A husband and wife team run this business. He does the measuring, fabric cutting, deliveries and all upholstery work and she makes the slipcovers. They have the "good enough for government work" attitude, wherever they can cut corners that's what they do.
I placed my order (during their slow time) for upholstery and slipcovers and was told it would take 6-8 weeks. He picks up my furniture in a van so filthy I cringed but the pieces were being reupholstered so I tried to ignore the gross factor. At 8 weeks work hadn't even begun. They ended up delivery 3 months after the order was taken.
One of the upholstered chairs was so poorly constructed polyester stuffing was visible when I lifted up the cushion and it looked like he tried to patch the back with glue where the staple wasn't holding. Still I accepted it because the chair would have a slipcover. The slipcover fit so tight we barely got it on. I have other slipcovered furniture so I know how a slipcover should fit and this had clearly not been measured properly.
I also ordered a slipcover made for an ottoman with the same fabric as the 8 dining chair seat cushions. I supplied pre-shunk fabric for the ottoman's slipcover and un-washed fabric to upholster the dining chairs with. He upholsters the dining chairs in the washed fabric and she sews the slipcover using the un-washed fabric, opposite what they were supposed to do. I was willing to live with this error if the slipcover didn't shrink but it did, exposing the wheels of the ottoman. I called her and she said no problem, order more fabric and we'll remake it.
That's when I noticed an even bigger problem. The fabric on the dining chairs and ottoman was the WRONG SIDE! They even botched that up! I called again and said I have to draw the line here, I cannot accept the fabric wrong side up. She agreed to redo the chairs and remake the slipcover. But she doesn't tell her husband and I soon find out why.
He shows up to pick up the chairs and when I reiterate what needs to be done he blows up. And I mean he starts yelling! Violent man, no wonder she's afraid of him. He says he's not redoing the chairs and that it's up to HIS discretion which side of the fabric is the right side! Even the manager at Calico Corners said it's obvious to her which is the right side, and everyone I showed the fabric to figured it out. But he would not admit he made a mistake even though his own wife said it had been done wrong.
After he leaves I call her but get no answer. I email but receive no reply. A week goes by before I hear from her via email, denying everything she had said and agreed to. She must have endured a week of brutality and brainwashing by him to flip her story like this. I told her I would not pay to have his mistake fixed and I was done with them. I had finally had enough.
So here I am with dining room chairs that need to be upholstered again. This is why I caution anyone thinking of hiring this pair to get everything in writing (she makes all her promises over the phone but doesn't pass on the information to the person doing the work).
BTW...suspicious as to the quality of workmanship, I washed the chair slipcovers. Even though she charged me a couple hundred bucks to have the fabric pre-washed it shrunk a little more and I was only able to get the slipcover back on the chairs by stretching it to the breaking point (and it was damp fabric). Seams ripped which I had to hand sew to strengthen.
And there were other problems. She didn't overlock/surge any of the seams which means the fabric frays horribly when washed. I now have to pay someone to do what she cut corners on. My other slipcovers all have surged edges.
The welting(piping cord) has too many seams in it, done properly there should be as few as possible and not placed front and center where it's the most noticeable. In some place there were seams only a few inches apart. She had plenty of fabric, there's no excuse for this other than not caring how the finished product looks. Another sign that they do things half-ass. It's time for this lazy, unethical and unreliable pair to retire.
UPDATE:
Here's what Eileen's response failed to tell you. Robert gave me only one option which was a hack. He wanted to rip the fabric off the chairs, flip the fabric over, and reattach. I did not pay good money to end up with chairs upholstered with re-used fabric, weakened with staple holes! Do it right or don't do it at all. After witnessing Robert's explosive temper I did not trust what he might do to the chair cushions when left alone with them. Not worth the risk... if you get my drift. read more
