The Futon Shop

I came in on Sunday 12÷20÷15 and the salesman was very nice and polite. He gave us plenty of room to browse and I liked that he was not breathing down our necks while we went around the store. The store itself is a small shop but it has a bit of variety and the salesman will let you know about your options with any frame or mattress you like. During the time I came in to purchase a futon frame and mattress there was a sweet deal going on for the mattresses and my purchase came out to ~1,400 $ for a frame, mattress, and cover.
The delivery process was a bit late but a man called to let me know that the delivery would be pushed back a day. Try to be patient with the delivery, I know on the form it says that they stop delivering at 5pm, but it’s 6:45pm right now and the delivery guys are making my futon as I type this out. I almost thought that these guys skipped out on me but it turns out I just so happen to be the last on the list. I’ll post pics of my futon once it’s up.

We looked at/​tried many futons and purchased a queen-​sized futon. Vinh, the person helping us, was honest and helpful throughout. The futon arrived within 5 days as we were told it would and Vinh even helped us load it into our car. It was a straight-​forward shopping experience that went well.

We bought a queen size futon. The person in charge was very friendly and patient with us showing all options. He promised it’ll be ready in three days and was true to that. Called and informed us for pick up. Although would’ve liked free delivery. But I’m satisfied.

Worst shopping experience in a long time. We were looking for a futon that could also be stored as a couch when not used for a bed as it sits in a spare bedroom. We had found a great structure online that ended up being available in the san mateo store. The salesperson at the Los Altos store advised us on the purchase of the futton mattress and he just did a terrible job. The mattress is too thick for the folding mechanism to work properly, making it practically impossible to fold the whole thing unless you are strong enough to fight it! We called to complain and were told there was no way to exchange a mattress althopugh nobody had slept on it since we called the day of the delivery. We were told that they did not exchange mattresses if they had been taken out of the wrapping plastic. Unfortunately, it is impossible to put the mattress on the structure WITH the wrapping to check if the whole thing works, which you should not have to do in the first place anyway. The store manager was supposed to call us back and never did…
Also worth mentionning that the delivery team made a terrible job. Dirty hands on a white structure, got the delivery date wrong in the first place which meant we had to struggle with them to actually get our stuff when we acrually needed it…

I purchased a futon set and had trouble with the frame. One of the employees, Miguel Ortiz, listened to my situation and then actually came out to my house to see what the problem was. The frame was broken. I contacted Customer Services and in no time at all I got a new frame and new futon delivered to my house. My new futon works great. It is wonderful to know that The Futon Shop stands behind their products and that if you have a problem they will listen and fix it.
Connie Pugh
Sunnyvale

Probably the worst retail experience I’ve ever had. I don’t spend over $ 1000.00 on a lot of things, but my parents were coming to visit for 10 days, so my wife and I decided to get a nice queen sized futon for the spare bedroom. We chose a mattress and frame, explained our schedule of events, and was assured by the salesman that there was plenty of time.
The following Wednesday, we picked up a mattress, and a frame minus the arms (basically the folding wooden back and seat), and were assured by the salesman the the arms would arrive the next Wednesday. That Wednesday passed, as did the next, and still no arms. We were getting close to my parents arriving, so, (to their credit), they arranged to give us a set of «loaner» arms, which arrived at the store the day before my parents arrived.
When I set out to assemble it, the back and seat of the frame (the part we actually owned) was of extremely poor quality. There were scratches, voids and saw marks all over the frame, most of which had a poorly matched wood filler slopped over top of them (I uploaded a few pictures). There was no way I was taking ownership of the frame, so we boxed it up to take it back to the store. My parents arrived that day, so we had no choice but to have them sleep on the mattress on the floor (did I mention my mom is 65 and has two bad knees?).
Very displeased, I took the frame back, and tried to work with the sales guy to get a replacement. He acknowledged that there were quality control issues with this manufacturer, so I decided the best thing to do was to buy an entirely different frame. None of the frames he offered us of equal value were in the style or wood species we had originally chosen, and the one that was similar (that we liked) was deemed too expensive ($ 300.00 more) to swap. Given what we had already been through with them, I thought maybe they’d work with us a little on the difference, but they wouldn’t budge at all. I asked to speak with the manager on the phone, who literally screamed at me for a while, refused to let me speak, and claimed he could get me the original frame in excellent condition. Then he hung up on me (the salesman told me he got disconnected). I had my doubts, based on the overall poor craftsmanship of the first one, and what the salesman had said about the manufacturer, but I decided to give them one last shot.
A few days later, the salesman called, and indeed, they could not get the original frame to us in decent shape. At this point, I decided it was time to get my money back and just be done with the Futon Shop. The original «deal» they gave us was buy the frame, and get the mattress 50% off. The frame cost roughly $ 500, and since the «retail» price of the mattress was about $ 1000, we got that for around $ 500 as well. The mattress had been slept on (a situation they created), so all we could return was the frame. Their offer was to refund us the price of the frame, but we would then lose the 50% off on the mattress, so they would basically take back the frame and keep almost all of my money. Classy.
After a bunch of back and forth, we eventually got the full refund for the frame without getting screwed on the mattress, but it wasn’t easy. I found them to be unreliable, unscrupulous, and in the case of the manager, a complete hothead with no concern for customer satisfaction. We still have the mattress on the floor, and I’m not looking forward to looking somewhere else for a frame, but I’ll never go back to the Futon Shop again, and I’ll go out of my way to tell anyone I know the same.

