Submitted by bella-wthhybl t3_yytphb in BuyItForLife
Room & Board quality has been extremely high in the past from what I can see from discussions on here and the furniture subreddit. People saying they've owned their R&B furniture for years and it's still in great shape.
How's the quality been given shortages and manufacturing issues since 2020? If you buy R&B couch or other large furniture item now, can you expect the same high quality touted in the past?
Thank you! I'm glad to hear it's at least decent.
I really hope the couches are good quality still. It's really hard to find high quality couches while staying in the mid range price point. I can't spend 3.5k+ on a couch.
But I can spend 1.5 to 2.5k if it's a long term investment and R&B has options in that range, especially in clearance.
No, the quality was always terrible. I have furniture of theirs I bought around 2012—2014 and it's all more or less fallen apart in less than 5 years, so even worse quality than IKEA.
From my Yelp review:
> Don't be fooled by the glitzy showrooms and "made in America" promises of quality, this chain sells essentially disposable furniture. > > When we were expecting our first child 7 years ago, we moved from an apartment to a single-family home. We wanted to also upgrade from IKEA and equivalent to proper furniture. I bought some heirloom pieces from Thos. Moser (a dining table, two end-chairs, a coffee table, a rocking chair and two foot stools) but they are quite expensive, and we got many other pieces from Room and Board: a queen bed, nightstands, two dressers, six Thatcher dining chairs, Pisa leaning bookshelves, side tables and a coffee table with rounded angles). > > Unfortunately after 7 years the furniture turned out to be much less durable than I expected. The finish on the coffee table is worn and ugly, the bed required extensive work even though we only use a mattress, no boxsprings, and the spokes on the Thatcher chairs are coming unglued. > > A proper Windsor chair like the Thatcher should have "through-holed and wedged" construction that ensures the spokes don't move. The Moser chairs have that, of course, and in retrospect I deeply regret cheaping out. I could have bought 2 buy-it-for-life Moser chairs for the price of the 6 Thatcher chairs that are now essentially kindling. To add insult to injury, Room and Board refuses to stand by their product and are refusing to repair them. > > In the Bay Area, we've had good luck with Hoot Judkins furniture, which are better quality for the price (not all though, they have a wide range that goes from meh to Amish-grade).
We bought our sofa and chair in 2021 and received it in 2022. I can’t speak to how long it will last obviously because they are so new still.
What I can say is the wood on the chair is beautiful and my sofa is sooo comfortable (we tried sofas in the showroom ahead of time). We ordered the sumner fabric for the upholstery and what is amazing is that my cat can’t destroy it. Also, any spills are absurdly easy to clean up.
The cushions are holding up well but as I’ve only had them for 6 months it is impossible to state how long they’ll last. My overall perception is that they are high quality and they feel like they will last. I should also note it took six months for them to make these as they were semi-custom, so it’s not like they are sacrificing quality to decrease wait times.
We bought a crib from them and it’s made beautifully.
We've bought a dresser and a leather sofa from them.
The dresser is well constructed and going strong for 2 years so far.
The couch however -- we assume there must have been a defect in the leather, because one panel on the seat bench quickly wore thin and tore after about a year of use. (The other parts of the couch have been just fine.) It took us a LOT of back and forth with customer service to resolve. We're expecting a replacement couch soon. Based on that experience, we opted for the sumner fabric instead of leather. Fingers crossed it will last.
You had the couch for 2 years and they are replacing with new couch due to the issue? That's promising at least. I'm sorry it's such a back and forth.
I keep hearing their customer service is great and they will replace products. But I don't love how open ended their return policy is. It seems like it's up to their discretion and there's no hard and fast guarantee or warranty.
It took nearly a year of back and forth to get them to agree to replace the couch. They tried first to sell (!!!) us leather to replace the panel, but it would have cost thousands to have it reupholstered and I would still have had to find someone local to do it. Resolution was not an easy experience, so just be prepared to be loud and persistent if there is a problem.
It depends on who they choose to manufacture their designs. They don’t have furniture made from one place- same with Ikea. I live where the HQ is, and have been shopping at the outlet since the early 2000s. I would never pay full price for it, and a lot of it ends up at their outlet warehouse or at the ReStores (as of late).
Our stain resistant sofa was literally stained by water. The down proof ticking continues to leak down feathers two years later. The pillows are flat despite regular fluffing and moving around. The quality is just awful.
I think their solid wood stuff is probably really good, but I would avoid upholstered anything.
perhephone t1_iwx21lv wrote
We have something from them at my office and it’s okay. I was hoping to be more impressed. That being said, it’s just one item and I don’t know what they were like in 2019 before the world changed.