Buyer Beware: OneWay Furniture

Ok, so I never do this. Not because I don't love to complain (I do), but I usually don't call out people or companies on my blog. It's not that kind of blog, and I'm (usually) not that kind of person. Believe it or not, I'm actually pretty laid back when it comes to certain things and like to give people the benefit of the doubt - I'm not one to write letters or submit angry emails to a complaint box.

But something happened to me recently and I feel the need to share it with the world at large so that it doesn't happen to any of my friends, family, readers and loved ones. Please, people, don't be as stupid as me, ok?

Let me take you back to December for a sec. Mike and I were nearing a point where we were ready to order the mirrors for our master bedroom. We'll be getting the TV off the dresser soon and onto the wall, and the mirrors are the showpiece of the room. (Here they are, left, in the room design I ripped off from Sarah Richardson inspiration room). Stunning, right? These beauties aren't cheap - so when they came down in price I harassed asked Mike if I could get them. This is one of the last pieces we need to finish off the bedroom, and since it took me months to track down who made the mirror and where I could find them, I was anxious to have these darlings in hand. (For reference, the mirrors are made by Ren-Wil, you need to buy from one of their authorized retailers, and the model number is MT926 if anyone out there is looking to purchase).

I had found the mirrors at CSN stores (now Wayfair), but when I checked my wish list in December, the mirrors had been taken off. Either they aren't stocking them anymore, or they've been discontinued. My mind immediately went to discontinued (remember this incident recently?) and I panicked. I was able to find the mirrors at a couple more places, but they were back ordered. This increased my panic, and I was worried the model was being discontinued.

I turned to Google shopping. I end up finding a lot of stuff through there as Google image searches tend to be rather fruitful for me. Now, typically when I buy from a place I've never purchased from before, I do my due diligence. I check out their ratings and rankings, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't this time.

When I saw that the first site listed had a good star rating, and 12k+ reviews (the first couple of pages of which only have a couple negative reviews - and every store gets negative reviews, I find them all the time on Overstock and I still shop there) I thought going with OneWay Furniture would be a safe bet.

I was very, very, very wrong. And that's what leads me to my post today.

I ordered 2 of the mirrors in December (you need to put 2 together to get the effect in the sample photo). Yes, I spent over $500 on mirrors - please don't slap me. If you're going to slap me, do it over what I spend at Kate Spade in a weekend - I deserve it. But I looked at these mirrors as an investment piece: they are from a high-end designer, we got a deal on everything else in the room (or it was free, or we made it), so it was just one of those high/low situations where I couldn't find a "low" substitute so "high" it was.

A week after I ordered them, I finally got a shipping notification.... the mirrors wouldn't be coming until 2/24. Ok... not exactly my ideal, we spent a lot of money on them and I'm excited about them - I kind of wanted them quicker, but I get that they are coming direct from the manufacturer and I'll just have to be patient (not my strong suit, we all know). Then, last weekend while my Mum and I were at Ikea picking up Mike's office furniture (more on that later), I got an email that the mirrors would not be shipping 2/24. They'd be shipping 3/6.

I was, um... a little irate. Seriously? Four months to get these things? Since the only emails I got from the company were shipment delays with no explanations, I decided to give them a call to see what was up. Again, something I don't normally do - but all these delays were making me further suspect that the mirrors had indeed been discontinued, and if I waited any longer, I might not be able to get them at all, from any vendor. So when we got home from Ikea, I got on the phone. For two hours. Yes, that's right, TWO HOURS. I couldn't get anyone to pick up the phone there. I called, and called, and called some more. And then, despite saying they were open until 6:00 pm EST, at 5:30 I got a recorded message that I'd called outside of business hours. That kind of sent a rocket up my ass. I emailed the company through their site to inquire about the delay, and left a message on their voicemail (to date, neither one of these emails or messages were ever returned or acknowledged).

At this point, I started doing some deeper Googling on OneWay and once I got past the benign Google shopping page, found all sorts of negative reviews. Yeesh. Had I seen these before, I never would've purchased from this company in the first place. The star rating at the top is totally deceptive - when you read the reviews underneath, it's the same story as mine.

