Days# 8-19: My Last, Grueling Week+ with Dania Furniture

This is the final post in the series of how Dania Furniture ruined my life.  There will be follow-up posts on how I resolved my furniture dilemma, and reflection on this anti-Dania campaigning and how it's changing the world as we know it.

• Day #1: Dania Furniture Debacle: Dania Fails to Deliver Pt. 1 (occurred on 2/16)
• Day #1: Dania Furniture Debacle: Dania Fails to Deliver Pt. 2 (occurred on 2/16)
• Day #2: I'll Show you What $75 Can Do (occurred on 2/17)
• Day #3: The Birth of the Anti-Dania Furniture Revolution (occurred on 2/18)
• Day #5: Dania Furniture Store Manager Conversation.  It Was Terrible. (occurred on 2/21)
• Day #6: Regional Manager of Dania Furniture Approves Western Avenue's Stores "Cutting of Ties" (occurred on 2/22)

Getting rid of the terrible Dania chair seemed like a straightforward task, especially considering the hours of negotiating and temper tantrums that were exhibited.  However, as I've come to learn...doing business with Dania Furniture is anything but straightforward.  It's a terribly tiring experience of posturing, deflection, and blame..but of course, I wouldn't give into their sophomoric behavior...I'm too good for that...



Day #8: Terrible Dania Furniture Pick-Up Delayed Due to "Snow" (2/24)
Getting rid of the chair proved to be a chore in and of itself.  For 6 days, I would suffer the pain of having that terrible chair sitting in my living room.  I was filled a deep void within that left a longing to be whole again...but that couldn't be.

I received a voicemail from the sales associate that sold me the couch informing me that consternation of snow concerns had forced Suntrax Logistics to suspend all deliveries and pickups on the previously agreed upon date of Saturday, February 26th.  His voicemail was cordial and he informed me that I would be contacted by Suntrax for a rescheduled date.

Good thing I didn't hold my breath, because that call never arrived.


Day #10: Seattle Snow Stalls Pick-up of Terrible Dania Furniture (2/26)
Below is a picture of an intersection near my apartment on the feared Seattle Snow Day of 2011, that caused Suntrax Delivery to cancel all of its deliveries.

As you can tell, there was zero snow accumulation on the fateful snow day that caused  to rule out all delivery.  In all fairness, other parts of the greater Seattle area did receive material accumulation, but those were outlying areas and the majority of the metropolitan area of Seattle was snow-free.  It was just cold.  It seems to reason that Suntrax could have strategically targeted areas that would be safe to drive in.  Presumably, there were enough deliveries within these areas to justify the travel, considering they offer terrible delivery for other companies.  Regardless, it's better safe than sorry, I suppose...especially considering that delivery positions are typically underpaid, despite the demanding, tiring, physical nature of the job.

Oh, well well well...I would have to continue to be patient, because the light at the end of the tunnel was still in sight, although flickering, and a little fainter...but they'll call me back soon, right? 

Day #11: 7AM????? (2/27)

I woke up at 9:30AM on Sunday and wandered into my living room to prepare coffee for the morning.  I left my phone in the living room, and was greeted by a voicemail recording from earlier in the morning - 7AM, when the Suntrax Deliverymen were downstairs waiting for me to buzz them in.  Needless to say, the chair stayed for another day.

I called Dania and left a voicemail with them explaining the situation, as I was deeply disturbed by the fact that I had not received my call from Suntrax to reschedule the pick up date. I was furious, because I could feel my quality of life declining precipitously with the mere presence of that godforesaken couch in my apartment.  I needed it out of my residence, and I needed to feel like I could move on with my life.  And, really...who wakes up at 7AM on a Sunday?  Very few people in this entire universe wake up that early on a Sunday (trust me, I checked), so it is unreasonable to assume that I would be available/conscious/awake at that ungodly hour on a whim.  Now, if that were the agreed upon date and time, I would be more than happy to accommodate for that.

Now, you might be saying that I'm complaining to the wrong company, but you need to understand that all coordination of delivery and fees are handled through Dania.  Because they handle the transaction and act as a third party in coordinating the business, they must fulfill that end of the deal in times when the pickup or delivery services are insufficient, like in my situation.

It's simply amazing how two terrible companies could find each other and partner with one another to ruin the lives of the customers that want to buy their product.

Day #12: Dania Furniture Plays the Blame Game...Yet Again... (2/27)

I never heard back from them on Sunday, although I left them a voicemail not to soon after they open up, so I called them the following day.  This conversation was a bit tense, but was quick, relative to previous phone feuds.

