• Madisonseating

Madisonseating

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Overview

Madisonseating has a rating of 2.7 stars from 412 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Madisonseating most frequently mention aeron chair, open box, and business days problems. Madisonseating ranks 28th among Furniture sites.

  • Service
    129
  • Value
    122
  • Shipping
    123
  • Returns
    91
  • Quality
    114

This company does not typically respond to reviews

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 37.5%
Positive
3
Neutral
0
Negative
5
85
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How would you rate Madisonseating?
Top Positive Review

“Great Deals and Even Better Customer Support”

David N.
5/6/24

Purchased the Steelcase Leap V2 in black fabric after doing extensive research on ergonomic chairs. Chose this over the Herman Miller Aeron, and don't regret it. Madison seating has probably the best deals online, and shipping was pretty quick as well. Our chair did come damage due to shipping unfortunately, however I reached out to their customer service team and they were quick to respond and handle the matter easily. Would definitely purchase from them again, great customer service!

Top Critical Review

“Steelcase Leap v2 from Madison Seating review”

Kenny S.
10/30/24

I bought a Steelcase Leap v2 from Madison Seating last week. When it arrived I assembled it and put it in my office to use the next day for work. It is so uncomfortable compared to a 5 year old RETAIL version of the Steelcase leap v2 that my girlfriend owns. The refurbishment was very poorly done, chair wobbles, lumbar is bad, cushions are hard, material is cheap and rough. The lumbar support is so intense and using the adjustment just makes it worse (I compared the lumbar support to the exact same chair model my girlfriend has). You can visibly see the lumbar support pushing on the back rest and distorting it. The fabric is very rough and the cushions are no where near as comfortable as the RETAIL version of the chair. I reached out to Madison Seating customer service and after a few canned responses they finally said "Please return the chair and find another vendor to furnish your office chair needs."

Reviews (412)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

customer service (200) madison seating (175) herman miller (56) office chairs (55)
Thumbnail of user alecm42
New Jersey
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 29th, 2018

I ordered a chair that had an issue and the company quickly and effectively assisted me and even sent me a new chair free of charge. I will definitely recommend them and use them again!

Thumbnail of user keithe15
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 26th, 2014
Verified purchase

I was quite pleased that I found the brand name product that I was looking for at a great price! The ordering process was easy and the customer service was above board. Thank You.

Thumbnail of user johnp5800
Connecticut
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 27th, 2022

I bought two Steelcase Amia chairs at $300 each. The Steelcase list price on this chair is $1042. Amazon lists it at $700. Madisonseating is the lowest price on the internet although there were other distributers in the $300 range. I was skeptical but I ordered from Madison. They came in Madison boxes not Steelcase and had disassembly, not assembly instructions. I went to YouTube for assembly instructions. The seat and backs looked new but the frame looked used and one had a 09/2012 sticker. So my opinion is they were used but in like new condition. There might be a refurbishing industry that reupholsters these chairs which have been on the market for over 20 years. The new ones have armrests that have more adjustments than the older ones that I got. Overall I am satisficed with the condition of the chairs but Madison should advertise them as refurbished. I suspect that all the lowball suppliers are selling used chairs.

Products used:
steelcase chairs

Service
Value
Shipping
Quality
Thumbnail of user kirkc87
Florida
1 review
4 helpful votes
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November 1st, 2021

If you don't have product you shouldn't be selling it. Two plus weeks to ship in 2021 is unacceptable or don't charge CC until you ship, I'm not your bank.

Thumbnail of user fongfongc
California
1 review
2 helpful votes
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August 24th, 2017

I ordered a size A Aeron chair by Herman Miller from Madison Seating. The chair delivered was size A for the seating part but size B for the back support. Because the chair design needs perfect match to be assembled into one piece, I called them to inform them about this mismatch. The person asked me to report this by email and I did. Since they do not have size A backing, I returned the chair intended to get full refund. Initially, there was a mistake happened through FedEx ground shipping: A few days after picking up from my front door, FedEx called me to ask for direction of reshipping back to me. I felt a bit uneasy thinking that Madison Seating was refusing the return, especially after reading a recent review at this site. However, after I spoke to Madison Seating and FedEx rep, the chair was successfully returned to the sender. After a couple days of receiving at their warehouse, I received a full refund of $668.99.
I am impressed of the professionalism of the manager at Madison Seating. He is very courteous and quick in reply. I did not give it perfect score is because it should have sent me the right size of chair at the first place to save my anxiety over getting refund. The mistake made at the very beginning can be avoided if they have a good warehouse staff.

