Executive Living - Sofa

[skylimit 0]

Hi EL,

I'm glad that you are here to clarify our doubts. I'm one of your customer and my sofa is expected to arrive on the 3rd September. Let's hope that everything is what I've order.

Can I check something with you, the sofa I bought was the L-shape sofa which was on discount $2,xxx. Can I know what is the height clearance from the floor to the arm rest? And what to the width of the arm rest?

[skylimit 0]

Hi Skylimit

I would like to clarify your order, we have 2 models which are on promotion, $2099 and $2299. THe former, height clearance is 20in from floor to armrest, the latter will be 25in. Both have a width of 1 metre. Thank you for posting.

I bought the $2099.

Can I know where is the latter and width that u mentioned?

[skylimit 0]

Hi Skylimit

The armrest measured 20in to the floor and the width is 1m in depth. I hope that answers your questions. Hwever please feel free to post any questions should you have doubt. Thank you.

Thanks for the details. Can I know what is the width/depth of the armrest?

[Hunnypotty 0]

Hi, we have been scouting for leather sofa. Executive Living, can you please give me your website address? I googled but cld not find. Hope to be able to see the designs of your promotion 2099 sofa in the website. are you based at imm? It's a bit far for us, so hope to start by browsing your website first. thanks.

[Phintastic 0]

Hi EL, is there anyway I can check to see if my delivery will be made on time?

[Phintastic 0]

Hi Phintastic

I would like to have your sales order number in order to assist you on that. Alternatively, you can call our main line number at 62806188, quote your sales order number, our friendly staff there will be able to serve you on your request. Thank you and have a nice day.

Hi EL,

My order number Sales Order No is 20291, Alteration Form AO no. 30324. Model : Mark IV 9320, 3 seater Full leather sofa with manual recliner on both sides, Colour selected is Light Grey 2922. 2 throw pillows 16" x 16" colour selected Sand 2082. Delivery booked on the 20th August 2011.

Please assist to ensure a puctual delivery with the correct product fabricated as agreed on the order form and AO. Thank you.

P.S.

Dear RT readers,

Please do not misinterpret my very detail request above as an unhappy customer. It took me a long time before I finally found a low back reclining sofa with good back support at EL after browsing through almost all the available sofa makers locally. To date, I am very impressed with the service level produced by EL staff. A couple of weeks ago I called EL to make an appointment for my leather colour selection. I had a shock when I learned that the senior sales staff who served me when I made my purchase at EXPO is no longer with EL. Worried about my order and deposit paid for my sofa. Alvinna, a very nice lady, who took my call was very assuring, made an appointment with me reassuring me that everything is in good hands. During the colour selection, I met Alvinna, a fast talking lady. She took time to patiently explain to me the different grade of leather they carry and the type suitable for my usage even though my sales order was not taken in by her. That is what I call sales service. Now it is left with the last stage, timely delivery with the correct ordered product. My order isn't exactly what EL displays at their showroom or Expo. They are promoting heavily on the elecronic recliner. I persistently opted for a mechanical version due to my living room layout. If EL makes it through this last stage smoothly, I am sure to recommend them to my kakis currently scouting their stuff for their new house.

Keep it up EL

[tuasbird 2]

Hi Phintastic

I would like to have your sales order number in order to assist you on that. Alternatively, you can call our main line number at 62806188, quote your sales order number, our friendly staff there will be able to serve you on your request. Thank you and have a nice day.

hi Executiveliving

can tell ya salvaging or making gd the name of the company name ya representing...n that's great!

din go thru threads here but jus checkin if ya the shareholder or the jus 'updated' mgr in charge of 'resolving issues'? sori this sounds intruding tho it is not...not checkin for alternatives that's all my pal

[kalimantan 6]

Dear EL

I see that you took effort and pains to satisfy customers which is great.

With you as a salaried worker, EL is in safe hands.

but if you quit to join other companies , will the other people in EL as good as you ?

