Ethan Allen

My previous review was written in the context of being a customer placing orders for Ethan Allen products. This one is written from the context of having had those items delivered. The result is add one star! This Ethan Allen store is one of less than 30 in the U.S. that are family owned. (The remainder are Corporate owned.) You can see the importance of local owners in how this business is managed.
CUSTOMER CARE AT EVERY STEP
From helping make selections to ordering to follow through on estimating delivery time to keeping us apprised for delivery date to the delivery itself, the follow through of the Ethan Allen Boise store staff was great. From the in store Ethan Allen designer who worked with us for ‘just right’ choices, Kayla Miller, and whose follow up skills are excellent, to the members of the customer service team who arranged for delivery, to the delivery guys who provided ‘white glove’ set up service, we offer applause.
Sometimes the proof of the pudding is in problem resolution. In our case, a minor thing of one piece of art arriving with broken glass discovered once unboxed at our home. There were multiple apologies from the Boise folks, from customer service to designer to manager, and lightening fast replacement of the item. It was only a little inconvenience for us. They treated it as a very important priority for them to make it right. Very nice.
GOOD PRICES WITH SALES TIMING
It is also worth commenting that Ethan Allen prices can be great ones when you time your purchases to shop the sales. As example, we purchased a 37″ round ottoman in a very good quality leather and with the just right colorway (from a number of options) thanks to Kayla’s help in sorting them out and the item was significantly better priced than similar quality ones at other retailers, especially with shipping factored in.
SHIPPING COSTS INCLUDED IN PRICE
In comparing apples to apples, Ethan Allen’s furniture prices include shipping costs to the Boise store and their local delivery fee for ‘white glove’ service is only $ 50.
I recently bought benches from other retail sources where shipping was added to the product cost. In one case for a heavy bench the shipping fee added almost $ 300 to the cost of the product and in another case for a smaller piece it was $ 200. And in the case of the former, it was not ‘white glove’ which means my husband had to set the heavy piece in place and find a way to dispose of bulky crating. All of that is cared for by Ethan Allen in the price of their pieces with delivery of furniture to their store dock. Delivery to your home from there, if you choose home delivery, is ‘white glove’ with the item set in place.
SETTING EXPECTATIONS FOR DELIVERY INTERVALS
Ordering furniture like Ethan Allen’s that involves custom upholstery or production takes more time than ordering from retailers, say IKEA, where items are pre stocked. Ethan Allen corporate establishes the «due by» dates and passes them along to the local store staff to advise the customer. Ethan Allen was in the ballpark for our expectations based on custom furniture orders from other places over the years with a quote of about 12 weeks on upholstered items and case goods. (We have waited as long as 18 weeks for custom furniture from other sources.) Ethan Allen beat their estimate by being a couple of weeks early in each case.
Worth noting for folks who may be more used to ‘instant delivery’ retail sources, there is a wait involved and so important to know in advance, custom furniture takes time. Also worth noting that it is out of the local staff’s hands to speed up production when there are delays at the factory.
HAPPY CUSTOMERS ARE REPEAT CUSTOMERS
Because the Boise Ethan Allen store is accessible to everyone, because their design staff can make skilled recommendations and because the store layout provides products to «test drive» by sitting in them or handling them, we have a couple of more chairs on order. We’ll even use some Ethan Allen fabrics to reupholster a couple of pieces in our home since the talented interior designer we hired to extend reach to other furniture sources in Boise found Ethan Allen stocked fabrics we all agreed were the «just right» options. So a tip if you’re working with an outside design professional, the Ethan Allen staff works well with them too based on our experience. We recommend the Boise Ethan Allen store as a source for homeowner or design professional.

I ordered a custom sectional. Was told it would be ready in 3 months which would have been early January. We’re still waiting for it.
There have been delays for fabric and multiple unexplained delays. When I call, I have to speak to my designer to find out what the most recent delay is. I am told I am unable to talk to the manufacturing department. When I called corporate customer service I was referred back to the store. It’s now scheduled for March 7 I hope I eventually get it. This is a $ 7000 sectional (ridiculous, yeah I know). I expect better customer service and feel like I paid for it.
Update: I received the sofa on 3÷9÷16. It is beautiful and very high quality. The delivery company did put a small hole in it but they are fixing it with minimal inconvenience and no charge. I am very happy with my couch. That said, the entire experience should have been better.

