I just read through this thread. Lynn, I am so sorry for you, but stay strong, you'll get this over and done with, having learned a lesson or two the hard way. Those are the lessons you don't forget!!! Just take care of it, and let it go. And I have to say to Organic Smallhome, girl, I admire your spirit!! If you get a product poorly made, return it, and get your money BACK!
I am also buying American made products, as much as possible.

I was going to stay out of this in print, but before anymore of this STANLEY IS THE EVIL NEMISIS goes on any further, let me tell you of how Stanley actually SAVED MY Butt.

I know of Susan's situation and in no way am devaluing Susan's experience, so lets be clear there. Part of the blame belongs with Stanley, but part of it belongs with her furniture store too. It will all work out in the end and what Susan finally ends up with, is what the "Universe" if you will, intended for her. I've just seen too many times when it's worked out that way for each individuals ultimate benefit, even when at the time we don't think so. On to my story....

I personally have Stanley's Cottage revival bedroom suite for 3-4 yrs now in the Mackanaw White in several large pieces and smaller pieces as well. I am very happy with it, quality etc., matching colors, no problems etc.

I knew ahead of time my collection was coming out of China/Taiwan (it's on the sticker). Here is my story about Stanley: I too did my homework,,saw the pieces in person etc. I had a gorgeous Stanley bedroom suite in a pervious marriage and loved it so felt comfortable there too. So having lived in N.Carolina for 8 yrs and having family there too, I know of the furniture industry etc...how cuttings work, who's who in furniture and all that. So I do my homework on ordering from a furniture store in bus. in N.Carolina for 26 yrs and checking them out. Fine, I place my order and give them the required deposit knowing to expect about 16 wks for delivery. About 14 wks go buy and I check in with the furniture store,,"Everything's fine,,we're expecting it XYZ date etc." That date is coming in a couple days so I call back and get the run around from the furniture store,,they aren't calling me back etc. I follow back in a wk and get stone walled and told a bunch of stuff saying Stanley's delayed and so forth. Well I decide to find out from Stanley what is going on, since I have that bad feeling... I get my way to the production Mgr. for that grouping and find out that A) My pieces are ready and have been since there was no delay in any of the pieces I ordered via Asia and I could have had my furniture earlier. Stanley has been waiting for their money from Furniture store on XYZ date so they can ship out and of course, with the help of Murphy's law, find out that said furniture store just filed for Bankruptcy. The Stanley Mgr. tells me of the Filing like 3 days before, since they got word of it, naturally. He tells me the whole story of this furniture store since they've done business with them for years and what he knows about their whole situation, and why they filed BK, which I don't want to bore you with. The Stanley guy tells me how to file legal paperwork with the BK court etc. putting in my claim,,(I can't remember all the legal jargon now) so I do what he says immediately. I get back in touch with him and since my furniture is now ready and they have no $ on my particular pieces from Bankruptcy furniture store and I've waited my turn for the furniture order, he allows me to get another dealer in CA where I live and tells me of the new place's standing with Stanley, what stores is reputable with them etc. I'm thinking by this time my $1500 deposit is totally gone bye, bye and the new furniture place, knowing of my plight, gives me just about the same price as the 1st "BAD" furniture store plus tax (I actually got it for pretty much rock bottom) according to Stanley, since I had disclosed everything I had gone thru in my sob story for help. So I cough up the 70% required from new furniture store, double check with the Stanley guy, he confirmed to me they did indeed get $ (I am smarter by this time) and get my furniture delivered. Stanley guy holds my hand through all this,,sends me a paint pen and patch kit for down the road should I need it free (I haven't yet) and calls me with when it left on their delivery trucks to CA, the company they use etc.

Now, he didn't have to help me at all since XYZ 1st furniture store, owes them lots of money and they easily could have filled others orders with my intended pieces, BAD furniture store lied to me about dates of furniture being ready, since they were really using my money to "float" their failing business, tells me how to make the best of a bad situation & all that. I ended up about 6 months later, due to the filing of paper work Stanley told me to do, getting $600 back from BAD furniture store when I probably wouldn't have seen even that much on the dollar if at all and the guy just really did everything he could for me. I get a mini, inside the industries inner workings and all ends up well.

So yes, our whole country is affected by the Chinese and many other non US countries, in one way or the other, and unfortunately the furniture industry, in their quest to stay alive, finds ways to stay in business using them. Big business and Joe Smith in America is paying the price in more ways than one and will do so for a long time I'm afraid. So that is my story. I do what I can to help others and "buy American" as much as I can, or budget will allow, and use my power of "The Vote".

We will all have unfortunate events in our lives and if you are lucky enough not have had bad things happen to good people, I will "predict" if you will, that Murphy's Law will happen to everyone down the line, probably multiple times. The important thing to remember is, "to trust in yourself, that you will be able to handle life's curve balls and not dig your own hole in the ground and jump in it, at every turn. (Partly a Dr. Phil'ism with my 2 cents throw in there somewhere).

