I'm about to pull the trigger on some chairs from these people, but wanted to sanity check on quality and customer service before I do.

I called once to place an order about a year ago. They were rude and unprofessional. They were no help at all. In fact it was the only time in my life where I ordered and canceled all in the same conversation. I thought if they are this way while taking an order then what are they like when I have a problem. It was a big red flag. It is too bad because their products are needed.

Beware!
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-696037.html
DO an AVS search on "4seating" - this group has not been getting any good reviews.

Not a good idea. It is a good thing you asked.

Like I said in another thread about them, I wouldn't buy from them with Bea Arthur's money.

Don't do it!!!

There are several vendors on here that are top notch. Do a search for Berks or whatever chair you are interested in and you will find the information you need.

Okay, thanks for the advice -- so one more question which may be dumb, but whatever, I'm not an expert. :)

My riser is 54" from the wall to the edge -- how do I know how much "chair" I can fit there? I looked at the Berk site and they really dont' show dimensions for a reclined chair. I'm not sure what my options are with a riser of that size.

The Berkline recliners require a min 6' deep platform, so for the second row you may consider stadium like seating unless you are willing to extend your riser.

I agree, I have a 58" riser and a row of actual theater seats, rockers actually. You need about 65" MINIMUM to use recliners.

so is 4seating.com still not recommended? Seems to have so good specials with buttshakers and shipping free.

so is 4seating.com still not recommended? Seems to have so good specials with buttshakers and shipping free.


Not by me. They are horrible

so is 4seating.com still not recommended? Seems to have so good specials with buttshakers and shipping free.
I would not go there.

it is such a shame. They have a good selection, a professional looking site and great prices. Too bad they suck at business, what does that tell ya?

I'm about to pull the trigger on some chairs from these people, but wanted to sanity check on quality and customer service before I do.

Using the search engine always pays off in the end...especially in this case.

I called them today and got through. They manufacture their own products in China. I guess they are not stocking much inventory here or they are cannot keep up inventory and therefore experience a lot of delays which makes for angry customers. Still waiting to see if anyone can give a opinion of the quality.

I called them today and got through. They manufacture their own products in China. I guess they are not stocking much inventory here or they are cannot keep up inventory and therefore experience a lot of delays which makes for angry customers. Still waiting to see if anyone can give a opinion of the quality.


It sounds like you really want to buy from them so i hope i am not wasting my breath. It goes way beyond product delays. Customer service is horrible, product returns issues etc. Take the advice of the forum and stay away. Good luck

It sounds like you really want to buy from them so i hope i am not wasting my breath. It goes way beyond product delays. Customer service is horrible, product returns issues etc. Take the advice of the forum and stay away. Good luck

Yes, I really want to but I just cannot ignore what others have experienced. On top of that, I have no knowledge of the product quality. I don't think I will be ordering from them unless 3 people post with raving positive experiences.

Its funny, on another thread today (not relating to this), someone remarked that people with positive experiences rarely come to forums and post, only those with bad ones. Even if that is the case, I need to see at least three good ones before even considering placing an order there.

I got my carpet from them, no hassle no fuss spent like $400-$500. But that was in 2006

duke, thanks for sharing your experience with them.

Now, hopefully we can get some opinions on their seat quality from others.

Tradewinds, yeah they do have a great website I didnt realize so many people had issues with 4seating.com. If you need theater seats I can recommend a place to get them. I got 6 Studio collection seats (Studio collection, is a step above the Showtime seats...Studio Collection are cushier and wider.) for about $2000 delivered! I live in NY.

duke, thanks for the tip. After further research I cannot go with either Showtime or the Studios. A row of 4 studios are wider than can fit in my HT with adequate clearance to walk at one side. Also, both of these do not have a micro-fiber or loveseat option. I am left to go with the Berkline 45004 which I actually got better quotes delivered than was quoted for the studios. Without knowing the quality of the 4seating brand as well as the feedback from the company so far, it is not worth taking the chance. I liked the Buccuneer since it had the shaker included free and also lifetime warranty on the structure, however, I need substantial feedback on the quality and improved service before looking there again.

