The Futon Shop

Well, thank goodness after reading the reviews and my own experience with their lack of customer service I didn’t go through with ordering any products from the Futon Shop.
I called numerous times and spoke to a few different gentlemen (and also left a couple voicemails — that were never returned) regarding their product and overly priced shipping charges (shipping was higher than my actual order amount of $ 350…that doesn’t seem logical or right). The one man I spoke to Paul while in the mist of conversation with him he starts talking to some people obviously who walked into the store and left me lingering on the phone while I was in mid sentence. Then finally he said can I have someone call you back regarding the shipping charges. I found this very rude since I was talking to him on the phone first and he should of let the customers or friends or whoever he was jolly talking to in front of him know he would be a second till he could take care of my concern.
So I asked Paul if there a manager available to talk to he said no but I will have someone call you back. So I left my information and never received a phone call back.
So the following 2 weeks I have left more messages either with other people that answered the phone or voicemails to have no one ever return my call concerning the overly inflated shipping charges so I could possibly place a order. I guess my order and gaining me as a customer is no value to the Futon Shop.
I feel thankful now after reading ALL of the negative comments regarding this place that I didn’t have anyone ever call me back to try to gain my business because I can clearly see now it would of been a mistake.
Thankfully I was able to place a order with another company that had wonderful customer service, answered all my questions, and even offered me FREE shipping.
Futon Shop your bad customer service, overly inflated shipping charges, and lack of answering the phone period has cost you not just my business but several referrals.

I had a fantastic experience here. Disregard the negative reviews, they seem to be about petty stuff. The Presidents’ Day sale got me about 50% off!

Ugh. DO NOT order online from this company. You’d think they’d have people to help with online orders, but no. The sales floor staff does this and are not interested in helping. I tried to process an exchange for a futon cover I purchased online (I ordered «khaki» and the cover arrived as a dark beige with a purple tone to it) and both times I’ve called with questions about exchanging Ive been told by someone named Paul that he would be certain to return my call (no one has) and he’s said, «I really need to go because I have customers on the sales floor.» Ok. HOLD ON. Am I not a customer as well? Just because you can’t see my face doesn’t mean I didn’t just pay you money for a product. Its incredibly rude, unacceptable and unprofessional. I hope people read my experience before making the same mistake I did. I deeply regret making an online purchase with this company and wish I had given my business to a different retailer. Their web site is very thorough and helpful (I can give one star for that but would otherwise give zero stars if I could) and I assumed it was a reflection of the quality of the company. I was mistaken. I wish I had never placed an order. I think it would be beneficial for this company to have staff who focus on online orders since it seems their sales staff are far too busy. Or perhaps they shouldn’t be selling products online if they can’t serve those customers appropriately. I want to be fair, so if the staff ever returns one of my many messages and doesn’t make me feel like a burden, and if someone actually helps me process my exchange, I’ll update my review with my experience. But I’m not holding my breath… and you shouldn’t either.

NOT the company it was 15 years ago.
Protect your health (physical & mental) and your wallet and don’t buy anything from the Futon Store. Horrible product quality & horrible customer service.
And beware of Suzanne, the owner in South San Francisco, she is an amazing sales person (I don’t mean that as a compliment). Instead of giving us $ 500 back she managed to sell me something for another $ 200!
Results:
1) We never received any compensation (financial or material)…
2) Our replacement mattress costed way over $ 2000 and it is 3 inches short?! Our bed frame is now too large, the sheets and mattress pad don’t fit properly etc.
3) We have contacted Suzanne many times but she was just horrible to us and that was it.
We are now stuck sleeping on a overly soft and small king size futon mattress…
Skip the Futon Store and go to European Sleep Works in Berkeley. That is where we will go next time we have to buy a new mattress.

After ordering my futon, I waited a week or two and had yet to receive an ETA so I inquired — then began a string of phone calls with overlapping information. I found out I had ordered a twin futon frame with a twin loveseat mattress — but nobody alerted me to the error for a few weeks. Then I get a call saying that the fabric I had ordered was discontinued. The local delivery guy from the La Jolla shop was great when delivering my frame and cushion … but a week has gone by and no fabric cover. I called last week and requested an ETA of the fabric and heard nothing back. I called this weekend and they informed me I’d receive a phone call first thing monday morning. that didn’t happen! While I expect their products to be great, know that their communications is extremely poor with conflicting information, no checks and balances and no follow through.
** update: I estimate that it will take 32 days from order to completion, but that is assuming they actually follow through with delivering the fabric by tuesday ²⁄₁₆. doubt it.

