This review is a tough one. After spending a significant amount of time visiting multiple furniture…read morestores as well as exploring a few internet websites (If you don't have to, never buy online. If you can't see, touch and/or sit on it, most likely, it won't be what you think or were led to believe it should have been. Just say'n.)
I went to Designer Furniture Gallery on June 25th, 2025. Met with a very professional saleswoman, Heidi, and spent probably a couple of hours looking around and finally decided on a very nice, uptown, expensive set of furniture: Southern Motion's Westchester Collection. All Zero Gravity Recliners (which are very cool, BTW,) power head and footrests as well as USB-C ports.
The sofa, loveseat and chair were all upholstered in semi-aniline, top grain leather. Not wanting to live in the danger zone, I felt the need to purchase the 5-year combo policy for an additional $600 plus a little extra for the White Glove Delivery Service which led me to believe that Heidi was exceptionally skilled in performing precision wallet biopsies. Haha, jk Heidi. All said and done, the total was.... a lot.
I left feeling well taken care of and since the furniture was a custom order, the delivery time would end up being 6 weeks, August 13th.
The delivery guys were exceptionally professional, arrived on time and when setting up the furniture, we noticed a few of the manufacture defect concerns, which they took pictures of and said they would show their boss.
That night I decided to apply a coat of Leather Honey Conditioner and protectant to all three pieces, and when you do that process, you'll be examining every inch of the furniture. While doing that, I found several more manufacturers' defects, took pictures and sent them to Designer Furniture. I later received a call from Devin, (I never did know what his actual title was) who also was very professional and came to the house to evaluate the defects (check out the exceptional work Southern Motion will proudly work overtime, take 6 weeks and a boatload of your money to do for you too, simply for the asking, in my post pics.)
I never received a call from the Designer Furniture Gallery store manager, which was disappointing! Probably too busy counting his money and couldn't take the time to discuss the paying customer's legitimate complaints; not much of a "professional" IMHO.
Devin mostly stayed in touch and took my calls when there were lengthy periods of "crickets." Obviously, Southern Motion didn't seem to want to discuss their fantastic, epic, Quality Control failures either, so I never received a customer service call from that ignominious excuse for a furniture company either.
Finally, September 11th, 2025, approximately 4 weeks later and after I had reached out several times attempting to get some resolution, I was told there were 3 options: 1. Send all the pieces back and have them fixed. (I had already sold the furniture I was replacing, so I guess we could sit on milk crates for another 6 weeks or so.) 2. Send the defective pieces back a few at a time (lol, can you even imagine doing that?) and 3. A partial refund. Sadly enough, the partial refund seemed to be the only feasible alternative in lieu of professional grade work and customer service. (Southern Motion, when I review them, will be getting a neg 11 Stars.)
What was supposed to be an ooh ahh moment turned into a disappointing O.M.G! Experience. As far as I'm concerned, neither company puts customer service very high on their priority list and reading some of the other reviews, it's apparent. It just might be a good idea when out driving around looking for furniture, to just keep driving.