I too had a bad experience with 4seating. I have detailed them here before so I won't repeat myself. In a nut shell, I never did get what I ordered and in order to cancel things I had to contact my credit card company. You are much better off to look to someone who may cost a little more, but who actually will return e-mails and phone calls and even deliver what they sell, than to waste time with these folks. Eventually you will probably end up buying the stuff somewhere else anyway.

Thanks John for confirming. I have already scratched them from my list. I think the Palliser will be the one I will go for.

Seriously, anyone thinking about buying from 4seating (also known as HTroom). Simple advice: Don't. They seem to have worked out a well timed scam in which customers are strung along with false FedEx tracking numbers and "extended delivery dates" that will take the customer past the standard 60 days in which they can dispute credit card charges. Don't be tempted by the low prices (like me), you'll just end up regretting it.

Want proof? I'll send you pics of seven, yup, seven badly damaged seats from these jokers. Best part is there weren't even the seats I ordered. They tried to tell me that they called me and I accepted these instead. What a joke. Oh, the replacement shipment that finally came, you guessed it, it was damaged as well. Long stoy short, AMEX saw the scam and gave me my money back. It only took two months to straighten that out. you'd think that this doesn't go on to this level but it does. They even hung up on me when I demanded a full refund after the second damaged shipment. UPS even called me to ask if I thought the company had a scam going. I could go on, but I got better things to do. You've been warned.

Now, back to my Crown Royal, three cubes, and "The Dark Night."

Stay away!

I am also here to share my disgust with this company. They are horrible to deal with and I am trying to get a refund from them as we speak. I have also launched a credit card dispute claim.

23 days ago they charged my card for a couple of light boxes. I have called and emailed with inquiries to my order, and they do not like to respond. When I do get someone on the phone, she merely says, "oh, they need to be packaged and sent, we will give you a tracking number probably tomorrow". This has happened several times. It is obvious they are floating peoples money.

The whole thing leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. Poor customer service and horrible wait times, yeah I am going somewhere else.

I truly would not recommend dealing with this company. I do plan on filing a report with the BBB as well.

I found the 4seating website on the internet and was very impressed. I wanted to convert a room in my house into a home theater and I liked the theater designs.

I worked with Kris at 4seating, who took my dimensions and did a great job of designing a room for us. He even changed the color scheme to one we wanted.

Before ordering, I searched for reviews of 4seating and to my disappointment they were not favorable. I spoke to my sales representative, Dario, at 4seating, and made him aware of the concerns I had read about. He assured me that all of the problems were in the past. His company (the manufacturer) had recently bought out the original 4seating people (who were the problem).

Dario supplied me with a letter before I ordered on company letterhead, assuring me that if any problems arose, I could go to my credit card company and cancel the payment and get a refund.

I went ahead and ordered the full theater package: 7 chairs, wallcoverings, decor, columns, star panel, and poster box, etc. The order was completed in three weeks and shipped one week ahead of schedule. During the entire process, Dario was easily accessible (both by phone and email) and very accommodating to some changes I needed to make. He was very professional. The entire package arrived at my house in 3 days in perfect condition.

My home theater is now complete and I could not be happier about the way it turned out. I know many of you will be concerned that this is my first post and I am just a "shill" for the company. That is not true. I live in El Paso, Texas and have no relationship to the company other than being a very satisfied customer. If you would like to discuss this with me, I can be reached via email at bkobren @ yahoo (dot)com. I will be glad to send pictures of my room or give you my phone number.

I hope my experience is one of many to come that will show that 4seating is a company to do business with.

No sure what to believe about this company. We'll need someone with some positive credentials here on AVS to feel confident we are not seeing trolls again.

Please don't take it personal if you are genuine. We just need to be sure this company does not have one very satisfy customer in 1000.

I don't take it personal because I don't have any credibility at your site. I don't know how to prove I am legitimate other than to have you contact me directly at my email. I will be glad to then give you my phone number (with an El Paso area code.)

I spoke to my sales representative, Dario, at 4seating, and made him aware of the concerns I had read about. He assured me that all of the problems were in the past. His company (the manufacturer) had recently bought out the original 4seating people (who were the problem).

Consider me skeptical...

