Fleming Howland Reviews 448

Fleming & Howland provided us with a beautiful handmade Chesterfield. Because of COVID it took a long time, but they kept us informed. We are in Southern California USA. So, we were a bit nervous about buying something sight unseen and sending in a big deposit. It was SO worth it. It is beautifully made. It is a bit firmer than we expected. But that's the way they are built. Buy with confidence.

The craftsmanship of my John Stuart Mill chair is amazing. All the details to this chair were done with quality in mind. From order time to delivery, took about one year. But well worth it for such a high quality product. I was a bit worried as I live in the Southwest area of the USA. I didn't want transport damage. But upon arrival, I noticed that everything was wrapped up meticulously. Arrived perfect.

Thank you!

The order process was efficient and the actual chair is exceptional. There were major delays (months) in the build and the transport and clearance on the South African side was incredibly frustrating with very poor communication.

We ordered a couch and 2 chairs. They are absolutely beautiful and we are so happy with our purchase. The leather colors are rich and gorgeous. They are very comfortable. It was worth the wait for the quality of craftsmanship.

Addendum 4 - 05.06.2022

Fleming & Howland have lodged a complaint about my review and requested the names of staff be removed. Herewith:

Addendum 3 - 04.06.2022

The reply below from the Managing Director is untrue in a number of material particulars and constitutes clear defamation.

The delivery time quoted when ordered was 14-16 weeks, not 5-6 months as falsely claimed by MD.

All changes to delivery destination were consequent on F&H's failure to deliver within the times assured and were entirely F&H's fault.

No threats were made to staff: F & H will be held to strict proof in relation to this libel.

On 3 occasions I made trips to Italy to be present for delivery that was assured by F & H. The following email exchanges attest:

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02.05.2022
Thank you, (name witheld).

I have extended my stay in Italy until Thursday this week in order to receive the delivery.

Please acknowledge, as a matter of record, that this is the third occasion I have made specific provision to receive the delivery: the first two occasions having been let down, on all occasions at considerable inconvenience and cost to me.

Yours sincerely.

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Dear __ ,

Unfortunately not looking like all pieces will be complete for delivery in October. If we are going into November are we still delivering to your Italy address? Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Best regards,

(name witheld)
Customer Support

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Hello (name witheld).

Thank you for your email.

No, it’s not an oversight. I have waited a very, very long time for these items, with little cooperation in arranging a convenient and timely delivery. I was assured delivery some months ago and made a special trip to Italy to receive them. The delivery was not made. I have now started design alterations to the house where the furniture would now just be in the way.

I will advise you as and when I am in a position to take delivery of them. Balance of payment will be made at that time.

I am grateful for your understanding.

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Thanks ____ for the swift reply. I was not aware of these issues and can understand your actions.

It has been difficult for us all recently, but under the circumstance we will store your order without any additional charges until you are ready to receive them.

Kind regards

(name witheld)
Accounts

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Apologies, I forgot to mention would you mind removing your review on Trustpilot? I can assure you I will keep a close eye on your order from now on and of course welcome your review on the quality of our furniture once it is delivered.

Regards,

(name witheld)
Manager

There are many email exchanges like the foregoing.

I challenge (name witheld) to publish emails from me to substantiate his claims.

Addendum 2 - 02.06.2022:

