Full review
UPDATE: Oct 2008 the sofa frame cracked. I do mean cracked with a normal size guest falling behind first into the sofa. CSN reps didn't seem surprised at our call. CSN offered to replace the couch or refund a good portion of our investment. We opted to call around and see what the repair costs were then get back to CSN. We were able to have the guts and frame redone (the frame of the sofa was pine slats stapled to one another) with appropriate braces and support at a nominal cost so we took CSN up on their refund. Just the same, this couch has now been relegated to a room that isn't used. Sort of defeats the purpose & frankly, I'll never buy furniture online again.
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Ordered a beautiful leather Hamlin Park 'quick ship' sofa in February..there were delays. CSN customer service tried to make amends but they were part of the problem. We received 2 item has shipped notices followed by 'oops' emails.
We received this sofa the last wk of April 2008. We were supposed to receive white glove delivery, but did not, the delivery people had the sofa out of the box before they rang the doorbell. This can create a problem if there's an issue with the delivery because you're supposed to write 'refused' on the box so the shipper can return it to the company. btw I can live with the delay and even the irresponsible shipping my gripe is that the swatch did NOT match the color received.
Folks, there were only 2 color choices - brown or dark burgundy leather. I ordered dark burgundy after receiving the swatch and matching it to our decor. I thought this was a slam dunk. The color received is closer to eggplant and a very dark eggplant at that. Suffice it to say, this new color threw a wrench into our decorating.
The couch (Simmons made) seems to be very good quality. The cushions are firm yet comfortable, the leather appears to be A-B grade, soft to the touch. Not as thick as I would like, but keep in mind that's the risk you run buying sight unseen online. The wood inlay is casual or classy, nice looking, with a good appearance overall.
If you want an eggplant leather sofa you will like this. It's nice, it doesn't match anything in our home but it is nice. Sigh, looks like our cabin is getting a new couch - at least it will blend in among the black leather.
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Okay, folks want to hear about the CSN leather store & how helpful they were because I devoted a few sentences to the item recieved - I'll oblige but only for a moment as the item received is part of the purchasing/store experience. The accuracy of the item received is definetly part of the stores obligation.
My experience with the 'store'
1. Expect NO contact from CSN whatsoever other than these emails : your email receipt for purchase, item has shipped emails and 'oops just kidding' your item has not shipped emails. Unless you initiate an email to them you will not get anything else. Calls to CSN were tough to navigate, the reps had no idea how long the delays would be or what the status of my order was.
2. When the sofa was delayed (a second time) their csr rep offered a $50 credit due to repeated miscommunication. At that time they still could not pinpoint within a 3 week span when my item would be delivered.
3. The web site is easy to use, easy to navigate. The site functioned "as expected" from browsing to purchase. As expected. The problems experienced were not with the site but the overall experience.
My original review touched on all aspects of my experience with this store : The order, time frame, customer service, delays, shipping and delivery and the item received. I expect any shopping site to function properly & if not I don't purchase there.
I would not shop at CSN leather again, I have a $900 dark eggplant sofa (almost black) that did not match the swatch, arrived 2 months late with little communication received from CSN. The title of my review holds true - "If you don't care, this is the place to shop."