There are now new owners that have purchased a company with a history of at least 5 years of horrible customer service (a quick forum search returns complaints as far back as 2004) which has alienated a huge portion of their potential clientel, and yet they've done absolutely nothing to distance themselves from the reputation of the previous owners? same website, same appearance, same merchandise?

If so, these new owners have a long, long road ahead if they hope to rise above the negative reviews that will be haunting them in cyberspace for years to come. It would take much, much more than one satisfied customer for me to ever attempt to do business with them, or to recommend them to anyone else.

Considering the track record of 4seating, if the "new owners" run things as poorly as the old owners, it will be revealed pretty quickly. However, I'll let someone else make that discovery.

My home theater is now complete and I could not be happier about the way it turned out. I know many of you will be concerned that this is my first post and I am just a "shill" for the company. That is not true. I live in El Paso, Texas and have no relationship to the company other than being a very satisfied customer. If you would like to discuss this with me, I can be reached via email at bkobren @ yahoo (dot)com. I will be glad to send pictures of my room or give you my phone number.

Shill or not, I'd suggest starting a thread here with pics of your theater room. People love sharing ideas and seeing other peoples' layouts. I, for one, would love to see what you've created.

I hope my experience is one of many to come that will show that 4seating is a company to do business with.

This last sentence (and the fact that it is your first post in the forum) does seem a bit odd for someone who claims to not have a vested interest in the company. Time will tell.

Enough said given all these posts.
I'd stick with the reputable dealers and sponsors on this forum if you are going to order online. I ordered my chairs this week after months of research and I can say that they never made my 'long' list...Caveat Emptor.

So how does a first time poster find these threads and come to the rescue? :confused:

BTDT

Are they searching for: crappy reviews for 4 seating ?

I give NON value to any first time poster with a "lengthy" review of a company needing positive reviews. Show me the photos or go. If they've spent five figues, I'm sure they have some photos to share.

And where is the motivation to defend this company? :rolleyes:

So how does a first time poster find these threads and come to the rescue? :confused:

BTDT

Are they searching for: crappy reviews for 4 seating ?

I give NON value to any first time poster with a "lengthy" review of a company needing positive reviews. Show me the photos or go. If they've spent five figues, I'm sure they have some photos to share.

And where is the motivation to defend this company? :rolleyes:

And for anyone still not suspicious, let me present this link: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41638

Sound familiar?
First time poster with unsolicited rave review of 4seating.
Heard about the negative reviews of 4seating but ordered anyhow.
Details experience and uses names from 4seating.
Doesn't post a single pic, but offers to contact people through PM or email.

I'll be the first to apologize if bkobren is legit, but his/her post shares a lot of the same traits as the post in the link (which turned out to be a post-and-run).

BUSTED! :cool:

Nice Find.

Seating is one of the most important parts!!! Go Lazyboy :)

Busted....No.
No need to apologize cause I'm not hurt.... but I am real. I left my email if you want to contact me bkobren @ yahoo (dot) com.... but if you don't want to believe that is fine too. I just told the company that if they didn't screw me I would post a positive review...nothing more or less.

If pictures help you there is a link in the next post.(pretty amateur photos)

Link to my Theater

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11450429@N06/sets/72157621874968336/detail/

Also do a google search for "Barry Kobren" and you will find many links that connect me to El Paso, Texas.

I think the thing to remember is even with one positive experience...think of the number of problem experiences that have been reported. Can a company change their practices and learn from their mistakes...certainly. Personally, I wouldn't want to be the lab rat to find out if they have turned the corner or not. It would take a number of positive reports over the long period of time to prove they are changed. Until then, no one has but themselves to blame if problems arise (there is too much negative information available through simple research to find that a problem has existed with this company).

I think the thing to remember is even with one positive experience...

Does this mean you believe me? Wow!!! Tough crowd....

Does this mean you believe me? Wow!!! Tough crowd....

The one positive experience would be yours. But there are countless other members that have had terrible experiences. It would seem either you got lucky or they've changed their ways.

Either way, if it were my money why would I take a chance on buying from them to save a few bucks vs another retailer with a history of taking care of customers? The risk vs reward/savings is too high.

Just because you had a good experience doesn't negate their negative history.

