Shambleys Upholstery

Mr. Shambley returned the following day (a Friday) with the newly padded, re-upholstered rails and headboard and stapled the additional padding and fabric on the base of the bed on site. As soon as he positioned the rails on top of the base, I could see that they wouldn?t work. While he had added 2 inches to the height (as I requested), he hadn?t copied the width of the ?old? rails. The padding went straight up and the rails didn?t meet the mattress, leaving the entire gap between the mattress and bed frame exposed. I immediately pointed this out, which he first tried to ignore, then when I persisted, he countered that the frame was too large for the mattress. I reminded him that both the carpenter and I had explained that the frame had been sized larger so there would be room for my hands to go to the bottom of the base to make the bed, and that his assistant had noticed how snugly the former rails (the ones he recovered) fit on top of the memory foam mattress. I told him that the bed wasn?t safe for my daughter because there is enough room for her hand, arm or foot to get caught between the mattress and the frame and, if she were having a seizure at the time, her bone would likely snap and break.  
I also told him that the padding he had used for the rails was too hard. He reminded me that he had told me he was planning to make them firmer than the former rails. I countered that there is a lot of range between ?firmer? and ?rock hard.? The padding on the former rails was soft and ?squishy? with enough cushioning and ?give? to it to prevent bruising when my daughter?s arms and legs are banging against them during a seizure. These have no ?give? to them. Mr. Shambley said something about wrestlers being thrown around on wrestling mats without bruising (?)  
Mr. Shambley?s assistant noticed that one of the side rails did not seat properly on top of the frame. They tried switching sides, and he finally pounded it down into place. Since I have to lift the rails off every time I make the bed, pounding the rail down isn?t a good solution for me. [After they left, I laid the two side rails down side-by-side on the floor and noticed the ?longer? one has about twice as much padding on both ends, making it too snug a fit between the headboard and bottom rail. So it doesn?t seat properly and sits at an angle.]  
Mr. Shambley gave me his bill ($700 for the fabric plus $47.25 tax and $450 for labor = $1,197.25). I told him I couldn?t pay it because the bed is not safe for my daughter. He argued that he had people to pay. I said I was sorry but the bed was unacceptable and that if I paid him he would have no incentive to make it right. I suggested we ?cool off? over the weekend. Going out the door, he said he thought the best solution was for me to take the mattress back to the store and get a bigger one that would fit the frame. I just don?t think he heard a word I?d said.    
Over the weekend I decided that it would be best to put my concerns about the bed in writing in an attempt to prevent further misunderstanding. I drafted the letter on Monday and mailed it Tuesday, listing the problems with the bed and offering solutions. I refrained from asking him to add more padding to the sides of the rails to seal the gap (as he should have done in the first place) because I was pretty sure this would require him to buy more of the expensive fabric. So I proposed an alternative, which was to make wedges to fit into the gap using a fabric in a color to match the rails. [Since Mr. Shambley left, I have been rolling up and stuffing every spare towel I own into the crevice between the mattress and frame to try to make it safer.] I requested 3 additional corrections, all of which addressed safety concerns. I have no issues with the appearance of the upholstery work.  
[One additional problem has arisen since Mr. Shambley left the bed. There are some exposed staples on the under side of the bottom rail in two places that are rough and stick out. Every time I lift the bottom rail off the frame to make the bed, the staples catch on the fabric that covers the frame. They have now torn a hole in the fabric in those two places.]  
In my letter, I asked Mr. Shambley to let me know by the end of the week if he wanted to make the repairs. If he didn?t, I said I would contract with another upholsterer for the work and deduct their charge from his bill.  
Mr. Shambley called four days later than I requested and left a message on my answering machine. All he said was, ?I got your letter, and what you need to do is pay the bill that I left and we will proceed from there.? Needless to say, I have not paid the bill or contacted him again.

I have used them a number times and I have never been dissapointed with their work.