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China Importing Difficulty

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How do you get the China companies to remake or pay for furniture that has fallen apart 4 months after the customer receive it. It was also inspected before leaving China. But it starting cracking 4 months after I received it and I am getting sued. I am a small company and cannot afford to give my customer their money back.

Posted By Alex, 7/20/2011

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Replies

From bardiqian, 10/5/2012  4:13 AM

I hope it is not later now, just send them pictures,then ask for the claim. But keep in mind, you should find a good furniture supply before you order.

From fatlilbeagle, 2/5/2012  11:21 AM

With China there are good lines and there are bad lines.  You might save money dealing directly with the mainland through Alibaba but in the end you are much better off working with a manufacturer that has US-based reps who can help you recoup repair expenses.  Or, you can learn repair yourself, which is an absolute necessity if you are going to sell furniture--just like a car dealership or appliance dealership.  If you want, you can send me digital pictures and I can tell you how to repair the problems instead of litigation (unless the veneer itself is cracking, but my guess is that the joints are separating--not a big deal to repair).

From Guest, 7/20/2011  9:42 PM

My guess is that you are out of luck unless the supplier is willing to speak to you about the problem and come to some understanding. The issue sounds like improper kiln drying of furniture that was never meant to reside in whatever kind of climate where you warehouse your products and sell them. There could also have been problems in transit.

But whatever the problem, once you accept the shipment, my guess is that your options are limited, especially if the company does not have a permanent US presence.

Having said that I am not an expert in this area, so hopefully retailers who have had similar problems will respond with suggestions.

Today China has some of the most advanced furniture factories, production and finishing lines in the world, and so I don't see this kind of complaint very often, but it does point to the need to be careful researching suppliers that don't have established distribution and a track record you can check up on.

Good Luck,
Russell