ROCHESTER FURNITURE: THE SINGLE WORST RETAIL EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE

⭐ ROCHESTER FURNITURE: THE SINGLE WORST RETAIL EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE

(A warning to anyone considering spending a cent there.)

If there is ONE review you read before giving your money to Rochester Furniture, let it be this one — because I am writing this after three separate disasters with this company, and the last one was so appalling that I will never set foot near their stores again.

Let me be clear: I have spent over R120,000 with Rochester over the years. I’ve been patient. I’ve been understanding. I’ve given them chance after chance. And they have failed me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

🚩 Strike 1 – Wrong Product, Zero Accountability (Value: ±R45,000)

My first order was a king-sized bedroom set. I paid for an extra-length king and received a standard king. When I called customer care? Nothing. Just an “oh well, nothing we can do.” I kept the bed because I didn’t feel like fighting — mistake number one.

🚩 Strike 2 – Missing Items, Rude Service (Value: ±R17,000)

Second order: dining table with EIGHT chairs. Delivery arrives… with only two chairs.

The delivery guys tell me I “only ordered two.” Customer care’s response? A patronizing “you need to calm down” while I was crying out of pure frustration.

Should I have walked away from Rochester then? Absolutely. I didn’t. Biggest mistake of my life.

🚩 Strike 3 – The Final Straw (Value: ±R61,000)

This one is almost unbelievable.

My partner and I bought a new home and wanted to furnish it beautifully. We fell in love with items at Rochester — the chairs, the couch, the headboard set. Total: R61,000.

Before ordering, I explicitly told the sales consultant about my previous bad experiences. I said: “If this goes wrong again, I will kick up a storm.” She promised me that everything would go smoothly.

I even specified: 🚚 Delivery ONLY after 3 December. The previous owners were still living there.

✔️ Rochester’s response?

To immediately schedule delivery for 21 November — two weeks early — without my consent.

I had to phone and correct them myself. Again.

Fine. Delivery moved to 5 December.

We took a FULL day off work to be there.

And then the circus started:

10:00 — No update.

11:00 — Nothing.

12:00 — Still nothing.

14:00 — We’re told:

“I can’t get hold of the warehouse. It might not be delivered today. Maybe tomorrow.”

Maybe tomorrow? After we took leave and sat in an empty house the entire day?

I phoned customer care — upset, but still polite. I even APOLOGIZED for sounding frustrated.

What do I get? A lifeless:

“Ok. I will log a ticket.”

No apology. No accountability. No urgency. No care.

I ask why no one has apologized, and the agent says:

“I’m not customer relations. I just log tickets.”

My partner takes the call because I’m done. The agent is just as rude to him.

When I mutter in the background that I have half a mind to cancel the order, she actually cuts in with:

“Must I cancel the order for you?”

No. We wanted you to get it right the first time.

We were promised a manager would call us back within 24 hours. Nobody called. Not a single human being followed up.

We received only an SMS saying delivery would happen Saturday the 6th.

And then — in the most poetic twist of karma — we walked into Cielo the next morning.

⭐ CIELO: Where Customer Service Actually Exists

Let me tell you something: Cielo made Rochester look like a bad joke.

We found every single item we wanted — but BETTER. Yes, it cost more. But the service, the warmth, the competence, the professionalism, the CARE… It was on another planet.

Cielo treated us like human beings. Rochester treated us like an inconvenience.

We cancelled our entire R61k order with Rochester. Their response? Not: “We’re sorry.” Not: “What went wrong?” Not: “Can we fix this?”

Instead:

“You have to drive to the store to cancel.”

No attempt to save the sale. No effort whatsoever. Just cold apathy.

We drove 45 minutes. We cancelled. We ordered everything from Cielo. Never looked back.

And for the final insult? The Rochester delivery driver only called Sunday morning — AFTER we’d cancelled — to say he’s on his way.

❌ FINAL VERDICT: A Company That Does Not Deserve Your Money

Rochester Furniture has:

Zero customer care

Zero accountability

Zero communication

Zero reliability

Zero remorse for ruining your time, money, and experience

If you value your sanity, your time, your home, your money, your dignity — take my advice and go to Cielo instead.

I have never experienced such consistent incompetence from one retailer in my life. This wasn’t one mistake. This was a pattern, across three orders, over years.

I’m posting this review everywhere: Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, HelloPeter — everywhere customers deserve to be warned.

Rochester, do better. Because right now? You don’t even deserve to be in business.