Typically furniture shops or retailers are consider small businesses model. They may not have process like big companies. I am sure you are good worker and answer the forum quickly. But are your other colleagues as good as you to ensure things are ok ?

p/s : I am just a forum member who did not buy anything from EL yet, thus i cannot comment your product / services.

[SamTheMan 7]

Hi Executive Living,

May I know where your sofas are manufactured? From your website, it sounds like you manufacture your own sofas or do you buy from a supplier?

[SamTheMan 7]

Hi Sam

We have 4 factories behind us,one in Ipoh, one in Petaling Jaya and the other 2 is in KL. Out of these 4, only one is cater for the Singapore market. There are some models which are displayed in our showroom are meant for export. They are of different size, like a 2.45m long for a 3 seater alone. We call these Euro size. Executive Living is a retail arm of these 4 factories, that is the reason why we are able to customise our sofa ssts to a certain extend. For instance, we can change the length, height and mechanism for most of our sofas to cater to different customers' requirements. The catch is that, we do not increase the selling price for customisation, we value add our products in that way. On top of that, we offer a 5 year warranty for all parts and services.

I am sure you know very well that it doesnt make economic sense to offer customisation services. Therefore, a lot of suppliers don;t offer customisation. Its very difficult in this trade if you were to buy it from suppliers and resell it at a much inflated price. Singapore is a very small market and most of them do not regard us as a strong partners, basically the quantity that we provide doesnt attract them to give us better terms. I hope that clears your doubts. Thank you.

You have 4 factories behind you, meaning you own these 4 factories?

You are very good at not answering questions directly.

Anyway, in business there is this thing called transfer pricing, it will not make any economic sense for the factories to supply you with sofas at below a price they can get selling to somebody else because they will have costs to incur in production.

Similarly, you have your own costs it will not make sense for you to make less money than any other retailer because if you did you will go out of business and it does not help you customers.

I am sure all you customers want you to be profitable so that you can be around a long time to continue serving them.

[kalimantan 6]

Thanks Sam for pointing it out :-)

I in-fact "own" a lot of companies in the world, as i buy "unit trusts each month " ..which indirectly makes me a share-holder. :-)

I do agree with statements that all business needs to generate profilt to stay afloat.

[SamTheMan 7]

Hi Mr. Executive Living,

After seeing you write so many wonderful things about you company, I thought I would drop by your showroom to have a look.

On your brochure you make several claims:

1. Your mechanisms are from Legend Plate, imported from USA.

2. All glass surfaces are made from crystal glass.

3. You use full-grain cowhides that are not split.

4. You use cow-hides from Brazil which is supposedly higher grade because of the gentle climate.

5. Your leather is Tuscan leather.

6. Your products are premium quality at "mid-end" pricing.

So let me tell you what I saw:

1. Your mechanisms are from Leggett and Platt, which is mostly made in China. All you have to do is to open up your recliners and look at the label, it clearly says Leggett and Platt. There is nothing wrong with this brand, I don't see why you keep denying it. Most sofa makers use this brand.

2. Most of you glass items are using coloured glass, crystal glass is glass with a high lead oxide content and is usually clear. So the coloured glass items are unlikely to be crystal glass. Next the only piece of clear glass I saw in your showroom has a green tinge on it, this is a normal colour seen on float glass. Furniture makers use crystal glass because there will be no green tinge on the glass.

3. You supposedly use Full-grain leather for your semi-aniline range and they have not been split, a cow-hide is typically 5-7mm thick, your semi-aniline leather is 1.3-1.5mm thick. Do the math.

4. Leather manufacturers use hides from Brazil not because of the gentle climate but because hides are plentiful. Brazil has a climate like Singapore, how is it gentle?

5. Your sofas are from Zolano, there is no mention of Tuscan leather on their website. The leather could have been tanned in Tuscany but really, how leathers are made is more important than where they are made. Many Italian leather companies have tanneries in Asia, if you started using their leather maybe you can reduce your cost without sacrificing quality.

