Tonight at dinner my brother-in-law, Tony, told us about his experience at Civilizzation, a furniture store in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tony stopped in to shop for couches a few weeks ago without his wife. He found one he liked but learned it was the last one. He put a $100 deposit down on the couch so he could go home and measure the room it was going to be put in and bring his wife back to see it. He received a receipt that said if he chose not to purchase the couch he could use his deposit as in-store credit on any other item. They returned this weekend and decided that the couch wouldn’t fit the room he and his wife had hoped to put it in. They found a chair that they liked and when they went to purchase the chair the owner “Robert” (who pronounces his name Robe-air) refused to honor the $100 deposit that my brother-in-law had. Initially Bob tried to lie saying that there was no record of the transaction but when my brother-in-law went around the counter and looked at the computer the invoice from their his deposit was on the screen. The two argued back and forth for a bit until Bob ask Tony to come back to his office. It was there that Bob yelled, scream, threw a little bitch fit at Tony. He swore at him, threatened him, and kicked him out of the store.
Now Tony is not a small guy. Had I been in Tony’s place I would have spent the night in jail for beating the shit out of this Bob after hearing about the way he spoke to Tony. Tony asked Bob if he was threatening him and then warned him that if he touched him he would defend him self. That’s Tony’s way of saying if you get any closer to me I’m going to kill you. Tony wasn’t talking like kill you/punch you in the face, He’s talking like kill you, you’ll be dead. They exchanged heated words and Tony left. Bob wouldn’t sell Tony the chair, give him a refund, or even honor the in-store credit.
After cooling off a bit Tony returned home and called the store. He wanted to talk to Bob and get things resolved. Tony was happy to pay him the difference for the chair and walk away for ever. Why Tony was waiting on hold he got another call. He got a call from the SL Police Department. Bob had called the police and claimed that Tony has pushed him but didn’t feel the need to press charges. He just wanted to make sure that Tony knew he couldn’t come back to the store ever again. Tony spoke with the officer and told him his side of the experience. When all was said and done the cops knew Bob was a lying sack of crap.
As of today there are a few ways for Tony to get his money back. One of those ways to help Tony get his cash back is to never buy anything at or from Civilizzation. No customer should ever be treated the way that Tony was. No one should ever be talked to that way. Do not support a company that treats customers as poorly as Civilizzation treats theirs. If you find something in Civilizzation you like contact me. My wife is an interior designer and will find another wholesaler who will get the same furniture for you without having to deal with this horrible company.
One thing was interesting. When Tony started telling the story, Jeff, another brother-in-law, said, “Oh my parents had the WORST experience at Civilizzation. They delivered couches with a hugh tear in them and refused to fix, swap out, repair, or refund any money. In fact the told my dad that if they were going to look at it his dad would have to load it back up and bring it in to the shop.” Within a small group of 8 adults, there were 2 horrible customer service stories from Civilizzation.
I’ll add Civilizzation to places that I will never spend a dime! Here are a few places on that list. They are all here to my personal experiences or something that I’ve heard from someone else.
- Low Book Sales
- Orbitz.com
- Brent Brown Toyota
- Regean Outdoor Media
- Dave Strong Audi
- Civilizzation
Here is the Better Business Bureau report on Civilizzation. As you’ll see, Tony isn’t the only one to have some problems with ol’ Bob and the boys at Civilizzation.
They have had 11 complaints in the last 36 months. You’ve really got to suck to get someone to complain to the BBB
1 regarding Contract Issues, 2 regarding Customer Service Issues, 1 regarding Delivery Issues, 2 regarding Product Issues, 4 regarding Sales Practice Issues, and 1 regarding Service Issues
Do you part to let people who run businesses this way that it’s not okay. Don’t shop at Civilizzation. Don’t let your friends, family, or enemies shop there either.
If Bob would refund Tony his $100, I’d take this post down. Until Tony’s money is refunded I plan on using my down time at work to do everything I can to make sure anyone who searches Google, Yahoo, MSN, or ask Jeeves for Civilizzation, furniture in Utah, or many many more keywords related to Utahans buying furniture, find out just how bad Bob and Civilizzation treat their customers.
A few years ago I made the switch. You know that switch from crap computers to awesome expensive computers. Making the switch is like trading in your Yugo for a new BMW. The price difference is the about the same too. In 2004 I bought a 13″ Mac Powerbook G4 (I sold it to my brother two years later…it is still work perfectly to this day!). After I bought my new laptop I went over to visit my friend Ben and his wife Melanie. While we were sitting on the couch watching TV I took out my laptop to check email/do homework/ look something up online to prove I knew what I was talking about. As I took out my laptop and began to use it, Melanie came back in the room. She looked at me and said, “Wow Scott. Your…THING…is so small!” I lifted up my head to see her pointing to my lap (where my aptly named laptop was resting). Ben just started to laugh. Mel turned bright red and walked out of the room. I dropped my eyes back to the screen to resume my work. I didn’t argue with her…I really hope she was talking about my new computer.
Praises of My Genius