Chemical free doesn’t mean chemical free with The Futon Shop. Nor can they made a futon the size that is advertised on their website. I need the futon to fit in a specific frame. If they made the mattress the correct size, it would fit inside the Ikea Ioft bed frame. Three different futons and not one was the correct size. They were so hard, I woke up in physical pain. The futons were overstuffed so they ended up having huge valleys. Not comfortable to lay on or sleep on! The third futon was not chemical free and contaminated. I wear a Fitbit to monitor my heart rate. After receiving the third futon, I woke up with headaches, feeling nauseous and fatigued, and my heart rate racing. In 6 days, my resting heart rate when from 71 to 82. I email the company my fitbit readout and they choose not to respond. I talked to the sales man and he told me there isn’t anything he could do nor would the company correct their error. The company did not believe me, I was told! I had proof and the company still did not believe me? I also ordered a blanket. 10 weeks later I still don’t have the blanket! I received a call that told me it was coming. I guess it’s still coming! Buyer, beware. They product is poor, the craftsmanship some of the worse I have seen, customer satisfaction is of no concern, totally false advertisement (the chemical free mattress was not chemical free and the size was incorrect on all three futons). If I could give them zeros starts I would!

Best Customer Support Ever!!!
20 yr old futon chairs and couch needed new barrel nuts.
Only discovered how broken and damage from age after our 1,000 mile move
From Bay Area to El Paso. Movers could not reassemble due to damaged nuts when taken apart. Called Corporate in San Francisco set us up with new barrel nuts at a fair price, son went by Los Altos, CA shop picked them up, put in mail and soon will be here, Yeah Mark @ Corp Office

Stopped by SF store Sunday afternoon. Been looking all over for a contemporary leather futon. Paul was extremely helpful, very knowledgeable, not pushy. They had three that totally worked for me; all were in stock on site. I picked the black leather Serta Palermo; 20% off, great quality. Told Paul I’ve got a crazy week and delivery would be really tough this week. He said,“how about today (Sun)?”; I was like, «yeah». He called his delivery guy Jose, who stopped at my place around 5pm, helped me put in in spare bedroom; good to go. Not sure where the lower Unilocal score is coming from. If you know Unilocal,a store can get four 5’s and one 1 and all of a sudden the score goes from 5 to 4.2. Just saying. Thumbs way up from me.

The salesperson in store (San Mateo) was attentive, thorough, informed and pleasant. However, I am deeply disappointed with store policies. You cannot return, only exchange. If you return, you still have to pay 20% of the cost.
After sifting through all the swatches of fabric, and choosing one, I was told it was discontinued in that size (full size mattress) So, if I PAY EXTRA, they will cut the queen size down to a full. But, it’ll be another 5 days before the truck can deliver the fabric from San Jose to San Francisco. I offer to drive it there myself. They make me sign another waiver in case I lose it. Fine.
Assembly day — gentlemen comes in, and I ask if he can just help me lift my heavy queen mattress and lean it against the wall.
No, that’s another charge. Customers have to do that themselves.
So he stands there and watches me muscle it myself.
Okay. Futon is assembled. He instructs me on how to open and shut it. I ask if he can just watch me do it once, to make sure i got it.
«The salesperson should have shown you how. It’s THEIR job. Didn’t they show you?»
«no, that’s why I’m asking YOU for help»
He seemed so irritated that I simply asked for some instruction on how to open and close the brand new $ 1700 dollar futon I just bought.
Which I regret.
Don’t give them your business.

I’ve purchased 2 futons at the show room and had a good experience both times. The sales staff was knowledgeable, helpful, and let us take our time. Good selection and wide price range. They make their futons and covers in house. They didn’t have the cover we wanted in stock, so they made it for us to pick up in 2 days. It’s great to be able to support a local manufacturing business.

This is a review of an online purchase. The San Francisco branch is the address on our invoice, so I’m leaving my review here.
Our main grief is that the Futon Shop gave the shipping company such bad information that our mattress was delayed at least a week, and when we contacted the shipping company they said the information they were given was: no phone number, wrong street address, and wrong name.
The shipping company was very helpful and delivered our mattress as soon as they had our correct information. We know we gave the correct information upon ordering because our invoice contains the correct spelling of our street, our names, and our correct phone number.
The mattress is very comfortable, but the wool does smell like a barnyard. I’ve worked with sheep and they have a distinct smell. This mattress retains that smell.
For the prices, I had hoped to buy three more mattresses from them once we could fit them into the budget. Now, we’ll weigh price vs. headache. I’m not sure how so many errors could be made on one order, but it makes me question their organizational capacity, which seems to be a pattern on Unilocal at this time. I hope they improve because it’s tough to find locally constructed and chemical-​free mattresses, and I’m glad they’re trying.

