Chennai Furniture Shopping

Bought some furniture for my home recently and want to share a decent experience I had with the furniture stores. The store came highly recommended by my paternal uncle and cousin, who bought all the furniture for their home from that store. The furniture in their home looked quite good and I decided I would order almost exactly the same pieces of furniture and some mattresses from the store.

My first order was a big one. I got two single beds (cots) for my parents. The legs and the beams were all solid wood and the base (on which the mattress rests) was plywood. I got it for Rs. 13K each. Then I purchased a sofa set (one three seater and two one seaters) for 28K and a four-seater dining table for 14K. I also ordered two Kurl-on mattresses (one for 17K and another for 10K) for my parents. The total came to 97K (after discounts). The shop took some cash advance and delivered the items on time and took the remaining amount when they delivered.

My next order was for a double bed and it costed 21K. This order was delivered a day late, but compared to how a lot of things get delayed in India, a day's delay was alright (though I expected better from the store). There were also nominal delivery charges (750 for the first one and 500 for the second).

Ok, now you want to know which store this is. It is:
Sri Venkateswara Furniture,
No 573, Anna Salai, Teynampet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600006
Tel: 044 4269 2150

(The store is close to Teynampet police station.)

I found the owner Mr. Parthiban both amiable and efficient.

We believe the furniture will last us a long time (few decades at least).

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with the store, the owner or will get any compensation for promoting the store. I am just a happy customer who likes to share both my positive and negative experiences with my shopping in India via this blog (since there is no Yelp in India yet).

Poorvika Mobiles - Bad Experience

Went to Poorvika mobiles in Valasaravakkam, Chennai on a Friday to get an airtel sim card. The process was usual - they took my aadhaar card original, photocopied it and then took two photos from me. I also got an Idea sim card for free (which I do not intend to use). Since the sale had to happen, the process was very quick and efficient. The promise was that in 24 hours the sim card will be activated... And as is usually the case with India, 24 hours later the sim was not activated! I went to the store and inquired about it. They still had my application with them. The excuse they gave was that the guy who was supposed to pick up the forms to the airtel office did not show up! Now I have to wait for two more days (till Monday) for the sim to be activated. This is just plain inefficient. I cannot understand why people cannot keep their word. In any case, this is just a post to warn others who are considering going to Poorvika that they may be just as inefficient as any other store.

UPDATE: I know that "free" usually means trouble. What has happened now is that Poorvika has sent the Idea sim card for activation first and is delaying the Airtel sim card. I believe this is a sneaky marketing ploy to get customers to buy Idea plans, instead of what they actually wanted. I am guessing Airtel sim card activation is now going to take much longer.

I am going to strongly advise my friends and family to avoid Poorvika Mobiles from now.