Disappointing customer service from Ethan Allen. I would not recommend purchasing anything from Ethan Allen if you would like to receive your furniture in a timely manner or kept informed about the status of your order. I was expecting superior customer service as Ethan Allen claims to offer high-​end furniture and design services. My husband and I ordered a leather sofa and ottoman from Ethan Allen in early September and are still waiting on the ottoman to arrive. The customer service in the beginning was excellent, once we placed our order and put half of the cost down we were informed that our sales associate would contact us within 7 – 10 days and let us know when our items would be ready for delivery. After 10 days and no phone call, we called to see when to expect our items. Our sales associate failed to call to provide us an initial update and also failed to call to inform us that the items would not be coming in on the subsequent anticipated dates. When we called to check the status and ask why it was taking much longer than expected their response was that the furniture is «made by humans.» In fact, the only phone call we ever received was to schedule delivery while we were out of town and request that we pay the balance in full before receiving the sofa in our home since they would have to hold the item for so long since we were unavailable for delivery. We finally received the sofa, but we are now more than two weeks beyond the second anticipated delivery date of our ottoman and have not received any updates from our sales associate and when I called they were unsure when my ottoman would be ready. I will not purchase anything from Ethan Allen in the future.

Really disappointed to arrive at the Boise, ID store ready to buy only to find it open to Private Invitation customers only. I have purchased with Ethan Allen in the past, different state, $$$$. I had 2 sets of furniture, 2 full rooms 11 pieces picked out and Ethan Allen was my first choice but now I am taking my business elsewhere as I am ready to buy right now. You might be thinking just come back at a later time. I have limited time off that does not corresponds with their business hours. By the way, there were no customers in the store when I arrived. THEY BLEW A HUGH SALE RIGHT TO THEIR COMPETITORS. They really know how to make a customer feel unimportant.

I didn’t actually order anything from Ethan Allen. So, I can’t speak to the customer service beyond the show room floor. However, the representative I dealt with when looking for a particular bed had an air of arrogance and snootiness about her that is usually reserved for the LA or NY scene. It was totally unexpected, inappropriate and off putting. As I recall, she kept mentioning that her «big clients» in Sun Valley were the majority of her business. Frankly, I could care less. I was ready to buy something and spend cash that day, but I simply refuse to do business with people with that kind of attitude.
On a side note, I was impressed with their selection and customizability of their different lines of products. Overall, the quality was high, but the customer service was a hurdle for me to get over.

After ordering some furniture at this store (desk, two custom leather chairs), I started searching the web for some reviews of Ethan Allen, which made me pretty nervous. There’s some biting criticism out there about the quality of their more recently-​made pieces, and about their customer service when a problem is encountered. I was very relieved to find that the customer service I received from this store was excellent, when I ran into some trouble with the quality of their pieces (since resolved).
The desk was delivered with some damage (to the edges of the desktop) and defects (lock mechanism installed incorrectly and made worse by a shoddy repair at the factory). The delivery personnel were the ones who noticed the damage to the desktop, and volunteered to leave the desk with me while we waited for a new top to be delivered. I noticed the problem with the lock after they left, and called the store, where the very nice lady said that the delivery personnel would inspect the lock when they installed the new top.
After a little while, a new top was brought out to the house. Once again, the delivery personnel noticed that the top was damaged/​defective, and decided not to install it (it was worse than the first). They inspected the lock, and determined that the whole desk should be replaced. They left the desk behind so I could continue to use it until a new one was delivered.
In a reasonably short period (given that this is a furniture purchase), a new desk was brought to the house. It mostly passed inspection (it was missing a few pieces of hardware, which were cannibalized from the previous desk and installed by the delivery personnel). Once completed, the delivery guys took the old one away, and left a complete, undamaged desk in its place.
There were thankfully no problems with the chairs (beautiful and undamaged on the first try).
So, in short — this store has great customer service, and continued replacing and replacing the defective furniture that their factory sent to them until I was satisfied.