Thumbnail of user irenav9
Tennessee
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 13th, 2020

We purchased two Leap Steelcase chairs from Madison seating. The price was the best we could find on line for those chairs. We are very happy with the service and the chair arrived quickly.
Irena V.

Thumbnail of user georgea62
California
1 review
15 helpful votes
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December 4th, 2015

I am very disappointed with Madison Seating. It all started with receiving a chair with no instructions on how to assemble, I had to go online and after searching without success, I emailed customer service and waited for them to reply with a link to YouTube for assembly, which I could not believe for such an expensive chair.

They also sent a part that did not belong to the chair, so I spent I good amount of time figuring out where to put the part, after emailing them they just said it was an error.

After assembling the chair, a week or two later I noticed the chair was small and I thought I was not very happy with the chair, so I went online and found a YouTube video discussing how to verify the size of the Aeron chair, which confirmed they shipped the wrong size. I am 6'4, so a small chair would not work. After I emailed them, they did not apologize, they emailed me a shipping label to return it. Which means you have to take the chair down and find a huge box or hopefully you kept the huge box just in case you need to return it. You also need to miss a day of work to stay home during the week waiting for FedEx all day to pickup the huge box.

After returning the chair, they said they would immediately send a new chair, they did not, they waited for the chair to arrive and waited about a week to send the new chair, its been a month and a half chair drama. Buy your chair locally, you might find the deal attractive, but they can care less about their customers.

Thumbnail of user alk5
Georgia
1 review
8 helpful votes
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July 14th, 2013

I ordered 2 Herman Miller Aeron chairs from them, and initally thought they were great... that is until one of them had an issue only 4 months later. I wrote them and they told me I had to ship it back for warranty repairs and would have to pay for shipping. I figured I would just have a local Herman Miller place do the repairs since it was under warranty. Not to mention why would I pay for shipping back and forth?
When I called the authorized Herman Miller dealer they asked me to give them the Serial number off the chair and they could do the work. I searched for the serial number and never found it. It was taken off by madisonseating. They admit to it and said it was because they were a reseller. Doesn't make sense to me that they would take off the serial number, since this is the only way you can get warranty repairs through Herman Miller. Makes me wonder if these are not stolen goods?
Don't buy from them unless you are OK with having your chair shipped back and forth for any repairs for the next 12 years of their so called warranty

Thumbnail of user benh709
Maryland
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 15th, 2022

I asked about what features an open box Steelcase Amia chair had, since they used a stock photo, stock descriptions of standard/optional features of the chair, and the listing did not mention arms on the chair at all (though the stock photo included them). The initial response was clearly a stock reply, explaining what open box meant and ignoring all of my actual questions. The next reply answered one question, about the fabric and frame, but only about the color, not the material (of the frame), and still completely ignored my question about the chair arms. The last response was a smug, inaccurate reply that the "listing clearly gives all the information you are requesting," when it did not include any of the details I asked about. Lack of attention to the simplest details in questions that should take less than a couple of minutes to read and answer raises questions about their attention to detail in any of their other practices. Will not do business with them, and recommend anyone else stay away, as well.

Tip for consumers:
Stay away.

Products used:
None

Service
Thumbnail of user tomm1165
New Hampshire
1 review
0 helpful votes
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July 24th, 2020

I bought a Steel Case Leap V1 chair from Madison back in 2015 for my work office as the business owner didn't provide good comfortable chairs. When the chair arrived, it was immediately noticed, and some fellow staff were jealous. About 4 months after I bought the chair, a wheel broke, I reported the issue to Customer Service via email with pictures and received a new wheel assembly overnight.

Two co-workers ordered matching chairs, and all of us are still happy with our purchases.

Fast forward to 2020, when COVID-19 required me to spend more time working from home, I decided I needed a new chair at home. I went right back to Madison Seating and ordered the same Leap V1 chair except this time I splurged for the leather, which if you have cats at home you will need, and you can thank me later.