On Monday, I again tried to call the company to see what the delay was. I was also considering just canceling the order after I read all those bad reviews. After an hour, I still couldn't get anyone to pick up the phone, no matter what option I tried for the different departments. I had basically had it, so I filled out their online form to cancel my order. I got no acknowledgement from that. I decided to call another company, Arcadian Lighting (who were second on that Google shopping list from above).

I can't even begin to tell you how nice, understanding, and helpful the folks at Arcadian Lighting are. I'm going to be shopping there for the foreseeable future based on their customer service alone - fantastic service they gave, I might add, before I was even a paying customer. The first man I spoke with at Arcadian was amazing - he even called Ren-Wil (the manufacturer) to see what the hold up with production on the mirrors was. When he came back, he told me they could get it for me in 2 weeks most likely, but he told me it could always take longer because the manufacturer could push it back (which was fine with me, because at this point I'm talking to a real, live human being who is being helpful and giving me answers). Plus, 2 weeks was a heckuva lot quicker than 2 months, so I decided to try calling OneWay again to cancel my original order, and then re-order through Arcadian.

Low and behold, the clouds parted, angels sang - someone picked up the phone at OneWay (yes, it took me another 30 minutes this time around). I talked to a jovial woman who got a kick out of me apologizing for the rather sternly worded emails I had sent through their website. She told me she canceled the order and a confirmation would be sent to the email address I provided in the order.

I instantly called back Arcadian and ordered the mirrors from them, this time speaking with a girl who was so pleasant and upbeat, it made my day better. They also extended me a nice discount for all the trouble I had been through. Arcadian was my shining knight on horseback that day.

Tuesday passes, and I'm wondering why I haven't gotten that cancellation from OneWay yet. No biggie, I think, I'll call if I haven't gotten it by Wednesday. If I can get someone to pick up the phone, that is. Wednesday rolls around with an email from them sitting in my inbox. "It must be my cancellation," I think.

Wrong.

It was a shipping notification. Not only had the order NOT been canceled, it had been shipped.

What...THE...$%#&!!

So I call OneWay. AGAIN. Wait on hold for an hour, AGAIN. This time, I'm crafty - I figure if they are going to pick up any line, it's the one to place an order, so I select that option in the menu. Yes, someone does pick up the phone - she's nice, and I feel bad that I'm about to be cranky, but I'm past this nonsense. I explain the situation, and when she takes my order number, she says - get ready for this:

"I don't have any record that this order was canceled."

I must've looked like someone slapped me clear across my face. No, I definitely called, I definitely canceled. She kept insisting there was nothing in the notes, no cancellation put through - according to them I never even called. She wanted to know who I spoke to, and when I couldn't produce a name (please, I can't even remember my own sometimes), I described the woman. Since there is only a few people working there (apparently) she said she knew who I was talking about. She put me on hold for a second, and when she came back, said:

"I spoke to her and she said she never talked to you."

OMFGRUKM? I was like - listen, I'm not lying, I'm not making this up. I'm not some kind of sociopath that likes to torment discount furniture companies. I can produce at least five coworkers who walked by my desk during lunch on Monday who can assure you that I did indeed call. She told me that she was sure I did, but they had no record and there was nothing to do now except accept the shipment. She offered to talk to her manager to try and get me a discount for the trouble - but I was dubious I'd ever hear back.

At the same time, I had to email Arcadian to tell them to cancel my order because while I love these mirrors, I do not, in fact, need four of them. They of course were wonderful and understanding - we have several things coming up to purchase and I'm definitely going to their site first, no question.

Then, later this afternoon, surprise, surprise - I got a call back from the nice girl at OneWay (despite how I feel about the company this girl in particular was very helpful and did seem to care - so kudos to her). She couldn't offer me much except a small dollar amount off my purchase. Like enough to buy coffee. Yeah, sure, fine, whatever - I took it. I had no fight in me left at that point.

So, the moral of this story? Google like a mo' fo. And always, ALWAYS look at more than one review site. I'll be honest - it takes a lot to fool me usually, and boy was I an idiot with this one. In my defense, the listing on Google didn't spell trouble - but I really should have kept going, kept digging.

In any case, the mirrors are now on their way. I just hope they are in pristine condition because I was also told (while being accused of not canceling the order) that the manufacturer doesn't accept returns. Let's hope Ren-Wil knows how to properly pack their mirrors (and since they make and ship them worldwide, I'm banking on the fact that they do).

