tools to answer questions and sell effectively.
I will never buy another American Leather product and suggest you steer clear too. read more