This week's cheap furniture adventures.

[byhammerandhand]

Today was a power recliner that was not working.  Consumer said the motor would run but footrest would not move.  Found two 1/4" bolts on the mechanism connecting to the motor that had been sheared off.  Broken in 3 pieces each.   Removed all the parts and replaced with grade 8 bolts.  Manufacturer saved 4 cents on them.  Lady was a petite but a little overweight, not a 350 pounder.

Yesterday was a sofa that when sat in cracked the support frame.   Made of OSB.  Mrs. maybe weighed 120 lb.  Said it just cracked when she sat down.  I added a piece of hardwood instead.   Funny thing was, the frame was made of solid woods, plywoods and OSB in different places.  Two other minor frame problems on the same sofa.

Monday was a drawer that worked roughly.   Drawer glide was 3/8" out of alignment with the edge of the drawer and caused it to rub the frame when about 2/3 of the way out.   Same unite last week had a drawer glide that fell apart.   When I opened it up a ball bearing race fell out.   Brand new piece.  Consumer said, "That Mexican must not have been on the ball that day."   If only from Mexico, it would have been better.


Love the Chinese (in addition to kids, pets, and deliverymen)  keeps me in business.

[SteveA]

I always preferred to do service work rather than shop-work except when the jobs are up a few flights of stairs, they don't allow shoes to be worn, leave a dog loose that wants to help me, or asks when I'll be done before I start -
Lots of junk out there today.  I just came from a home with a complaint that their Flexsteel recliner had loose arms - made in China. The wood frame was cracked in multiple places - exact cause unknown - less then a year old.  Their warrantee is good - it's getting replaced. 
SA

[Darren Henry]

Lots of junk out there today.

Gold star for Steve for "politically correctness" . This garbage takes up too much of my livelihood. It's brain numbing and usually more aggravation than it's worth. Without it I'd be unemployed though . Votes still out on that.

Does anyone deal with a company called "Furniture Medic" ? They are a "broker" for warranty repairs.

[SteveA]

Does anyone deal with a company called "Furniture Medic" ? They are a "broker" for warranty repairs.
[/quote]

Medic is nationwide - I believe they will train you and sell you all the materials to get into the furniture repair business.  Years back when the economy was struggling many guys who were corporate casualties took up the trade through furniture medic and another company for which I can't remember the name.  Seemed like most recruits had limited bench experience but they consumed a strong presence in the work force through strong advertising.  Some guys who were seasoned craftsman also joined to boost sales.  Fortunately I never felt any drop off in sales from them and they found their niche in the market.
I think their fees are posted so manufactures can anticipate repair costs ....... and many in home repairs just don't require the guy with 40 years experience.

SA

[sofadoc]

I got a call from Furniture Medic a few months ago. They offered to pay up to 3 hours @ $85 hr. to go to a customer's house and replace a button. 

What they didn't bother to mention until after I did the service call, was that they required proof of insurance before they could issue payment. I don't have any. I eventually got paid, but not without a lot of phone calls and e-mails.

What's funny to me is, their website touts "Unparalleled craftsmanship in upholstery repair". Well, they called me out of the blue. They had no idea whether or not I even know which end of a staple gun those sharp pointy thingys come out of.

I think Furniture Medic is a branch of the Servicemaster chain.

[kodydog]

The store owner said as soon as they set the recliner on the floor the customer said "that isn't going to work".

When she called Layzboy they said they don't match anything. -blink-. Really???

They gave me 2 yards of COM fabric and it took every bit by the time I got done jumping around to get a perfect match.

I didn't take an after picture but you can bet it looked a lot better than this slop.

[Darren Henry]

Furniture medic is part of service master. Up here they are only paying $65/hr for most of their clients but some are 75 and 85. Sadly none of the better paying companies have outlets anywhere near here. I've never heard of them offering training. That would be a tall task as none of them have a hot clue about furniture. They also have no concept of geography. They are just outside Toronto and think the world ends at Barrie and that everyone lives within a 15 minute subway ride of service. For those who haven't visited the prairies yet; we are a collection of small towns that sprung up where the steam engine had to stop for water. That makes for a full day's horseback ride if you stop to visit any  of the farms in between.

Wednesday's road trip took over 2 months to arrange. During the 6 weeks it took to get the parts I needed for one job a third one came up that could share the travel cost (which is the only way they'll authorize it) so sent in authorization requests on all of them. One backed out, had to put the expedition on hold. Another one came up so repeated the process. this time everyone got on board so now I have to get all these customers lined up to be home or have someone let me in. With the "status update requests" every second day 3-4 hours would be a conservative guess as how long I spent on the keyboard/telephone. We drove an hour and  change NW and tried to make the wrong recliner mechanism they sent work. Loaded the chair in the van and headed west for another hour to take pictures of the law tag and remote control on a power recliner so I can order parts. The hour and a bit SE loop gave me time to call the customer's brother who was taking us to the farm and letting us in. That job went well. Then it was an hour and a half drive home and $100 out of my pocket to pay for my driver. Uploading photos,billing,ordering parts etc... took another 45 minutes Thursday morning. We are seriously discussing dropping them. 

[gene]

Why even bother having a print fabric if you are not going to match the pattern? Unbelievable!

"Unparalleled craftsmanship in upholstery repair." Your willingness to buy furniture at the cheapest price possible keeps us in business. Thank you for not understanding price versus cost.

gene

[kodydog]

The only thing I regret about doing repairs for furniture stores is they never call back to tell you how happy the customer was. But I guess that is part of our job, to make the furniture store, decorator, contractor, office manager, who ever. Make them look good for more jobs down the road.

[byhammerandhand]

I have done a lot of work for several national servicing accounts.  Not Furniture Medic, but I looked at them for franchising when I first was thinking of getting into the business.   I decided most definitely not to go with them for a number of reasons.  I prefer not to hang dirty laundry in a public forum, but if you are interested let me know and I'll respond privately.

[byhammerandhand]

Speaking of cheap furniture and repairs.   When I read the headline I thought IKEA was going to repair its stuff on warranty.   While I have and like some of their things, when you can buy a Poang chair for $30 and a padded cover for $39, repair does not make financial sense.   And when KD fasteners break apart particle board, it's toast.  But this should be interesting.

http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/furniture/ikea-use-3d-printers-repairrecycle-old-furniture


Did you know that for intra-state moves within Ohio that the moving company is not responsible for damage to any KD (knock-down) or RTA (ready-to-assemble) furniture?

Have Allen wrench, will travel.

[byhammerandhand]

Darren, responced to your PM.   Sorry I didn't see the message until just now.

[Darren Henry]

Thanks.