Simplicity Sofas Challenges World's RTA Sofa Manufacturers Again

June 10, 2011 - PRLog -- Simplicity Sofas is issuing its second annual challenge to all manufacturers of RTA (Ready to Assemble) Sofas. -- Is there any company in the world that can make an RTA sofa that compares with Simplicity Sofas?

This year the challenge is broken up into 3 categories:
1.  Best quality
2.  Easiest and fastest assembly
3.  Customer Service Support

1.  Quality
Last year Simplicity Sofas based its quality claims on its solid oak frames (with a lifetime warranty), optional 6 1/2" thick Ultracel foam cushions, and a choice of more than 100 quality fabrics.  It also offered dozens of special options including fitted slipcovers, box or roll-front cushions, skirts, contrasting welts and other special requests.  Every piece is bench-made, built one-at-a-time by skilled American craftspeople with 20 or more years of experience.

This year Simplicity Sofas has made numerous quality upgrades.  The standard 6 1/2 " thick polyurethane foam cushions with a polyester fiber wrapping that came with a 1 year warranty have been dropped in favor of an 8" thick Ultracel foam cushion with a polyester wrapping that carries a lifetime warranty.  

For customers who would like an even plusher cushion they can now choose premium Spring-down, a high end cushion normally found only in sofas costing hundreds of dollars more.  Other changes include additional arm and back foam padding, upgraded fiber quality in back cushions and more than 50 new fabrics which bring the total number of stocked fabrics to more than 150.

2.  Easiest and Fastest Assembly
Last year Simplicity Sofas proved to the world that its sofas could be assembled by an 8 year old boy in less than 5 minutes without tools (and by most first-time adults in 15 minutes by themselves or 10 minutes with a team of 2.)
8 year old Skyler's YouTube sofa assembly video can be found at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwPONAW3llY  



This year Simplicity Sofas has added a new sectional grouping (available with 6 different arm styles.)  Each individual unit of the sectional (arm unit, armless unit and corner unit) can be assembled by a single first-time assembler in less than 5 minutes each.

3.  Customer Service Support
This is a new category to this challenge.  Anybody who has ever bought furniture realizes that customer service is not an area that most furniture companies excel in.  When Simplicity Sofas first opened in 2007 it announced its intention to provide its customers with the best customer service in the entire furniture industry.  Amazingly, it has achieved that position after just 3 years.  The company bases its claim on 4 facts:
    A.  The strongest warranty in the furniture industry --   If you do not like our furniture for any reason whatsoever you may return it for a full refund including all shipping charges for a period of one year.*      *Frames and cushions are covered by lifetime warranties.

    B.   Simplicity Sofas is the only furniture company who contacts every one of its customers after they have received their furniture to check that there are no minor (or major) problems. Frequently the company will insist on correcting minor complaints that its customers were willing to live with.

    C.   In 3 1/2 years Simplicity Sofas has received dozens of extremely positive reviews from its customers which can be found all over the Internet. More amazingly, after more than 1500 customers who have received its furniture, the company has never received a negative review.  That does not mean that its customers never have problems.  It does mean that those problems are resolved promptly, to the satisfaction of the customer.

    D.  Simplicity Sofas has been designated a "Beloved Company" , one of the highest Customer Service Honors a company can attain.

"Beloved Company" status is the creation of nationally acclaimed author and Customer Service authority Jeanne Bliss who bestows this honor to a very limited number of companies  who have demonstrated the very highest levels of Customer Service achievement. Simplicity Sofas is the first furniture company ever to receive this award.

Other "Beloved Company" Awardees include Zappos, Southwest Airlines and Harley-Davidson. Jeanne Bliss is also one of the two founders of the CXPA (Customer Experience Professionals Association) whose mission is to evaluate and improve customer service practices for both large and small companies nationwide.

Simplicity Sofas' revolutionary RTA sofa and sectional assembly systems were developed by Glenn Laughlin and Jeff Frank.  Glenn and Jeff have worked together on developing RTA upholstered furniture designs for nearly 20 years and have been awarded 5 US patents (with additional patents pending) for their work.  Products based on their patents have been sold in 30 countries around the world.

Glenn and Jeff's approach to developing RTA sofas has been different from other manufacturers (such as the companies who supply IKEA.)  Their first requirement was that the furniture must look and feel like high quality conventional furniture.  In addition it must be extremely simple for a single person to assemble by him/herself.

The problem with designing an RTA sofa with those requirements is that most people have the idea that knockdown or ready to assemble furniture is cheaper than "real" furniture. That is true only when inferior materials are used and emphasis is placed on reduction of shipping costs rather than ease of assembly.

It actually costs more to make an RTA sofa than it would to build a conventional sofa using the same quality components. Inside surfaces that are not visible on the conventional sofa must be finished or covered because they are visible on the RTA  sofa. That is in addition to the extra cost of assembly mechanisms and hardware.

Simplicity Sofas' solution to the cost dilemma was to sell directly from the factory to the consumer. By eliminating the retail markup, the products could be priced for less than a retailer would have charged while at the same time the factory could control quality and speed of response to provide a level of customer service beyond the capabilities of any retailer.

# # #

About Simplicity Sofas:
Simplicity Sofas is a North Carolina manufacturer of custom-built sofas, sleepers, sectionals & chairs that are specially designed to fit through narrow doors, staircases and other narrow entranceways, including RVs and boats.

* First furniture company ever awarded the "Beloved Company" customer service excellence award. (See above article for details.)
* All frames are solid oak frames and come with a lifetime warranty.
* Cushions are premium grade 8" thick Ultracel foam or Spring-down and also have a lifetime warranty.
* 15 min. assembly with no tools. Disassembly takes 5 minutes and the furniture can be assembled and disassembled hundreds of times without a loss of structural integrity.
* Guaranteed to fit through any door or stairway wider than 15".
* 30 day production time for custom furniture.
* Nationwide shipping by UPS. Optional white-glove delivery service available.

Photo:
https://www.prlog.org/11536083/1