PS - Life As We Know It (movie) has been playing round the clock on HBO lately, and if you look closely at the entryway in the stunning home/set they used for the movie, 2 of these mirrors flank each side of the front door :) Yes, only I notice this kind of sh*t.

New Chair & Television

You know what the downside of being a stalker is? When something sells out on your wishlist, you panic.

Most of my purchases have been panic-related lately.

I'd been stalking the Albury chair at Overstock since April. I had no idea why I hadn't bought it yet, it wasn't outrageously expensive or anything. I think I just kept thinking, "oh, I'll get a coupon eventually," or something. It just wasn't a priority for whatever reason.

Until I went to check on it at Overstock and it was sold out. Now, typically I wouldn't be too worried, but the chair had also been out of stock at Target (the only two places I could find it, besides overpriced on eBay) for over 8 months. The only thing I could think was it had been discontinued and there would never be more. Nooooo! Not the perfect, sexy, sleek, modern white faux leather chair of my dreams!?! I HAVE TO HAVE IT!!!

I was a starving hunter in the woods of Google. I had to find the chair. I had to buy the chair.

Thankfully, it came back in stock at Target. Not only that, it was on sale with free shipping, so it ended up being the same price as Overstock. Sweet.

And it's perfect, right? (Yes, I had to make a very special pillow for it as well. That will be carved on my tombstone.).

Cassie lurves it too!

Poor Mike. He seriously got 10 emails in 5 minutes from me, detailing my frantic search for the chair, and my elation at finding it. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't pull the same stunt two weeks later with these oh-so-expensive-yet-perfect mirrors I've been stalking for our bedroom. I told him to blame Sarah Richardson, she was the one who put them in our inspiration room. He told me to stop looking at my wishlists.

Thankfully, there was one big purchase we made recently in which stalking paid off, big time:

After months of price-checking, we got an amazing deal on a 60" Sharp Aquos television. We got it at Costco, who doesn't have Black Friday deals, but just so happened to have this TV on sale... on Black Friday. Ha! Well, it was on sale all week, technically.

Anyways - it's so nice to have a large TV again. We put our old 50" projection on FreeCycle when we moved and had been getting by with the 32" that had previously been in our bedroom. We didn't realize how much we missed having a drive-in theater in our living room. We're big movie buffs, and Mike makes the yummiest kettle-cooked popcorn.

I also love how well it fills out the Besta media stand from Ikea - the whole room looks in proportion now. I'll have to post some updated shots of the living room overall soon - I've swapped out the coffee table as well. Now all we need is a new couch - which is still elusive.

Hey, Mr. Postman! Like Our New Box?

(Yes, I realize the humor in that post title. Secretly, I'm still fourteen.) Here's what our old mailbox looked like. It was...um...not our style? Ok, it was ugly. When we pulled up to the house for the first time, it was the first thing I saw. I said "Well, that has to go." Mike was busy eyeing the white plastic fence. He added, "That too."

Mike had a deep hatred for that white fence that I never understood. It was pointless - three posts on each side of the driveway at an angle. I'm sure it was meant to be decorative, but it was just silly. I figured sooner or later I'd take it out with my car as I tried to back out of the driveway (not my strongest skill). But sure enough, the day we moved in, Mike was out there - in the rain, tearing the darn thing out. He claimed "it was in the way of the UHaul" but he just looked a tad too joyful when ripping those white plastic posts out.

All but one.

He left one post in because we planned on eventually putting a new mailbox in and it would get us ahead of the game with digging a post hole. So for eight months, our neighbors were probably a bit confused.

Until that shiny new mailbox went in! Here's a breakdown of the project. Mike did this all himself, including the photos - I just watched from the front window while I sewed the dining room curtains.

So here's a close-up of the previous mailbox. Dig the covered bridge scene? Yeah, we didn't either. The bottom was even worse; as you can see from the photo below, it was a cemented-in milk can. (PS - in the photo above, you can also see how pretty the new blue door looks!)

Mike started by taking out the last, lone post.

See? Already halfway done. Mike dug down to the height he needed, then...

