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nosoccermom

Benchcraft (by Ashley)

nosoccermom
10 years ago

Is it crappy furniture? I'm interested in a couch that's suspiciously inexpensive.
It's "faux leather", 95% polyester, 5% PVC
I don't care as long as it's durable because it's supposed to be in a rec room. So far, I've only had real leather, some of which has held up well, others which were destroyed by the dog lying on it with the paws always in the same place.

Comments (18)

  • debo_2006
    10 years ago

    Though Ashley's furniture looks nice, it's crap, as in bottom of the list crap. I would stay away unless you want to buy replacement furniture in 2-3 years.

  • nosoccermom
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Sounds like it's a pass :)

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    10 years ago

    I work for a small business which sells furniture. Dollar for dollar if you buy Ashley furniture, especially from a discount outlet, it is as good as anything we get.

    Now compare a $500 Ashley sofa and someone's $2,000 sofa and sure the two grand set will be better at least 3/4 of the time.

    Generally Ashley has EXCELLENT parts support also. Tweak a recliner mechanism and they will ship you a new one in a reasonable amount of time. Other companies are hit and miss.

    Either way, good luck.

  • littlebluedishes
    7 years ago

    I like Ashley. I had the same set for 20 yrs. It is still in good shape. We had a lot of children in and out of our home. We let them jump sleep eat on the furniture. The only reason why we bought a new set is I cannot sit straight do to medical issues. So we went with reclining loveseat and sofa which is BenchCraft through Ashley. We just got it. So we shall see how this works out.

  • wlfnshpsclthng
    7 years ago

    Worst furniture ever by Benchcrap;$2000 for a couch and chair and it's been horrible from the get go. Had to get a couch that came apart,because of narrow hallways and the thing feels like metal every time you lie down on it. The chair's mechanism has been repaired once at a cost of 200 and it's gone again. I have a lifetime warranty of parts but the dealer here said Ashley(who now owns Benchcrap) won't honor it. They will however SELL it to me for 50 plus 100 shipping and HST on top of it. Schiesters!! The material is awful and has worn a dark black color on the brown from wear,after 9 years. I had a beautiful couch before this one and only got rid of it because we couldn't get it into the apartment. Couldn't possibly give them a lower ranking.

  • Sherrie Kate
    7 years ago

    My story..

    TO: Brown’s Furniture Showplace of
    Lafayette Louisiana and Ashley Manufacturer of BenchCraft Furniture

    On January 23rd 2016 I purchased
    $3,928.76 (Check #2671) worth of BenchCraft Ashley furniture under the pretenses I was
    purchasing a brand name that stood for Quality, Longevity and
    Value at a store that I assumed operated its business with integrity, ethically,
    honesty and cared about their customers.

    On this day I purchased a sofa and
    couch matching set which was delivered to my home the following week. In
    mid-April I reached out to the place of purchase “Brown’s Furniture Showplace”
    to explain that the couch was not sitting right and it appeared to be defective
    at that time I was asked date of purchase and my sofa was under warranty.
    At that point and time the person I had called took my information to give the
    stores warranty person and I too was given that persons contact name.

    As of April 29th the warranty person
    from Brown’s Furniture Showplace of Lafayette Louisiana and I started
    communicating via email. I was asked for
    description of the problem and for photos as well as the serial number of the
    couch. Several photos at different
    angles where sent in, including the information from the white
    sticker underneath the footrest of the defective couch which read the following: top number reads
    2480288 Serial number S447426809, M.O. Number MAJLLYO C1, Ashley Furniture
    Industries Inc. 072015 CA 93120 Compliance:P2.

    Time passes, now I
    have to contact/chase the person at the store every so often asking for an update,
    nothing. Finally, I am told that the
    set that I purchased is no longer being made, nor is it able to be fixed. I
    need to come into the store and select another couch. So I see the couch is
    failing and the matching love seat has the potential to become defective like
    its matching couch. I don’t want to take a chance and have the love seat become
    defective and mechanically sound as well as another point I bought a matching
    set I do not want to piece match my living room into a hodgepodge of mismatched
    items. So I selected a matching,
    non-mechanical couch and a love that was considerably less than what I had
    spent on the original set. I did not
    expect to receive the difference in monies by the getting the cheaper set and I
    had even considered getting the additional wing chair knowing it would probably
    push me over the even swap and leave me with a balance due.

    Well that is not
    what happened …. I was given the following reply and resolve for the issues of
    the defective couch which does not make me whole again nor is it right or
    ethical. “Your credit is 1,150.00 (This
    is the amount you paid for the sofa that you purchased in Jan 2016) The new
    Loveseat will be 390.00 (390.00 is the discounted price)The new sofa you
    recently selected is 799.99 The new accent
    chair you selected is 759.99 Puts You
    owing Browns 799.98 Plus 9% tax = 72.00 Grand total owed to Browns = 871.98” please keep in mind that on January 23rd 2016 I purchased $3,928.76 (Check #2671) of
    Browns
    Furniture - Lafayette, La and had a it delivered a week later to my home
    receiving the couch and love seat the following Wednesday or Thursday 26th
    or 27th of January and in less than
    3 months passed my purchase date I started my communication with Brown’s Furniture of Lafayette,
    La. The resolve given is not fair nor just in the
    fact that you keep a thousand+ of my money, take the defective couch back and
    require me to pay you more money for a love seat????

