Imported Furniture: Do your Homework!

We often get calls to assist people dealing with failed pieces of furniture that have been imported from countries such as China, India, and Indonesia. These calls are generally by people who have tried to go direct to either a little known importer or direct to an offshore supplier.

The pictures spread throughout this article are from one such call, made to us by a guy desperate to resolve the issues he has with several pieces of furniture purchased from an online importer.  One of the motives behind the request for us to provide assistance was that he intended using our reports and possible repair costs as a basis for a lawsuit.

We took a look through more than 100 pictures and decided to decline to provide any assistance due mainly to the fact that we did not wish to be dragged through the legal system for our comments and opinions and for potentially a great loss in time and effort on our part.

We felt bad for the guy, but he was simply one of many who get caught for not doing their homework prior to parting with any money.

On the flip side, it reminds us of our experience a year or so back when we received a work order from a local client (A church wanting high quality solid oak furniture worth more than $250K), and we went to China to complete this project based mainly on the size of the order and the price sensitivities.

Find out what happened in the second part of this article, (when you do your homework) so watch out for our next newsletter!