Geez Marcolo! What a mess. Somehow I missed the other thread so I appreciate this warning. Hope you finally get everything fixed soon.

I have to confess that I really enjoy Marcolo's grumpy rants. ...is that wrong?

For a great lighting company with whom I've had stellar experiences, check out Schoolhouse Electric out of Portland, Oregon.

uuoohhhhh! How about a headlamp? All my DB's have those. You might need to wear some special "cut gloves" on your hands though, JIC.

I don't care what it is, as long as it doesn't come from Visual Comfort.

Excuse me, I'm busy planning something that involves a road trip to New York State, a large dog, five pounds of refried beans, and two extra-strength plastic garbage bags.

After you're done on that coast, drive my way. I know a fireplace installer than needs your kind of company.

Maybe I should start a business. I can start small with one dog, then eventually work up to a full-building termite tent and a cement mixer.

Sorry to hear you're having continued problems, Marcolo. I had the opposite experience with VC. My fixtures arrived promptly, were easy to install per my electricians, and are looking gorgeous 6 months later.

I'm glad you were lucky, warmfridge. My lighting store is now steering people away from VC, and not only because of my experience.

Marcolo, will your trip to New York state include any time in New York City? We could have another NYC TKO get together -- this time with you as the honored guest, you know! (Hint, hint)

Sounds great, marthavila! But I think the Mount Vernon PD will probably remand me to a jail in Westchester. ;-)

Well, the Mount Vernon PD is always welcome to join us, ya know! But, ok. I get it and won't push. (Of course, that doesn't necessarily stop others from weighing in on the details of your trip itinerary). lol Whatever you do, hope you have a wonderful time in our great state!

Yikes...I just ok'd our designer to order 2 pendants from Visual Comfort (the yoke pendants in polished nickel -- anyone have 'em?) and am in the process of picking out 2 VC sconces for our kitchen as well. I live in a city with a Circa Lighting store (it is my understanding that Circa Lighting = Visual Comfort) and was really impressed with the quality of the fixtures in person and had a good customer service experience in the store. But now I'm worried about bad customer service from HQ...

i also had a bad experience with VC. I placed my first order with them at the beginning of January. Was notified 2 weeks later that those pendants wouldn't be produced until late May. Okay, I don't want to wait. I picked different pendants. Was told they were in stock. Went back 2 months later to inquire about them and they say they will not be produced until May??? I say, but I could've had my first choice if I wanted to wait until May! Anyway, decide not to change back to the first. Went into the store last week to have them check on them ("they're coming soon, right?") and VC says they will now be produced sometime in July!!! I say, NO WAY, cancel the order, I will find something else! Somehow, think miracle, they say we will find some and ship them to you now. And they DID IT!!! But, if they could have done that why didn't they do it 3 months ago???

in the end I have my pendants and they are beautiful (although they arrived absolutely filthy and I had to wash all the glass as my electrician wouldn't touch them). Would I order from them again? Probably not.

Circuspeanut - I'll join you in the peanut gallery; I love reading this stuff. Misery really enjoys a good hearty chuckling sort of company.

I am still waiting for my mismatched shades to be replaced. Some are off-white, some are dirty light beige, like a newspaper that has sat in the sun. VC simply changed the delivery to "no date." Don't want to bother. I've informed the lighting store that we will be filing in small claims. Of course we will need all the shades to match, so this will prove quite pricey to the retailer or VC. I would report them to BBB, but no one looks at or believes their ratings anyway.

Circa Lighting is a retailer, that's all. They have nothing to do with VC AFAIK other than getting product from them.

Marcolo,
I would go ahead with the BBB. They may be able to help you resolve the problem. And I always look at BBB info about unknown companies...I'm sure others do as well.

File with the BBB AND the Attorney General's office - they're based in NY, right? Based upon my experience, the BBB is drastically different state to state in terms of effectiveness. I filed a BBB report in NY and had great success with a very stubborn company trying to rip me off. The BBB there filed it promptly and kept the dialogue going between me and company. I also reported to NY AG - and they were wonderful. Opened a claim right away...it's a very consumer-friendly state overall.