So here's to another day and the wish and hope that tomorrow, and the days to come, will be better for Susan and I for one will support this Dr. Phil'ism for her.
That's all she (I) wrote. Nicole

Nicole, Thank you for writing and telling how Stanley was on your side and due to this story and your love of the Cottage Revival Set, I bought the set. I am hoping Stanley realizes they need better supervision of the Chinese Manufacturing that is all of a sudden trying to cut corners across American to those outsourcing to China since Stanley is not the only one affected.

I am hoping this is a wake up call to them to do better inspections at their USA headquarters of Outsourced furniture before sending the products to the stores. I am hoping this since I feel they have a very beautiful stylish product that was once made very well. Nicole had told me her drawers had stoppers in them. My drawers did not and came all the way out. Even my Levitz bought set had stoppers in them that I bought over 14 years ago. I have seen pictures of the furniture Nicole has and all the pieces match and are beautiful.

I have spoken to Stanley's customer service on the telephone and they have been very nice to me. I had wanted them to work with the store so I could put my furniture away and just give me a discount for the damage and send me replacement parts and for them to just send me back a new Chest of Drawers and mirror in the lighter color that is on the dresser, bachelor's chest and night stand. But Stanley's customer service told me they can not do anything since once the furniture is sent to the store, the store has the final decision.

After having my furniture out of my bedroom now all day and after losing almost one weeks worth of work from all this stress, I now am glad I sent it all back since I paid good money for brand new furniture that is matching and made well. Nicole, your furniture is matching and made well. My furniture was poorly constructed (except for the bachelor's chest and night stand that was mostly made fairly well) from my point of view from what I could see from the pieces of furniture I had here that had peeling paint, holes so deep you could see it was veneered over something else inside, long cracks with filler on it not painted over it, splintered wood where my drawers need to slide in and out, drawers made too small for the opening on my Chest of Drawers, etc.

If my set came to me all matching and well made, I would be so happy since I did love the look of the Stanley Furniture. But now I really want the store to give me a good price on the Durham Set because I can't not afford to financially or emotionally waste time waiting for furniture that may not match again or may not have the quality controls in place in China that I hope Stanley will soon have in place after reading this posting so we can all love their furniture's quality again, and I can't afford to have to send it back again. I need furniture ASAP that is well made.

I bought the plastic Sterling drawers to slide under my bed to hold clothes until new furniture arrives. But the plastic drawers with rollers on them are made out of PP it says on the back and they are out-gassing and are now outside. It does not say PVC, so I am hoping the out-gassing is temporary. Hence, I am not sure I will be able to even utilize them as planned. I will have to wait and see.

Again, My emotions were all messed up all week because I wanted to keep the Stanley furniture due to its beauty and unique pretty look, but today I had no choice but to return the set due to the damages on it and the mismatched pieces.

But again I am hoping Stanley appreciates this post and does what they can to put the quality controls in place to inspect pieces of furniture coming from China like they claim to inspect so well from those domestically made that they claim retail stores never have to fix damage based on an article written by the President of Stanley Furniture. Stanley Furniture is beautiful with a unique look and needs to win back consumer's confidence again in their quality. I am sure this will not be done over night and that is why I at this time want to see if Diane will refund my money and let me negotiate a good price on the Durham Furniture.

I made a typo and meant " I have spoken to Stanley's customer service on the telephone and they have been very nice to me. I had wanted them to work with the store so I could put my CLOTHING (not furniture) away ...."

Susan, You just might have been the fluke case, who knows but at least Stanley knows,,who can say, other than the mismatched paint, where the damage occured since if I owned that furniture store, I would have inspected it before I put on the truck for delivery to absolve myself from the ramifications of getting bad furniture from the manuf. then the onus would no way be on me, furniture store owner. But we won't know since the owner has turned hostile. If she doesn't do a complete 180 on her attitude and start bending over backward to regain your business, I'd dump her like yesterday's garbage for the way she handled the whole thing and treated you!! The manufacturer will usually always tell you the reputable dealers that sell their product in your area. That may be the best way to go about choosing who (furniture store) to place the new order for the other companies furniture.

My LONG post I just wrote disappeared. :(

I will try to write a shorter post.

Thank you Nicole for being there for me all week and I agree with all you are saying but I also know that despite not knowing who did some of the damage (Stanley or the store), I feel a lot of the damage was done by Stanley since there was excess glue under the drawers that was globbed on and not wiped off. Deep cracks in the drawer that was filled in and putty on the edges of the drawers you are right are in question who did this damage, Stanley or the store. I assumed it was done in China since my furniture arrived on Thursday and was delivered to me by Tuesday but who knows. But I do know China used a piece of wood on the Chest of drawers that was in bad shape and should not have been used. I do know that deep hole in the furniture that was splintered and not patched up was not acceptable. I do know the splintering sides of the reinforced wood pieces was done in China on the drawers. I do know the runner splintering showed cheap wood and who knows how this happened. I do not know how the paint could be peeling and coming off and puckering on back of my new dresser. I do not know how Stanley could tell the store (Albert told me this) they use one batch of paint per each customer's furniture and then have such a big mismatch in colors between my dresser's mirror and the dresser and the chest of drawers not matching the other pieces either. I do not know how the other damage happened but I know it happened before arriving at my home and that is all that matters now is that I can not accept mismatched pieces and unknown quality of furniture.

