My La-Z-Boy recliner feels like I’m sitting on a $1,900 rock. I need help!

Barbara Goldfuss saved for two years to buy the $1,900 La-Z-Boy recliner she finally ordered last year. After relaxing in the comfy model in the local showroom, she couldn’t wait to settle into her own custom-made chair. But when the much-anticipated La-Z-Boy recliner finally arrived, Goldfuss immediately detected a terrible problem. 

She says the chair was overstuffed, narrow, and rigid. When she sat down, it was terribly uncomfortable and felt a lot like sitting on a rock. The recliner didn’t resemble the plush one she’d enjoyed in the La-Z-Boy store. This one just aggravated her spinal arthritis and made her back and hips hurt. 

Her evening plans suddenly changed. Instead of settling into her new chair with a cup of tea and a book, she was on the phone with La-Z-Boy. Goldfuss wanted the defective recliner out of her home and a new one delivered ASAP.  

But she soon learned that the local La-Z-Boy manager didn’t agree with her assessment of the recliner. The store would only take back the piece of furniture if Goldfuss paid a sky-high restocking fee. 

Since that day, Goldfuss, a senior living on social security, has been in a frustrating battle with the furniture company. The 80-year-old says all she wants is for La-Z-Boy to provide a soft, comfy chair where she can relax  – exactly what she ordered. 

So why is La-Z-Boy refusing that simple request? That’s what Goldfuss hopes Consumer Rescue can find out. 

Shopping for a soft, plush recliner at La-Z-Boy

If you’ve ever shopped for a recliner, you know that you have to sit in a lot of them before you find the one that fits your budget, is a style you like, and feels just right. 

Goldfuss found the perfect recliner that seemed to check all the boxes at her local La-Z-Boy store. The floor model was comfortable and felt great. Better still, it was 30% off during the store’s Labor Day sale.

The floor model she sat in was a manual lift chair but Goldfuss upgraded to the power version. She also chose a different color. At $1,871 the recliner was a pricey splurge, but with her arthritis getting worse, the soft chair with the helpful lift was well worth it. She put half down with the balance to be paid at pickup. 

Because it was a custom order, she had to wait two months until her new recliner was available. To save additional delivery charges, her son would take her to the La-Z-Boy store and pick up the recliner when it arrived.

Detecting a problem with this La-Z-Boy recliner

On the day her recliner was available to pick up, Goldfuss and her son made their way to the local La-Z-Boy store. 

Unfortunately, there was no way for her to test out the chair before taking it home since it was wheeled out to her son’s truck in two boxes. But as soon as they got home and assembled the chair, the uncomfortable problems with the pricey La-Z-Boy recliner were clear to Goldfuss. 

When I got it home, I sat in it for not quite an hour. I tried to give it a chance. But the chair started hurting my back and spine where I have spinal arthritis. In addition, the seat part was overly small. This recliner was nothing like the one I tried in [the La-Z-Boy] showroom which had a wider seat cushion and was very comfortable. This chair was way overstuffed and felt like it was cutting into my back and spine.

Goldfuss

Goldfuss knew immediately that she needed to return the recliner to La-Z-Boy either for a refund or exchange. She wanted one as comfortable as the one she sat in on the showroom floor. But there was another problem. Because this was a custom order, the store could charge a 30% restocking fee, which would be about $500.

Trying … and trying to get a replacement from La-Z-Boy

She began by phoning the La-Z-Boy store to complain. The first person she talked to was a store manager who said, according to Goldfuss, “No worries about a restocking fee. We will take good care of you.” 

The manager then said that Goldfuss had to first talk with the salesperson who had helped her.

She reached the original salesman at the local La-Z-Boy store the next day. Goldfuss says he was rude and told her that his manager, a different woman than the one Goldfuss had spoken with the day before, said that they would have to charge the 30% restocking fee. He was firm and told her that there would absolutely be no exchange without the fee.

Telling him about her discomfort and pain didn’t sway this La-Z-Boy employee.

Goldfuss made a total of seven phone calls to the store. She tried to negotiate, saying she would be willing to exchange the new, powered model for the non-powered floor sample. She even proposed letting the store keep the price difference instead of refunding it to her. But to no avail.

Goldfuss says that hitting this giant wall of resistance at the local La-Z-Boy was terribly frustrating.

“I didn’t know who else I should call or write to,” Goldfuss says. “It was just very awful. I waited so long for the recliner and was looking forward to finally having a comfy chair. No one at the [local La-Z-Boy] seemed to care.” 