Both times, shipping did take a couple of weeks, we are all spoiled with two days shipping, but for the cost savings it was worth the wait!

The wife is a little jealous now, so I'll probably have to get a third chair now, just for her.

Thumbnail of user jeffw988
Mississippi
2 reviews
2 helpful votes
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July 2nd, 2021

Ordered Herman Miller Aeron chair in Mid May of 2021, received order email stating it would ship in 10-14 business days and an email would be sent with shipping details or if delayed an email stating so since we are in COVID season. Inquired again after that date range went by, and received a rude response to check for updates on the website - more COVID delay statements. Website had nothing specific other than the COVID delay statement. Another check, and more rude responses via email. After over a month and a half I sent another email fully expecting the same response and was then told they never even had the item in stock when or since I ordered it and didn't know if they would anytime soon if ever! But you can still today go and order it from them! Asked me if I wanted something different? Are you kidding me? I shouldn't have been able to order it if out of stock, or if I could be told up front the truth. Not this crazy "read the website" which doesn't have any updated information and to be treated like trash! Cancelled my order and moved on, but beware out there! This company is NOT where you want to spend your money at. So dishonest it's unbelievable! Spend your hard earned money elsewhere. I can't even imagine how you would be treated after they get your money... If there was a negative star option, this company would get it!

Service
Thumbnail of user scottl180
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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May 5th, 2018

Excellent customer service and selection. The Steelcase chair I received was in great shape and I am very happy with the purpose. Excellent value for high quality chairs.

Thumbnail of user rjr0311
Indiana
1 review
6 helpful votes
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July 19th, 2023

Coming here now to share a recent experience with Madison Seating. I purchased a Steelcase Leap V2 office chair from them to give to my wife, and my God do I regret that purchase. There's an old saying - if something sounds too good to be true, it isn't. I'm feeling that one right now, as seeing a Leap V2 for less than $500 should definitely stand out as something about it not being right.

The chair that Madison Seating provided me, advertised as "open box", was actually crudely refurbished, at best. Comparing it to the Leap V2 I am sitting in right now that I bought from a local seller, the fabric is low quality, uncomfortable and the padding was also likely replaced with lower quality material. The best part, though, was the fact that there were two screws just jammed into the bottom of the seat, right at the lip where the plastic meets the fabric. I assume this was to further secure the fabric from the cheaply done upholstery work, but because they didn't pre-drill the holes, and they weren't threaded, the screws brought plastic up and out and was left in a jagged manner to scratch my legs when I sat in the chair.

I contacted Madison Seating about this, and was told that I could return it...if I paid for the shipping and restocking fees, totaling about half of the cost of the chair. Total scam, and to be fair, I should have seen it coming.

Just buy this stuff full-price from a reputable company, or be sure to inspect it yourself before buying 2nd hand or refurbished. Don't trust Madison Seating.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user madisons20
madison s. – Madisonseating Rep

This reviewer has been sending our company aggressive and threatening emails. There is nothing wrong with the item other than he found the chair to be uncomfortable. Below is just one of the delightful emails he sent:
"To be clear, I’ve already written 10 reviews regarding this experience...GFY-Ryan"

Thumbnail of user lisap34
New Jersey
1 review
6 helpful votes
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October 23rd, 2012

I purchased a Herman Miller Aeron chair from this sad excuse for a company back in 2010. One of the parts to go first on this chair is the seat. The mesh part of mine broke less than a week ago. I took a picture and emailed it to them since I am under the 10 warranty. I got a generic email and was curious, so I called Herman Miller and one of their official retailers told me that the arms of the chair I purchased has been obsolete since 2004. When I called Madison Seating about this, the woman that answers the phones said that nothing they sold was over a year in their inventory. Then when I called her out on it, I got transferred to another department. This guy, instead of trying to be accommodating with the lack of warranty they have or just sending over a new seat... tells me to look on eBay. Unbelievable with the careless service they provide and then takes me through all these loopholes within the site saying that "Open Box" means refurbished... and was not that pleasant about it. Actually he was kind of snobby. When I originally purchased this chair, the seller... his name is Louis, never took me to that page to agree. On top of that, when I tried to post my review of them on their site... I was BLOCKED. NEVER PURCHASE FROM THIS SITE... BUYER BEWARE!