I guess I will see what Stanley and the store have to say when they see the furniture. Better lighting should be in the warehouse and better furniture inspections of the outside and inside of the furniture before accepting it from Stanley by the store I agree so this disappointment to the customer, waste of the customer's time and the customer losing faith in the quality of the furniture and buying process do not eradicate.

I am upset tonight and sad that this whole week happened and I hope I get a good night's sleep to catch up with my work and I hope that my furniture fiasco is taken care of soon.

Again thank you Nicole for listening to me and taking my calls all week since I was so stressed out.

Susan Lynn in NJ

Nicole, I am on the phone with my another friend who agrees with you that the store owner should have made sure my pieces matched before sending them to me. I wonder how many sets of the Cottage Revival was sent to the store? They should have seen the damage and made sure everything matched before sending it to me and that their was no internal or external damage before accepting the furniture from Stanley.

Since the drawers have no stops and surprisingly come out all the way which is not good for quality drawers, I wonder who dropped the drawers to have damage inside and put filler on it to repair it? I noticed this on the day of delivery (one drawer I thought only on my Chest of Drawers)but I thought it was just that one drawer and did not yet know the slider that the drawer is on was damaged on the dresser so two pieces of furniture had internal damage (which I do blame for cutting corners and not having stoppers on the furniture) and I have been blaming China but now I wonder who patched up the drawers? Who is really to blame? Of course China did the messy glue job and the too small drawer for the opening on the Chest of Drawers which is very poor quality. Mismatched paint I assumed was because of Stanley. I wonder if someone else ordered a Cottage Revival Set and they had my Chest of Drawers and my mirror? I guess I can ask Stanley what other Sets they sent the store. I am not accusing anyone of anything, I am just realizing Nicole that you are right, I have no idea who did the damage. I have been on the phone with my friend Al discussing this and he is the one that mentioned maybe another customer has my chest of drawers and mirror. I never thought of this! Does Stanley label the pieces of furniture for the customer and labeled it wrong and the store did not notice the pieces of furniure were mixed up? Or did only one set go to the store and Stanley has poor quality control OR they sent my chest of drawers and mirror to a different retailer and they mixed the pieces up. I wonder what happened?

I couldn't sleep last night getting myself worked up before bed so I am having a stressful morning. I am going to try to squeeze in time between this work this morning to give Stanley a quick phone call to see if two orders of the Cottage Revival was sent to the store. If it was, then we have to question what happened. If it wasn't, then that is poor quality control on Stanley's part to have mismatched paint. I want to know and I would like others to know also before we blame anyone.

Lynn, you do not have a good grasp on how furniture importation happens. All these pieces enter the country in HUGE shipping containers. Your order isn't sent to China and furniture isn't manufactured that says "This is for Lynn". There is no way to track down "who has your chest of drawers". Your furniture co. may be big enough that they order a container at a time. I don't know. I just know that no one else "has your chest of drawers". Two sets or 15 sets of Cottage Revival may have been shipped to the store. The distribution center doesn't match this stuff up. They just fill orders: for instance, 15 chests, 15 headboards, 30 nightstands. They don't match the sets and then send them out. That's too much to expect from a company that manufactures furniture in China.

beachlily, thank you for letting me know this is how furniture importation happens.

Then Albert, the salesman was mistaken also since he told me that Stanley mixes up a batch of paint just enough to use on all my furniture pieces so they will all match perfectly. He told me that is why I needed to order all pieces now so they would match since order later on another piece could make the pieces mismatch.

Hence, I see now that they do exactly what you said and someone should have made sure all my pieces matched before sending them to me. The pieces should have never been delivered to my home with the runner broken on the top left dresser drawer. The Chest of Drawers with that much damage on the back and on two of the drawers and not matching should have never entered my home. The mirror on the dresser not matching my triple dresser should have never entered my home. The warehouse should have better lighting to notice this so the customer does not have to go through this stress.

I was willing to accept some damage on the back of the furniture but I was not willing to accept internal damage to the structure of the drawer (where it glides on is splintered and really damaged per the picture I sent in), no drawer stoppers to prevent future problems with drawers once I fill them with clothes, the cracks on the drawer despite the fillers may make the chest of drawer not sturdy for my clothes, etc. I was not willing to accept the fact that the colors do not match. I did not like the fact that one drawer was not cut right for the opening of the chest of drawers. I did not like how the back of the dresser was already peeling when it is NEW furniture that I paid good money for.

Most of all, I did not like how damaged furniture was delivered to my home to cause me this much stress when it should have never entered my home. I am so behind in my work an must get back to work. I appreciate your post telling me how furniture manufacturers work that ship furniture to the USA from China.

