Furniture and Shipping to Hawaii: One Room Challenge Week 4

We are officially at the halfway mark of this challenge. This week we are going to discuss something I am sure any homeowner, DIYer, and one room challenge participant can relate to, frustration.

Yes, I know, not the most fun or glamorous of topics. However, I think it is so critical to share the realistic, authentic, and often not fun parts of creating spaces we all love. If you are a fan of the HGTV you will see that in every episode arises a “challenge”. Something the Designer/Contractor/Homeowner must deal with that they are not happy about. I often joke “here comes the manufactured drama” lol but the truth of it is, no undertaking will ever be without something going awry so for us it was the bedframe assembly. Not the plot twist you were expecting, neither were we.

My client ordered this bed frame from Pier One https://www.pier1.com/products/mid-century-modern-solid-wood-queen-bed?variant=39812627202215

Pier One Midcentury Modern Queen Bedframe

While we would have loved to pick something a little more unique or fun, the global furniture shortage and expensive costs of shipping to Hawaii made this bed a practical and solid choice. The frame is fairly neutral and can be used in a variety of different design styles, if my client ever decides to change the room or move this bed into another space. It was also affordable and shipped immediately.

The bed frame arrived quickly however it arrived broken. She notified Pier One and they had her return the frame and shipped out another. The second frame never arrived so my client called and Pier One sent a third bedframe. The third frame arrived quickly but as my client attempted to assemble it, she noticed that the predrilled holes were not lining up, so the frame was unstable, and the screws were not connecting correctly. If she tried to force the screws the wood looked as though it would split.

Notice the bed post pulling away from the headboard.

Due to time constraints and lack of other options (that would arrive in time) my client decided she would assemble the bed as best she could. She added additional screws to support the frame and correct the issue.

Not the most appealing look but it got the job done. You can also see damage to the headboard wood.

Contacting Pier One a fourth time she asked for a refund, which the company stated they would provide if she returned the bed. My client advised Pier One she felt that this bed was of poor workmanship since the original one broke and this one was also problematic. There was a long back and forth with the company as she advised them, she needed to keep the bed due to our deadline (as well as expecting company in a few weeks) and that she still felt that the quality of the bed was not up to standard. She also told them that she had spent an inordinate amount of time getting the bed assembled and didn’t want to waste anymore time disassembling it and shipping it back to them considering how many problems she had, had with this order. In the end after many “may I speak to your supervisor” phone calls and emails, the client did receive a refund.

Way to go getting that refund!

Overall I feel like Pier One did their best to resolve the issue and the customer was satisfied with the outcome. I defititely would NOT recommend this bed frame to anyone, it gets all the thumbs down from us. I would however recommend reading reviews and any type of information you can verifying the quality of a product before making a decision.

Its finally together and safe to sleep on.

Now that this drama is behind us we can look forward to next week when we will be tackling my clients windows, with a creative solution for her and her feline companions.

Finally please follow this link https://www.oneroomchallenge.com/orc-blog to explore the spaces being created by my fellow ORC guest participants and the featured designers. For those on social media use the hashtag #bhgorc and #oneroomchallenge to see all the participants spaces and their progress in real time. Thank you to Better Homes and Gardens for hosting this event and for ORC for always inspiring us to keep creating spaces we love.