AMISH FURNITURE GALLERY

Honestly, this was the worst experience I have had with a retailer of any kind in my entire life. We were told the bookshelf would be in in 3 months. It took more than eight. We were called about 2 weeks after ordering and told that the salesperson had given us the wrong price (charged us for oak, not cherry) and would we please pay hundreds of dollars more for the cherry? We agreed to split the difference. After 14 weeks of hearing nothing, we made calls repeatedly trying to find out the status of our order. Ardine did not return a single call. When I finally was able to reach her (because she answered the store phone herself) she said that she had left us a message. When I told her we had never received it (we didn't), she all but called me a liar. After this, my husband had to deal with her. Because they wouldn't return our calls, my husband stopped by the store one day hoping to talk with her. When he asked about the status (politely I was assured), she literally burst into tears and told him how young people like us (we were in our very late 30's at the time) don't appreciate the time it takes for good furniture to be made; how she couldn't find any decent salespeople (the one we worked with was fired for "making mistakes"); how the Amish are all but unreachable because they dont' have phones. My husband backed out of the store feeling shocked and horrible but still with no answer about the bookshelf. About month six we were told (we called them, they didn't bother calling us) that beacuse of another mis-order the Amish Furniture Gallery had with the 3rd party finisher, that our bookshelf was being "held hostage" until the Furniture Gallery made good on the problem order. This experience was such a nightmare that my friends would ask me about the saga everytime they saw me: "What's the latest with the bookshelf?" It became a running joke with them. Finally, a miracle, we were told our bookshelf was ready to pick up! My husband left work early and went out to the Industrial area to their warehouse to pick it up that very day -- and it wasn't there. The bookshelf had arrived but Ardine's husband had picked it up (without telling us) because the shelf had arrived without doors and he had to have them added locally. Finally, FINALLY, after 8 months, no less than 20 phone calls, and one crying session of my own, we picked up our bookshelf. The bookshelf is gorgeous and worth the money, just not the experience at the Amish Furniture Gallery. My advice is: if you want real Amish furniture is to shop somewhere else for it. This October '06 through June '07 so I'm not still hot under the collar about it. It was just such a horrible experience that it's stuck with me. I only just joined Angie's list or I would have posted / warned people about this earlier.

ARDINE WAS VERY FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL IN GIVING US ADVICE ON WHICH CRAFTSMAN TO USE. THERE WAS ABOUT A 3 MONTH WAIT FOR THE FURNITURE, BUT WE FOUND THAT REASONABLE CONSIDERING THE CRAFTSMANSHIP. THE WRONG COFFEE TABLE ARRIVED AND ARDINE SAID WE COULD KEEP THIS ONE UNTIL SHE HAD THE CORRECT ONE SENT. THE ERROR SUPPOSEDLY WAS DUE TO A STAFF MEMBER WHO HAS SINCE BEEN LET GO FOR MAKING SO MANY MISTAKES. ADDITIONALLY, OUR BED HAD FEWER SUPPORT SLATS THAN IT SHOULD HAVE. ARDINE PROMISED TO PROVIDE US WITH THE NUMBER WE HAVE PLUS A FEW EXTRA. THE PROCESS OF RECEIVING THESE HAS BEEN SLOW. COMMUNICATION ABOUT THE PROCESS COULD BE MUCH BETTER AND PHONE CALLS COULD BE RETURNED MORE QUICKLY.