" I just told the company that if they didn't screw me I would post a positive review"

Just curious, did they help you with the wording of your review? It's so close to a previous review by "another" reviewer. We get that you live in texas, but, why would you tell a company that you would post a positive review if you weren't screwed? I'm a little confused here. Maybe it's my issue. Oh well. I drop it. :rolleyes:

No the company didn't help me write it. I do have a college education and am capable of crafting a post myself. If you are looking for a reason not to believe me than you will find one. I am who I say I am. What else can I do?

I ordered 3 chairs ( 13175) from 4seating spoke to dario he spent a half hour on the phone and gave me so many other suggestions pertaining to my set up... Chairs arrived in 2 weeks no problems..

Saving money on these chairs swayed by decision to buy from them....I pick them up from my shipping/receiving location when I get home from vegas next week....
Hope there are not any surprises. To tell you the truth Im a little worried now..
Will keep you guys posted.

I ordered mine from Ultimate and so far Roman has been wonderful. He seems to be available 24x7 (can't beat that when you have questions all the time). Anyway, mine will be delivered tomorrow. I didn't venture to 4seating with all the negative feedback here, so was not willing to gamble.

I ordered 3 chairs ( 13175) from 4seating spoke to dario he spent a half hour on the phone and gave me so many other suggestions pertaining to my set up... Chairs arrived in 2 weeks no problems..Besides all the chairs that start with the 1 by berkline are made in the same factory in china.

There is someone here that is popular that sells berkline he is very helpful and a great guy but the $500 differance in price was what swayed my decision.

I did call ultimate to match the price I would have paid them $100 more I was told 4seating is losing money on the chairs by including shipping which was basically the differance between the chairs.....Anyhow I got my chairs and I saved $500.00 which for me is a huge saving.

They won't keep the doors open long, if their business model is built around a net loss in each sale. When someone tells me they are losing money (on a typical sale vs the retailer is "making good" on a customer problem or issue) on each sale...color me skeptical.

I have the chairs there isnt any problems with them..Only thing I wish they had was Butt Kickers...They gave me these free Shakers..............
There isnt any dealer out there that installs buttkickers in the imported chairs...Berkline only installs them in domestic chairs.

There isnt any dealer out there that installs buttkickers in the imported chairs...Berkline only installs them in domestic chairs.

Berkline only installs them in domestic chairs - TRUE

There isnt any dealer out there that installs buttkickers in the imported chairs... - NOT TRUE.

Stop guessing....call Roman!

AVS'ers

Just thought I would update this post. I have been an avs member for a while. I bought my first set of 088's from Roman, he talked me into power recline (thank you). When I moved, I had to leave my chairs at my old house as part of the sale. I just finished my basement in my new home and started shopping for chairs back in December. I checked with Roman and did some other checking and found this link regarding 4seating. I called Dario per the other poster with a positive experience. I compared pricing and found 4seating to be 300-500 less and they could customize one row with a love seat for only $100 extra. I figured I would give them a shot. I ordered my chairs in the beginning of January, Dario told me they would arrive in his warehouse on Jan 20th and that he would contact me when they arrived. Just like clock work, Dario let me know the chairs arrived, they made the mods and shipped the chairs out 2 business days later.

Dario did mention they changed owners and that he promised everything would go smoothly.

I felt it was important to put a recent review of 4seating.com on the boards. Dario took care of me with great service and greater pricing. I have nothing against Roman, however I think it's time to give 4seating.com a fair shot at business.

In the end it's nice to have another reputable option for AVSers. Good luck and all the best in your chair purchasing decisions.

PS, No one paid me to write this review and you won't find me posting anywhere else except here.

Dan

Dan: Though I appreciate your situation and how it worked out for you. One or two good reports does not a positive track record make. If someone buys from them, they are taking a risk. Now if a 100 postive reviews over the next couple of years come back with glowing statements...that would show everyone something. But, one of two folk reporting back over a couple of months...sorry, but that's really not a proper sample to over come their poor performance.

