Godwin Upholstery & Interiors - Clearwater, Florida

Lisa Salinas

While Godwin Upholstery may have a history of quality work, this is no longer the case. Mr. Godwin, the owner, is past his mental and physical ability to run the business, and it does not appear that he has anyone who is tasked with management or oversight, besides him. I recently took collectible Art Deco furniture to him to get re-upholstered and to get the wooden arms refinished/repaired and I paid him for delivery and pick up. His prices are NOT inexpensive. When the furniture was finished, he brought a delivery man who (sadly) was recovering from a stroke and possible other medical conditions, and the man was not physically capable of any manual labor, and Mr. Godwin is not either. My vintage pieces got severely scratched in the loading and unloading because they could hardly manage them. Also, after delivery, on inspection, Mr. Godwin's work on the wood on my furniture was sub-standard--and he hustled me for the additional work on my wood. I had told him I would take the wood arms to a furniture refinisher---but he asked for the job for an additional charge. After the delivery, I inspected the furniture and found the scratches, and poor quality work on the wood and went to see Mr. Godwin. He got very angry, denied that he would have caused the damage, and would not even admit that he brought a delivery person who is almost fully physically incapacitated, nor would he offer refund. Mr. Godwin is, sadly, not capable of running a business anymore, nor does he have the ability to exercise judgement, or interface with customers. It appears he has some degree of dementia. Sadly, no one appears to be stepping in to effect adequate oversight of him and his business. Where is his family? Who knows. Very sad---but DO NOT do business with Godwin Upholstery.

Bonnie Thomas

In January I had a fire in my home and was told by a restoration company that all of my beautiful furniture had to be replaced! I called Mr Godwin and asked him to please look at it and he assured me that it could all be reupholstered and be like new. I had at least 11 chairs, sofas and benches delivered to him. Not only did he do a beautiful job, he stored everything for me without charge for at least 4 months! I cannot say enough about my experience and how great they were to me during this time! I am posting a couple of pictures as well! Thankyou so much Mr Godwin and Arlene for all you have done for me!!! I would absolutely refer Godwins Interiors to my clients and friends!!

Lee Haas

To say I am frustrated in my dealings with Godwin would be an understatement. I wish I had never met them. I paid nearly $3,000 to have two recliners re-covered with the highest grade top grain leather. I was considering buying new recliners, but Godwin called my wife and convinced her that we would be happier with re-covered recliners than with new ones. The first problem was that he said that a matching vinyl on the back would be unnoticeable and not to spend the extra on leather backing. However, after we got the chairs back, it was obvious that he was wrong, so we paid to have the backs redone with leather, which also meant that our chairs had to go back to the shop.
A few months later, we called because the backs of the chairs were separating and the mechanisms that Godwin promised would be made like new were catching. He came to the house and tapped them back, but that didn't work so he took our chairs, and again we waited.
A few months later, we noticed that the leather was discoloring. We made repeated contact and were initially ignored. Finally, we got Godwin to come out and look at the chairs. He agreed there were issues and picked them up - then nothing happened. We called and were told that he was waiting on the leather rep. Then, more than a month later, while we were on vacation, he calls to ask if I can come in and talk to the leather rep. I told him I couldn't because I was out of state, but I would be happy to talk to the leather rep on the phone. I did, but wasn't informed of the decision, so I had to call.
Finally, Godwin says the leather rep is going to work with him (after nearly two months without chairs). When I still don't get an update, I call and am told the chairs are ready. I go to Godwin's and - surprise - the leather discoloration is still there and now there is a mark on the side of one chair that looks like something got put against it.
At this point, I'm done with trying to get the chairs repaired and have determined that there is no way that Godwin can live up to his satisfaction guarantee, so I offer to have him take the leather off and give me back my chairs and my money and I'll go somewhere else. I send this in an email, but he doesn't read emails. I call to convey the same offer. He refuses, but says he'll give me back the chairs with the leather still on them and he'll refund the leather cost but not the labor. So I find my invoices and see that the labor was $1,050, and send him an email letting him know I'll agree to that split. However, he doesn't read his emails. So I call again, and now he's hemming and hawing about refunding the leather cost and also says he'll have to make refunds in payments. Meanwhile, he can't seem to call to tell me that the chairs are ready to be picked up (he claims he repaired the damage that happened while the chairs were in his shop), so I call him and he says come tomorrow - after I already told him that day was not an option. And of course he's not open on Saturday.
So here I am, out $3,000 and no chairs to show for it, but a lot of frustration and wasted time trying to talk to someone who has no concept of customer service. My advice to everyone is buy new or, if you have a real quality piece that you absolutely must recover, take it somewhere else!

