MACAU FURNITURE DISAPPOINTMENT

Would like to get some feedback. We had ordered three pieces of Chinese furniture from a shop in Macau back in the first week of April. One TV cabinet, one altar table, and one shoe cabinet. The total cost agreed was HK$8000 for the 3 pieces. We paid $4000 deposit at the shop and the other $4000 to be paid upon receipt of furniture.


We were quite disappointed when the furniture arrived 6 weeks later. The top of the TV cabinet was left as raw wood, without any paint or finish like the rest of the cabinet. The rest of the cabinet is light elmwood color and the top is rough, black color untreated wood, same as the inside. Our view is that it is an unfinished piece. We assumed that the workers got lazy and thought that nobody could see the top of it anyhow so decided not to bother completing the finish. The shoe cabinet, which is black, was stained with some white film and one leg was cracked. They immediately took the shoe cabinet back to repair it. Shoe cabinet flaws were not the fault of the shop as it was damaged during delivery. We did not pay the remaining $4000 because the shoe cabinet was taken back.


We only discovered the unfinished TV cabinet top the day after. The problem is that after telling the shop that the TV cabinet was not completely and properly finished, they said that it was intentional to make it "old looking". We did not at all once mention for them to make the furniture "old looking" and secondly, more to the point, how does an unpainted top convey "old looking" when the rest of the cabinet is polished and "done"? When I told them these points and asked that they either finish the job or give a discounted price for an unfinished job, they then said that their company never polishes the tops of their cabinets. No discount and accept it as is, since it's their standard.


Need feedback: Is this the case? Are the tops of TV cabinets usually left unpainted and unpolished as a standard practice with these furniture shops?


Now, they have said I must go to Macau to "okay" the repaired shoe cabinet before they will send back to us. I am inclined to say forget it, keep the shoe cabinet, and not pay the remaining deposit. There is no way I'm going back to Macau just to okay the shoe cabinet. But on the other hand, we waited ages already for the furniture and do not want the hassle of finding another shop and ordering another cabinet.

I've not had furniture made in Macau but I have bought four nice pieces which were already made, sitting on the showroom floor. Two were TV cabinets, both with the same finish on top as the rest of the cabinet. I've been happy with the furniture I've bought there - went to the shops, picked out the pieces and paid and they were delivered to HK the next day. I can see that getting furniture made, a bit like getting clothes made, could be trickier if you don't end up with what you thought you would. Good luck sorting it out.

I had a hard time with the first company I dealt with in Macau. It's the first shop down from the stairs. Anyway, there are a ton of shops and I've bought furniture from 4 places over the years. My first order was fo over 25000. MyI had a t.v cabinet made to size and them had all the measuremnts wrong, the vcr,dvd, stero can't fit in the sides with the doors so I've had to take the doors out and it looks bad. The display cabinet was made like a t.v cabinet with big holes in the back. I was suppose to have free delivery for 3 visit and each time they have demanded money or they would give me my furniture. My furniture company promissed to replace the TV cabinet with the correct measuremnts and they refused to take the bad one with them. They would answer there phone or they hung up on me. When I went down to macau they said it would cost another 2500, no free cadinet she said. I was reallt silly I paid them when they came becasue they refused to give me the rest of the furniture in the truck. It was a nightmare. Like the first guy said it's cheaper furniture but I don't think you should expect total crap. Saying this I did get some beautiful antique furniture that I love from Macau. I think there are some great shops and some of my Macau furniture is way nicer then my expensive stuff from popular stores in HK. Good luck !

If I were you, I would cancel the shoe cabinet order & not pay the $ 4000/-.

Tell them you will use the money to polish the cabinet & to make another trip to Macau to get another shoe cupboard from another store.

All the best:)

as sue2020 said,


buy off the showroom floor, take photos of the items and get them to mark them as yours.

i've been lucky, next day delivery too.

no complaints here, wouldn't bother with the hassle of made to order as have heard similar stories...


good luck

MaryKay - your situation sounds way more frustrating, and I thought mine was bad. but glad to hear that you got some good pieces in the end.


conordec - definitely would have preferred to get already made pieces but couldn't find any that were the dimensions we required.


After talking to some friends about all of this, I've heard the place to get the furniture now is in Zuhai. It's supposed to be much less expensive than Macau and the selection is 5 times more than in Macau. Actually, the stuff from Macau comes from Zuhai anyways.

I know this is an old thread, but any specific shops that you recommend? I prefer to buy items in the showroom already.


Visited some furniture makers in Java road and Queens road East, and want to compare costs with ready-made pieces. The downside of having built-in furniture made is we can't take them with us if we move out of the flat we're renting..