I don't know what to do at this point. I am almost ready to order my seating and was going to order them from 4seating.com because lets face it, they have really good prices. Yes, I have emailed and got price quotes from other vendors that I have seen while searching on this site and they were hundreds of dollars higher. When it comes down to it, money talks and well we all know what walks!

wonder if they ever asked to be an AVS sponsor? :confused:

I don't know what to do at this point. I am almost ready to order my seating and was going to order them from 4seating.com because lets face it, they have really good prices. Yes, I have emailed and got price quotes from other vendors that I have seen while searching on this site and they were hundreds of dollars higher. When it comes down to it, money talks and well we all know what walks!

Not if you are not taken care of before, during and after the sale. It seems people do overlook service far too much. Well if you want the lowest price then there can be drawbacks. Lower specs, cheap shipping whereas many orders arrive to customers damaged and the list goes on and on (totally aside from service). I am staying neutral on this one once again, just stating for the record...Hope this helps. Buy from whom you feel comfortable with but this should include service a year or 2 down the road should you need it.

I ordered from 4Seating last week on impulse. The price was great, and shipping was expected to be quick.

I received my order confirmation within an hour and then I went to check their website for order tracking. I thought it was odd that this basic functionality was not part of their site. Then I got nervous and started checking reviews. For whatever reason, it didn't occur to me to check on them before ordering. I saw the negative reviews and called Dario immediately.

We got disconnected and he called me right back to discuss shipping and expected delivery date.

Yesterday I received my seats 2 days earlier than expected and they were all in perfect condition.

I've been a member of this site for some time, so I will just say that I did not have a bad experience at all with 4seating. Perhaps the new management is making a turnaround.

I looked at their prices on coaster Pavilions and they are higher than hometheatersupplies. I don't know the prices on Berklines but I wont be using them for the pavilions.

I'm sure I'll attract some "heat" for this post since I'm a new member of the forum and haven't established any "cred", but I'll try to do so as best I can in this post.

I just finished up a home theatre project in my basement. We moved from our previous house where the theatre was already installed by the previous owners, but the people that bought our house for whatever reason didn't care about the theatre (they were going to re-do the basement into a bedroom). So I ripped out all the equipment and brought it with me. Now for the guy that orginally installed the theatre, money appeared to be no object, so I inherited all kinds of expensive, although dated, equipment. It didn't make much sense for me to install things like the Snell speakers and 135 diagonal screen in just a bare room with a projector, so I did feel like I needed to create a "real" theatre, but for ME, money is a huge object, and our budget was very fixed.

After doing some online shopping and coming across 4seating.com, I found that their prices were just too good to pass up, and the fact that they included shipping (shipping costs from the other vendor we had it narrowed down to were going to be around $600) pretty much sold us on it. For about the same amount of money, we were able to get a 3rd row of seating that we wouldn't have with the other vendor (HTmarket.com). So I placed an order with them for the seats, but told them to hold the order as I did not have a final carpet installation date and had no room to store 10 seats in the house!

Now any issues I have with them were at this point. I will say they are not the best communicators. They told me I would get an invoice in my e-mail that I should review for accuracy, etc, and just call them back to release the order when I was ready. I never did get that e-mail, and when I called back and left a message, I never got a call back. I called again and talked to someone (not Dario who originally took my order), and she couldn't help me, but said Dario would call me back, which he didn't until I finally called back again. It was during this time that I was getting nervous and thought I would check online for complaints (yeah, bad move in retrospect!) Obviously that search led me here, which is why I am a new member and not one that's been around awhile. However, I noted a few things...I did not see "100's" of complaints. All the complaints basically pointed back to the same one thread, now in the archives, and that was several years old at this point. I then did a BBB search, and even though an early poster in THIS thread said he was going to file a complaint, there was only 1 complaint listed and it was listed as resolved. After discussing with my wife, and figuring that there would be more pervasive concrete complaints that were more recent if there were still issues, we decided to go ahead with the order. So when I finally got Dario in person, he explained that in fact I had tried to use a debit card previously and there was probably a transaction limit on that card. So I used the opportunity to switch over to my American Express card, figuring that would be additional protection in case something went wrong and went ahead with the order.

