Interior Solutions Upholstery

On October 9, 2017 I removed the seats and backs of two kitchen chairs and brought them to Interior Solutions to obtain an estimate for reupholstering. The owner said they could replace the faux leather with fabric. Her husband said they had some fabric left over from another job which would work well. He gave me a card with an estimate of $145 per chair, half to be paid immediately and the balance on delivery. I said my wife would want to see the material. When my wife arrived, the owner showed another fabric, stating they had enough on hand for the job. We were shown the foam to be used as padding. My wife showed a slipcover she had previously made for the backs of the chairs and we were assured replacements could be made (for an extra cost). While I talked with her husband, the owner presented my wife with an estimate for $400 and requested immediate payment. My wife wrote a check on October 9 for that amount. The estimate states: 2 kitchen chairs to reupholstery @ $145 each (seat & back cushion), total $290; 2 covers for back cushions @ $35 each, total $70; an additional charge of $40 is shown with no explanation. We were told the job should take about two weeks. Two weeks passed with no contact. After several phone calls and additional promises, the chairs were finally delivered on November 1. The promised (and paid for) slip covers were not with the chairs. The owner said they had been left in the shop (and then later in another car). The seats needed to be reattached to their bases, so the owner’s husband and I worked on that task using my tools. While that was happening, I later learned that the owner demanded an additional $185 check from my wife. No invoice or receipt was given, only saying that new foam was needed. I was shocked, to say the least. We had been shown shown the foam to be used at the time of the initial estimate. Replacing supporting foam should be expected when reupholstering a 20-year-old chair. The charge of $185 for foam for two chairs is absurd, especially considering that the density of the foam is insufficient to prevent one from “bottoming out” when sitting. Interior Solutions Upholstery managed to extract nearly $600 from two senior citizens. We could have replaced the kitchen chairs for much less. Our paid for slipcovers have not been delivered and the sample left by my wife is (presumably) still in their possession. Repeated calls and broken promises have been very upsetting to my wife. This is a business whose operational model appears to be caveat emptor. I suggest you keep that phrase strongly in mind if you are considering Interior Solutions Upholstery for your needs.

The owner and upholsterer inspected the sofa in the home to ensure that they could do what we were asking. They inspected the sofa and determined that the work could be accomplished. A price was quoted for the material and the labor and the couch was picked up from the house on September 19, 2015. We requested and were assured that the work could be completed by Thanksgiving. When the week of Thanksgiving arrived, we had to call to inquire as to when the sofa would be delivered. We were first told it would be Thanksgiving morning. After we expressed our displeasure, they agreed to deliver the night before. On the night before, they called and said it would have to be in the morning. On Thanksgiving morning, they call and said that the were not done and could not make the delivery. We went with folding chairs and many apologies to our guests on Thanksgiving day. We visited the shop the Monday after Thanksgiving and much to our surprise, we found that very little, if any work had been done on the sofa. Essentially, they had it for over two months, then grossly misrepresented the progress on the sofa by scheduling and then canceling two deliveries the week of Thanksgiving, and when challenged, we were told that they have been very busy with other customers. One can only hope they did not misrepresent themselves to others. After getting all kinds of assurances, they continued with the work with the understanding that the Christmas holiday would NOT go by without our sofa being returned. The week before Christmas, we again visited the shop, and while progress had been made, they were still far from done. We once again expressed our dissatisfaction. We gave them a drop dead, ultimatum date of the Tuesday before Christmas. When the Tuesday arrived, we again got a call that the sofa was not ready. We told them at that time that they could keep the sofa, we would like our money back and the we would be filing a claim in small claims court after the first of the year. They begged and pleaded for more time. After 20 aggravating minutes on the phone, they said it would be ready on Wednesday morning. They did indeed delivered the sofa on Wednesday morning. They offered to take $75 off of the amount remaining due which we considered an insult. We ultimately settled for a $150 reduction. The workmanship on the couch was average and while the end product fell short of our expectations, we are glad to have our sofa back. As far as the entire affair, it was one the most aggravating experiences we have had to deal with. They essentially held our sofa hostage for over 3 months. They grossly misrepresented the progress that that had made along the way (essentially, we were lied to on several occasions). This is an untrustworthy organization and I would strongly encourage others to look for another upholsterer should you need this type of service. Very aggravating.