The store experience was just OK — not a great selection, a little pricey, but passable. It almost could garner a 2-​star «Meh» rating, but…
The delivery service was extremely sketchy. I did not pay the store for assembly ($ 40), but the delivery people called a few minutes in advance and offered to do it for $ 20. I agreed. When they arrived, they pulled out the fully assembled futon from the back of the van. No boxes, no packaging, no instructions, no nothing. I should have objected then, but it didn’t occur to me. They left quickly after bringing it in. (They were professional and courteous.)
Only later did I discover large impressions in one part of the futon. I suspect this was a returned item that they were pawning off as new. I would need to pay 20% restocking fee to return the item, since the defect was not discovered at delivery time.

I have observed several negative reviews for the Palo Alto shop so I decided it was time to weigh in with our experiences. Have now bought two futon couches from them over the past several years (the most recent this month). We have had nothing but good experiences with excellent in-​store service, rapid reliable deliveries and high-​quality products. The manager of the Palo Alto store is a really good guy — very well-​informed about his products, non-​pushy, and attentive to details. Highly recommend them!

They do have a great selection, although the prices are about as expensive as you’ll find anywhere. But the biggest reason to stay away from this place is the non-​existent customer service. I went in once and sat there for 20 minutes while the salesperson talked on the phone. My wife bought me a futon for my office as a Christmas present, but I did not like the color of the cover. We tried to bring the cover back two days after Christmas and were told it would cost us $ 60 to exchange it. Not a return, but sixty bucks for an exchange — take one cover off the shelf and put back another. We tried to reason with the district manager, but he was the biggest Grinch of all.
So while they have lots of different futons, they treat you like dirt. Better to go to the Futon Store or elsewhere.

See my review of the SF Store for a more complete review of this crappy company.
The short story is that we were sent to the Palo Alto store by the San Mateo store to buy a shoji screen that the SM store does not carry. The screen we wanted was on display in the Palo Alto showroom. AFTER we paid for it, the clerk advised us for the first time that screen was not actually in stock after all, but said we could pick it up at the San Francisco store.
When my DH got to the San Francisco store, he was told that the SF store does not have the screens either. The kicker??? When I asked how we could get a refund for the screen we do not yet have, the owner (or someone using her account) admitted that her employees had dropped the ball with us but told me that if we canceled the sale we would have to pay a 20% restocking fee!!!
STAY AWAY. STAY FAR AWAY.

We bought our futon from here so that’s an up-​front disclosure. The salesperson we eventually bought from was great. Very helpful, knowledgeable and fun to interact with. The guy the day before was a complete disaster. He ignored us when we walked in (even though we were the only ones in the place) and completely misrepresented their offerings. I had to go home and make sense of it all online.
Their products are excellent, albeit a bit pricey. They are well made and very innovative. We wanted a queen sized futon that didn’t take up a lot of wall space. They have this love seat futon that hugs the wall so no need to move it and easily turns into a very comfortable queen sized bed. Delivery and setup were free and the guys who came were very nice, professional, and speedy. We have a new home so I’m anal about being gentle with the walls, floors/​carpets – and so were they!

