Ethan Allen Shines

You don't need to buy overpriced and poorly made Ethan Allen furniture. There are still American manufacturers who made excellent furniture in the USA. Statton Furniture - made of American black cherry in Maryland - is great for dining room and bedroom furniture. Hancock & Moore - of North Carolina is the best leather furniture around. Henkle Harris, Kittinger, Southwood, Stickley are all American made, much higher quality than Ethan Allen, and ofter less expensive. Get out of the big box stores and go to a local furniture dealer who sells real, quality furniture - or look on eBay for used stuff from these manufacturers

Ethan Allen still manufactures all of its product, and does not outsource overseas--as some suggest.

As a globally-focused company, they have spread thier manufacturing abroad. The majority of the plants, upholstery and casegoods, are still made right here. There are plants in Vermont, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Jersey... this is just to name a few.

It is a shame that some have been left with a bad taste in their mouth, with regards to the service and/or delivery of thier product. It really is the job of the designer to keep thier clients in the know. IE, a leather sectional can take up to 18 weeks to be completed. Leather always adds time to the process, as they prefer to be selective on which hides are mated together for the custom frame.

As a long-time employee of Ethan Allen, I would hope potential clients would come in and educate themselves rather than reading negative rants. But, of course, to each thier own.

I went to EA store and asked for a piece to match the bedroom set I already owned. Saleslady said sure, but when it arrived, it didn't match. They then said it was complimentary. Now they won't accept return unless we pay $4oo restocking. Can you believe the audacity? I won't be shopping there again.

what goes around comes around and when you experience how disorganized this company is and how inferior the product and chain of customer service is, you will see for your self how your pitiful new salary equates to being a 'stepford' worker. good luck, EA did their job to keep you on board for 8 years, if you can look your clients in the eyes and keep them satisfied, then you must be truly exceptional!..

8 years with the company wrote:

Ethan Allen still manufactures all of its product, and does not outsource overseas--as some suggest.
As a globally-focused company, they have spread thier manufacturing abroad. The majority of the plants, upholstery and casegoods, are still made right here. There are plants in Vermont, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Jersey... this is just to name a few.
It is a shame that some have been left with a bad taste in their mouth, with regards to the service and/or delivery of thier product. It really is the job of the designer to keep thier clients in the know. IE, a leather sectional can take up to 18 weeks to be completed. Leather always adds time to the process, as they prefer to be selective on which hides are mated together for the custom frame.
As a long-time employee of Ethan Allen, I would hope potential clients would come in and educate themselves rather than reading negative rants. But, of course, to each thier own.

Diane wrote:

Oh my God! They are the worst customer service (and I use the term loosely) people and company I have ever done business with! I bought a leather sofa and loveseat from them in March of 2006 - you can no longer sit comfortably at the ends of either peice. They sent out a service person, who ordered replacement cushion stuffing pieces. That took twelve weeks and only 2 of five arrived. They only made the piece more uncomfortable. I have
six books under my end of the loveseat so I don't feel like I am sitting on a huge slant towards the arm. Anyway, DON'T BUY FROM ETHAN ALLEN AND TELL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES.(Oh yes, not they're going to pick up the pieces anbd fix them in their shop - whatever.

I have to say that I have worked for Ethan Allen for almost 17 years in the customer service department and provide the best service! I think that if perhaps you rotate your cushions and use them equally you wouldn't have this problem. It infuriates me that people act like jack Arses when they purchase furniture and think that a cushion is going to last them "forever"! Do you replace your bed pillows? That goes the same for the seat pillows that you plop your arse on all day long while you aggravate hard working people about them being flat! NONSENSE! complete NONESENSE! Grow up and get a life! YOUR CUSHION IS NOT GOING TO LAST YOU A LIFETIME! YOUR SOFA FRAME PROBABLY WILL but lets be realistic here....inserts need replacement just like pillows do......P.S. How much do you weigh?

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I can confirm that all those bad things written above about EA are 100% accurate and true.

@employee from Malvern, PA - you must be delusional or a total liar. In recent years Ethan Allen closed many plants in US and moved production to China. If you don't believe go to the store and try to find Made in the USA imprint. At this time there are probably couple of collections made in US, all other are made in China.