Thumbnail of user matta5
Arizona
2 reviews
10 helpful votes
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December 26th, 2012

Complete con artists here. I ordered 2 chairs during a free shipping promo and had them shipped to HI where I live, which their site let me do. Days later they tell me they do not ship to HI (yet their site let me pick it and showed "Free Shipping!" when I did). A few emails of them telling me it was a mistake didn't help.

Then the sale ended and the chair price dropped by $270! Their site then said shipping to HI would be $350, a difference of $80... meaning, their mistake would have only cost them $80 to correct but "Susan" who listed herself as a "Supervisor" on her email said they canceled my order and can't ship to HI. I called Susan and after she yelled and screamed at me on the phone without letting me talk I asked to talk to her manager and she said (after pausing a lot) that she didn't have one and she was the owner of the company.

Right... supervisor of the call center or owner? Which is it? She wouldn't stop yelling at me and calling me names because I said I'd report her shady business to the BBB. I'd stay away from this place... even if you don't care about their crap service the fact that all they do is raise prices to have a free shipping sale should be enough. Total rip off here.

Thumbnail of user ac896
Georgia
1 review
2 helpful votes
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November 18th, 2020

I wish I could comment on the quality of product, but I did not receive my chair after nearly 4 months of waiting and sub-par customer service. I ordered a chair mid-July 2020. The website did have a banner mentioning that COVID19 would potentially delay orders, but when my confirmation came it said 10-15 days. That timeframe came and went, but understanding supply chain issues, I tried to call them. There phone support is shut down and the voicemail instructed me to email them for an update. I emailed them in early August and was told mid-August. Emailed again when that date came and went, they responded with a canned email exactly the same as the first delay, but with a new shipping estimate of late August. Date came and went, emailed them early September, new shipping estimate of mid/late September. Date came and went, emailed early October, new shipping estimate of mid-October. Date came and went, emailed late October, new shipping estimate of mid-November. Date came and went, I sent one last email telling them I'd like to cancel if they could not provide a concrete date, they sent another canned email with a new date, not acknowledging my request to cancel, and I asked them to cancel one more time and they did. I understand the supply chain has been interrupted during COVID, but there is a way to handle customer service, and this is not it. Very disappointed in the lack of communication and transparency. When I initially saw the prices I thought they were too good to be true, and it turned out that was the case.

Thumbnail of user peggyl24
North Carolina
2 reviews
6 helpful votes
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June 28th, 2017

The chair arrived and looks brand new, It was packaged well with attention to detail. Easy to assemble even without instructions. Any repair work done wasn't obvious (this was an open-box purchase).

I was concerned with this order as it was the second time I'd tried to purchase a Herman Miller chair online. The other company was on the West Coast (same as me) and since prices were the same, I ordered it out of California. It was a disaster. When it arrived, it was in pieces (mechanism beneath the seat) and the chair wouldn't work. I took pictures and sent it to the company and finally after a couple of weeks I received a return shipping label.

So, when my chair arrived from Madison Seating I was concerned it'd be the same experience. But the chair was in perfect condition. Restoring my faith in on-line shopping. Thank you, Madison Seating, for being an honorable and honest company. I will happily recommend using this company if you're in the market! Good product selection and great prices for the perfect chair.

It did take two weeks from order to receiving, but coming cross-country, I was expecting it to take that long.

Thumbnail of user joshs3
California
2 reviews
8 helpful votes
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April 7th, 2011

What a saga it was just to deliver a simple desk. The freight delivery company they used here in southern California was horrible. They never called to schedule delivery, just decided to head out and attempt to show up but then called me after they got lost where I had to spend a half hour giving them turn-by-turn directions.

After all that they didn't even deliver the desk, because I wasn't home since they didn't bother to schedule delivery ahead of time. I specifically instructed them to drop it off at the leasing office of my apartment so they wouldn't have to come out again. I come home to find no package at the office then tell me they would need to charge me $100 to attempt delivery again because I couldn't take their initial surprise delivery.

After a week of going back and forth with the delivery company and finally with Madison, they took care of not charging me $100 for another delivery attempt, which is the only reason I gave them 2 stars. So I finally take delivery of my desk... except only one of the boxes contains parts of my desk in it. I opened the other box and it was the legs to a completely different item (coffee table?).