The only other 2 issues I had were that he had originally told me it would take 2-3 days to configure my back row of seats for a loveseat configuration (I think all they do is remove an armrest off one of the seats). They sent me an invoice with an estimated ship date of 3/16. After the 16th I didn't receive any shipping details, etc., so I called up on the 18th to inquire, and he told me it was almost ready and would go out late on the 19th (their time). Of course I was starting to get pretty nervous at this point, but actually I did receive an e-mail from their shipping company on the 19th that the shipping had been ordered and it had a link to FedEx LTL carrier for tracking. I was originally told it would be about 7 business days for the shipping (to North Carolina), but it actually arrived at the local facility on the 25th. Unfortunately I did not read the fine print on the FedEx web site that said that residential freight deliveries required an appointment until that day, but they were able to schedule me in on the 26th.

The chairs arrived and as the driver was unloading, I was opening the boxes and examining them as best I could for the right quantities, and any noticable defects. These seats to me look brand new in factory packaging (complete with a cloth wrap, plastic wrap and the silicone gel packs). I have no complaints about the seats whatsoever. One of the seats they sent had a power recline instead of manual, which I think in many people's installations would be a problem, but for me, due to space constraints, my back row will not be reclining, so this was actually a good thing for me.

The last issue was that even though I kept asking about them every time I called, I did not get any free buttshakers. I plan on calling them to see why they were not sent. Not a huge deal for me at this time because I don't have an amp to drive them, and they were an extra benefit anyway I wasn't really planning on, but that is one of their selling points.

So to sum up, my experience has been that they offer an excellent value for those on a budget, and no issues with the seats themselves (other than getting a power instead of manual recline). There are some rough edges with their communication, and I found that if you did not get Dario himself on the phone, the rest of the staff was almost useless for getting information. The shipping itself was prompt, but their prep time to create the loveseat took several more days than they had quoted.

If money is no object and you have low tolerance for risk, then for sure I would say go to other companies that offer better service. But if you are on a budget and willing to call them back frequently to check on your order progress, I can say that my experience with them overall was quite positive.

What was my motivation for posting? Well, I just wanted to counteract the effect that one or two negative reports on the internet can give a skewed view of reality. Many people probably aren't going to take the time to write a positive review, much less one that's going to show up in a place where a search on "complaints" will take a user. Besides, someone earlier in this post specifically asked for positive reviews, so there you are. Std disclaimer of not being affiliated with them, etc. applies to me.

I'll attach some pics that hopefully will establish some "cred" with you, although from what I've read on this thread, like I said at the outset, nothing is probably good enough for this crowd! :) Actually the best way to get the full set of pics is to friend me on Facebook (my name if it doesn't show up here is Lance Pickup), as I documented the construction process of the theatre there. I'll only post a few of the pics here. I apologize if they are not the best pictures--we used very dark colors and the pictures do not show much detail in the dark light.

P.S. Another item I was incredibly skeptical/nervous about were "black-out" blinds. Our new theatre room had 4 huge windows on one side plus a door. I've bought "room-darkening" cellular blinds before and was less than impressed, so I got a bit of a sour taste in my mouth for cellular blinds. I had been planning on going with a home-built shutter system or something along those lines for the windows, but again, budget reared its ugly head, and my wife convinced me to look into these double-cellular blinds. I found a set with a rail that goes up the middle of each side to block out the edges. While that rail was not fully opaque, we painted it with some black spray paint and it now just about completely blocks out light. The rails attach to the window frame via a magnetic strip that has adhesive that sticks to the frame. For the most part it is light tight, but not perfect. My next step is to run a tiny bead of black silicone along that strip to completely seal and block out any remaining light. I searched and searched on the internet for a solution to this and didn't find a single review stating for sure that it blocked light out completely, so that's why I thought I'd mention it here. If this is an issue you are having, contact me and I'll let you know the supplier and what "extras" you should order to get the light-tight solution. For blinds, they are expensive, but a lot less so than the other light blocking solutions out there. Plus they actually qualified for an energy tax credit!

...Lance

I bought my set of five Coasters from 4seating.com. I have had them for a few years and didn't have any trouble getting them. It's been awhile and I do recall some issues of poor communication. At the time, they were one of the few places where I could get a single row of five seats. Local stores only sold sets of three.

Recently, one of the handles that reclines the seat broke. I have emailed 4seating.com at least three times looking for a replacement and have never received a response. I did some checking but haven't found a place to get replacement parts for Coaster chairs.

