We recently redid our entire landscaping, irrigation system and built a pergola and barbecue and added lighting in our backyard. We were finally going to have a lovely outdoor room after many, many years of living in our home. We went shopping at local outdoor furniture, collectible and consignment stores looking for something comfortable. Then we went to Patioworld in Thousand Oaks and met Dori.
Dori knows how to do good old fashioned customer service. We brought in our measurements and some photos and knew the kind of material we wanted our furniture made out of. She spent time with us on 2 occasions, giving us as much direct, knowledgeable attention as we needed. I ask a lot of questions and she was patient, giving us a lot of time.
She schlepped furniture around, moving it from across the store. She pulled out her tape measure. She talked us through fabric choices. Then she ran some preliminary numbers. The first time we came when the project had just begun in the summer. She knew we weren't ready to buy yet.
When we came back in November when the yard was finished, she remembered us and started moving furniture around again so we'd get an idea. I was nervous because we'd be spending a fair amount of money. This wasn't like Zappos and a pair of shoes where I could just return it!
We'd picked out a lot of individual pieces and the final figure was more than we wanted to spend, even with some sale discounts. So Dori helped us figure out what we truly needed to start with, saying we could always add more. She explained how we could find some less expensive pieces for the side tables. But since we wanted quality and were going to be spending a lot of time actually sitting under our pergola, we should spend on the comfort of the sofa, recliners and ottomans.
Yes, she was thinking of what was best for us. I hope that doesn't get her in trouble with her boss, who should be giving her a raise for her excellent service! We cut back the number of items and when she handed us the invoice she told us to go home and think about it to make sure we were happy. She said this several times, after we told her we were sure and pulled out the credit card. She was willing to let us walk out of the store when she had the deal just about closed. But we were comfortable with our decision because we had all the information we needed to make it.
Dori is the kind of sales person you want to clone so you can have this kind of experience whenever you need to buy something that requires research. She knows her stock and her manufacturers. She held our hand to make sure we got what we needed.
We could have gone back to the other outdoor furniture. They weren't rude, they just weren't engaged. They didn't spend time with us talking about their stock. They didn't work with us to show us how the 'room' would look. Or work through any numbers for us. So when it was time to buy, I told my husband we were going back to Dori.
All in all it was a fun experience and we've been enjoying entertaining, reading, napping and working on our laptops on our very comfortable furniture in our new backyard. read more