A year later….

We formally cancelled our order with Church Chair, and made a new order with Bertolini.  We received our chairs from Bertolini in under 8 weeks, and they came very close to matching fabric and paint colors and style.   Thanks, Bertolini.  By the way,  no, we never received any kind of refund.

The whole thing is just sad.  I am not angry about it.   We own 100 Church Chairs Inc. brand  chairs and they are very well made, and heavy duty.  It is too bad the recession and financial woes have swamped them.  I am frustrated by their lack of communication, and dishonest answers, and so I created this blog to try and spare somebody else from making the same mistakes.

 

Complaints from the Complaints Board

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/church-chair-c347487.html

More Frustrated Customers: Video Link

Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident as you can see from Channel 8 in Grand Rapids. http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/target_8/No-chairs-No-refund-Church-loses. Bertolini Sanctuary Seating (their main competitor) has some programs in place to help churches that have found themselves in this situation. Give them a call.

Feel Free to Comment

If you happen to be a fellow customer with this company and would like to tell your story, feel free to comment.

I still have yet to receive the promised phone call from their response through the Better Business Bureau.  It has now been 9 months.

Response From the Company

Here is the initial complaint I submitted to Better Business Bureau:

We have waited 8 months to receive 50 chairs that we put 50% down to secure the order.

They never called to apologize, or to update me regarding the long delay of the order.

They could have at least called to apologize.

Here is their response:

Contact Name and Title: Shari Tanner Office Mgr.
Contact Phone: 800-331-5411
Contact Email: stanner@churchchair.com
Church Chair does apologize for the delay of this order. The fabric choosen for this order is the most poplar fabric right now with customers and the textile is having a hard time keeping it produced. I will check into the fabric completion date next week and notify the customer of a time frame of delivery of their order.

They still have not called to offer a simple apology or to give me an update to the order.

Church Chair Industries Inc. Customer Review

Our church ordered 50 chairs from Church Chair Inc.  on November 10, 2009.  We paid them 50% down.  It is now July 14th, 2010.  We still have not received our chairs.

I have called them 8 times.  They never called me once to tell me they were working on it, or to tell me it was taking unusually long, or to just simply apologize for the delay.

On their website they do state that they don’t guarantee the date of delivery.  While this is true, I would like others to know that it could take over 8 months.

The chairs we have already received from them are great. We are very pleased.  We ordered 100 chairs from them before and they came to us in about 12 weeks.  But the second order has taken over 8 months.  I am a church planter for the Assemblies of God and I do not recommend working with this company.

As soon as I get the chairs, I will update this post to let you all know how long it took.