So I do not know who is at fault here and I no longer care. I just am glad I sent the damaged and mismatched furniture back.

Lynn, just a note about Durham. I am happy with the furniture but noticed that the dresser I have here does not have drawer stops. Can't tell about the other pieces because I gave one set to our son when we moved and could not use a king bed. The other one is in our other townhouse in another state. I have not had a drawer fall out in spite of not having stops. I also had a Lexington set and hated it because the drawers were so shallow. It did have stops but also had heavy cardboard on the backs of the case pieces.

Thank you so much for telling me this Dorothy about the Durham Furntiure pieces that you having not having drawer stops since the pieces in another furniture store did when the saleswoman was showing me the quality of Durham. But also Nicole (Piper101) had told me that her furniture has drawer stops from Stanley that she bought almost 4 years ago.

Maybe if I order from Durham to be price competitive, they will no longer have drawer stops and it sounds like it may not be such a problem after all. Thanks for letting me know. I have not bought furniture in a long time and I never had a situation like this in my life to deal with that was so stressful.

The shallow 2.25" and 3.25" height small drawers in my Vaughan of Virginia set from Levitz bought over 14 years ago have drawers stops in the triple dresser only and not in the two night stands and the drawers are always coming out. I can't stand the shallow drawers that fit nothing in my current old set.

So I went with Stanley over Durham due to the overall Deeper wider drawers in their chest of drawers and taller triple dresser and their styling and the creamy color of the lighter pieces of furniture they sent to me that I had loved so much.

I did love the deep drawers of Stanley and their styling so much but I do not like how importation of furniture works if there is no guarantee of matching furniture. I feel sad since I really wanted to stay with Stanley. But I did like the backs on the Durham Furniture that was very well sealed on the floor model on the Royal Cottage set at another store.

I really am thinking it would be best to find a store with floor models to buy from so I do not have to wait weeks again.

Maybe I should have listened to Diane and rejected the pieces of furniture last week but if I did so, I would have not known about all the problems I kept finding out about. I may have also kept the night stand and bachelor's chest that were in fairly good shape and had future matching problems. I see now if there is major damage, reject the whole set right away. How sad it has to be like this. I still was willing to accept the damaged furniture and mismatched furniture with a major discount but I guess that is not the store's policy and they have to follow policy.

Furniture buying seems too complicated and stressful and it is a shame I still need a bedroom set. I now have my other dresser in the other room that holds only jewelry, panties and bras and hair pieces due to the very shallow drawers.

Lynn, I happened to notice the very large number of entries in this topic and stopped to check it out.

My thoughts really aren't about the furniture per se, and please take this in the spirit in which it is offered...it seems from reading that you are getting terribly obsessed with this entire situation. For example looking at the date/time stamps I noticed that yesterday and early this morning you had repeated lengthy entries, including only minutes apart late at night, without them even getting any responses by anyone else.

My advice is if you can, put aside all these endless speculations about all the minute details. Tell the store what you want (apologies, I just couldn't make it through each post carefully, it was too much). Let them make it right.

IIRC, you had a situation awhile ago about a refrigerator and the same type of extended lengthy session worrying about it. Again I don't say this to be nasty or judgmental but it might be helpful to find healthy methods to release some psychic energy in other ways.

Best of luck to you,
Ann

Ann, I appreciate your constructive criticism.

I think from my dealings with some companies in the past, I feel if I do not take care of the issues all at once and prove my point, I have future problems. I wanted to make sure I had proof that I was not being too picky.

But I felt so bad last night that I was blaming Stanley for everything after I read Nicole's long post and felt she was right I have no idea who is at fault for what parts of this furniture fiasco. I had no idea furniture shopping could be so difficult. I felt then I had to come forward to write another post to explain that Nicole may be right, I do not know and can't continue blaming all one party.

I had spent weeks looking for the right set for my bedroom that I could love that was value and good quality. I felt I had did my homework. I lived with a mess for months until my furniture came (platform bed had broken in February and I lost 4 big deep drawers) and could not wait to have a neat place knowing where all my clothes were. I felt I learned that deep drawers and size were important as well as quality and style.

I was so happy when the furniture arrived which to me was so beautiful on the outside, better than I imagined it would look in my bedroom. I hated to send it back when I found some external damage that was hidden and that is why I initially accepted it. I did not want to wait weeks again for a new set.

But when I found internal structure drawer damage, in addition to the external damage in the back and then the mismatch in colors, it got me so stressed out since I live alone, I am not rich and I am trying hard to buy things I love for my home that are value.

I was willing to accept the furniture as is with a major discount. But this was not an option given to me and I guess I have to learn to accept the policy of stores and not fight it.

I am not rich enough to get a new set every year. I kept my last set that was a bad decision for the lack of space in the drawers for over 14 years. I feared I would have to live with a bad decision if I did not return mismatched pieces that could have future problems due to the damage on the pieces sent to my home.