All in all, I don't have much to complain about, but I always had a feeling that perhaps I got lucky with my purchase. I almost hate to say it, but after reading problems others have had with this company, I would recommend going with a more reputable dealer.

yawn.......:rolleyes:

I ordered four of the Excalibur model seats in 3/07. Two were replaced for various reasons. Decent but not the best chairs I've had. Now one recliner latch has broke. Sent email to Dario. I will post the results here. Hopefully this will be resolved quickly, though I'm fairly concerned.

I'm sure I'll attract some "heat" for this post since I'm a new member of the forum and haven't established any "cred", but I'll try to do so as best I can in this post.


I won't give you any heat. We've seen several recent posts in this thread that claim 4seating isn't the same company that it was years ago. Personally, I still don't see the draw though.

It was during this time that I was getting nervous and thought I would check online for complaints (yeah, bad move in retrospect!) Obviously that search led me here, which is why I am a new member and not one that's been around awhile. However, I noted a few things...I did not see "100's" of complaints. All the complaints basically pointed back to the same one thread, now in the archives, and that was several years old at this point.

You should have kept looking. Here's another more recent thread with several more posters complaining (including me) about bad service.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1084453&highlight=

I also spoke directly with a vendor who stopped doing business with them because they were not paying him for the products they were getting from him. That vendor stopped supplying 4Seating with their product.

If money is no object and you have low tolerance for risk, then for sure I would say go to other companies that offer better service. But if you are on a budget and willing to call them back frequently to check on your order progress, I can say that my experience with them overall was quite positive.

By your own admission you had multiple complaints, horrible communication, they sent you the wrong item and didn't send certain promised items at all. I don't care how cheap they are, I'd expect better service even out of a budget store.

What was my motivation for posting? Well, I just wanted to counteract the effect that one or two negative reports on the internet can give a skewed view of reality.

There are plenty more than 1 or 2 negative reports about 4seating on the internet. To be honest, even though your experience wasn't nearly as bad as the horror stories from the past, your report is far from "glowing". A review that include wrong items, horrible communication, wrong dates, and missing items isn't a positive review in my book. Your mileage may vary.

I'll attach some pics that hopefully will establish some "cred" with you, although from what I've read on this thread, like I said at the outset, nothing is probably good enough for this crowd! :)

I believe you. I think a "plant" would have made the company sound a bit better. ;)

As for this "crowd", it's a wonderful community and I'm glad I've joined these forums. There were plenty of people in these forums alone that got screwed by 4seating and took the time to share their experiences. What you may see as "bashing" I see as making sure that others don't get taken advantage of. Even taking into account the recent "good" reviews of 4seating,tThere are plenty of companies out there with competitive prices, fantastic reputations, and much, much, much better customer service than what you described.

Good luck with your purchase, and welcome to the forums.

yawn.......:rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

:rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

Wow, and I thought I was just providing an objective comment and personal experience that was actually related to the OP's subject. Sorry if I felt I had something to offer. YMMV.

my yawn was not directed to your specific post, it was directed at the thread in general.

By your own admission you had multiple complaints, horrible communication, they sent you the wrong item and didn't send certain promised items at all. I don't care how cheap they are, I'd expect better service even out of a budget store.


I wouldn't say horrible communication. Horrible is when they start hanging up on you and/or don't answer the phone or queries at all, like some of the previous posters reported. I would use the word poor, with the caveat that as long as you are willing to pursue calling them (and getting the right person on the phone on their end), then their communication is "adequate". It's not great--that would mean they proactively keep you informed. If you're the type of person that wants this type of service, then I would recommend searching elsewhere.



There are plenty more than 1 or 2 negative reports about 4seating on the internet. To be honest, even though your experience wasn't nearly as bad as the horror stories from the past, your report is far from "glowing". A review that include wrong items, horrible communication, wrong dates, and missing items isn't a positive review in my book. Your mileage may vary.


My intent was not to write a "glowing" review, but an accurate one, and hopefully I delivered. Not everyone is in the same situation as me (or you) with regards to budget, brand, quality, etc. And probably everyone's experience is going to be different anyway. All I can do is offer my honest experience and let people judge for themselves whether they want to deal with this company.

