Allyson Slobotski
Google
I’m writing my first ever Google review of a business, and not a good one, reluctantly, but I feel an obligation to warn prospective buyers of Berlin Outdoors, LLC’s outdoor poly furniture. Berlin claims their outdoor poly furniture is of such a quality that it won’t fade over time like other brands (the poly is colored all the way through, not just the surface). We purchased 5 outdoor poly Adirondack chairs from Berlin, in red, at a higher price point to avoid fading. After only 3 years, the red chairs turned pink. We approached our local retailer who contacted Berlin, the wholesaler. Berlin’s response was that their manufacturer, Tangent, is honoring some claims for fading, but our fading wasn’t bad enough. Berlin’s customer service manager, Johnny, encouraged us to come back in a few years to see if Tangent would honor the claim, at a later date, with more fading.
The fading continued and we filed a second claim with Berlin 2 years later. Berlin denied our claim again, despite clear evidence of significant additional fading, saying their manufacturer, Tangent, is no longer paying Berlin for any claims. Berlin is now telling us that there was no warranty against fading. Berlin is only honoring its warranty on fading if it gets paid by its manufacturer for the product. We have contacted Berlin customer service and worked with Conrad and Johnny on multiple occasions. The best offer of compensation provided was “25% off” if we wanted to buy 5 new chairs. When we inquired as to 25% off what – retailer or wholesale cost – we were told they can’t disclose pricing and we’d have to go through the retailer we originally used. Ironically, they did make sure to tell us NOT to buy red again as the level of fading to pink within several years was acceptable to Berlin.
Berlin had multiple easy options to satisfy a customer that was sold a defective product. For one example, Berlin could have easily offered to ship us directly 5 new chairs at a set reduced price (without disclosing their pricing- we’d have no clue if the pricing was wholesale or retail, etc.) Instead, Berlin blamed its manufacturer for no longer honoring fading claims and the customer for being “misinformed” of the warranty. If you choose to purchase the outdoor poly furniture from Berlin, be very careful unless you are okay with the fading as provided on the attached pictures.