We have bought a couple of mattresses and a bed frame from «the futon shop» because this is one of the few places that sells good «cotton mattresses for beds» and that is exactly what we were looking for.
Vince is polite and helpful and knowledgeable and willing to look up information if he does not know something about it.
We like our mattresses and are pretty happy with the sleep we get on them.

We bought a futon last Wednesday. Did not pick up since we did not have place in the car. Called on Saturday to cancel the order (remember, we had not picked up… and thought it should be simple to cancel). The salesman, Vince, who we talked to, was nice enough and said he understood. However, he could not do anything. needed to talk to the manager. After 4+ calls back and forth, he said that someone would call us back the next day. Got a call from Marilyn, who said she was the regional manager, on Sunday. She basically said that company policy is no returns and she would not authorize over ruling the company policy for us. I tried to reason with her… no dice. This store clearly works on one-​off sales to college students… there is very little customer service and/​or need for repeat customers. Hence, its all about the sale… forget post-​sale support /​customer service. In today’s environment, many companies like them are learning about cust service and changing their ways. Perhaps they will. But… I would not hold my breath.

Just moved up the the Bay Area and was looking for something decently comfy to sleep on, and use as a couch/​guest bed when I got a real bed. Found The Futon Shop online, and decided to check out their showroom. The lot itself is kind of lonely and a little seedy, but the interior was really nice with a great selection on display. My biggest props go to the salesman Joseph, who was close to the most helpful retail person I’ve ever had the pleasure of dealing with. He was knowledgeable about the merchandise, and discreetly encouraging when helping me select what amounted to a fairly sizable piece of furniture for me. Sadly they didn’t have the arms of the frame in the color I wanted in stock, but they went above and beyond in not only arranging for me to have loaner arms, and free reassembly when mine finally came in, but also to lend me a foldable mattress when I explained I had some guests coming before the delivery date and was worried about getting something for them to sleep on. Thank you, Mr. Vu.
Unfortunately it seems like others have had bad experiences with the warranty/​service department if there’s an issue, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

The Futon Shop is probably the biggest futon shop in the Bay Area. The selection is amazing, ranging from pretty cheap to very expensive.
When I was working at my old company
we needed a futon for workers to sleep on overnight while getting things together for opening live. So we drove/​walked down to the Futon Shop and they were very helpful to us. We ended up buying one of their cheaper models, a black futon that was adequate to sleep on, not super comfortable, but alright. (I eventually took it home when we didn’t get our second round of funding and shut down). It’s in my home office and doing quite well thank you.
All in all, my experience with Futon Shop was OK. I got what I wanted and got it for a good price. The staff wasn’t super friendly but they weren’t mean either so there you go.

After shopping for two months, I decided to pay a little more and buy a futon at a small locally owned business. I went back three times before I stumbled into the perfect little couch on the second floor. A kind salesman told me it was a custom order from a Stanford student who put down a deposit but never picked it up. It was a little high, but perfect for my space, so I bought.
The kind salesman arranged delivery and I had a little couch that would function as my bed for a temporary period of time. The very first night it started to wobble a bit. Within one month the legs collapsed on one side. Maybe you might understand how upset I was after spending close to $ 500.00.
I went back to the store. They were sorry, but I had to contact the office in San Francisco. I sent an email and then called about 10 to 11 times. Hey this is my bed! Next attempt on my end was to write the CEO a letter. I’ve always had great luck with this.
There was no luck this time. I got a form letter saying that they do not warranty the floor models. My receipt does not state this, nor was I told this was «as is» piece. Little petty details aside. Will I ever buy another pillow or futon from them. Not in this lifetime or any other. One star goes to the kind salesman. The rest blank is for lack of integrity as a business. A well run business won’t sell «floor models» or any other goods that break in a short period of time and refuse to repair or acknowledge the bad transaction. I paid a handy man $ 100.00 to fix it. His feedback: poor design and not the best quality.

I just finished a 9 month dispute process. The futon broke the first night a slept on it in October 2006. They did not get it replaced until January, when they delivered a wrong model. One with the same design flaw.
They never returned phone calls.
After the first time visa did a charge back for me, they charged my CC again!
Now I have my money back. But I have to pay someone to dispose of this unsafe piece of furniture.
The sad part is that they used to be somewhat reputable when I bought my first futon from them back in 1997.

I think futon covers are pretty much a specialty item, so you probably won’t be able to find them at a regular department store.