Kevin Kenneally

I’ve been working with Godwin interiors for over 20 years and they’re the only upholsterer I recommend. I’ve never received a negative comment from any of my clients in 20 years. Their work is of high quality and the pieces I’ve seen look better than most factory jobs.

Style Rehab

Horrible Place! Terrible Customer Service!

I called to see if I could email them photos of my French Provincial Couch and was told no you have to come in.

Later that day I stopped in to show them the photos and to get my quote since it could not be done via email. While I am there I only see 2 employees the owner Arthur and Gail. I start looking at fabric books with Gail in the back. It was close to the end of the day so they had already turned off the AC (in Florida) so it was getting really hot. After about 20 minutes of looking at fabric Arthur comes back and says something like it’s after 5. I guess he has to leave at 5pm. I was given quotes per yard on all 3 fabrics I liked they ranged from $30-$40 per yard. Needless to say not very convenient for anyone that has to work. I take 3 fabric books home to compare the colors.

I return the books on my lunch hour a few days later and the office doors were unlocked and 1 car was in the parking lot but I did not see anyone. I had to walk through a few rooms knocking and saying “hello” and still no one. Finally I go around to the right side of the office continuing to knock on walls saying “hello” rather loudly and Gail comes out from a door behind me. I tell her I’m returning the books. She wanted me to keep looking for the right fabric and I told her I could not I had to go back to work. I wanted this one fabric but it was too thin meant for drapes so I asked her to look for that color in a heavier fabric for upholstery. Again she was the only person the whole place. (this will make sense in a minute)

Gail calls a few days later to say they do not have the fabric so I return her call the next day and was told by another woman that she was not back in until Friday (3 days later). 3 days pass and Gail returns my call. I tell her to go with my first selection. She says ok then I start to ask questions. I asked if the work is done off-site she says no it’s done there. I ask ok by whom? And she starts to get hesitant and asks “Ma’am what are you asking” I said well this has been dragging out for weeks now and no work has actually happened. I was wondering who does the work? You told me you need 3 weeks to complete my projects I’m just trying to figure out why this is taking so long. I asked does Arthur do the work? She replies “No, he’s the owner.” Ok so again who does the work. She says they work different hours. I asked what hours. She snaps back “Do you want to be with the 24 hours?” I snidely respond “Do they work 24 hours?” She says “No.” So that exchange made no sense and was completely irrelevant and unprofessional.

At this moment I decided to go with another company that I had been emailing with. I tell Gail ok will you sell me just the fabric? She asked “and not have us do the work?” I said yes. She said yes we can sell you the fabric. Said I had to come down and pay for it and they would order it. I said fine. I specifically asked what forms of payment do you take. She says cash, check or credit card. I said fine I’ll be there later. I go to their shop again and I only see Arthur and Gail no other staff and no one upholstering anything. She is calculating my total and now the price per yard is $51.90. I said this is higher than what you told me two weeks ago. She says “the price goes up all the time.” Again I was going to pay it just to be done with this. I hand her my debit card to pay and she says something like we are charged 3% over $500. I asked for clarification and she said there’s a charge of 3% for credit/debit cards. I asked what did you say about over $500. So I ask specifically who charges 3% for what. She finally explains the bank charges them 3% so she’s charging me 3% for the use of the credit card. I say I asked you over the phone what payment methods you take and you never mentioned the 3% charge for credit cards. She acknowledges “No, I did not”. So I kept pushing the issue saying why did you not tell me about the charge and she said “I didn’t think you could pay?”That was the FINAL straw.

Pietro

Excellent service and fair prices.

William Storm

Worked a miracle with my couch cushions very nice job

Sara Green

They do beautiful work!