You are right it is a problem of mine when I get so focused on a problem I must solve that I can't focus on anything else until the problem is resolved completely. It is a good thing when I am working on getting a deadline done how focused I can be but a bad thing when I have other issues that should be a priority of mine at the moment. Thank you for reminding me of this problem of mine so I can work on letting things go.

But I wanted also to warn others like I hope others warn me when there are problems.

beachlily, Your post helped me a lot. You are so right that if I ever get damaged merchandise again that is either physically damaged or not the right color, I am rejecting it so I do not have to have stress for a week. It was just I never saw my bedroom look so beautiful before just like a picture book. It was almost exactly how I had envisioned it except for the mismatch in the color of the furniture. I could not believe I would fall in love with a furniture set. I was so afraid to return the lighter pieces since I loved the creamy color of three pieces and did not like the darker grayer color as much on the Chest of Drawers and Mirror.

But I see now, it is what I must do.

I never had furniture delivered before mismatched in color or damaged. Only the filing cabinets from Staples.com were delivered damaged and they gave me a discount off the price so I could keep them.

Thank you for your wonderful post. I have learned my lesson.

Lynn, be strong with Albert. He is a jerk. He lied to get you to order more furniture. I hope that company stands behind their name and takes all the furniture back. No one should go though that kind of stress. There will be another line of furniture that meets your needs--search it out!

Just remember--the mirror doesn't have to match.

Thank you beachlily for being there for me. The stress was a lot on top of other stresses in my life at this moment.

All the Stanley furniture was taken back yesterday and I learned a lot from this experience. I also learned how furniture manufacturing really works and you are right the mirror does not need to match exactly but the other pieces of furniture should.

I stopped by tonight a local place that had two pieces of the Durham in stock. It may have been solid maple and made a little better in some ways then the Stanley Cottage Revival, but the drawers inside were a thinner plywood, the plywood backs were not painted or stained (at least they will not be peeling) and the style was just OK.

Amazing how I still love the Cottage Revival's look so much. I loved the height of the dresser and chest of drawers making it looked like a grown up set to me. I loved the bead board sizes and bun feet.

I got a letter from the store that they are crediting my credit card for the full amount of the Stanley set I returned and I should find a store that has policies more to my liking.

I wish I could trust that Stanley has starting to do better supervising and inspecting of their China offshore manufacturing facilities but it seems that China is just cutting corners lately for everyone so maybe it would take some time. I am not sure. I know I can not afford to go through the emotional roller coaster again waiting and having to reject the furniture. I feel sad since it is hard to explain how I could fall in love with a furniture's styling and the creamy color of the lighter set but I did.

If I got with Durham, I so far like all the pieces I picked out but I will sure miss a triple dresser for style and grown up looks. The color was a creamy white like the Stanley's lighter pieces I liked and was not really white like their website which made me happy. I will post about Durham's two dresser choices in another post before I go to bed.

Thanks for listening.

Seeing my typo's, I guess it is time for bed for me and I will check replies on my other Durham post in the morning.

Thank you everyone who was there for me. I am so sorry I got so emotional. It felt like I was losing something I loved. I never knew I could fall in love with furniture.

To be fair to Stanley, they are right their side bead board is very well sealed and their furniture did not bother my allergies a lot like brand new furniture usually does that has any particle board in it. Hence, to be fair, I do think they have the furniture very well sealed with a lot of solid wood and plywood and do not use formaldehyde in their paints like they claim they don't. Of course, my allergies were a little worse with the furniture in my bedroom but I usually can not tolerate any furniture with particle board in it so I was happy that Stanley did seal the furniture well. I guess they should either not paint the back of the furniture if it is going to be peeling or make sure it is painted in a way so the paint is sealed and not pealing.

I just want to be fair to Stanley. Also their drawer bottoms are thick which is good for clothes.

I meant, I wanted a headboard to be 5 feet high when I wrote "I wanted a headboard to be 6 feet high" The Maywood headboard is around 60" high.

My friend just pointed this out to me since she wanted to read the post I wrote to see the pictures to see why I returned the Stanley.

Just did not want someone to buy the Maywood headboard expecting it to be taller than it was.

Back to cleaning....

I just checked my Chase Credit Card online and the credit for my furniture being returned was posted today.

By the way, the letter I wrote to Stanley's President was never answered. I hope at least he reads it and makes changes since Stanley does have stylish furniture and they had been so good to Nicole a few years ago.

Thank you Organic for the idea and supporting me though the stress I was feeling.

Tonight I feel wonderful that it is behind me and I found out that Durham (called Durham in Canada) will have all pieces of the collection I want in stock by the end of this week so if I find a local store, it should take only 4 weeks. But of course, if I can't find a local store reasonably priced, I will go with Lexington Furniture in Kentucky and wait 12 weeks.

I guess Stanley did not want to work with me to make it right so I could post how wonderful they were. But it is OK, I have decided on what Durham furniture pieces I am going with since I do not want to take another chance on having mismatched furniture.

Just wanted to updated everyone.

I read over my posts and I am so sorry I went on and on. I guess I must have fallen in love with the set and ... I am just glad I am at peace now and can move on and work.