He inserted the new post, and held it in place with some bracing so that it would stay level during the cement pour. Both the post and mailbox are from Lowe's. The post is cedar, and Mike brushed on two coats of all-weather lacquer before dropping it in the hole. I'm hoping this will help prevent weathering.

Mike then mixed a bag of Quikrete (How funny is it that a guy is using it to put in a mailbox pole on the bag? Ha!).

He poured the Quikrete in the post hole and left the bracing in place while it set up, which was about two hours.

Next, Mike added some brushed nickel numbers, also from Lowe's. They wouldn't be my first choice, but they were the best/closest to what we were looking for without having to special order anything. Our house is at the end of a spur off a larger U-shaped neighborhood, and around the corner, all the houses have the numbers on the post, which I liked better than having the numbers on the box itself (which is what the other side of the U has). Plus, I figure now we can take those big ol' numbers over the garage off the house.

Next, Mike removed the old mailbox. I kind of wish I had gotten video of this process. I watched from a safe distance in the house. He basically tied the old mailbox to the trailer hitch on his truck and dragged it out of the ground. Well, it was a bit more complicated than that - it involved using some wood planks to convert horizontal force into vertical force and pull the cement can out of the ground. It was all very engineering-ish. Anyways, out it came. It's hiding behind our shed at the moment until we can figure out how to dispose of it.

So here is the new mailbox, in all of it's metallic glory. Pretty, right? Makes a huge difference to the front of the house. The box is called "ironsides" - it's real heavy duty, which is nice - means we probably won't have to replace it. I also like the front flap, it's magnetic, so it closes nicely.

Mike used the dirt he took out of the new post hole to fill the old hole left by the previous mailbox, but it wasn't enough, and after the first rain, it packed down even more. So sooner or later, we're going to have to level out the old hole a bit better. Eventually, we'll be tearing out the driveway and will put in a straight, paver driveway (right now the driveway is narrow at the bottom and curves up to the garage - it's tricky to back out of because you can't just go straight back). When we do that, we're going to do an offshoot of the pavers around the mailbox, which will also create a pad for the trash can. But that's a long way off!

Decal Fail (and Office Update)

Remember this post, where we solved the mystery of the Mystery Room? Well, phase one was to paint. Check. Phase two - hang up vinyl decals. Check. Er... well, at least for 24 hours.

The painting went pretty easily, except for the charcoal wall we were going to hang the decals on. After two coats, you could still see the roller lines. So Mike did a third coat with one of those mini foam rollers and Bingo! it looked perfect. We waited a week, then applied the decals to the wall.

Turns out, we should've waited two weeks. When we woke up the next morning, this is what we found:

We tried everything: reapplying, taping up pieces, closing the door and shutting off the heat, etc. But in the end, it was a no go. We were bummed - not only was it a total waste of money, but they had looked so cool at first. It was disappointing.

Oh well, moving on. Here's what the room looks like now, freshly painted and with spiffy new curtains:

Let's recall, this is what we started with:

So... yeah. Definitely an improvement. Mike also put some shelves in the closet. This particular closet is going to house larger items, so it only needed a couple of sturdy shelves:

The curtain fabric is Dotscape Charcoal from DwellStudio. I got an amazing deal on it at a discount fabric shop. And by amazing, I mean these curtains cost me $10.00. The retail price per yard of the fabric is $28.00 - not too shabby! I totally goofed on them though - I had bought the fabric so long ago, I thought I bought the exact amount I needed so I could just cut the length in half, sew it to some lining, pop in some grommets and call it a day. Turns out, I bought a yard extra, which I only realized when I went to hang the drapes and each panel was 18 inches too long. Sheesh, this room was just a fail week for us all around. I pinned them up with safety pins for now. Eventually, I'll take them back down and hem them. Or maybe not. (Probably not)

We're still working on furniture for the office. Right now, we're thinking about a different desk from the inspiration photo, and maybe a different rug. I'm actually thinking about taking the rug from the guest room and sticking it in here, because I want a bigger one for in there. We'll see. The room is acting as a hodge-podge for the moment as we set up some Ikea tables (we own like, 5 table tops and a bunch of legs and just set them up when we need project space - it's the handiest thing ever) and dumped a bunch of crap on them. Mike emptied out the hall closet so he can install an outlet and new shelving in there (we're going to hide the TV components in there and hang a TV on the wall in our master bedroom), and last weekend I decided to peel off all the wallpaper in the bathroom... which is another blog entry altogether.