So here we go back to another round of dealing with customer service and the delivery company to return the random coffee table I got and get the legs to the desk I ordered. I still haven't gotten my whole desk yet, and while in the end I think they'll get everything to me, just... never again. Get a new delivery company, the one they use in the L. A. area at least has been a total pain.

Thumbnail of user seanr7
Washington
1 review
1 helpful vote
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January 31st, 2011

So I ordered a Lider Chair from Madison Seating about three weeks ago. It came extremely quickly, within 5 business days. I didn't realize I was supposed to check the item before Fedex left, so I accepted the shipment. To my suprise, I opened the box and part of the chair was damaged. I'm assuming the damage was from the mis-care of the Fedex driver, since the packaging seemed very adequate.

However, I can't believe how nice Madison Seating has been with me. Even though I did not check the chair before I accepted the order, they permitted me to return the chair and get a new one.

I called in and explained to them what had happened, they asekd me to send in pictures to confirm that the chair ws actually damaged. After I did that and sent the e-mail in, I got a response within 24 hours. After that I was instructed to box the chair up again and that Fedex would come pick it up.

Fedex came to pick up the chair two days later, and Madison Seating received my chair another two days after that. As soon as Madison Seating received my chair they sent out my replacement, again, EXTREMELY QUICKLY! I received my chair within a week, undamaged, unscathed, and brand new.

Madison Seating was awesome. What they did for me was extremely nice and most other companies would have charged me for the return shipping of the damaged chair since its my fault i did not inspect the merchandise upon arrival. Madison Seating did not charge me one penny!

I highly recommend doing business with Madison Seating. You won't regret it.

Thumbnail of user claudios38
New Jersey
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 27th, 2020

I bought a chair from Madison Seating and their customer support were excellent, giving the proper answer and follow up in a professional way.

Thumbnail of user dawnd414
New York
1 review
2 helpful votes
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December 30th, 2020

Don't waste your time! I tried to purchase a Steelcase chair - only to find *AFTER* checking out that there was a 10-14 day time BEFORE shipping (not including holidays and weekends). I inquired about this and was told that's their policy and due to covid (isn't that a convenient excuse) there wasn't anything they could do about it. After some back and forth, where I then learned it would be 18-30 days before my item even left their warehouse (making the lead time 4-6 weeks for an in stock office chair), their customer service responded that I seemed unhappy and would I like to cancel my order, which I did.

Terrible service, and terrible experience overall. The whole experience feels like I was dealing with people in China or India selling knocks offs but who knows?

Update: After my email canceling my order and telling them what a terrible experience it was trying to give them my money, this is the response I received:

Hi Dawn,

WE feel the same way about you.

That is why we reported to online merchant services so other vendors can read about our experience with you and decide if they wish to fulfill your online transactions.

You may find that your online orders will start being declined or unfulfilled.

We can only hope that this year will bring you more joy and less anger, more compassion and less vengeance, more kindness and less rage.

The Team at Madisonseating

Tip for consumers:
Don't use this site.

Products used:
I cancelled my order due to processing time of 4-6 weeks

Thumbnail of user madisons20
madison s. – Madisonseating Rep

This buyer was a disaster from the start. Dawn would not stop making requests and demanded to be prioritized over other customers patiently waiting for the same item. It's so sad that in a time when the entire world is dealing with a pandemic this woman could not understand the hardships of a small business trying to stay open and shipping out as quickly as possible with limited staff due to Covid regulations. Y'all decide if this review should be relevant.

Thumbnail of user gm111
Arizona
1 review
0 helpful votes
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March 9th, 2018

I ordered 7 chairs and we had a issue with one. The customer service to resolve was great. I would order from them again.

Thumbnail of user caseym5
Arizona
1 review
9 helpful votes
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June 28th, 2011

Promised 6 weeks in advance that they would deliver by a deadline. They totally failed. Talked to the manager, who said, basically, too bad.

Thumbnail of user josephf191
Illinois
1 review
1 helpful vote
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July 17th, 2018

Chair came damaged but they are sending a new one. Great customer service. I have used this company several times and have not been disappointed.

Thumbnail of user carolej15
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 7th, 2018

I purchased a stool from these folks and received the wrong seat.
They did come through and made me their customer happy.

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madison s.
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