Definitely the FIRST and LAST time we ever visit a Bad Boy store

Location: Ontario, Barrie
Industry: Retail


On December 8th, 2007, my husband and I purchased a leather couch, loveseat and chair set from the Bad Boy store located at 42 Caplan Ave in Barrie, Ontario. We were thrilled to find...what we thought was a good quality set....at a reasonable price and very excited to have the set delivered.

On December 11th, 2007, our set came. The delivery men brought the set in, and left without unwrapping it and inspecting the set. While a little annoyed by this, I didn't think anything of it. When the delivery men left, I began unwrapping the set and immediately saw a large gash on the couch (in the material at the bottom) and a gash in the leather on the loveseat! I was a little shocked, especially when these were coming directly from the warehouse and were brand new! We didn't continue to unwrap the items knowing they were damaged pieces.

I called the Barrie Bad Boy store that day and they offered me no assistance and advised me that I had to call the warehouse on Fenmar Drive. I called the warehouse and spoke to a person by the name of Diwanti who wanted me to allow a technician to come to my home to repair the set. Can you imagine my shock when Diwanti said this? This was a brand new set and someone wanted me to allow it to be repaired? I refused repair, advising Diwanti that I had paid for a new, undamaged set and I expected a new, undamaged set to be delivered. Diwanti finally agreed and advised that someone would come to exchange the couch and chair on December 13th.

On December 13th, 2007, two men came to deliver a new couch and chair. The men unwrapped the two pieces of furniture and immediately noticed the couch had a slit in leather. The loveseat appeared to be fine from 5ft away but close inspection showed tiny holes in the leather and another cut at the top of the cushion. We were once again advised by the delivery men to call the warehouse.

At this point, I was at my wit's end. Two separate deliveries, and both times we were given damaged pieces of furniture!

I called warehouse that day, (December 13th) and again spoke to Diwanti, who once again encouraged us to have the damaged unit repaired by technician. I again refused and was not impressed at all that this was happening all over again. Diwanti advised another delivery would be made on December 18th.

On 18th, the same truck dropped off yet another couch, the third couch to be delivered and took the damaged couch. They unwrapped the couch before leaving and advised that if there were any further issues to call the warehouse. After a quick inspection by my husband and myself, we saw another slit in the leather and on the underside of couch. Another slit in the leather of the third couch that had been delivered to our home! You would have thought that after the first two, someone in the warehouse would have first checked the couch before sending it to our house. At this point, we had had enough. We called the Barrie store and left a message for the manager Gerry. He called us back on the following day, December 19th. He said we needed to call warehouse and get a 're-select'. He advised us to use the damaged set over the Christmas holidays and for us to come back into the Barrie store on December 28th to get a new set. He said he would give us a deal on a new set for the major inconvenience we had just endured. The manager advised us that he had a certain set in mind that he said might be more suitable for our family.

We went into the store on December 28th to see this new set that he had chosen and were stunned to see that it us was of considerably inferior quality than the set we had purchased. It was even less money that the one we had purchased. We refused the set he offered and wanted a better leather set - something comparable to the set we purchased. He advised that a new set we had chosen would cost us another $1300.00 on top of what we had already paid.

Where was the promised deal there? We advised Bad Boy that we wanted our money back and for them to come and take the old set away. And once again we were told to, yes, you guessed it, 'Call the warehouse'.

After three defective couches my husband and I wanted our money back so we could shop somewhere else.

How could a company as large and reputable as Bad Boy offer such poor quality furniture and worse, poor customer service! We have had three damaged couches and loveseats delivered to our home, and have had nothing but hassles and broken promises from both the store and from the warehouse.

At the beginning of January, my husband and I wrote and couriered a letter to the CEO of the company Blayne Lastman. We did not hear from him and we were then directed to speak with Omar, the Customer Service Manager at their warehouse. He refused to give us a refund, and said he would personally inspect another replacement couch and loveseat himself and deliver it on Tuesday, January the 22nd and once it arrived to our satisfaction he would compensate us for the major inconveniences. We waited all day for the delivery and then the drivers called me from outside our home and said they didn't want to drive in our driveway in case they got the big truck stuck in the snow. Okay...once again I was a bit upset about the whole thing but these things happen and they were to make another delivery on Thursday, January the 24th. On the 24th the delivery men dropped off the "new" set and they inspected the bottom of the couch themselves prior to bringing it into the house. The driver informed me that this set was also damaged. Not knowing what to do I asked them to bring both pieces inside the house. I explained the situation and the delivery men said it had not been inspected at all. I wrote on the invoice that the items arrived in damaged condition and the drivers definitely witnessed the damage. At that point I jumped on the phone to Omar and was very upset. The driver told me that I should call CEO Blayne Lastman at the Kennedy location to discuss this matter further if I wanted someone to really help me. Mr. Lastman was at that location but failed to take our calls. Soon after the Customer Service Manager called us and told us that the delivery men are not allowed to say anything to the customers about inspections. He then asked me to send him photos of the damaged goods.

As per the Customer Service Manager's request I emailed the photos to the company. I also decided to tape our phone conversations because it was being implied that my husband and I were to blame for this nightmare. Omar responded to the photos with: "I looked at the product, I have been doing this for many years. We ship alot of this product. The one in your living room...I think it sucked. The other three I think there were no issues with them. I think you looked too deep. The picture that you sent me...I have never seen those kind of pictures come from customers. You are never going to get a perfect product. I work in a factory. If you go into the factory and say I want this specification you will get a perfect product. When you get a mass produced product, when they make thousands and thousands of them it is not going to be perfect, okay?".

We then told him again that the couch and love seat had holes, puncture marks and the seams were ripping. He once again said: "You expect more than you purchased". I have several photos that clearly show the damage, and I would be more than happy to share them with anyone who is thinking of purchasing from this company. When I asked if he would buy a new car with dents and scratches on it he clearly said "no". Why are we, the consumer expected to accept leather furniture that is clearly defective? This is not a case of "customer expectations". It is clearly a case of a company that will not stand by their customers or the products they sell.

We have demanded a refund and they want to charge us with a 25% restocking fee on something that was defective from the beginning. They are going to charge us over $400 to take a damaged couch back to their warehouse!! This is absolutely ridiculous!! My husband even offered to have a couch set shipped up to the Bad Boy Barrie location so they could open up a set with witnesses and see what condition it is in. The Customer Service Manager refused and said that we would not find a perfect item. I think that statement speaks volumes.

We think that this matter should have been resolved by Bad Boy but after a month of the run around and the accusations, it is clear that this company will not take responsibility for their products. It is pretty pathetic that we have to post things on the internet in hopes of getting some vindication for being so poorly treated as a consumer. It sickens me to know that this company recently won an award for Toronto Retailer of the year. I heard rumors of their items being re-furbished and of low quality and had I investigated those claims prior to walking through the doors, I definitely would have never purchased from this store.

We have done our part, and we expected Bad Boy to do theirs. To stand by their products and more importantly, their customers. This will definitely be the FIRST and LAST time we ever visit a Bad Boy store. However, it definitely won't be the last time I speak out against this company, as I have filed a claim with the Government of Ontario's Consumer Protection Agency.