The Brick review: couch and bed

I purchased a sofa and bed at the Brick for my new condo and this was undoubtedly the worst service I've ever received in all my years of purchasing furniture and having it delivered.

When I first placed my order, I had already reserved the elevator for my new build condo for Sunday, November 3rd. The sales associate who I was working with assured me that the delivery would be possible for November 3rd and that the time slot could be done but that I'd have to wait until the day before (when I received a call with my 3 hour window) to try to work out the exact time as they didn't do elevator reservations on the weekend. I came back to change my order and, again, the same sales associate gave me the same spiel that elevator bookings couldn't be done on the weekend BUT could be done if I did it on the weekday. Because of this information, I went back to the property manager and moved my elevator reservation to a weekday (November 1) to accommodate the elevator booking (as my sales associate told me I could). I then called the brick to let them know I wanted to change my delivery to accommodate the elevator reservation, and to my surprise, was informed that I couldn't be accommodated because I lived in Pickering and they weren't able to do elevator bookings for locations outside of Scarborough. I was completely flabbergasted as I was NOT informed of this at all by the sales associate who was clearly only feeding me piecemeal information to close the sale. I couldn't even revert my elevator booking back to the Sunday as that slot was already gone. The delivery representative on the phone told me that the drivers are typically very nice and lenient and to call on October 31 to try to negotiate the time. I called back on October 31 to try to stretch my time slot (as I was given 11:45 to 1:45 as my 3 hour window but didn't have the elevator booking) until 2:00pm but was informed that they didn't know who the drivers were at the time and therefore could not contact them. She assured me that she left a note for her coworker who started her shift on November 1 at 9:30am and would be able to call the driver first thing in the morning to try and work something out. Not trusting of this, I called back on the morning of November 1 to, yet again, plead with the delivery representative, explaining that the elevators were booked solid because it was a new build and multiple residents were moving in. She put me on hold while she attempted to call the drive multiple times to no avail. She informed me she'd call back at 11am to give me an update and when she did, I was informed that nothing could be done and that the drive would be there within the hour. The driver arrived as the property manager was scrambling to find us an elevator that wasn't already in service. Of 3 elevators, only 2 could be used to transport furniture and both were in use already - this is exactly the situation I tried to explain repetitively to every brick representative I spoke to. While the property manager was doing his best within the bylaw restrictions and restrictions as the condo was still under construction, the delivery men were threatening to leave the property and take the furniture back to the brick as they refused to wait a mere 15 minutes for an elevator. The delivery man called his delivery dispatch team and put me on the phone with them. I, again, explained the situation and pleaded with dispatch who showed no mercy for my situation at all despite this ALL stemming from a sales associate who failed to convey that I didn't quality for elevator bookings AT ALL based on my location. Within minutes of handing the phone back to the delivery driver, the property manager got an elevator for us, however, the delivery guy was on his phone with dispatch and completely ignoring both myself and the property manager as we tried to get his attention (as he stood literally 3 feet away) to bring the furniture in. When he finally got off the phone and went to find his fellow delivery man, the second man was no where to be found and we lost the elevator to other residents who needed it. When the second delivery man (who walked off to check out the town houses being built in the same complex instead of staying readily available to perform his job) was found, they brought the furniture to the elevator where the property manager proceeded to explain that he had to let the elevator go because he was too busy on the phone. In seconds, the delivery driver got aggressive and started threatening to leave, to take the furniture back to the brick and cancel the delivery, he said the property manager was rude, and things started to escalate as he was clearly heated. The property manager attempted to explain why he had to let the elevator go, and largely referenced the fact that first we were being ignored when we had the elevator as he was on the phone and second he wasn't ready to deliver the furniture as he had to go find his fellow delivery man who decided to tour the property. At this point, the delivery men were just getting angry and continuously threatening to leave. I was literally fighting back tears as I tried to deescalate the situation just for the sake of getting my furniture. By the time the furniture got up to the unit, I just told them to leave everything boxed and in the plastic as I just wanted everything done and over with the Brick.

This was such an awful experience. It was so disheartening and frustrating. I literally had to leave my unit because I was so frustrated with the amount of deescalating I had to do and what I had to hear and put up with just so they wouldn't leave with my furniture. Not to mention all the endless calls and pleas I kept making as I knew the elevator availability would be an issue and yet MINIMAL effort was made to accommodate me EVEN THOUGH I was clear, transparent and honest about the need for a delivery that aligned with my elevator booking from the moment I walked into the brick. Had I known I didn't qualify for an elevator booking, I wouldn't have purchased my furniture with the brick at all. At the time of sale, I was informed that it could be done and even moved my elevator reservation to ensure it happened.

This experience overall was dreaded and I will never shop with the brick again. The sales associate was not client-cantered at all in her approach with me. Not only did she just drag me around the store like a dog on a leash with minimal interaction, she also followed me throughout the store (which made me incredibly uncomfortable) before I finally gave in and felt pressured to have her help me. The store environment was not welcoming nor was the sales experience a pleasant one. There is no doubt in my mind that the sales associate was simply concerned with taking my money to add to her commission than actually finding out my needs and ensuring that the products were the appropriate fit. Because she chose to withhold information from me, it caused a CHAIN reaction of horrible experiences that have literally deterred me from shopping at the brick again. This was my first home purchase and I was going to furnish my entire condo from the Brick but all that the brick has given me was misinformation, the runaround, and horrible delivery etiquette.