@Ethan Allen Employee AOL - honey, I have EA sofa and it is falling apart. I purchased many pieces at emp discount and suffered same fate as people above. Many problems. All stories sound really familiar.

I spent half my day on the phone trying to appease irate customers. If you got a funiture delivery and let that truck drive off without finding a problem and making them take the piece back there and then YOU WERE/ARE SUNK! They will do nothing if they can get away with it and will try to badly repair what is wrong and REFUSE to replace it - or charge you an arm and a leg (restocking fee) if they do agree (90% chance they won't agree) to take it back.
Go to indeed.com and click on "forums" and enter Ethan Allen in "search" and read to your hearts content on what this company is really like. Then decide if you want to do business with them.

We went into the Hartsdale, NY showroom on March 15, 2008 and ordered a lingerie chest to match our bed and dresser. We showed the salesperson the bed and chest of drawers from our set (the only pieces from the collection that were there) on the showroom floor and she said it would be no problem to order it and have it delivered to our new house in Maryland. When it arrived amidst our move on April 26, 2007, it was not at all a matching piece. My wife refused delivery of the $1588.94 piece and called the store. The salesperson said the item was meant to be "complimentary" to our set even though it doesn't match. My wife told her she did not want it. We were basically deceived in the store and received an item that doesn't match our set. We thought it was over, but a couple of weeks later, my wife got a call saying they still had the chest at the warehouse and did she want it or not. We once again contacted the store and were told we hadn't cancelled it within three days, so we had to take it. After several e-mails with Ethan Allen corporate, the bottom line is that they won't accept it back without charging us a $400.00 "restocking fee!" Ethan Allen resisted at every step and ultimately refused to accept that their associate lied. Fortunately, our credit card company investigated and found that Ethan Allen couldn't back up any of their claims. We weren't charged anything and tell everyone of our Ethan Allen nightmare.

As a recently terminated designer with EA (the black Wednesday massacre) I have read these comments and have to agree with those of you have have had horrendous customer service issues with the company. Some of my customers escaped with out an issue with their order but if they came back for a second time around, they were sure to suffer from the total lack of "quality control" on the part of our factories and service centers. Most of the problems are with the products produced over seas (China). I caution everyone to avoid ever buying anything from the "Modern Glamour" collection. It is worse then Value City. I am a re-tread from my first tour of duty with EA 15 years ago in Atlanta. We had some probs then but nothing compared to the nightmare now. The quality of workmanship is sub-standard.(except the hand knotted oriental rugs) And EA is never willing to replace anything unless forced to by an irate and persistant customer. My advice is if you have to buy from EA and you have a problem with your purchase and you WILL have a problem, be persistant, call Corporate customer service and complain, complain, complain. You will get results. Just remember that when you return anything to EA, the designer takes the hit even if it is not their fault (and it usually is not their fault).

Ethan Allen does not stand by their product once the consumer takes delivery and finds it does not work in their home. I recently bought two pieces from them. One piece had an obvious design flaw. They sent out a technician and his answer was to tape cardboard to the back of the piece to hide the flaw. The back of the piece is visible from my patio. It looks like crap. I called attention to the problem to Ethan Allen management and their response was "It meets our manufacturing specs, you are stuck with it". They have an attitude that if you recognize a flaw in a piece as you intend to place it in your home, to hell with you because it was built to spec. You cannot return it. I've never heard of not being able to return a product you are dissatisfied once you have received it. As far as they are concerned you can go pound sand.

First of all,
80% of our products are still made in the states. We even forest and reforest most of our wood.
Second,
our products that are made overseas are companies we own, we do not outsource, and we have complete quality control over all of our product lines.
Third,
WE DO NOT USE FIBERBOARD ON ANY OF OUR PRODUCTS...
with our veneering...it is done on some pieces for a "look" and with the highest standards.

As far as the customer service issues...
I'm sure there are EA stores out there that have bad customer service, as with any large corp, but our store is top rate!
It may be bc we are independantly owned, not corperate. If you call corperate, they will be fair in resolving the issue.

NO FURNITURE STORE IN THE MARKETPLACE will return something just because you dont like it...HOW ABOUT taking some responsiblity for your decision!
IT IS NOT the furniture stores fault if you dont think of the fact that, "The back of the piece is visible from my patio. It looks like crap."