My friend from Canada is visiting me this Saturday so I must get my work done.

Thank you everyone for being there for me. I appreciate everyone on this forum.

I completely understand your frustration. I ordered a complete living room set from Stanley and one of the end tables was damaged (even the delivery guys agreed with my assessment.) I sent the table back and now the retailer I ordered the furniture from is telling me that Stanley considers the defect to be part of the "distressed" finish. Now, I just recently moved and have newly furnished four rooms with "distressed" furniture. I know what "distressed" furniture is supposed to look like. This furniture is clearly damaged. Who knows how long it will take me to resolve the problem, but I am VERY unhappy with Stanley's response as I have always heard they are a company with a good reputation. Rest assured I will NEVER buy from them again and will warn others not to either. Side note: Paint was coming off many of the other pieces (which I was able to touch up) and I found a chip inside the entertainment console (again which I was able to touch up.) I'd hate to have to take action over one end table, but we will see....

lesallimc, Thank you for sharing since if we do not share, others will not know and we must warn them.

What a shame you did not take pictures and post them here so we can all tell Stanley they are wrong and it is damaged. This statement I make in trusting you due to seeing the state my furniture was in.

I am so sorry you have to go through this stress over the one table now. But your story shows me I did the right thing by posting the pics here since the owner of the store's letter makes it look like I was a perfectionist when I was not and was even willing to accept the furniture if she would repair it and only take back the mismatched pieces. But I am so glad that stress is over with and my credit card has been credited. I found a new local store that I am working with right now on solid wood Durham furniture and will be ordering tomorrow. Durham says it should take 4 to 5 weeks and not the l1 weeks my Stanley Furniture took in getting to my home and then disappointing me so much and messing things up for me. But I am glad I warned others.

Thanks for letting me know that the paint was coming off many of the other pieces also since they say on their site how they use many coats of paint and they go on and on about the quality. Maybe that is how it once was but I think it is not that way recently from seeing how two of two of my pieces of furniture arrived from Stanley so damaged and mismatched from Stanley not inspecting the furniture well enough that is coming from China. I was sure disappointed and lost a lot of income from not being able to work being so emotionally in love with the look of the Cottage Revival set but finally knowing that function must come before style.

I hope a new table comes back to you and one that matches and is not damaged. Please keep us updated.

Hi all Stanley victims...I thought I was the only one.

I purchased the Country Cottage dining room - buffet, hutch, china cabinet, sq garden trellis glass-top table, and although everyone remarks about it's beauty, I was devastated by the quality, or lack of quality with this purchase. In my case, it was both the fault of Stanley and the retailer where I purchased the set. The furniture arrived at the store with paint missing, so, the repair dept at the retailer decided that they knew how to fix it, and what a mess. After a while, I gave up. But every time I look at the cracked cheap thin glass in the china cabinet and on the table, I am so frustrated. Their furniture isn't cheap either. The bad part - I really like the style.

Good luck with your resolution!

gneegirl, Thanks for sharing your story also about Stanley's quality no longer being what it once was since they have not been doing a good job in supervising and inspecting their outsourced manufactured pieces of furniture before they are shipped to the retailers.

It is such a shame since Stanley Furniture sure has such stylish looking furniture and that is why I fell in love with the look and did not want to part with the furniture and just wanted it repaired at first. But I see now I did the right thing by returning the furniture.

I just wish I took out the time to visit my father while waiting for the furniture to be picked up instead of waiting for the furniture nightmare to end since he passed away.

I am still grieving although doing a little better tonight reading posts from those who wrote to me making me feel at least we reconciled and both realized how much we loved one another.

If the furniture would have arrived in good shape, I would have had time to visit my father and been in a happy mood and had more closure.

Again gneegirl, I am sorry for your own dealings with the lack of quality recently with Stanley furniture.

Lynn2006, I'm so sorry that you have been experiencing such problems with your Stanley furniture and hope that everything works out for you.

I bought a Stanley desk and hutch because I thoought that Stanley sold a quality product and I loved the styling. I have had problems with the pieces since delivery. First of all, both pieces came chipped in a few places and one of the drawers did not open and close well.

I purchased the pieces from Stickley and the company sent someone to repair the damage. I later discovered new damage to the side of the hutch and the same person came to fix this damage. His comment was that he was surprised by the poor quality of the piece considering that it was Stanley furniture.

Even after this repair, I can still see some of the damaged area. I did not ask for a replacement hutch, since I was afraid that it would not match the desk.

Based on my experience and the experiences of lynn2006 and gneegirl, I will not buy Stanley furniture again. Since I am now looking for new bedroom furniture, I will look elsewhere.

mhillgal, I am sorry that your desk and hutch from Stanley also came damaged. Thank you for sharing about how your Stanley Furniture came damaged also.

We all need to share our experiences (both the good and the bad experiences) about furniture manufacturers and retail stores so we can all be made aware before making future purchase decisions. Hopefully the manufacturers will care enough to make changes in their quality control procedures for their outsourced furniture after being informed that others are sharing their unhappiness and disappointment and that is why their sales are declining.