Stay tuned, we're hoping to get some furniture by the end of January and make more sense of this room.

Partnership With Dandelion Calligraphy

I'm am SO excited to announce that I've recently partnered up with my friend Alyssa to provide calligraphy services for my brides. Alyssa has recently opened Dandelion Calligraphy and her work is very diverse. She has tons of styles to chose from, each one beautiful. If you have any interest in adding calligraphy services onto your Wicked Bride Stationery order, just let me know, and I'll put you in touch with her. Since Alyssa and I work together in our day jobs, it's a very convenient service for my brides. I can give Alyssa your envelopes, and pick them up from her when ready. This means everything - invitations and addressed envelopes - arrive in one package ready to mail!

Here are some examples of her unique style:

Something Old, Something New

Happy New Year everybody! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We've been flat-out crazy since Thanksgiving. Just so much to do, so little time to do it in. Christmas was a whirlwind - four families, four days, two states. And Mike wonders why I want to go on a cruise next year? Thankfully, New Year's Eve was low-key. My mum came over with some yummy pastries and Chambord. Her and Mike mixed it with champagne. I had only a sip - unfortunately, I can't have anything carbonated (I'm that lame) - but they looked delicious! There was a Monk marathon on cloo, so we kicked back and dozed a bit until it was time for the ball drop. Yeah, we're real party animals. I think we were in bed by 12:15. It was nice to relax though, especially with how busy I've been both at my day job, and with the stationery. Mike's slammed too - we're both averaging around 60 hours a week for work nowadays. Really. Need. A. Vacation. I'll be in Las Vegas with my day job in a couple of weeks - but since it's the hardest week of work I do all year, I won't exactly be lounging poolside.

Anyhoo - I'm going to have to backtrack a bit in the next few posts. We got some projects started (one finished) over the past couple of months, and it's time to share.

First up, my new camera came! I love it. Yes, it took me two weeks to figure out how to zoom out, so what? :) When we unpacked the camera, Mike unwrapped the strap with "oooh, this is nice." I made the stink-eye. It was nice, don't get me wrong, but it was very, I dunno... boring? Utilitarian? Now, you've followed the blog so far, so you know I tend to lean a bit more to the masculine/clean/simple in my design - but I couldn't help but want something a bit more fun for a camera strap. Then it hit me - I have a great strap already.

All through high school, I took photography classes. My dad gave me his old Praktica camera - it has this amazing German lens. I think it's around 40 years old now - maybe more? I also used it all through college until digital cameras were mass-marketed and became inexpensive. Now you can't even find film, never mind someone to develop it. I also think it might need some work - I'm pretty sure there is a hole in the shutter because the last roll of film I developed (yes, this was back in the day when I developed my own film and made my own prints) had a flare on every photo. Anyways, it's been sitting in storage for years.

So when the new camera came, I thought it would be neat to take off the camera strap from my dad's old camera and put it on the new Rebel. Funny enough, I'm fairly certain they still make straps like this. But mine is true vintage - even has the smell to prove it. The strap kinda stinks. It's like wearing a musty basement around your neck. I kind of love it.

Here's some pics I shot of the old camera, bag and strap with my new camera:

Do you guys have anything old you've repurposed? For me, every time I sling the camera over my shoulder, I think of my dad, which makes me smile. Some days, when life is bananas and one smile is all you get, it helps to make that smile count.

Wicked Bride on Style Me Pretty!

I might throw up. I'm not kidding, I'm that excited.  Remember when I teased yesterday that next week I would be featuring another real wedding? Well, Style Me Pretty beat me to it. My former bride (now newlywed!) Liz emailed me this morning with breaking news: her wedding just debuted on the Holy Grail of wedding sites! I created Liz's Playbill invitations, along with a bunch of goodies for her big day, including cupcake flags and dessert signs.

Here is some of my work featured on the site:

{ all photos by Behind the Lens photography, please do not use without permission }

To see the rest of Liz's beautiful day, click here! Thank you so much to Liz for sharing this with me, I'm beyond excited for you and Brendan!