I’ve bought two previous mattresses from this company, both were of good quality and have held up well for years. One lasted over 10 years and the other lasted over 15 years so that gave me confidence that I’d be able to find a good replacement at their main factory location.
The salesman, Paul, was very knowledgeable and patient while I listed the features I was seeking in a new mattress. Granted, I had already done my homework reading through their website so I had a good idea of what I wanted, but it helped to get confirmation from him. After testing many models and discussing the pros and cons of each, I purchased the Eco Pure mattress.
I shopped on a Saturday and the factory was ready to deliver my mattress by Tuesday. The delivery guys were running late so I didn’t ask them to place my mattress on my bed frame, but in retrospect that would have been a good idea since it’s really heavy.
My mattress is all organic wool and latex, and personally I like the smell. There’s no chemical smell at all, it just smells faintly earthy, and I didn’t notice it after the first couple of days.
One thing about the pricing: Apparently there’s almost always a sale going on at their store so I advise that you wait until the price of your chosen mattress is at least 50% off. I got mine at 60% off, which is still expensive, but my model is supposed to last 15 to 20 years. My previous mattresses from this company lasted years so I’m pretty sure this one will too. Just remember to continually flip your mattress for even wear and be sure to use a mattress protector pad.

I’m writing this on behalf my mom. Yesterday, my parents and I went to The Futon Shop to buy a new futon. We were greeted by Paul who was very patient with us for the two grueling hours we were there. Instead of buying a futon as intended, we bought a versatile «modern sofa.» Both Paul and Mark (the regional manager) had good customer service. My parents made the purchase and made an agreement with Paul to pick up our new sofa tomorrow, well now, today.
We took measurements of the sofa, then took measurements of our van when we came home. The sofa would be a tight fit, but a fit nonetheless. Fast forward today, my mom and brother arrived at the warehouse to pick up the sofa. As some of the men were about to load the sofa into our van, a lady insisted the sofa would not fit into the van and that my mom and «her partner» were wasting their time. Instead of wasting her and the workers’ time, we should have the the sofa delivered for $ 70. She then proceeded to tell her workers to go back to work because they were extremely busy, then turned to my mom and said «you and your partner can do whatever you want.» My mom re-​measures the van to prove it’ll fit. This mysterious lady disappears and the workers load the sofa without any troubles.
My mom is pissed, as is my dad. She came home and called Paul to file a complaint. Low and behold, the mysterious lady was the owner. My parents are beyond angry and would prefer not to return/​refer anyone to the store because of the owner. Paul and the rest of her employees should not have to apologize for her actions, the owner should apologize. better yet, it should never happen again. Whether you’re having a bad day or not, work on your customer service. Your workers have good customer service, you ma’m, do not. If it wasn’t for your employees, we would’ve demanded a full refund! In my mom’s words «she made herself look like an ass.» Not only because she mistreated a customer, but her employees as well.

THE FUTON SHOP!
where do i start, called in and was greeted by a gentleman named paul
who seemed nice enough and willing, led me to believe he was giving me a 200.00
savings, what a joke that was. so i come into the 2150 cesar chavez store and drop a
deposit down for the couch, and assumed all was well, another joke, paul calls me to
let me know the couch is in and is waiting for me in the warehouse,
(Yey Got My Couch), oh boy what a joke, get to the loading dock to pick my baby up
upon first sight of my new couch i find tree branches, debris, dirt & dust on my baby. In
disgust and horror i go back to the showroom to inform paul that my couch looks like
it shipped naked no plastic wrap, no furniture cove, r nothing just took my couch and
threw it on there delivery truck, in the process leaving a series of stains on my couch,
after i waited 10 mins for paul to get off the phone, which he never did he told me he’d
be 5 mins actual wait time 20 mins, And when he did finally come out to look at my
couch he acted as if he had no clue the couch was stained and damaged, so i asked
him, point blank at anytime since the couch has been here did you ever actually take
the time to do a visual inspection of the product you sold me, His answer No,
so i say it only takes 45 secs to walk from your desk to the warehouse area to inspect
the couch and let me know hey your couch has arrived i personally inspected it and
everything looks great or hey your couch has arrived and i noticed a little damage from
shipping are you ok with that. PAUL did neither after seeing the damages with his own
eyes he proceeds to tell me «i will dually note that your couch is damaged i have to go
have a great day. W.T.F. dude are you serious?
In a nutshell Beware!, Heed the other horror stories about this place,
1) You’ve Been Warned!
2) Don’t Do It.
3) This place is 3 Thumbs Down
4) I will never do business with the futon shop nor will i recommend them.
5) Horrible experience

Paul was super nice.
Found the perfect model, and
it’s made in SF!