If the Stanley furniture would have matched, I was willing to keep it if the furniture store would have repaired it since I loved the styling. But the furniture store would not repair it and kept telling me to not accept damaged furniture. I see now, I should have rejected it all from day one and I will always check for matching furniture by taking drawers out with window blinds open and checking also for damaged runners. I will also check for mismatched drawers and putty on cracks in drawers and peeling paint on back of furniture as well as holes in back of furniture. This has been a real learning experience for me.

The furniture stores should be inspecting furniture before delivering it to customers I feel. I would have been willing to wait even longer than the 11 weeks I already waited if the furniture store would have told me that the furniture arrived damaged and mismatched and they had no choice but to send it back to Stanley Furniture.

It is a shame a company like Stanley Furniture that had a good reputation and has such pretty styling to their furniture is not doing a better job of supervising their outsourced production of their furniture that is made overseas in China and then doing a poor job of inspecting the pieces before they are sent to the retailers. It is a shame the President of Stanley did not even respond to my letter or care to try to work with me.

I really loved the Styling of the Stanley Cottage Revival Bedroom Set but the three different paint colors and the poor quality of the damaged pieces had me deciding to not buy Stanley Furniture but instead to go with solid wood Durham Furniture that is not outsourced overseas that is reasonably priced for solid wood furniture. I still prefer the styling of the Stanley furniture set I had bought initially but I know I am making the right decision since quality and sturdy drawers and matching paint colors is important to me. I want my furniture to last a long time.

Having personally known the Stanley family back in the 1970s, things have really changed. I've never purchased their furniture, but did look at purchasing Arabian horses from them! The Stanley family home was in Virginia, not North Carolina. I think (not sure) they sold the business name and facilities to some corporation outside the family. I also knew the owner of White Furniture in Mebane, NC as he was also an Arabian horse owner. When he passed away, the company was sold, but the name continues. Things just aren't the way they were back when the owners (and their families) ran the businesses.

Sorry to hear this saga.
Cameron

Thank you Cameron for feeling bad about my furniture Saga. It really affected my work and life since I should have been visiting my father the week the furniture arrived. I had told him I would visit as soon as I the furniture arrived and I put my clothes away. Then after the stress happened, I had told him I would visit after all the furniture mess was straightened out since my father lived 6 hours round away and I did not want to visit talking about my stress with the furniture when he was sick. Then the car accident I had the week I was ready to visit and I could not drive for days without a car and with my hurt arm and neck and back. I never saw father before he died so that affected my work again from all the grieving and being so upset with myself.

It is such a shame that the new owners care more about instant profits than long-term reputation and quality of the Stanley furniture. Before the damaged and mismatched furniture arrived, I had no idea that furniture made in China by a reputable company was not to be trusted. I had thought per Stanley's website, they would be supervising and inspecting everything before the furniture went to their retail stores. Well this is not the case and despite their unique beautiful styling, I had no choice but to try another manufacturer that does not outsource their furniture since I could not go through another furniture fiasco again and get more behind in my work.

My new Durham Furniture arrived yesterday in wonderful condition and made so well with all matching pieces. I am so impressed with the quality of the furniture, the perfect creamy color of the furniture, the pretty look to the furniture, the wonderful delivery service (Rica Transport, Inc.), the wonderful store (Flemington Department Store) that sold me the furniture that came all matching in good shape at the best price in NJ that was only a little more than $120 than Lexington Furniture (that is because Lexington Furniture in Kentucky does not charge sales tax but I would still be liable for use tax if audited... so since I would have been liable to pay the Use tax if I bought my furniture out of state then Flemington's price was a better price with sales tax and free shipping). Also Flemington Department Store only made me pay 25% upfront and the balance over the phone with a credit card right before it was to be delivered. The furniture was ready for me in 6 weeks and they held it for me for a few more weeks until my tax season deadline ended.

If I started out with Durham, I would have loved their shutter/plantation headboard also seeing how much I love the look of the shutter/plantation doors on my small armoire that matches the plantation design on my pretty mirror. I did love Stanley's Chest of Drawer's bun feet and bead board look better but I like the color of the Durham Furniture better (Stanley's chest of drawers did not match the rest of the furniture), the quality of Durham so much better and the top drawer at 2" lower is easier for me to see what is inside since I am petite.

Durham should really update their Website's Royal Cottage with a cream color wall and bedding and some white accessories since the way they have their site now does not do justice to the creamy color of the furniture or styling of the pretty solid maple wood quality furniture.

I'm very glad to hear that you received your Durham furniture and that the furniture is so well made. You deserve this after all you went through with the Stanley furniture.

Thank you mhillgal. I will have to post pics real soon. I am very happy with the Durham Furniture.