Now if you have a problem with a company in FLA...just hang it up! It's the wild west out here for consumers. You're out of luck. This state's BBB and AG are the WORST. I had a problem with a couple of firms...BBB won't respond, you never see your reports filed...and they don't reply back to any emails. AG won't do a thing either...just send you a form letter telling you to report it to fed agencies. They basically bail out on consumers completely. It's amazing how diff the experience is state to state.

I know where you can buy a used cement mixer...probably anyway.

Don't even think about ordering from these people. They string you along as if they will "make it right" but months pass and they only give you lip service. I have a very expensive light that on which the diffuser DOES NOT FIT.

Whoa! I was just considering whether or not I wanted to drop the $$$ on a table lamp that I thought was very beautiful in the photo. But I have a low tolerance for bad customer support, so that could tip the balance...

Oh, great. I just ordered 4 grand worth of lights from VC

i bought 2 sets of sconces, 2 pendants & a chandelier from VC. No issues & everything was in perfect condition.

Since a couple of people have already bumped this up...I miss Marcolo.

Me too iowacommute, I keep hoping...

What is the deal? This is supposed to be a reputable brand. I see VC fixtures in so many designer show houses. I love the style of their fixtures but I am fed up!! I just had problems with three orders in a row. I ordered E.F. Chapman lamps that would not stand up on their own, a Barbara Barry lamp that was missing a halo, and now buffet lamps that have a malfunctioning switch. I cannot keep specifying these lamps if they aren't going to arrive in good condition.

I thought I'd take a quick look see on VC....oh my goodness I'd be livid to pay that much and not have perfection!!!

Bad. I am sitting next to 2 boxes packed for return to Visual Comfort. One is a terrible floor lamp that burned out two bulbs in less than an hour and was so flimsy that I was scared to move it. The second is a chandelier that is not as adjustable as it was made out to be and when I called to ask to buy additional parts to extend it myself I was not treated well.

May 2016. Have an E F Chapman quartz chandelier in polished chrome that is several thousand dollars installed for about a month. It's turning like a cheap piece of jewelry. I will contact the company this week. Not looking forward to it. Don't have time for it. I'm a designer that goes through a lighting company to order. Visual Comfort is not designer friendly in Tennessee. I have to go through 2 hoops to get this sitution rectified. That is a hardship for this one woman show...and I'm such the cheerleader for the company. I also have Thomas O'Brien pendant lights in brass that I waited 6 months for. They were completely worth it. You'll walk into the home they are in in twenty years and think they were just installed. They are of high quality and timeless.

Thank you very much to all of you who have taken the time to comment on Visual Comfort. I love the styles of their fixtures but have no tolerance for poor quality or inadequate customer service. I have 6 different fixtures on my spec. list for a custom home. YIKES, you all saved my A.. and probably kept me out of jail. HaHa. If you are interested in fine craftsmanship in lighting fixtures, and don't mind spending the big bucks (which is definitely a VC requirement) try Fine Art Lamps. Gorgeous.

Recently installed a pair of wall mounted bedside lamps with mismatched shades. One of the shades was a very light cream and the other very yellow, must have been a different dye lot. I was told that I could try ordering another pair, but there was no guarantee that I would get a matching pair. They suggested going to a lamp shade store and having them covered. The shades are paper, so not too expensive, but it is very disappointing & frustrating that they aren't more detail orientated.

TERRIBLE. They are no help when you need them to assist with the quality control or have questions.

Warning also for using Foundray Lighting in NYC. Useless and very frustrating!

dont order from either of these companies. I spent an hour and a half trying to get an extension for a pendant light, complete nightmare!

I have a similarly frustrating experience with Visual Comfort. I ordered the Arabelle flush mount fixture last spring through a local design company in Richmond, VA, called Williams Sherrill. It finally arrived mid summer WITHOUT the glass diffuser. After multiple attempts through Williams Sherrill who appears to have thrown up their hands in defeat, I tried to contact the company directly. They refuse to talk to me because I'm just the customer, not in "the trade". Best answer I can get from owner of Williams Sherrill is it will(maybe) be here in December. "They have none in stock and must have another made in China". Really?

