Wickes Furniture files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

[Ex Wickes Employee]

I can't believe some of the comments here. It wasn't the store level employees that caused this, it was upper level management. Thanks for nothing Sun Capital. I happen to know many people who lost there jobs today who have mortgage payments and bills like the rest of us. I thank the lord that I changed jobs a year and a half a go, or I would have been laid off too. Maybe instead of kicking when there down saying a prayer for them and their families would be more humane. You never know you could go to work tomorrow and the same thing could happen to you... I wouldn't wish that on anybody!!!!!!!!!!

[HMMM]

I wonder if wickes will fill its current orders or are we all just out of luck holding an empty bag. Any advice from those on the inside?

[wickes]

HMMM wrote:

I wonder if wickes will fill its current orders or are we all just out of luck holding an empty bag. Any advice from those on the inside?

If it's in stock take possession now or you may have to wait a while before you get your money.

[Jon]

History repeating itself. If you can't pay your bills, file for bancruptcy and recieve court protection against all you owe money too. With a business plan like this, how can anyone shop at Wickes?

[CC of Chgo]

welli n 1982 they were having financial trouble bought Aldens, a mail order catalog company (90 yrs old, some people might remember it) that I worked for and many other good people, and destroyed the company to save their "skin".......so the old saying is "what goes around comes around".....sorry for the employees, but I hope they "choke"........

[Believer]

Furniture is a tough industry. Companies fold all the time.

[ANGRY]

A Laz wrote:

<quoted text>
Based on all your mispells I can now see why issues are not resolved at their stores. The orders are probably not written correctly.

A LAZ -
I THINK IT IS NOT THE TIME TO BE CRITIZING PEOPLES "MISPELLS" I AM ONE OF THE CURRENTLY BUT NOT FOR LONG EMPLOYEED AT THE WICKES WAREHOUSE IN CA. YESTERDAY I SAW ABOUT 40 PEOPLE BEING LAID OFF AND IT WAS NOT A RECOMMENDABLE SIGHT. IT WAS A TREMENDOUS TRAGEDY. SO WHETHER OR NOT WE KNOW HOW TO SPELL OR NOT IS NOT THE CASE. I THINK U WILL ROT IN HELL FOR POSTING YOUR STUPID COMMENT.

[Dawn]

I just purchased a dining room table last Wednesday with a check. Suprisingly they did not cash it yet and I put a stop payment on it. I would recommend any one who has placed an order and paid via check or personal credit card to put a stop payment or dispute the charge. If you don't they will have your money tied up in bankruptcy proceedings for who knows how long. I called the store and they told me I was one of the unlucky ones who will not get my set I ordered. I asked about my check I wrote and she said there was nothing they can do about it until the bankruptcy proceedings are final. You will lose your money if you do not put a stop payment. A very concerned customer!

[Angrier]

Hey Angry, I read your post. I agree with you 100%. I have bought furniture from Wickes and was was very pleased with the service and delivery. My daughter broke one of our chairs with a hammer (don't ask) and I called Wickes. One week later and the new chair was dropped off. For all of you smarties out there, Wickes got caught in the market and mortgage break down. My heart goes out to the folks that have lost and will lose their jobs. My company is facing some bad times right now and I won't be shocked if we start cutting just like everyone else. Get off of Wickes Furniture's case. I pray that you don't go through what the folks at Wickes are going through, but maybe you should and your smug smiles will be wiped off of your faces. For all those affected by the bankruptcy, I hope that you find something soon. God Bless.

[rdgustav McHenry IL]

I bought furniture on December 26th, 2007. I guess I'll never see the furniture or my money!

[Happy With Wickes]

Have bought furniture several times from Wickes over the years and am quite happy with it. It's good, solid furniture but then again we bought high end Wickes furniture. They sell cheaper stuff just like any other place and quite frankly you get what you pay for. As for customer service, it's like the old grey mare - aint what it used to be whether you're buying furniture or eating in a restaurant. It's not just Wickes but many areas of industry, whether it's your morning paper, in years past delivered to your door and now you're lucky if it makes it to the curb, or a shopping trip to Walmart where there's 5 people working in the deli area but only one of them waiting on a long line of customers. Customer service today is terrible everywhere!

[Concern Citizen]

A Laz wrote:

<quoted text>
Based on all your mispells I can now see why issues are not resolved at their stores. The orders are probably not written correctly.

Don't be so mean and petty! This poor person has just been laid off.

[YEA]

who would know about wickes unless u have worked there!
if u were having a prob w/ merch u should have kept up with it, u might have damaged it urself. u had to do ur part as well.
i been working here for over 2 yrs, and thanks god i am still here, its not as easy as some of u may think, yes out customer service wasnt all that great BUT when i would help customers out i would take care of them, there are many calls and its not so easy taking all of them.
if u didnt like wickes well u should have gone somewhere else.

[gac]

Reality wrote:

Wickes won't be missed. They sell junk. Garage sale stuff is better.

Unless the garage sale stuff was purchased at Wickes...

[ACEMAN]

What a nightmare! I just found out about the B/K from Wickes. I called to find out about my warranty on my couch and was told they can't help me out and we can't have our money back either.Now I have a broken arm on the couch and no leg to stand on.

[fooled customer]

I was Given a cheap quality bed,very inferior to the one in the showroom.inspect carefully when delivered they look the same but the quality sucks

[fooled customer]

you are not getting what you see in the store they are delivering crap

[Lady KLO]

I have been looking at furniture at Wickes for a few months. I finally decided what I want to buy and I go in today and the sales person tells me that they have filed bankruptcy. It's pretty sad cause I kinda got used to seeing them and they knew me.

I hope they can all find jobs soon.

[Another angry customer]

Couldn't have happened to a more deserving company. I bought an entertainment center from them 2 months ago, not 15 minutes after the delivery men left after assembling the thing the 30-40lb center shelf over the tv broke off, fell on my tv and put 2 holes in the wall behind it on its way down. One of the cheap plastic pegs (yes, cheap plastic to hold that huge thing up) broke cleanly in half. I did everything they told me, they sent a guy over to "investigate", I've called them countless times, etc. etc. etc. Their latest stance? Get this, Steven Hawkins (their customer service goon) tells me that Wickes' furniture is actually meant to be assembled by the buyer, and if the salespeople tell you otherwise they are "mistaken". Therefore I must have assembled my own entertainment center and I did it wrong, therefore the shelf fell. Can you believe this?!?! I am in shock. Last I heard Hawkins was going to talk to the delivery people again and see if they might do something to help me (since Wickes has basically told me to take a flying leap), and I'd hear back from Steve no later than last Thurs. It has been another week and a half and still nothing. Now I know why. Steve is probably in the Unemployment line wondering how he's going to pay his bills, thanks to their shady practices. I now have a broken tv, a broken entertainment center, and 2 holes in my wall. Thank you Wickes, thank you so much. At least you got what you deserved.

[Another angry customer]

Just to amend my above post, I called a bunch of different Wickes locations and talked to salesmen there and all of them told me that the delivery men assemble everything, and customers don't have to do a thing but "enjoy". Why is Steve Hawkins telling me that the buyers are supposed to do their own assembly when every sales person says that's not true? Why am I being told I assembled my own furniture when I clearly didn't, and neither does any other buyer (for that matter why do the delivery men come armed with power tools if they're not supposed to use them?)? This is fraud.

Anyone considering purchasing from this sinking ship should run the other way, what happened to me could happen to anyone. If the shelf had fallen the other way at another time my toddler plays there and could have been seriously hurt, thank goodness it was just my tv that's been destroyed. I shudder to think that this could happen to someone else.