On the otherhand, if a designer did a homecall and didnt bring up the fact, then it is our fault. If you didnt utilize the service, bc those are the things we think about and make you aware of, then it is your fault.

EA is a wonderful company to work for, and as a designer, I make a really good living (on salary+ bonuses) with more benefits than most businesses offer.

PLUS... we are one of the only furniture manufactors that still makes the majority of our products in the states, providing jobs, and we produce quality products, for a good price, because we are vertically intergrated.

-HAPPY AND PROUD TO BE AN EA EMPLOYEE

At Ethan Allen we are committed to providing our clients with superior service and a total design experience. We would like to take this opportunity to offer our assistance. Please contact me at Pmandeville@ethanalleninc.com. We're here to help.

Paula Mandeville
Director, Retail Services

Well, I have raised my children, put them through college and am finally at a point in my life where I would like to treat myself to some quality furniture. I always believed that Ethan Allen was good quality. I paid nearly $4000.00 for two over-sized chairs and an ottoman. I am so aggravated with Ethan Allen and the poor quality of the furniture I purchased from them.
I ordered two chair-and-a-halfs in October...they were FINALLY delivered February 2nd. By March, I notice the cushions look like an air-mattress with most of the air out. I phoned customer service in May, the service guy came Friday, June 13, looked at the cushions said, "we had some problems with one of our suppliers." Hmmm, no one called me! I had paid an up-charge for "down-filled" cushions. The service person told me he would bring me new cushion inserts. He finally comes August 1 with new cushion inserts. I admit they look much better, but they are filled with Holofil now, when I paid extra for the "higher quality down." Incidently, the higher quality down, ended up being mostly feathers.(their definition 95% feathers and 5% down.
Now all I am asking is a credit for having the "cheaper fill" in the cushions, but I was told that it was "MY choice" to have them replaced with the firmer filling. I didn't know what they were bringing back...I thought they were going to put more filling in. The owner of my local Ethan Allen store told me I could have had the cushions replaced with "down" I just wanted the cushions to be firmer.
I TOO, WILL SPREAD THE WORD THAT ETHAN ALLEN QUALITY IS EXTREMELY POOR and I WILL NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THERE AGAIN!!!!

Oh, and furthermore. For those loyal EA employees who maintain EA is high quality. I would love to send you photos of my furniture. I weigh 125 pounds and don't PLOP myself on my furniture. I have a highly respectable position and travel every week for my job, so my furniture is being sat on very rarely. See above posting. YOUR FURNITURE QUALITY IS ATROCIOUS!!!

I have owned a EA sofa for 12 years and the only reason I am replacing it is because we are tired of it. We don't want to reupholster because we want a new style. So as far as I am concerned EA is quality furniture. I have gone back and order again. After reading about everyones nightmares I hope I have no problems but judging from my past experiences with my sofa and my bedroom set I foresee none. As to the people who purchased partial sets and then want to add to them later on, what can they expect from the sales people.. they don't ownt he company, they are doing what they are told and truly have no idea what the higher ups are going to do from one month to the next and shame on you for blaming them.

Just An Observer wrote:

<quoted text>Ethan Allen still should build on its' reputation and quality. However, much of what you have said is true. Photographed wood, particle board, and veneers make up the majority of furniture. If anyone still wants a quality piece of furniture, buy used, the old furniture sets from the 1980's and prior. Those were still made from all solid wood. You'll get a much better product, at a much lower price. It's worth it! I got a bargain on a solid cherry, top of line bedroom set----- Yes, true! With all the foreclosures, people downsizing, and leaving the state, there are many bargains to be had! No need to buy new!

This is why I buy vintage stuff. Can't stand the particle board with veneer look at EA and similar stores.

Ethan Allen fan wrote:

I love all my Ethan Allen furniture and have had very few problems with any of it. If I did have a problem it was fixed in a reasonable amount of time. The design consultants at the store I shop at are very professional and very nice. In regards to the problems people have had with their upholstery, it seems as if no one explained the warranty to them before they bought it. It clearly states that Ethan Allen has the right to replace or repair (their choice) whatever is wrong with it. I do agree if the delivery person slashed it though it should be replaced. Anyways I am a huge fan and a loyal customer for over ten years and most of the complaints on this forum are untrue and unfair.

Obviously this was written by someone high up in the company posing as a customer.