Hooray, bed!
Jul. 24th, 2007 03:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
healingmirthOn September 18, 2006, I ordered a bed from Pottery Barn. As of this morning, the order is finally complete. For the first time in over 9 months I have a fully assembled bed in my bedroom. A bed which is outgassing VOCs at a rate that I hope is merely irritating and not toxic; a bed which is literally as high as my bathroom counter because I don't have anyplace else to put the boxspring that I don't need anymore; a bed that's mattress isn't actually the right size for the platform; a bed that is so heavy that I can only move it by bracing my body between it and the wall, because its inertia dwarfs any traction I have on the carpet; but nonetheless, a bed. Also, I can now walk from the door to my closet without having to climb over anything, and open both doors to the tv cabinet.
If this hadn't happened to me, I wouldn't have believed it was possible
September 17, 2006 – I place an order for a bed and headboard, and headboard mounting brackets.
September 1, 2006 - I open up the box that is supposed to contain the headboard brackets, and instead contains a beige courduroy pillow... Pottery Barn ships out another set of brackets.
October 17, 2006 – Exel Direct attempts delivery of the bed, but one of the two side pieces are missing. On the advice of the delivery driver, I refuse delivery of the “two” side pieces, which were listed together as a shipment, to await completion of the order when the second piece can be located. He assures me it is most likely in the warehouse, and that if not, Exel will obtain a replacement from Pottery Barn. They also deliver a second set of brackets.
November 2006 – After hearing nothing back from Exel, I call to check on the status of the order, and nothing has been processed yet. I then call Pottery Barn customer service, and arrange for a replacement to be shipped. The customer service representative, assuming that the original piece Exel attempted to deliver would have gone missing by that time, arranges to ship out both pieces missing from my original order. Pottery Barn arranges to refund the shipping charges upon the completion of the order.
December 12, 2006 – Exel attempts delivery of a single side piece, not the two that they were to have delivered. I refuse delivery of this once again incomplete order, in no small part because I simply don’t have room for another useless furniture section in my apartment. Had I known it was going to take this long to complete the order, I would have refused delivery of the entire shipment, because I have now spent two months with the incomplete, and thus unassembled, delivery taking up all the additional space in my bedroom, on top of the irritation and time taken up by trying to get it completed.
Conversation with a customer service representative at Pottery Barn reveals that after notification from Exel that they had located a side piece, Pottery Barn amended the order to ship out only one replacement piece. Exel later called Pottery Barn to say that the item found had been mislabeled, and was not in fact the bed section, but Pottery Barn didn’t ship out a matching piece, resulting in the attempted delivery of the single piece. Pottery Barn arranges for an additional side piece to be shipped. Again. They also arrange for 50% of the cost of the bed to be refunded upon completion of the order.
December 30, 2006 – Exel calls to confirm the delivery window for January 2nd, and during that call it comes to light that they once again only have a single side piece, despite my having been assured when I originally called to schedule delivery two weeks prior that both pieces were in the warehouse. I cancel delivery until the additional piece can be found or reordered. I get conflicting stories from Exel and Pottery Barn customer service as to why there is only one piece (Exel says a piece arrived damaged, Pottery Barn says that one of the pieces was accidentally loaded onto the wrong truck, and sent back to Pottery Barn). Pottery Barn ships out yet another additional side piece.
January 11 2007 – Exel calls to schedule delivery for the side pieces, and the person I speak with indicates that there are now three items scheduled to be delivered. Exel only delivers in the Athens area on Tuesday, and I have class all day Tuesday, so I stress the importance of having a late afternoon delivery window if at all possible. The person I speak with assures me this will be no problem, and says she will make a note on the order requesting delivery after 3pm.
January 20, 2007 – Exel calls to confirm delivery for January 23rd. The delivery window is 8-10 am, which directly conflicts with my conversation earlier in the week with the scheduling agent. This person says that the note on the order says can accept delivery before 3pm, rather than can’t. At this point, I cancel the delivery and contact Pottery Barn Customer Service to have the two bed sections released so I could pick them up personally from the warehouse.
January 25, 2007 - Exel calls back, saying that they have a special truck going out on Sunday, and that they can deliver it then. I agree to their delivering it rather than picking it up.
January 28 2007 - Exel attempts delivery of a bed section, but the truck has an extra footboard and a side section, not the two side sections needed to complete the order. At this point, I give up and accept delivery of one of the side sections and take the hit to floor space in my bedroom. Pottery Barn customer service agrees to ship out another side section. (This is the 4th additional section they have shipped since the first order, which, counting the extra footboard, would have given me two complete beds.)
March 2007 – Exel calls to schedule delivery of the side section. Because they only deliver in Athens on Tuesday, and as before, I have class all day Tuesday, we schedule delivery for May 1, after classes are over for the semester.
May 1, 2007 – Exel attempts delivery of the side section. This time, while the unit is labeled as a side section, it neither matches the footboard nor the side section that I already have. Pottery Barn customer service informs me that the item number for the bed has changed at some point after my order was initiated, so it is likely that the design of the item has changed. The customer service rep. gets approval to ship out an entire bed, and have the sections that were already delivered picked up for return. The bed is backordered until June 12.
May 7, 2007 - I receive a letter from Pottery Barn informing me that the item is backordered until June 12...duh
May 21, 2007 - I receive a letter from Pottery Barn informing me that the item is backordered until July 3
July 19, 2007 - Exel calls to schedule delivery of three pieces of my supposedly four piece bed. I talk to the scheduler for a long time. I had assumed that the three sections they had were the three basket sections, and that the fourth piece was not listed on the shipping manifest, because it wasn't the last time, but he assures me that the pieces they have are two side sections and the previously unlisted center piece. No footboard in the system. At this point, I figure, worst case scenario I will have three different useless sections in my room, and perhaps by some miracle they will fit with the footboard I already have and the order will be complete.
