04-01-2014, 01:54 AM
I just wanted to relate a recent furniture shopping experience my partner and I had at Bamboo & Teak Furniture in Hilo (It's on Makaala Street). Hopefully this will save someone else from having a bad experience.
We recently purchased a new home and did not have a lot of furniture for the place. We just happened to come across Bamboo and Teak Furniture and thought we would stop in and take a look, as this was prior to closing, we were not quite ready to buy...just looking at this point. We went in and browsed around and discussed various pieces of furniture with the salesperson. We asked him if we bought a large amount of furniture, say $1,500 to $2,000, if he would work with us as far as a discount. He happily replied "SURE, no problem, just let me know when your ready to buy". Great we thought!
We went back a couple more times to take measurements and to browse, each time, we spoke with the salesman and he reaffirmed that a discount would not be a problem. Again, we thought, "Great!". We didn't discuss how much of a discount, we were thinking maybe 5%, 10% if we were lucky.
So finally, we close on our house, and go back to purchase the furniture. We went in and told the salesman that we were ready to buy and he got his pad and he was following us around. When we were done he gave us a total. My partner inquired if that included the discount he had mentioned. At this point he EXPLODED and started getting very aggressive and loud and yelling "I GOT IN TROUBLE LAST TIME FOR GIVING DISCOUNTS AND I AM NOT EVEN GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!" We were a bit taken aback to say the least. We told him we only mentioned it because we had TALKED about it several times and he had said it wouldn't be a problem. Big mistake. He started screaming and waving his arms and yelling "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY STORE!" GET OUT! GET OUT!" He was breathing hard and his eyes got all bulgy. I saw immediately that this guy was WAY to volatile for my taste and headed for the door. My partner tried to calm him down but eventually came out too. I was ready to leave but my partner decided to call the owner. We asked a warehouse guys to please have her call us immediately. She did, she was working over at the Kona store.
We relayed our experience to her and she patiently listened. When we were done she said. "Well you should just forgive and forget, he gets a little stressed sometimes. I will give you a 5% discount though" WHAT????? We explained that this guy, in our opinion, was going to eventually hurt someone, not to mention he was hurting her business (a bunch of other customers headed for the door when he started yelling). She just laughed and said "Well, it is really hard to find good people and he has worked here awhile, I will talk to him. You just need to forgive."
At this point my partner gave her an earful. Not mean, but certainly a 101 in what customer service should be.
At this point we left. Though one of the warehouse guys (who were all very nice) told us that this happens with him quite frequently.
Anyway, I hope this helps spare someone else from a really bad shopping experience!
We recently purchased a new home and did not have a lot of furniture for the place. We just happened to come across Bamboo and Teak Furniture and thought we would stop in and take a look, as this was prior to closing, we were not quite ready to buy...just looking at this point. We went in and browsed around and discussed various pieces of furniture with the salesperson. We asked him if we bought a large amount of furniture, say $1,500 to $2,000, if he would work with us as far as a discount. He happily replied "SURE, no problem, just let me know when your ready to buy". Great we thought!
We went back a couple more times to take measurements and to browse, each time, we spoke with the salesman and he reaffirmed that a discount would not be a problem. Again, we thought, "Great!". We didn't discuss how much of a discount, we were thinking maybe 5%, 10% if we were lucky.
So finally, we close on our house, and go back to purchase the furniture. We went in and told the salesman that we were ready to buy and he got his pad and he was following us around. When we were done he gave us a total. My partner inquired if that included the discount he had mentioned. At this point he EXPLODED and started getting very aggressive and loud and yelling "I GOT IN TROUBLE LAST TIME FOR GIVING DISCOUNTS AND I AM NOT EVEN GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!" We were a bit taken aback to say the least. We told him we only mentioned it because we had TALKED about it several times and he had said it wouldn't be a problem. Big mistake. He started screaming and waving his arms and yelling "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY STORE!" GET OUT! GET OUT!" He was breathing hard and his eyes got all bulgy. I saw immediately that this guy was WAY to volatile for my taste and headed for the door. My partner tried to calm him down but eventually came out too. I was ready to leave but my partner decided to call the owner. We asked a warehouse guys to please have her call us immediately. She did, she was working over at the Kona store.
We relayed our experience to her and she patiently listened. When we were done she said. "Well you should just forgive and forget, he gets a little stressed sometimes. I will give you a 5% discount though" WHAT????? We explained that this guy, in our opinion, was going to eventually hurt someone, not to mention he was hurting her business (a bunch of other customers headed for the door when he started yelling). She just laughed and said "Well, it is really hard to find good people and he has worked here awhile, I will talk to him. You just need to forgive."
At this point my partner gave her an earful. Not mean, but certainly a 101 in what customer service should be.
At this point we left. Though one of the warehouse guys (who were all very nice) told us that this happens with him quite frequently.
Anyway, I hope this helps spare someone else from a really bad shopping experience!