I explained the situation to them on the phone, and at first they said I would need to contact Suntrax to coordinate this.  I retorted this by remind them that this terrible experience was bordering two weeks, and investing anymore time in chasing my tail with them and Suntrax was not my job, nor a part of the agreement for them to help me get rid of that terrible chair in my living room.

Day #14: Furniture Be Gone (3/2)

Within a couple of days, Suntrax and Dania finally responded and scheduled a chair removal date that actually worked.  Around 7AM a punctual gentlemen arrived on Wednesday morning to pickup my chair.  Without any grave fear of the snow, followed up by coordination between the Western store manager with Suntrax delivery, the chair was finally out of my life.

Immediately a burden was lifted from my shoulders.  I could finally breathe a little easier, and was suddenly reminded of how happy I could be in life...like my pre-Dania life...although I would likely have to emotionally rehab myself for the next few years, at least.

Day #19: "Stop calling here!" (3/7)

Now that the couch was gone, I called the store to see when I could anticipate my full exchange being reflected on my credit card statement.  I asked in a straightforward manner, because I didn't want to accrue any interest from that purchase.  The sales associate that picked up the phone responded with, "We already gave you your money back! Stop calling here!"

What customer service.  I didn't even throw any attitude, nor was I emotionally charged.  I just wanted to know when I could anticipate my hundreds of dollars back for that terrible furniture.  It turns out that my credit card was credited with the remainder of my Dania return on 3/5, but it just had not posted to my online account.  No worries there, I wasn't mad that it wasn't immediately posted; I just wanted to know when this would occur.  I guess some things will never change...

Day #5: Dania Furniture Store Manager Conversation. It Was Terrible. (2/21)

This is the fifth installment in the dramatic series of my negative review of shopping at Dania Furniture.

Preceding Posts:

Chapter I. Day #1 Dania Furniture Debacle: Dania Fails to Deliver (2/16) Pt. 1

Chapter II. Day #1 Dania Furniture Debacle: Dania Fails to Deliver (2/16) Pt. 2

Chapter III. Day #2: I'll Show you What $75 Can Do (2/17)

Chapter IV. Day #3: The Birth of the Anti-Dania Furniture Revolution (2/18)

I spent the majority of the weekend launching this very blog, scheduling content posts, and general brainstorming for how aggressive this revolution should be handled.  Oh, and I also spent the weekend lamenting my couchless living and crying a bunch.  Everyone within a 5 mile radius of me could easily tell how emotionally unstable I had become, as a consequence of this terrible consumer experience. There was only one solution for me to overcome this, which was to single-handedly attempt to break down the entire Dania Furniture Corporation, one block of crumbling stone at a time.

It was clear that the state of of my relations with Dania Furniture was at an all-time low.  The more I pleaded with them, the more resistant they became.  Regardless, I knew that the power of my logic, the persistence pursuit of The Truth, and the whiny-ness of my tone would lead me to the land of milk and honey, as long as I read the angles correctly and positioned my arguments accordingly.  Dania, while incredibly stupid, was a powerful force to be reckoned with, but little did they know, I am The Reckoner.

Although I was aggressive in expressing what I wanted, I made the active decision to hold the situation firmly and force Dania Furniture to do as I demanded.  Yes, I was doing a little trick called "turning the tables," and I wasn't going to let anyone get in my way from completing this 180 degree turn of events.  I had made up my mind, and I had two specific desires I wanted them to fulfill:

      1. Completely refund me all furniture and delivery expenses. Frankly, they're lucky I wasn't charging them my Alleve bill, from all the near-aneurysms and panic attacks I had suffered through ever since shopping there.
      2. Have them pick it up that terrible Dania chair I bought from my apartment on a day of my choosing, so I wouldn't have to take time off of work anymore to deal with this furniture debacle.

On Monday morning (2/21), the Dania Furniture store manager at the downtown Seattle Western Ave location called me.  Yes, the actual store manager that is the only one capable of moving mountains of problems and then some.  Although she had heard about the events from her other sales/customer disservice associates, I gave her a breakdown of my experience and my frustrations with the sales associates. 

I also informed her that I was not driving to Tukwila, which is a terribly unimpressive city outside of Seattle, to return my furniture.  I shared with her a conversation I had with one of their sales associates that occurred a couple of days prior.  On Friday late-afternoon (2/18), said sales associate called to inform me that I needed to return the terrible Dania chair I purchased to their terrible warehouse, which was located in terrible Tukwila.  Immediately, I lost all control of my emotions, and in a George Costanza-esque manner of crying/whining...I told/whined at her, "I don't want to go to Tukwila!  Tukwila is so far...I'm not going! I'm not going! I don't wanna go!  Why can't you guys come pick it up??? Why are you guys doing this to me???"

