MFI (Shop)

.../> Everything I purchased from MFI was self assembly which wasn't a problem for me. However, most of their stuff was held together with little wooden dowels that were inserted into pre drilled holes. Unfortunately the holes were either too big or too small making assembly difficult & frustrating. You were always advised to use a good quality wood glue to supplement the dowels & the odd screw & nails.
After a few months use they used to come ...
...that things had improved with MFI & they no longer sell poor quality goods. We visited one of their stores in the summer of 2006, they had a sale on at the time & we looked at what they had on offer.
The quality & the designs certainly looked quite good & we purchased a computer table & wooden filing cabinet to match for my study & a glass/wooden table, music cabinet & display cabinet for the sitting room. The sale entitled us to just over ... more

Back in the 1980s when money was tight & I had just got my own place, I used to buy the odd item from MFI. Things like a chest of drawers, bedside cabinet, kitchen table or a wardrobe. They were cheap and cheerful, second thoughts they were cheap!
Everything I purchased from MFI was self assembly which wasn't a problem for me. However, most of their stuff was held together with little wooden dowels that were inserted into pre drilled holes. Unfortunately the holes were either too big or too small making assembly difficult & frustrating. You were always advised to use a good quality wood glue to supplement the dowels & the odd screw & nails.
After a few months use they used to come apart, drawer covers would come adrift from the drawers, the finishing's around the edges would split, doors would fall off & on one occasion a table became warped & unsteady.
As time went on & money wasn't so tight I started buying furniture from others outlets & never had any more problems.

Fast forward twenty years, I'm now in a different house & need some furniture. I'd heard that things had improved with MFI & they no longer sell poor quality goods. We visited one of their stores in the summer of 2006, they had a sale on at the time & we looked at what they had on offer.
The quality & the designs certainly looked quite good & we purchased a computer table & wooden filing cabinet to match for my study & a glass/wooden table, music cabinet & display cabinet for the sitting room. The sale entitled us to just over 50% off bringing the total cost down to around £690.00 & delivery was promised one Saturday in July.

Delivery was as promised without any hiccups, as all the packages were taken up a lot of room in the house I decided there & then to start assembling them.
I was impressed by the clear & concise instructions MFI provided, each one listed all the items I should have, the tools required & diagrams to back up the instructions. Instead of using little wooden doles they now use substantial metal ones that lock into metal fasteners. The general quality of the furniture is actually quite good, it included hard wearing plastic edges on some of the tables & cabinets, decent hinges & well designed slides for drawers.
In no time at all I had assembled the tables & cabinet & left the display unit to last as it was the biggest & heaviest item.

As I assembled the display cabinet I just had to assemble the top & the glass doors, just as I was about to install the top I noticed that one of the metal fasteners was smaller that the rest & wouldn't fit. Annoying as it was, there was a helpline to call if I had any problems. First thing on Monday morning (9am) I called MFI to report the incorrect part that was supplied. I waited 25 minutes at 9am in the morning with a message telling me 'that your phone call is important to us', oh yeah, then why don't they employ more people to answer the calls if it's that important!!
Why is it when you want to buy something from a company the phone is answered immediately, when you want to complain you wait until they are ready!!
However, I did get through to a human being who took my details, apologised & confirmed a replacement part would be sent out in 6-8 weeks. What!!!! 6-8 weeks, I not willing to wait that long for a small fastener, I said. He said, 'that all I can do for you' & disconnected my call!!
I was fuming, not because of the 6-8 week wait but the fact he disconnected my call. I called back & waited about 15 minutes & got someone else who stated he couldn't help me as I needed to speak to his colleague who was dealing with your concern.
I said I didn't get a chance to get his name & told me he would find out who spoke to me & get him to call me back. Two years on I'm still waiting!!!!
Later that day I visited the MFI store where I purchased the goods & passed on the problem to the salesman. He robbed the part I needed from a new one in stock & we all lived happily ever after…………I thought!!
When I got home I fitted the fastener & finished off the job & thought that was the last I would hear of MFI.

About six weeks later I received a call from my local store stating that my display cabinet had arrived. 'What display cabinet' I said, 'the one you ordered sir'. It turned out that my human being at the call centre had ordered a complete display cabinet as the fasteners are not available as a separte part!!! I explained to her that the salesman had got me a part & I no longer need anything else. She apologised for the mix up & that I thought was the end of that.

Two weeks later the same again but a different girl this time telling my cabinet had arrived, I told her the same story & she apologised for the mix up.
Another two weeks later & yes you guessed it, another phone call telling my cabinet was ready for collection. This time from the same girl!! I was transferred to the salesman who eventually put a stop to the calls.
In early 2007, about eight months after I had contacted MFI a package came through the letter box. Inside was a pack of metal dowels, I had never asked for metal dowels so I can only suspect they were meant to be metal fasteners. Faced with another call to their call centre I decided instead just to keep them.

About a year after I had originally purchased the furniture another package arrived through the letter box from MFI. This time a pack of metal fasteners, the ones that are not available separately!!!
Only a year late!! But they were the wrong size anyway & as much use to me as a chocolate covered fireguard.

To summarise, MFI's furniture is quite stylish & certainly quite well made now compared to the 'cheap & cheerful' stuff of years ago. But their customer service leaves a lot to be desired & that alone would maybe put me off ever using them again. 

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