14 months after placing my order with F&H, it was delivered yesterday.
The condition of the package was immediately suspect: dirty, torn and broken in many places; however, it seemed that the internal packing around each sofa/chair was in tact. With much anticipation after a 14 month wait for delivery, I continued to unpack the sofa/chairs. I placed a 2-seat sofa in its natural position, on its base. Everything seemed okay initially. I then stepped back to take a picture of the furniture to send to my wife and noticed that the sofa was lopsided. I checked more carefully and it was wobbly and did not sit level. On turning the sofa upside down I could see that each of the four castor wheels was severely bent. On close inspection it was clear that the sofa must have been dropped from an appreciable height: the main spindle shafts had sheared completely on two of the wheels and were bent by 45 degrees at least on the other two. The securing plates were badly buckled with many of the screws torn out and/or sheared.
I took photographs of the castor wheels in situ. I then removed the castor wheel assemblies and laid the pieces out to take more pictures to send to Fleming & Howland.
On inspecting the underside of the sofa, it is clear that F&H's professed quality does not stand up to scrutiny. The stapling of the under skirt, for example, is unevenly spaced and not straight. A number of seams are poorly tucked at corners. Floor protection pads are not fixed centrally and are unsightly
I have many photos of the many imperfections I have found: imperfections that at this price point are exceedingly disappointing. If anyone has a way for me to transfer the photographs, I would happily do so.
On initially complaining to F&H concerning the unacceptable delays in delivery (over a year), the MD assured me of his personal attention in future dealings. He also pointedly requested that I delete my review. This is a matter of email record.
On forwarding my complaint along with photos of the damaged goods, I was offered 'replacement castor wheels'. I rejected this offer asking for a full refund of the cost of the sofa.

The down payment via credit card went fine but the final payment was rejected by Fleming&Howlands website. My bank provided specific information how F&H should correct the issue but they insisted that "nothing is wrong".

A wonderful product, love it to bits. Very helpful staff and communications. Will be ordering again. Can't shout their praises loud enough!

We love these furnitures! Great quality!

Delivery was much longer than expected but this was probably mainly due to the pandemic.
The delivery service was very disappointing, they were reluctant to try and get the sofas in the house, saying they wouldn’t fit, which they did easily. They did not want to take their shoes off to come into the lounge even though it was raining! Fortunately the furniture was very well packed as the deliverers were rough handed and cavalier.
The two John Hawksworth sofas are beautiful however the foot stall we ordered to go with them is a little disappointing as the folds have not been coloured properly.

It's worthwhile to wait such a long time for delivery of a wing chair in top quality and design. Thank you very much indeed.

We flew from Ireland to the UK factory early in the morning, we had to arrange our own taxi service which you advertised as a service available by you, when we arrived at the factory we were not offered a cup of tea or coffee which I think would have been appreciated as you were aware of our time schedule.
We were very pleased with Olivia fantastic response from her every time we contacted her.
Furniture was definitely worth the wait, amazing quality, delivery driver was so nice he unpacked everything to make sure all was OK.
Thanks Ann.

Addendum 1: Sofa and chairs still not received.

Original review:

It will be a full year on Sunday since I placed the order for a number of chairs and a sofa from Fleming & Howland.
I have still not received the furniture.
I have been in contact with Fleming & Howland regularly and I have received no fewer than 18 emails from them making excuses, first in relation to delays in manufacture and now in relation to delays in delivery. In good faith I paid a 50% deposit a year ago and the balance when I was informed the furniture was ready for delivery, which was promised for September / October last year.
My complaints have been met with defensive responses from Fleming & Howland, and a complete lack of commitment to resolve the issues.
If I receive the items in the next week I will update this review.
When / if I finally receive the furniture I will write a review on the quality of the product.

Took a little while in production but we got our fabulous sofa eventually and it was worth the wait. We absolutely love it!!

Quality, quality quality!

Brilliant couch, however waited 10 months for delivery!

The ordering process and assistance received from both Olivia and Sylvia was excellent. We received our sofa on 10th March 2022 after placing our order on 5th July 2021 with a 16-20 week delivery. Our sofa actually arrived 8 months later on 10th March 2022. We appreciate there were problems with the pandemic but even so 8 months was an excessive time to wait, with little communication. We did receive communication in late January to say were our sofa was going into production and would take 10-15 days and should be ready mid February on the 15th day we received a call to say it would be another 10 days, this was very disappointing after such a long wait. This is the reason for the three stars. Although the time wait was excessive the quality and craftsmanship of our F&H sofa is outstanding and we are very happy with it. The sofa itself is most definitely five stars.

excellent quality and service

The main drawback was lack of information regarding status of the order.

We may have had to wait for our sofas longer than usual due to covid but it is well worth the wait. Both sofas are very well made and very comfortable indeed . Would not hesitate to use the company in the future.