Escalating the complaint

It can often be hard to find the right corporate contact so you can successfully escalate your consumer complaint. The Consumer Rescue team knows that, and that’s why we have Meera, your Research Valet. She is the lady to reach out to when you need to find a real person inside a company who can help you solve your consumer problem.

Unfortunately, Goldfuss didn’t yet know about Consumer Rescue and our advocacy team. So, instead, she called the local Better Business Bureau, where La-Z-Boy has earned an F rating.

“The BBB was not able to do anything for me except to ask La-Z-Boy to respond,” Goldfuss recalled. “It was just getting more frustrating, and that recliner was just gathering dust in my house.”

A warning about credit card chargebacks and product complaints

Next, Goldfuss filed a credit card dispute. That can be a giant mistake for many consumers who believe it’s a fail-safe, instant fix to problems with merchants. But we see the credit card chargeback mechanism being misused all the time by consumers.

Goldfuss had no chance of winning that dispute – primarily because the La-Z-Boy recliner was in her home. Additionally, the merchant did not agree that there was a problem with the piece of furniture. Consumers should always keep in mind that even if you win a credit card chargeback, the merchant can pursue the debt elsewhere, blacklist you and ruin your credit. 

Consumer Rescue’s CEO Michelle Couch-Friedman has written about how to properly use a credit card dispute and why it can often make things worse for consumers. 

Could Consumer Rescue Help?

Goldfuss struggled for almost three months before discovering Consumer Rescue after reading about the struggles of another senior. This one had been victimized by a local Stanley Steemer franchise. Michelle had fixed that problem, so Goldfuss became hopeful for the same outcome.

She quickly submitted her request for free mediation assistance from Consumer Rescue and crossed her fingers.

Unfortunately, when our advocacy team reviewed Goldfuss’s case, they quickly realized they had little to work with. She had no correspondence with La-Z-Boy to share because she’d only made phone calls. Goldfuss also had no photos or videos to document the recliner’s defects.

But Michelle took on Goldfuss’s case anyway. She had a hunch that La-Z-Boy’s corporate headquarters would have a heart once they heard about Goldfuss’s plight. 

After detailing all of the problem-solving missteps she’d made along the way, Michelle offered some encouraging news to Goldfuss.

“…despite all that, I will take your case and try my best to get you a comfy chair,” Michelle told her.

Asking La-Z-Boy to fix this problem

As promised Michelle reached out to our executive contact at La-Z-Boy and pleaded Goldfuss’s case.

Hi ***,

I have a case here that involves an elderly La-Z-Boy customer who paid nearly $2,000 for a customized La-Z-Boy recliner. Barbara Goldfuss received the chair back in November, and since that time, she’s been trying to get some help from La-Z-Boy. She believes this chair is defective — in that it is stuffed too full and doesn’t feel comfortable at all. She tells me that she asked the local shop for help so that her chair is either comfortable or she would like to exchange it.

Barbara is not looking for a refund or a price adjustment. She is just an 80-year-old woman who wants to enjoy her La-Z-Boy recliner in her home. She tells me that the local franchise has not been helpful in facilitating this process and so she still has the overstuffed recliner in her home and no comfy chair to relax in. She also told me that she offered to accept a lesser value floor model to which the local franchise said no.  

Do you think there is anything La-Z-Boy can do for Barbara? Thank you! 🛋️😊

Michelle Couch-Friedman, Consumer advocate

Problem solved! Come pick out a new, comfy La-Z-Boy recliner

Just as Michelle suspected, La-Z-Boy corporate executives wanted to make things right for Goldfuss. The local franchise suddenly had a change of heart and Goldfuss would soon be sitting in her home in a comfy recliner as she wanted all along. 

Michelle,

I just got a call from Kate at La-Z-Boy. She was the first person I called with my complaint and she remembered me. She is going to let my son and I bring my chair back and let me look at any chair I want to. Furthermore, she apologized for how badly some of her coworkers had treated me.

Thank you for your help!!

Barbara Goldfuss

A few days later, Michelle got a note from the executive contact at La-Z-Boy:

Hi Michelle –

I heard back from the team that Barbara was able to swap out a chair more to her liking with her son. Glad they were able to facilitate a happy resolution here!

La-Z-Boy spokesperson

Nearly six months had passed from when Goldfuss ordered the recliner to when she finally had one that provided the comfort she needed and expected. But she is now enjoying that chair with her cup of tea, and she’s very grateful to have found Consumer Rescue. 

We’re very glad you found us, Barbara! (Abe Wischnia, special features columnist, Consumer Rescue)