Neighborhood stores can't usually beat the big guys on selection or the internet on price. But they should be able to outshine both on service.\r
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Not so at ""Sid & Me"", a Westchester institution.\r
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After spending over $500 on a bedding/decor for our new baby's room, we didn't think the defective lampshade (part of the set) would ever cause us so much trouble. The darn thing melted -- as in the fabric cover pulled away fro the lining and the whole thing warped -- after only a few hours of use with the exact kind of lightbulb (60 watt) that the lamp base said to use.\r
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Our attempted return got us a royal runaround. First, to the manufacturer, Brandee Danielle, who (Ms. Danielle herself, no less), told me wife that we couldn't POSSIBLY have been using the right kind of bulb, because they've never had this problem before. And then by Sid & Me -- and the manager, Sonya -- who told us that because the manufacturer wouldn't give them a refund, they wouldn't offer us anything.\r
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It took another visit to the store (a lot of wasted time) for Sonya to finally offer to give us HALF the cost of the shade in store credit. She did see fit to tell us that the owner of the store didn't want us to get ANY credit. We spent our money and we will never set foot in there again.\r
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If Sid & Me won't stand behind a defective $28 lampshade, we can only imagine how they'll treat customers who have a problem with an expensive stroller, a broken piece of furniture, or anything that costs them a nickel.\r
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Without customer service, all they are is a nice display window. It's too bad, because they're close and we would have liked to shop there again....
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