6. Finally, you supposedly have premium products at "mid-end" prices. I noticed that most of your sofas are presented in 0.9-1.1mm leather mixed with PVC. This is the kind of products that are sold in most mass-market stores. If you go to a premium brand such as Natuzzi or Giorgetti, they will never even present a product in half-leather and the leather thickness will be from 1.5mm-3mm. Thicker leather lasts longer and will not crack or peel faster than thinner leather, this is why high-end brands use them.

So while I respect the fact that you will promptly respond to comments, I think that you have been rather liberal about your product specifications.

Consumers spend their hard earned money to buy furniture, I think they deserve to know exactly what they are buying and not hear sales talk.

Cheers,

Edited August 11, 2011 by SamTheMan

[tankenz 0]

Thumbs up for SamTheMan. , many of us know what they are selling but just keep quiet about it cos we know the things they mention and promise is not what they give ..At least words from a reputation readers like SamTheMan will at least create a warning message to all consumers.

SamTheMan

CHEERS!!!!!!!!!!

[tankenz 0]

Hi Sam

We have 4 factories behind us,one in Ipoh, one in Petaling Jaya and the other 2 is in KL. Out of these 4, only one is cater for the Singapore market. There are some models which are displayed in our showroom are meant for export. They are of different size, like a 2.45m long for a 3 seater alone. We call these Euro size. Executive Living is a retail arm of these 4 factories, that is the reason why we are able to customise our sofa ssts to a certain extend. For instance, we can change the length, height and mechanism for most of our sofas to cater to different customers' requirements. The catch is that, we do not increase the selling price for customisation, we value add our products in that way. On top of that, we offer a 5 year warranty for all parts and services.

I am sure you know very well that it doesnt make economic sense to offer customisation services. Therefore, a lot of suppliers don;t offer customisation. Its very difficult in this trade if you were to buy it from suppliers and resell it at a much inflated price. Singapore is a very small market and most of them do not regard us as a strong partners, basically the quantity that we provide doesnt attract them to give us better terms. I hope that clears your doubts. Thank you.

Your furnitures also from supplier no difference from others .. as for 2.45m 3 seater doesnt mean you guys do export , its just another copied design from some other companies. And i can say is due to labour cost and materials shortage , how can malaysia do export to european countries compare to china ??

[SamTheMan 7]

Hi Mr. Executive Living,

Great attitude.

1. Glad I cleared up the mechanism thingy because I was really confused about Legend Plate, I suppose you now need to update your website and brochure.

2. Let's agree to disagree on the crystal glass, your brochure says all glass surfaces are crystal glass, perhaps another effort by your copywriter to flow. From a furniture perspective, you are better off providing tempered float glass because of the strength and safety, as you can see from your wiki search crystal glass is softer than float glass. Also, it makes no sense to use crystal glass on flat surfaces because the increased refractive index does not come into play since flat glass has no facets. Finally, I would imagine the cost of crystal glass would be prohibitive since crystal glass cost several time more than float glass.

3. I refer you to your website under "Why Us", "Luxurious leather options include magnificent heavy embossed leather (top Grain), with its intricate and alluring patterns that seem to go on forever, and the much sought-after semi-aniline grade (Full Grain) which is treated to show off the natural grain. This grade is special as instead of fading over time, it ages gracefully and exudes an aura of beauty no words can describe. Truly a sight that deserves to be experienced first-hand." "Full-grain leather – Highest quality leather where the top grain and split layers are not separated. Executive Living uses this leather in our best sets for greater strength, durability, and breathability. Interestingly, this leather is also used in luxury shoes."

The above paragraphs are from your website. Perhaps your copywriter convenient wrote these without checking with you.

4. Well perhaps you want to reign in your copywriter.

5. All I said is that you could help your customers save some money by sourcing in Asia. I personally have seen many cowhides that are as good as Italian hides.

6. Once again I refer you to your website, "Not only do we offer premium-quality products at mid-end prices, we take care to educate you about the products and services you will receive so that you know exactly what you are paying for."

I wouldn't want to put words into your mouth, I hope that your copywriter does not put his foot into his mouth.