I ordered an «organic» mattress from
These guys last month because I have chemical allergies. The first mattress they sent «got lost» then the second supposed organic mattress has a terrible strong smell like pesticide that is smelling up my entire living room. I have tried twice to call about it and they have been so busy they said they would call me back because they were so busy helping so many customers… Crickets. No call, no service, no way would I recommend this place. Can’t even get a call back. I didn’t spend $ 1,000 on an organic mattress to have it stink like nasty chemicals.

I’m somewhat puzzled by all the bad reviews of this place, because my experiences as a customer here have been very positive. I bought a cheap futon here about three and a half years ago, a very basic thin mattress that I could use on my trifold frame. It was an improvement on what I had, but three years later it is all hard and flattened out, and it’s happened that since I got a compressed nerve in my low back, sleeping on this hard old futon has resulted in my chronic back injury developing into sciatica. Ouch! And I’ve not been able to sleep on it without waking up with my leg either numb or in pain for two weeks now. So last weekend I went down to look for a really good mattress.
It was the day before the end of a big half-​price sale. I wouldn’t say the store was crowded but there was a steady flow of customers, and they only had one salesperson on duty. The result being that everyone had to wait a long time to get some customer service. Some people walked out rather than wait around. But the one guy who was working the sales floor, who introduced himself as Paul and apologized for the wait times, did his best to support everyone who was there to shop. His courtesy and diplomatic abilities in trying to keep everyone appeased while dividing his attention periodically between three or four different shoppers was admirable and impeccable. He demonstrated good knowledge of the many product lines and was articulate and responsive to my questions and requests. I definitely felt like I was being cared for as a customer, and I had to feel sorry for the poor guy attempting to serve as the lone salesperson on the last weekend of a big sale. And Paul has a striking resemblance to William H. Macy, both in his facial features and manner of speech (an actor whose roles and films I’ve enjoyed).
Anyway, when it came time for him to take care of me (there was actually a very kind elderly couple who were next in line but they permitted me to get served ahead of them, since I had pretty much decided which mattress I wanted), he gave me excellent service. I was very disappointed that they didn’t have the high-​end mattress I wanted in the size I needed, but he told me he could have it by the following weekend. I hated to wait another week, but I’d made up my mind on the mattress, so he took care of the sale. I’d come to shop that day with my friend who drives a truck, so that he could deliver the mattress to my home and avoid delivery charges (I don’t drive or own a vehicle). Paul agreed to have the mattress delivered to my home at no charge (a $ 70 saving) and took my credit card payment and thanked me and I went back home to my sad broken old mattress for another few nights of agony.
Surprisingly, I got a call to have my new purchase delivered on Tuesday, but I had to reschedule it for Wednesday. The guys just dropped it off at my home, four days ahead of when I was expecting it. Haven’t yet slept on it, but boy oh boy, I can’t wait to do that tonight!
In sum, I think this is a great place to buy a futon. I can’t say if their prices are better or worse than other places, but I don’t think you’ll find a better selection anywhere here in the city. I paid a lot for my new mattress but this one is ten times better than what I had, and it’s built to last.
I’d have given this place five stars if it weren’t for the issue with the understaffing of the sales department. I’d suggest to the management that the first thing they need to do is to give Paul a nice raise and the next thing is to hire some more help!

Expensive, one of the employees named Carol is rude and over talkative in the sense. They screwed up on my order and had me wait another week to fix it. Then they delivered it to the wrong Futon Shop location, further delaying the time. They promised me extra pillows of my choice when I arrived at the store to make up for the delay, and when I arrived Carol was stingy, abrasive, and unhelpful. I chose 3 different pillows and her response was, «No, I can’t give you that one.» Don’t tell me you will give me pillows to make up for poor customer service only to tell me I can only choose between 5 ugly leftovers you couldn’t get rid of.

Saw a 50% off sale on all futon mattresses and decided to take a chance, despite the negative reviews. Went in on a Sunday, no one there. Met Joe, the salesman, who turned out to be a very nice, professional salesman. He showed us what we wanted to see, didn’t try and sell us something we didn’t want, and was very pleasant and informative. We found a mattress we liked, paid 50% less than the price, and were out of there in 20min.
All the other reviews don’t mention that this is the corporate headquarters for The Futon Shop (which ships their product all over the country) so keep that in mind when you read the reviews-​they most likely include reviews that don’t pertain to the actual store at this location.
I will definitely give them my business in the future.

BEWARE
I don’t want to waste any more time thinking about this awful, dishonest company, so I wont go into the details… Please check out some of the other Unilocal horror stories, notice the pattern and then go anywhere else to buy a futon!