Stephanie
Missoula,#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sat, October 26, 2002
I worked for Heilig-Meyers for over 4 years before our store got closed due to bankruptcy. I was the Credit Manager plus many other hats I had to fill including ordering merchandise. That is the way Heilig-Meyers does business. For the customer service part is unexcusable, the delay in furniture is normal. You see Heilig would put up large promotions that they would not purchase enough merchandise to fill their main warehouses. Due to the computer that is updated approx once daily, you did not have an accurate count of furniture that was acutally at the main warehouse that had to be ordered then shipped to its destination. Even though a salesperson might think that there is plenty for the sale he/she is trying to close, they might be lying & not know it. For being rude & unprofessional, that would be unexcusable & should be addressed. For buying merchandise from Heilig-Meyers my suggestion is if there is furniture that you would like to purchase, make sure you ask the salesperson the quantity at the distribution center. If there seems to be over 500 pieces then you should be okay. Anything less then that, make sure you ask when the order is going to be placed(some stores only confirm their orders weekly. They are still on hold for person, but will not come on the truck unless confirmed)Get a firm day & then call back. Be a pain in the butt! Sometimes the procurement Cordinator(person who orders) gets busy gets sidetracked from his or her job. If they tell you yes it was confirmed ask them to again look in their system to see how many pieces are now there. If still a high amount, you should be okay. If not make sure you are calling the day the truck is to arrive. Once the truck arrives there will be a manifest of merchandise on the truck. If your merchandise is not on the truck there will also be a back order sheet stating when items should be arriving. My sugestion is if it ends up being backordered, it can be a long time for it to come in & I would sugest to select something else or be ready to wait until the piece comes in. This is very normal for this furniture store & one reason that it is doing so poorly in the industry. They need to have more communication with their stores & for the customers that the employees have to make happy. Because if the company doesnt tell their stores what is going on. The employees can not help their customers to the fullest.