Last year this time we picked up a few pieces from Marlo furniture. This time we were looking for a new bed and headed out to Marlo again. I dislike stores that pay their workers a menial wage and encourage them by commission from sales. I was saddened to find out that Hudson Trail Outfitters does this, but that is another matter. Everyone knows that furniture stores work that way. Last year we had issues with a salesman in Rockville, so we travelled to Alexandria.
We arrived and attempted to dodge salespeople explaining that if we need help, we will ask for it. This Marlo seemed to be laid out in a odd pattern for shoppers, but like grocery stores who usually put the bread and milk furthest from the entrance to entice you as you go to pick up your staple products. For those who drink soda, you have convenient coolers at the end of each register to save you the hunt ;P Marlo seems to bunch them into collections which means you have to traverse the entire store to see all of the beds. We liked 2 of them, and the one we really liked had a sold floor model which gave me little hope. Sure enough it was the last one and the warehouse was out. I asked the salesman if he could contact other stores in the area for us to check on the floor models.
The salesman would NOT call for us. Making an excuse that he would have to do work and no one would answer the phone anyway or call them back. The latter is true, I tried to call a few stores and once I reached an operator who mumbled something and sent me to a voice mail box…another time, no one answered. Hmm..what about customer service? Basically the salesman did not want to help make a sale that he would not get commission on. Perhaps that is the downside of commission sales. I do know first hand with houses, the more money you are going to spend, the more attention you get!
On the way back to DC we saw signs for a furniture liquidation sale and headed over to the Landmark Mall. We got there and while there was no JC Penny, we did find the sale at Direct Furniture. DO NOT SHOP THERE! We had a pleasant experience in the lower floor showroom and was sent up to check out their other showroom, discount warehouse, on the upper level. I asked if the 2 were owned by the same and the saleswoman said NO! So at that point, my partner jokingly said the bed we really liked was $500. She believed him, I could not keep a straight face, and she went to check the computer to see if that was possible to “match.” At this point we were thinking they were competitors and the fact that the lady downstairs left us her card and said..”If you don’t like the price upstairs, to let her know.” Hmm…perhaps competition at it’s finest. It was a dying mall, so perhaps a sale would make or break the store.
So the saleswoman came back and basically called our bluff, joke anyway, and kind of with an attitude said the regular price that was on the bed. As we walked out, she said “For your information, we are the same.” That just infuriated me, she had flat out lied to us! She was mad at us for saying $500 which was a joke. I asked her why she lied and she had no reply. I am guessing she wanted the sale, but her dishonesty lost the sale. So, on the Internet I go looking for a good price on the bed we wanted, but will not buy from a dishonest store.