Here is the exact review I posted on TrustPilot.com. I hope this is one of many reviews for MadisonSeating. This is indeed a shameful company.
Beware!
I was excited at first to see the website's discounted prices for Steelcase and Herman Miller chairs. I figured they were just some sort of clearance place for overpriced chairs. I should have thought more about the "too good to be true" prices. After doing a little more research, and reading about the law suits against them, I decided to cancel my order. They indeed make the prices look as if you're getting a new chair at a discount price, but really you're just getting a used chair. After that, I just didn't feel comfortable about doing business with them, they seemed shady.
I tried calling them at first. Strangely they told me they don't "do cancellations over the phone," and I'd have to cancel by e-mail. I thought that was strange and unprofessional. Then I was told there was a 5% "cancellation fee". As if there is some overhead in placing an online order and waiting on them for two weeks to even ship the thing. I will give them this -- when I complained about the 5% fee, they waived it as a "one time courtesy". Good, I won't need a second time.
Lastly, and most importantly. It just so happens two days after doing business with their online store, I get an alert from my bank of $593 for Verizon. We have no account with Verizon. I have NEVER received a alert from my bank before this. I am fairly careful about my online activity. There were also two other suspicious transactions reported, with one being for $.01 from some "battery" story in Brooklyn -- which happens to be where Madison Seating is located. I'm not accusing the company of making these transactions themselves, but it made me suspicious that their website is unsafe.
So there you have it. I should have known better. Just buy a refurbished/remanufactured chair from a notable retailer who doesn't give you a smoke screen, if you want a cheaper one.
*** UPDATE AFTER MADISON SEATING'S RESPONSE ***
The response from MadisonSeating just shows how unprofessional this seller is.
In their response on this website (which appears to no longer be visible), they claimed they were not located in Brooklyn, but New Jersey. They used that as a reason to deny my suspicions. After pointing out the following information taken from their own website, they removed that statement from their reply:
Go the Contact Us page on madisonseating.com.
The address as of 2/7/2020 clearly says:
6103 Strickland Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11234
They also responded saying that I was "lashing out" for personal reasons, and that my review was "ridiculous". Unbelievable.
Even with all this, they still don't address the fact that the advertising on the site is highly deceptive to say the least. "$1,000 chair marked down to $400" -- The $1,000 would be correct if the chair was new, but it's not. You have to read the fine print "open box" policy, and even then you barely know what you're getting: refurbished, re-manufactured, wiped down with a wet cloth? Read the other reviews about this.
And this claim that they've "been in business for 14 years." I may take their word for it, but I find no proof of that. Actually, by all accounts I can find, they've been around since 2014. Perhaps they're talking about the previous company LuxuryChair.com who also had a lawsuit filed against them from Herman Miller. Still, I find it slightly deceptive to say they've been around for 14 years as the same company. Notice they do not refute these points.
MadisonSeating also reported my review as of 2/12/2020, saying I was not a genuine customer. I have provided documentation to TrustPilot to ensure that I am. Why would I write all of this if I didn't actually purchase from them? It appears to be a tactic to silence negative reviews. I chose not to provide them with any of my information because I simply don't trust them, and I realize now for good reason.