Cisco Home

Short story: I would not place a custom order here again.
Long story: We walked in on a whim and saw the perfect table: beautiful slab with sturdy metal legs. Unfortunately, it was the wrong size. But the sales guy, Gary, told us we could get a custom sized one. That never came to be. While Gary told us it would be 7 weeks from payment to delivery, and we paid in late November 2014, we didn’t see a table until the end of March 2015 (4 months!). During that time as I recall the store never initiated contact with us to update us on the delays; as I recall it was always us emailing or calling to ask what’s going on. When the table did arrive, it wasn’t what we had ordered. It had spindly metal legs that were utterly inadequate for such a heavy slab top. We refused delivery and the delivery guys took it back. The manager at the Cisco Home store, Brett, refunded us what we’d paid. The refund was the only prompt part of the affair.
What I saw in the store was nice, and priced as you’d expect nice things in Palo Alto to be priced (not cheap). So maybe buying something they already have in stock would have turned out better.

We ordered some furniture from Cisco Home last year because we were looking for furniture free from flame retardants and their Inside Green products fit the bill. I hate to spend a lot of money on furniture, but after researching what we wanted we decided that we’d have to be willing to spend more than normal to get furniture without the yucky chemicals.
Pros:
The sales lady/​designer was really nice. It was fun working with her and she was detailed and helpful. Unfortunately, she no longer works there. When our furniture was ready to deliver we found this out. I think this may have been the reason for some minor communication issues. The other two employees (owners?) I spoke with at different times were also nice.
They have many classy designs to choose from and many fabrics to choose from. I like how each piece can be customized.
The delivery service they use is great. They were careful with my furniture and were courteous.
The furniture was finished within the time frame they promised. I appreciate when a company keeps it’s word.
The furniture looks nice and the fabric is of good quality. The seams are also holding up well to wear. I think this furniture will be durable, which is a HUGE plus considering the price. They’ve done an excellent job in this regard.
Cons:
Price. This is expensive furniture.
Quality. I don’t mean to insinuate that this furniture is low quality — it isn’t. That said, my couch and the throw pillow we ordered are constantly leaking feathers. I’m extremely disappointed with this. I ordered my furniture «inside green» which means it is made with all natural materials, but you simply cannot charge someone what I paid for this furniture (and we paid more for «inside green») and then give them a product that is constantly leaking feathers. Being poked by feather tips every time one sits down is less than ideal. The fabric used to contain the inside of each pillow (the outside is slipcovered) probably needs to be doubled or a better quality fabric needs to be used. I don’t recall the floor model «inside green» couches they had having this problem, but it’s been a while and I might not be remembering correctly. The designer also requested that the seat cushion for our couch be overfilled (or so I thought) so that it wouldn’t sag as much over time, and it doesn’t seem that this was done.
Communication Issues. I was under the impression that my entire couch would be slipcovered. When it arrived — only the pillows and cushions were slipcovered. I didn’t take issue with it because honestly I liked that I could see the legs of my couch better than expected. It looks nice. However, I’m sure that if the arms of the couch ever get marked up I’ll feel differently.
Detergent. The «green» detergent that they use to wash the fabrics for their inside green furniture doesn’t get a very good rating from the Environmental Working Group. I’d love to see them switch over to a healthier detergent.
I want to add that I did NOT contact the company regarding these issues. Why? Because I certainly didn’t want to refuse delivery of the furniture I’d waited three months for. Even if they had offered to replace the furniture, would I have wanted to wait another three months for new furniture? No. In general I’m satisfied with the furniture. It’s nice to know that there aren’t harmful flame retardants on our furniture and it looks nice. I think the company can improve by working on the issues I mentioned above. There are very few companies to choose from when it comes to high quality furniture that doesn’t contain flame retardants. I’m glad Cisco Home is filling this niche and I hope they continue to do so.