Industrial Envy, LLC

I hired Industrial Envy LLC, to reupholster an old settee and paid in full on delivery. But when I had the chance to look more closely at their work, I found visible globs of glue, inconsistent seaming, poorly applied welting, puckered corners, and visibly frayed fabric (among other things). I took the settee to a local professional in hopes he could fix the problems. But after examining it, the upholsterer wrote in an email to me that, in his opinion, the upholstery job was “the worst I have seen in 19 years of doing upholstery work.” I am paying him roughly $1,200 to redo it. Although Jennifer and Trevor Zandt, the owners of Industrial Envy, didn’t respond to multiple emails, they eventually did offer me (in writing) the option of a partial refund of $400 (less than half of what I paid them). I accepted. Weeks later, after more of my emails went unanswered, I finally outlined the actions I planned to take, including a Better Business Bureau consumer complaint and online reviews. They responded by rescinding their offer and invoking the "no refunds on custom projects” clause on their invoice. They also cited what they said was "clear evidence that you may have tampered with the upholstery work after delivery," although they provided no evidence of this. I have both the evaluation of the local upholsterer and dozens of photos from both before and after the settee was delivered showing problems that clearly were not caused by me. As for my plans to leave online reviews and consumer complaints, they wrote: "You are, of course able to leave reviews on public forums that apply to this transaction, and we encourage you to do so. However, false statements will be considered libelous and/or slanderous, and will be basis for legal action against you for any and all damages we incur. If it was your intent (as your emails imply) to seek undue compensation by means of blackmail, libel, slander, and/or legal threats that will also be basis for legal action against you for any and all damages we incur." So in addition to reneging on their written offer of a partial refund, they have now put me on notice that they may sue me for informing other customers. Industrial Envy did offer a “complimentary re-upholstery”; Trevor and Jennifer wrote that this offer was “merely as a token of our gratitude for choosing us to perform the work instead of several upholstery shops in your area.” But I have no confidence in their upholstery skills and do not intend to subject myself to more of this kind of treatment. I’ve had many creative, trusting, long-term collaborations with independent artisans in the past; in the future, I will be far more cautious. This has been an expensive--and very dispiriting—experience.