I see that the Durham's Royal Cottage Set is not on their website. I wonder if they discontinued it? I will try to send in pics in the next few days. I have been not doing well since the car accident with the pain getting worse and not better. I now have 5 herniated disks from the car accident and I am having a lot of problems doing all I used to be able to do. As a result, posting the pictures is a little overwhelming since I do not know how to just add one to each post. I will try to find time to save them to that site I used last time to send in the pictures I took when the Durham Furniture arrived weeks ago. I was just waiting to take new pictures with all the pretty pillows on my bed and my new white phone and white tiny alarm clock on the Rustic Ivory Table. I may add sheers to cover the Linen Color blinds that I now realize I should have went with the white color even if it was not a good white since then I could have used cream sheers on the sides.

Hi All,

Just wanted to post a follow up to my August post (CAN'T believe it is already December!) After having problems with Stanley not wanting to replace my end table, I contacted the Better Business Bureau. Low and behold, less than a week later, Stanley miraculously agreed to replace my end table no questions asked. Of course, the table was then on backorder. Long story short, the NEW end table will be delivered this weekend. We'll see what I end up with. The lesson I learned and wish to impart to everyone is that if you have problems with a company, and you have honestly tried to resolve to the best of your abilities with no luck, go the BBB. Remember, the BBB's report represents the company's "credit" in a lot of ways, and it is one of the best ways to hit them. Hopefully, this end table will arrive undamaged. Regardless, this will be my last purchase from Stanley to be sure.....

Best of luck to you Lesallimc and good for you for doing what you needed to do! Please let us know how this turns out.

Lesallimc, We are all proud of you for taking action and not let Stanley Furniture get away with selling furniture for so much money that is not quality. Please keep us updated on the final outcome.

Hi All,

I'm glad to report my end table arrived this evening and is in perfect condition. I am happy to put an end to this journey that has been going on over half a year. With my living room now complete, I am happy with the final look. However, it is so unfortunate I had to put up with the service (or lack thereof) I received. I will never again purchase from Stanley, Furniture Direct or deal with D&D Delivery. While I met some helpful individuals at each of these companies, I hold the companies themselves responsible for such poor service. Thanks to the BBB, this story has a happy ending. Thanks to everyone for listening. :)

Wonderful! Now... where are the pictures for us to see?

Lesallimc, I am so happy for you that you are happy with the final look and the furniture headache fiasco with Stanley Furniture and with D&D Delivery is behind you now. It is a good thing you contacted the BBB or I have a feeling this would have been not resolved and caused you more stress for more months to come.

Thanks for sharing. We would love pics if you have time.

I am going to try to find time to post the pics I took of my Durham Furniture when it first arrived despite my bed not being made up with the fancy pillows.

Since the car accident, I have had so many doctor appointments since I am still in pain that everything else other than trying to get some work done seems so stressful.

It used to be easy to post pics when Yahoo Photos was in business. Now I have to learn what to do all over again. I think I will try that new place I posted the Stanley Furniture pictures.

Pics of my Durham Furniture for those that do searches and wonder why they are not yet listed on this sit. I set up a new post in the link below to see the pictures.

Wanted to update this post so others will be warned of the Mace Brother's Store not inspecting their furniture before sending it to me and the poor quality of the Stanley Furniture that prevented me from seeing my father before he passed away from the fiasco I had to go through.

I LOVE my Durham Furniture more and more each week. I am glad I went this time with the Flemington Department Store in NJ that was wonderful in a prompt delivery of quality furniture from a terrific delivery team. It is quality and looks wonderful in my room and is solid maple. I wish I went with my instincts to order the solid wood made in Canada Durham Furniture rather than going with the styling of the "Veneered sides claiming solid wood elsewhere" furniture made in China by Stanley Manufacturing.

The important thing is that you finally got what you wanted--and deserved. Your room is just lovely--so peaceful and calm. :)

Organic, Thank you so much. Your post means a lot to me. I feel I achieved the peaceful and calmness I wanted in my room due to my stressful life and having a home office. I love going into my room to relax and fold laundry on my bed as I watch my 1st LCD TV that is in the armoire at the right height. I love my Durham Royal Cottage Armoire in the sand white finish also. I never had one and mine is the right size for my bedroom. I learned a lot about not accepting damaged or mismatched furniture and how important the retail store is that you buy from. I also thank everyone on this list who posted and were there for me helping me continue to fight to get my money back on the poor quality Stanley Furniture. I especially think you Organic for your guidance and being there for me.

Update on 4-18-09 since I have been reading others asking about Stanley Furniture and I want them to know the problems I have had. I also want them to know that I am still very happy with my Durham Furniture Set in the solid maple with drawers that work very well and pieces that match and fit well.

Wanted this post to show up again to warn others to be careful. I really loved the style of the Stanley Furnhiture set but the condition the furniture arrived in from China after waiting 6 weeks when I was told between 4 - 6 weeks was unacceptable and really added so much stress in my life. I still love my Durham furniture set especially the Armoire.

Found my post & wish I had pictures. Wish I ordered the matching headboard for the Durham set before it was discontinued. Thank you everyone for being there for me. I have learned over the years to not accept a shipment if it comes damaged no matter who much I felt I was in love with what I bought.