July 24, 2007 - By some miracle, all 4 sections of the bed are on the truck, and the order is finally complete.
If this hadn't happened to me, I wouldn't have believed it was possible
September 17, 2006 – I place an order for a bed and headboard, and headboard mounting brackets.
September 1, 2006 - I open up the box that is supposed to contain the headboard brackets, and instead contains a beige courduroy pillow... Pottery Barn ships out another set of brackets.
October 17, 2006 – Exel Direct attempts delivery of the bed, but one of the two side pieces are missing. On the advice of the delivery driver, I refuse delivery of the “two” side pieces, which were listed together as a shipment, to await completion of the order when the second piece can be located. He assures me it is most likely in the warehouse, and that if not, Exel will obtain a replacement from Pottery Barn. They also deliver a second set of brackets.
November 2006 – After hearing nothing back from Exel, I call to check on the status of the order, and nothing has been processed yet. I then call Pottery Barn customer service, and arrange for a replacement to be shipped. The customer service representative, assuming that the original piece Exel attempted to deliver would have gone missing by that time, arranges to ship out both pieces missing from my original order. Pottery Barn arranges to refund the shipping charges upon the completion of the order.
December 12, 2006 – Exel attempts delivery of a single side piece, not the two that they were to have delivered. I refuse delivery of this once again incomplete order, in no small part because I simply don’t have room for another useless furniture section in my apartment. Had I known it was going to take this long to complete the order, I would have refused delivery of the entire shipment, because I have now spent two months with the incomplete, and thus unassembled, delivery taking up all the additional space in my bedroom, on top of the irritation and time taken up by trying to get it completed.
Conversation with a customer service representative at Pottery Barn reveals that after notification from Exel that they had located a side piece, Pottery Barn amended the order to ship out only one replacement piece. Exel later called Pottery Barn to say that the item found had been mislabeled, and was not in fact the bed section, but Pottery Barn didn’t ship out a matching piece, resulting in the attempted delivery of the single piece. Pottery Barn arranges for an additional side piece to be shipped. Again. They also arrange for 50% of the cost of the bed to be refunded upon completion of the order.
December 30, 2006 – Exel calls to confirm the delivery window for January 2nd, and during that call it comes to light that they once again only have a single side piece, despite my having been assured when I originally called to schedule delivery two weeks prior that both pieces were in the warehouse. I cancel delivery until the additional piece can be found or reordered. I get conflicting stories from Exel and Pottery Barn customer service as to why there is only one piece (Exel says a piece arrived damaged, Pottery Barn says that one of the pieces was accidentally loaded onto the wrong truck, and sent back to Pottery Barn). Pottery Barn ships out yet another additional side piece.
January 11 2007 – Exel calls to schedule delivery for the side pieces, and the person I speak with indicates that there are now three items scheduled to be delivered. Exel only delivers in the Athens area on Tuesday, and I have class all day Tuesday, so I stress the importance of having a late afternoon delivery window if at all possible. The person I speak with assures me this will be no problem, and says she will make a note on the order requesting delivery after 3pm.
January 20, 2007 – Exel calls to confirm delivery for January 23rd. The delivery window is 8-10 am, which directly conflicts with my conversation earlier in the week with the scheduling agent. This person says that the note on the order says can accept delivery before 3pm, rather than can’t. At this point, I cancel the delivery and contact Pottery Barn Customer Service to have the two bed sections released so I could pick them up personally from the warehouse.
January 25, 2007 - Exel calls back, saying that they have a special truck going out on Sunday, and that they can deliver it then. I agree to their delivering it rather than picking it up.
January 28 2007 - Exel attempts delivery of a bed section, but the truck has an extra footboard and a side section, not the two side sections needed to complete the order. At this point, I give up and accept delivery of one of the side sections and take the hit to floor space in my bedroom. Pottery Barn customer service agrees to ship out another side section. (This is the 4th additional section they have shipped since the first order, which, counting the extra footboard, would have given me two complete beds.)
March 2007 – Exel calls to schedule delivery of the side section. Because they only deliver in Athens on Tuesday, and as before, I have class all day Tuesday, we schedule delivery for May 1, after classes are over for the semester.
May 1, 2007 – Exel attempts delivery of the side section. This time, while the unit is labeled as a side section, it neither matches the footboard nor the side section that I already have. Pottery Barn customer service informs me that the item number for the bed has changed at some point after my order was initiated, so it is likely that the design of the item has changed. The customer service rep. gets approval to ship out an entire bed, and have the sections that were already delivered picked up for return. The bed is backordered until June 12.
May 7, 2007 - I receive a letter from Pottery Barn informing me that the item is backordered until June 12...duh
May 21, 2007 - I receive a letter from Pottery Barn informing me that the item is backordered until July 3
July 19, 2007 - Exel calls to schedule delivery of three pieces of my supposedly four piece bed. I talk to the scheduler for a long time. I had assumed that the three sections they had were the three basket sections, and that the fourth piece was not listed on the shipping manifest, because it wasn't the last time, but he assures me that the pieces they have are two side sections and the previously unlisted center piece. No footboard in the system. At this point, I figure, worst case scenario I will have three different useless sections in my room, and perhaps by some miracle they will fit with the footboard I already have and the order will be complete.
July 24, 2007 - By some miracle, all 4 sections of the bed are on the truck, and the order is finally complete.