    Then I asked
    taking a loss if I could just give you the defective couch I would take my
    chances on the love seat and give me the amount for the couch. Again see your reference
    on

    Thursday, August 4,
    2016 3:08 PM, Browns Furniture brownslafayette@gmail.com> wrote:

    “Sherrie, Your credit is 1,150.00 (This is the amount you paid for
    the sofa that you purchased in Jan 2016)” I have spoken to Mr.Fontenot &
    the Manufacturer. Both of them have only approved a reselection of your
    sofa. No refund was approved. I'm sorry that I have to relay the
    info that you weren't wanting to hear. I will be back in the store on Wed
    Aug 24th. If you would like to come into Browns prior to the 24th.
    You will need to schedule the apt with Our store Manager, Mr.Cecil
    O'hallarin. If they have any detailed questions, they can reach Me on My
    cell phone.”

    The couch began showing signs of being defective in less than 3
    months after purchase. I began my pursuit of resolution with the stores’ person
    assigned to me in early to mid-April and have yet been given a fair resolve for
    this issue.

    The agreement made by you is not only unfair, it’s ludicrous to
    say at best.

    How is it fair that I purchased a set of furniture from your store
    that was manufactured by a trusted and well know brand whom for unknown reasons
    and/or not caused by me no longer makes and/or stocks the necessary parts to
    repair my couch. And to make matters worse is unwilling to meet me half way
    when I did say I was willing to take a monetary loss on my purchase obtaining
    the credit your store was offering me should I go in and select another couch,
    which I am not willing on doing unless I can select a set as I had in my
    original purchase, I will not settle for a mismatched hodgepodge set. Why should I take such a loss on the set that
    I originally purchased and be expected to purchase another set spending even
    more the amount I already paid….. how sir do you say this is fair….?????????
    Looking for help...can anyone suggest how to come out of my issue without losing all of my money?

  • wlfnshpsclthng
    7 years ago

    Don't buy from this company again,period. Their furniture is of a very low quality;that's how they learn and you save your money,in the future.

  • lookintowardheaven1
    7 years ago

    I just had an Ashley Benchcraft recliner delivered to my home. I sat in it, pulled the lever on the right, the footrest came out just fine---and NOW it won't CLOSE!!! There's no way to close the chair once you've opened the footrest!

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    7 years ago

    "On January 23rd 2016 I purchased
    $3,928.76 (Check #2671) worth of BenchCraft"

    Sherrie Kate,give Ashley themselves a ring. Not a Homestore but Ashley corp. If the mechanism in your sofa got tweaked and isn't right you may have some luck there. See if they have any extras or if it is the same one still being used in other sofas. (I can no longer see a parts listing for 248's...were they really discontinued that long ago?)

    FWIW, I remember the 248 series. It was ok but had a short life. We never noted any problems.

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    7 years ago

    "lookintowardheaven1

    I
    just had an Ashley Benchcraft recliner delivered to my home. I sat in
    it, pulled the lever on the right, the footrest came out just fine---and
    NOW it won't CLOSE!!! There's no way to close the chair once you've
    opened the footrest!"

    Did your retailer fix it or get you a new one?

  • bobismyuncle
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I've done repair work for a retailer (now out of business), and have repaired a lot of Ashley furniture right out of the shipping box. Very low quality and lots of problems from furniture that should have never passed QA or was irreparably damaged in transit. They used to joke that it should be called "Trashley."

    From another retailer, I replaced a couple of mechanisms from reclining sofa last summer. The consumer had had it three years and this was the second set of replacement mechanisms that had been installed, covered under a protection plan.

  • Boyd Davenport
    7 years ago

    I purchased a Benchcraft Sofa by Ashley at Haddock & more furniture on January 28, 2017 and it was delivered on my birthday on Saturday February 4, 2017 I'm having some issues with the Sofa you sit down on the middle cushion and it sinks down real low and the middle cushion is loosing it's shape and I haven't sit on it enough for this too happen all I can say is its a piece of damn junk and the name of the Sofa is called the Seagrass Sofa .

    Please do not go too Badcock furniture because they have nothing but junk !!!

  • reb 512
    6 years ago

    I just bought the Benchcraft Kendleton Modern 2-Piece Sectional with Right Chaise... in the store it seemed well-made, the material didn't seem cheap and the cushions were firm, seemed like quality craftsmanship - and I've looked at a TON of sofas over the past few months. It hasn't been delivered yet, praying I won't need to replace it in 2 years.

  • hooked123
    6 years ago

    Check out Craftmaster. Same price point better quality.

  • reb 512
    6 years ago

    re: Craftmaster, is this the company that sells Paula Deen furniture?

  • hooked123
    6 years ago

    Reb- yes. I have a Paula Deen sofa and it's very comfortable. They also have an option of putting Revolution fabric on everything they sale. This fabric is COMPLETELY stain resistant. I tested Spaghetti Sauce, Soy Sauce and Hot Sauce and all of them washed away perfectly. I bought this fabric in cream and had my dining room chairs recovered in it, as well as a another club chair.

  • reb 512
    6 years ago

    I'm not interested in anything Paula Deen does, nor any company that does business with her, but thanks!

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