This and another thread just saved me a couple thousand dollars. Was ready to order several Visual Comfort fixtures - not now! Thanks all.

I have had a light on order for 6 months. Continual "push out" emails month after MONTH!

I’m very disappointed with my recent experience ordering a chandelier from Visual Comfort. We purchased a heavy, globed chandelier, and when my electrician tried to install it, the cheap aluminum bracket it came with bent under the weight, causing the chandelier to slope. He had to remove it entirely for safety reasons.

I reached out to Visual Comfort and it took four days just to receive a response that they were “working on it.” To make matters worse, the customer service representative I spoke with was neither helpful nor polite, which only added to my frustration.

In short, the mounting hardware quality was inadequate and the customer service experience left a lot to be desired. I would not recommend them based on this experience.

I built in 2021 and purchased three Carew sconces and nine Morris pendants from Visual Comfort. We had no issues with the order, delivery or installations. We purchased the majority of our lighting for the new house through a local lighting store in my area of FL and they would have taken care of any issues.

My electrician broke a glass shade for an outside sconce, from different manufacturer, and the lighting store had a replacement shipped to us relatively quickly.

My experience is similar to @chispa's. Whole house renovation in 2023 and as part of that got several fixtures from Visual Comfort. We have been very happy with the quality and looks. The white glass shade of one of our hall fixtures (Cristol) was broken when a worker carried a pane of shower glass through the hall and hit it. I felt sick when I heard the glass shatter but we worked through our local lighting store and a replacement was received within a few days.

We bought our island linear chandelier (Brindille) on a leap of faith, as it was not installed at any showroom we could find. But we had seen other VC lights at a Circa store and liked the quality we could see, so we ordered it and it's one of my favorite things in the kitchen.

I'm sorry to read that others have had bad experiences (going back years, apparently) because most VC fixtures are on the spendy side for many people. I used to recommend VC lights based on my experience, but now I'm not so sure I should.

I purchased two high-end chandeliers in March — a medium Cubist chandelier with glass and a linear chandelier. The linear chandelier was on backorder, and I was informed that my credit card would only be charged once it shipped. However, a week later, I received a notification that my card had been charged for both items, even though only one had shipped.

I contacted the store and requested a refund, as I didn’t want to pay for an item that wouldn’t ship for another two months. Despite multiple follow-up calls over the following weeks, I never received the refund, so I eventually decided to let it go.

Once both chandeliers arrived, I scheduled an electrician for installation. During the installation, the electrician noticed that the Cubist chandelier was slightly bent, which prevented several of the glass pieces from fitting properly. I chose to proceed with the installation without the glass pieces.

Six months later, I was contacted by phone, email, and text, claiming that I still owed payment for the linear chandelier. After multiple exchanges with collections and providing proof that no refund had ever been issued, my card was nevertheless charged again. While I did receive a small discount due to the glass issue, I was disappointed to later discover that the linear chandelier itself was crooked and poorly leveled — indicating a lapse in quality control.

Buyer beware. You carry the risk when Visual Comfort delays!!!

I purchased a lighting fixture and bulbs in the same order. The bulbs shipped immediately, but the fixture was delayed multiple times over several months with no proactive notice. By the time I learned of the delays and canceled, the bulbs were outside the return window. Customer service refused to help. Poor communication and a system that penalizes customers for delays they did not cause. From what I'm readinig, they are predatory and basically do not allow returns.

You can't just target Visual Comfort for backorders and long lead times. That has become the way the world works for most manufacturers, specially after covid.

If you want instant delivery then buy products sold on Amazon or visit a local big box store with inventory!

I ordered sconces from Global Views and it took about 10 months to receive them. Every few months I would get an email saying they had been delayed.

I love the sconces, so the wait was worth it in the end.

Just the way things are now.