Viking International

See Gone, but not forgotten

Viking International was a furniture store located in the Eastview Mall in Victor. The style tends toward modern and post-modern with a marked European influence. They had a "going out of business sale" over the course of several months in 2014, moving the remainder of their business to their warehouse on Rae Blvd. They were fined $30,000 for deceptive advertising as a result of this sale. http://www.mpnnow.com/article/20140422/NEWS/140429839

Their current status is unknown as mail sent to former customers indicated that the remainder of their merchandise has been acquired by another company who is selling it off from the warehouse location.

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2007-09-19 13:21:16   I bought a beautiful bedroom set here, but will never purchase anything there again. I have my reasons. —MarcVera

2007-09-19 17:16:23   This is an amazing furniture store with modern swedish design. Think Ikea, but the furniture is actually good quality and you dont have to build it yourself.

Typical modern/contemporary pricing.

We are lucky to have it in Rochester. —MrRochester

2008-01-31 23:19:26   What a great store! Fresh styles, neat stuff plus friendly staff and nice atmosphere. We bought a leather set plus a wall unit for our new flat screen TV. Looking forward to going back soon. —DanSho

2008-03-05 21:59:43   Nice store. ok selection. service was friendly. They are open late which was convenient. —LorenzoServantes

2008-08-12 17:23:47   Oh GOD do not deal with these people. —StevenLandsburg

2008-09-11 19:55:59   I cannot warn you away from these people strongly enough. I ordered a couch 22 weeks ago and was told to expect delivery in 12 to 14 weeks. I still don't have my couch, and the store's current position is that they haven't the foggiest notion when I will, but the order absolutely cannot be canceled. When I pressed for clarification of this policy, I was told that after a (hypothetical) 10 year delay, they'd cancel the order and issue a refund, but not after a mere 8 year delay. At every point along the way, they have been rude, uncommunicative, and dishonest. Stay far far away. —StevenLandsburg

2008-10-01 19:56:40   Most refreshing store in Rochester! Clean, crisp look...nice change from all the other traditional stores in town. Salespeople friendly, not pushy at all. Very happy with our living room sofa and tables. —KimJens

2008-10-30 16:38:51   We are sorry that Mr. Landsburg's experience at Viking International Furniture was disappointing. The manufacturer in Italy experienced a significant delay in producing his product. We regret this happened. The manufacturer sent him a letter apologizing and explaining the situation. Viking then gave Mr. Landsburg a 20% discount on his purchase for his inconvenience. Later, he indicated this was not good enough and we in fact refunded Mr. Landsburg's deposit. Viking has sent Mr. Landsburg a $200 gift certificate in the hopes he will visit us again.

Viking International has been serving the Rochester community for 29 years and appreciates our loyal customers. We regret the times when customers are not satisfied and do our best to remedy these situations.

John Buchheit
President, Viking International Furniture —VikingInternationalFurniture

2008-12-14 16:25:07   John Buchheit's version of my experience with Viking is at best incomplete. He neglects to mention the numerous times I was promised a callback that never came, as well as the staff's repeated insistence that under no circumstances could my order be canceled or my deposit refunded, no matter how long my sofa was delayed. The only crack in this policy came in one phone call where I was told that after EIGHT YEARS, I'd be eligible for a refund. I am quite sure that the only reason I ever got my money back is that I managed (with some internet based detective work) to find Mr. Buchheit's personal cellphone number (he is the president of Viking). Mr. Buchheit was entirely reasonable on the phone and refunded my money. But without that private cell number, I'd never have been allowed to talk to him.

I wrote up the entire history of this affair on October 20, 27 weeks after I'd ordered my couch. It's at http://www.landsburg.com/viking.pdf if anyone wants to see it.

Meanwhile: I went and ordered a replacement couch at Bayles Leather House, a couple miles down the road from Viking. At Bayles the selection was better, the prices were better, and the brand names (according to various Consumer Reports-type websites) were considerably sturdier (Jaymor and Palliser Horizons as opposed to the extremely low-rated Natuzzi that seems to be Viking's signature brand). Viking promises delivery in 12-14 weeks, fails to follow through, fails to communicate, and keeps your money for eight years unless you manage to find the president's personal cell number. Bayles promised delivery in 6 to 12 weeks and delivered in 7. My new couch is beautiful. —StevenLandsburg

2014-02-23 22:24:06   Zero stars. Buyers beware! The staff at Viking is horrible at customer service. Twice in three years this store has sent us damaged furniture and failed to replace it in a timely manner. We have tried to resolve the issue of a damaged coffee table recently delivered to us for more than three weeks now to no avail. No one returns our calls and they always have excuses when we have to follow up with them. The sales manager, Dean, actually yelled at my boyfriend on the phone today when we had to call yet again to follow up, and then hung up on him! My boyfriend couldn't get even a word in! I have never worked with a company before that treats customers this way. I called back and asked Marie if I could talk to the owner, John Buchheit, who helped us out with our quality issues three years ago, and she told me he didn't work with that side of the business anymore and we could only work through Dean. I was then put on hold for thirteen minutes waiting for him to come to the phone before I finally hung up. We will NEVER work with this business again. They have an F with the Better Business Bureau, and it is certainly clear why.

—Skoots

2014-02-24 10:27:46   BTW, I've seen signs around town that this place is going out of business. —alex-c