Jo’s place and a cautionary tale

Posted on Sat, 5 Jul 2008 by midcenturyjo


I have been excitedly waiting for my new “old” sofa. Excited but also waiting with growing trepidation. You see I did something I have told clients never to do. I took on a new upholsterer without doing enough homework and without holding the reins as tightly as I should. I trusted a new tradesman and I shouldn’t have.

I won’t make this a long story (you can find the whole story here) but I was in a hurry. I couldn’t wait for my usual very very good upholsterer and I took on a new guy and….. OUCH! What a mess of a couch!!! Shoddy workmanship and extremely rude and sloppy customer “service”. This is the only section of my patchwork couch I can share with you without cringing at the mess I received back. I’m not paying. I’m starting again. Time to order new fabric and apologise to my regular guy. Moral of the story – wait for quality. Don’t rush and take second best. (Email me if you live in S.E. Queensland and looking for an upholsterer. I’ll recommend who you shouldn’t use.)

Jo- so sorry to hear of this problem! You should show more photos of the problem areas so readers can really understand the difference between good upholstery work and bad. People often have no idea what their paying for, what they should be looking for, and why the quality shops involve long waits and higher costs. I had a bad experience with a shop that offered upholstery servies before I went into business for myself. Their work was fine (they outsourced it), but the customer service aspect was terrible. And, they lost the brand new bench seat cover I had them copy, which I’d wanted to keep as a back up. I ended up with a small rebate to cover the loss, plus a request never to darken their doors again. Neither did anyone I know. And now they’re out of business. Hah!

kim. says:

I still can’t believe what this a**hole did to your sofa. It’s shocking really. Your patchwork idea was so freaking awesome, and this guy had to go and ruin it. I know how excited you were. 🙁

Anonymous says:

I’m so sorry to hear about your problems with this sofa but can I cheer you up by saying that I love the fabrics you chose? I’m sure it will be so beautiful when it’s fixed. Good luck!

just wondering if the damask on the seat is even running the correct way? it looks sideways – is it? boy do I know how you feel! my expert upholsterer who does slips ALL the time, did my sofa and two chairs in white linen without washing it first. can you believe? I almost tore my hair out one night when I realized it. now, when I wash it – it’s such a production, cold water, barely dry it, stretch it on. at least it’s usuable, but still.

qerat says:

So sorry to hear about this incident. As a desinger i know how bad that can be. It can be a real nightmare if the sofa belonged to a client. It is funny how crappy workers are the same in any country in the world. They always revert to verbal abuse and phone slamming. as you said always wait for your trusted people.

Thanks for helping make me feel a little better about this. I took the weekend away from it and know the phone calls will start again today.

Linda I hope the same thing happens to this gentleman 🙂
Kim I wish you were here to give him a piece of your mind.
Anonymous I’m really happy with my fabric choices so I guess it’s time to buy some more 🙂
Joni you’re right. Most of the pieces are not placed the right way. I have flowers growing sideways and birds flying upside down!
Qerat sad (but funny) to hear that yelling and phone slamming is a global trait.

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