As for the specific issues with my order, I never did try to resolve with them the issue with the wrong seat, as in my case, I think I actually came out better for it. But I mentioned it because in some people's installations, if they didn't have an electrical outlet close by, it would in essence render the chair non-reclinable (which is actually okay with me). They may have resolved the issue had I brought it up with them, or not...I just don't know. But it's an important fact for people to know. As for the missing items, I did call them back and I was told that those items shipped separately, and coincidentally they were going out later that day. I honestly suspect that had I not called, they never would have gone out (and who knows--I don't have them in hand at this point, so who's to say I will actually get them, but I'll send an update once I know more). Again, if you are not willing to call them up and ask them where your items are, then by all means go with another vendor. I can only say that in my experience it was worth it because for the same price, I in essence, got an extra row of seats.


Good luck with your purchase, and welcome to the forums.

Thanks!

my yawn was not directed to your specific post, it was directed at the thread in general.

So why are you still following it then? I have to say, after thinking about it, I found that for a one-word post, it was probably one of the rudest things I've read. I expected "heat" and counter-arguments and suspicions, but that post was just plain rude. Would you say that to my face? Then why say it in a public place like this? I hope the above statement is true. Thankfully vespaguy had a more reasoned response, otherwise my initial post may have been my first AND last post to these forums if that is the kind of behavior to expect.

Sorry if I've offended anyone with this, but it's been bugging me ever since I read it. I generally like participating in forums like this, and hopefully this is the exception, not the rule.

...Lance

Why did you dig it up from the archives?
This thread is 3 years old. :rolleyes:
I checked the thread because it has recent postings. Once I found out it was three years old, hence yawn......
Chill

A couple of months ago I sold my game room (pool table, shuffle board table, slot machine, etc) to turn the space into my first home theater. Progress has been steady. I just got the carpet in thisv week & am now ready for my seating. I am going to do a front row of glider recliners, a second row of 4 berkline theater seats, & eventually add a bar height counter & bar stools for a third row. I am dong this project on a fairly tight budget (plan on pulling the whole thing off for about $5000). With the budget in mind I opted to order my 2nd row seating from 4seating.com. I ordered them this week! I spoke with Dario & was honest about my apprehensions after reading some posts here. Since most of the negative posts were old, I decided to give the a try. I am hoping this company comes through. I will do a follow-up post to let you guys know how things go!

theater 033.jpg
I'm attempting to add a pic of my theater as it awaits seating...

Update on my 4Seating.com experience...
I received an e-mail from the freight company yesterday (Friday) that my seating was in transit with an expected delivery date of 5/25 (Tues). So far so good...I'll let everyone know how this ends up playing out!

I think I finally figured out how to post pics!

I am happy to report that I received my Berkline Trilogy seating set last evening (5/25)...this was 1 week & 1 day from the day I placed the order. The seats were in perfect condition! I did not receive the advertised "Buttshakers." I called about that today & they said those are sent out seperately & that I should be expecting those soon. I'll let you know how that goes too. Overall it has been a good experience. I have stayed on them (via phone) due to some things I've read here & I've been upfront with them about my apprehensions as well as my intent to chronical my experiences here.

PICs Please! :D

Here are some pics of my seating from 4seating.com

Schweet! :D

Still waiting on my screen...110" from Jamestown. It should be here next week. After I get the screen up, I have a friend that will connect the rest of my equipment: Mitsubishi HC3800 projector, Denon AVR 790 receiver, Jamo A320 speakers, & a Panasonic MP-BD60 Blu Ray player! As I mentioned in earlier posts, I'm doing this on a budget. Should have the whole HT done between $5000-$6000! I'l post pics when it is complete!

Screen came in last week & I have it installed! I am supposed to have my equipment hooked up tomorrow (have a friend that does AV work helping me). I am including info (& pics) about my HT construction because that seems the be a prerequisite to be taken seriously. Again, I would like to praise 4seating.com for a job well done! I purchased a row of 4 Berkline Trilogy seats (middle 2 seats are a loveseat...got to be able to snuggle with the wife) from 4seating.com. Everything went great & I'm more than happy with them (sitting in them as I type!)! I would recommend using them based on my experience!!! I am looking forward to posting pics of my COMPLETED HT later this week!!!