While she understood my reasons for not wanting to go to Tukwila to return that terrible chair, the store manager informed me that it was my job to return the chair, if I wanted to receive a refund for it.  I expressed to her that it was indeed not my job, since I paid $75 for delivery of both my chair and couch, but only received that terrible chair, which I could have easily picked up from the Tukwila warehouse by myself and carry it on foot to my apartment in Seattle.  I told her it was absolutely absurd to think I would bare anymore expense (time, gas, emotional energy, etc.) to rid myself of this hexed furniture.

As the store manager, however, she resisted providing any customer service and stood her ground without breaking a sweat or giving a single care.  I then threatened her and the company she represented.  I gave her a little insight as to what the future holds for her and Dania.  Like Nostradamus, I peered into my glass ball  and foretold a world without Dania. I told her I would use every bone in my body to put Dania Furniture out of business through the internet. She laughed off my threat and said, "Go for it.  We've been in 'The Business' for over 26 years.  I think we have staying power."  I was instantly annoyed because she didn't give my words any regard, and because she referred to her industry as 'the business.'  I mean, c'mon...does anyone need to ever talk like that?  Ridiculous.

Without going into too much detail or revealing much of my business plan, I told her that I was going to create my own chain of furniture stores that would be conveniently placed across the street of each terrible Dania Furniture store.  The name of my brand of furniture stores would be called Better Than Dania.  Sure, it would be a few years for me to get the venture capital and development planned out, but I told her I was determined to do it.  Presumably flustered by the reality of this very true threat, she responded without words, but gigantic laughter, mostly to cover up the fear and insecurity she felt inside, one can only assume.

Sensing that I was losing her, I resorted to more dramatic language and shared with her the unending pain I felt inside and tied this to the two objectives, discussed above.  I needed all my money back and I needed them to pick up the chair.  I knew I was making progress when she grew tired of what she perceived to be my over-the-top manner of speaking.  I informed her that the reason I was unable to make it to Tukwila were for two reasons:

1. I don't go to Tukwila.
2. Dealing with Dania Furniture was taking up my entire life.  In fact, I had to quit my 4th and 5th jobs I took on to afford Dania Furniture in the first place and that I would not be able to get time off.

Upon hearing my third reason, she immediately replied with "If you're going to talk like that, then I'm going to hang up, because this isn't productive."  Which was exactly my point, and she got that.  The truth is that I only have one job; I was using a complex hyperbole and sarcasm, which she got, after I explained to her how much of my time terrible Dania Furniture has occupied.  I informed her that I understood that this may appear to be a waste of time, but the terrible company she works for, Dania, not only wasted my time, but my money.  I went into detail by telling her that I had to spend my personal time at work to make the money I spent at her store, take the time to go into her store and purchase the terrible furniture I did, take time out of work to go to my apartment and deal with the faux-delivery service, and follow-up with all this phone time with her and her staff to fight for my delivery rights.

She finally got it, but not all of it.  She defended the anti-customer policy Dania has regarding furniture purchases and deliveries, informing me that the purchases could be refunded, but not delivery.  Because this is outsourced to Suntrax Logistics. It was "their fault" I didn't receive my couch, and that it was out of Dania's jurisdiction.

I retorted by calling her on the impossibility of refunding my delivery.  I paid for delivery at the Dania Furniture store on Western Ave in Seattle Washington with the same credit card swipe that I did for the payment of my terrible furniture.  How could a furniture store that handles the financial transaction have such a difficult time retrieving my money back?  Furthermore, it is likely that since Dania does business with Suntrax Logistics, they likely have a business relationship with Suntrax.  In fact, because they are the exclusive furniture delivery service Dania subscribes to, clearly there is a way to communicate with them.  Isn't it fair to assume that bids were submitted by delivery service companies, when Dania was deciding which company to pick to exclusively deliver all of their terrible furniture?  They wouldn't just hand over that business without some sort of incentive and/or business relationship to maintain, right?

Finally, she got all of it.  She responded to my ingenious response with, "Okay, I understand what you're saying.  I'll talk to the district manager to see what can be done about this situation, and I will call you tomorrow."

What's odd is that it took 2.5+ hours of phone time with 4 members of her sales staff, spanning 5 days.  Regardless, I considered it a win.  I felt accomplished that I had convinced everyone I had spoken with that I was indeed right, and they and their terrible company was indeed wrong.  Ahh...satisfaction...but not yet as a customer...I wasn't about to count all my chickens yet...