Paw Paw Upholstery

"I am writing this review in response to Clarence Hartmann's heartless and delusional review and also as a previous client of Paw Paw Upholstery. I have known Chris for over 20 years. Our relationship started several years ago when I was one of her upholstery textile suppliers. I had many customers at that time, but it was Chris who I chose to reupholster an antique family heirloom chair. Her professional craftsmanship was beyond impressive. It's been several years and the quality of the fabric and cushion rebuild she did has stood the test of time and now this beautiful piece will remain in our family for many years to come. Regarding, Clarence Hartmann's above review, I'd like to clarify this experience by sharing the truth. Paw Paw Upholstery recently had an employee who needed to go into quarantine so I temporarily filled in to help at the fabric selection Design Studio booth inside Kalamazoo Kitty for a few weeks. Clarence came into the booth completely lacking any level of decorum or couth loudly asking where his pillow was. I assured him that I would research this and get him an answer within a couple of days. He then appeared to calm down and agreed that would be fine. I later followed up with him and explained that because the velvet fabric he had selected to back his embroidered pillow was in fact not upholstery grade but a clothing grade, the owner was unable to find a seamstress in the local area able or willing to sew this as a backing to a pillow application. She had made 3 different attempts with local clothing seamstresses during this Covid crisis which also caused a delay. This had also been communicated to Clarence, but he obviously forgot or chose to ignore this fact. So, at this point, we suggested that Clarence simply pick up his pillow and begin his own search for another business who may be willing and able to complete his pillow. A few days later, he did pick up his pillow and it appeared his 'Pillow Paranoia in a Pandemic' had been solved. However, a few days later I noticed this online review, so I reached out to him via a phone call to see what more Paw Paw Upholstery could have done and why he left such a bad review. During this phone call, it became apparent to me that I was dealing with a delusional, drama ridden, angry man overly obsessed with a pillow that he himself should have taken responsibility for as a consumer and picked up months ago if he was not happy with the progress. Clarence was unwilling to take any responsibly for that because it was apparent he'd rather have something to complain about and someone else to blame so that he can hide behind a keyboard and write a bad review over a pillow and some cheap wrinkled velvet fabric. Paw Paw Upholstery returned his pillow and fabric in the same bag that Clarence originally gave to them. If wrinkles were such an issue and the fact that he was so miffed that he had to put it in his dryer to get the wrinkles out, why did he not package it folded in a box when he originally gave it to Paw Paw Upholstery? Clarence then proceeded to try and bully me with his misogynistic comments and other personal insults all while 'mansplaining' textile grade fabrics to me as someone who spent 15 years in the home fashions textile business. Sadly, Clarence did also explain that he is suffering from some health issues. Clearly, those are mental health related. This is still no excuse to leave cruel untruthful bad reviews to small businesses who are struggling during this pandemic. They are having supplier issues, vendor issues and quarantined employee struggles. Again, I am writing this review, not as employee of Paw Paw Upholstery, but as someone who has known Chris and her business for many years. She is extremely talented and very ethical. Kalamazoo is lucky to have her! I also responded because I had the unfortunate experience of personally interacting with this bizarre angry misogynistic man who can go to....@$&*! Shame on him!"

"Please be vary cautious with this outfit. October of 2020 i dropped off the makings of a pillow, including a self made cross-stitch, trim, and velvet backing. Mid December 2020 I personally stopped in to check on it and was told it wasn't complete and the owner was in Chicago not answering text or calls. February 2021 I stopped in and was told the same thing, owner was in Chicago and no news on the pillow. This month April 2021 I stopped in and l was, low and behold told the same thing, owner was in Chicago, but they would get back to me. Later that day I received a call from the employee stating the pillow was not finished and had been taken to a seamstress apparently according to the owner because the velvet was not upholstery material. And they would get it within a couple days so I could pick it up. Yesterday April 22, I picked up the pillow, partially completed, wrinkled and scrunched up from the way it was sewn and just thrown in the bag. The velvet had not been folded or rolled so it is full of creases. In the six months not once did I receive a call of progress or trouble. No one called and suggested I buy new or different velvet, which could have been a sale for them. Or a piece of iron on backing applied. At this point I'd like to state the velvet was and is upholstery material. How many pillows in the stores are made with regular (non upholstery) material. The reviews don't lie, they are basically all the same, lack of caring, lack of professionalism, complete lack of communication, and a lack of consideration of clients personal belongings."

"I had an absolutely horrific experience with this company. My cushion turned out fine - not great, but fine - but they had it for over 3 months with no communication other than me having to pester & remind. The final straw was being asked to pick it up directly from the owners home because it’s a bulky item. It was very inconvenient for me but I wanted It back so I agreed and no one answered the door for 30 minutes so I finally left. My only communication up until this point was with Lisa - the sales person. Chris the owner called and was apologetic and allowed Lisa to take the fall. When I finally picked the cushion up Lisa was apologetic but completely blamed Chris. It was extremely unprofessional and I have no idea where the truth lies. There was no discount or remedy of the situation offered. I would suggest finding anywhere but here to do business!"

"Don’t waste your time with this place because they certainly will not waste their time with you. Totally unprofessional. Would give zero stars if that was an option."