What is wrong with the furniture here?
With some trepidation, I went shopping for new lamps for my house (kinda forced to as after 2 years, I have finally thrown in the towel with the normal overhead lights as the light bulbs blow about every 2 weeks, which according to our maintenance people is normal and nothing to do with the wiring - but that is another story)
In vain I have searched for even vaguely nice lamps from all the usual places but as always, most are at best frufru and some down right ugly. Again, after throwing in the towel I decided to buy some of the vile looking lamps as I need light. After choosing several of the best of the worst, I still knew this would not be the end of the problems. Firstly, I needed a pair of lamps for bedside table, only one available, no problem the guy in the shop said, take another one at random - I pointed out that they did not match and would prefer matching ones. He did not get this preference for matching beside lamps. I finally caved and took the lamp but then I noticed it was broken at the top, again I said I did not want a broken lamp - again, he did not understand my reluctance to purchase a lamp at full price that was broken - needless to say, I left it where it was.
Finally picked some other lamps, by which time I lost the will to live.
Upon getting the home, on closer inspection, 2 out of the 4 were also broken.
I am not surprised, again, typical rip off Doha, fob us off with expensive but cheaply made goods and expect us to be happy about it. It is the same all over town.
Roll on Ikea, I considered Ikea a bit of a sub standard store in the UK - but compared to the rest of the joke furniture stores here, they are positively amazing.
prior to re-locating any reason why furniture can't be bought and then made part of the container arriving at Qatar?
everyone can buy quality stuff from home and get it container'd over.
is this not possible?
jjj, you have to be innovative here. For example, the night stand lamps in my house were awful...so I went out and bought some scarves to drape around them. They look great now!
Or, I needed a lamp for my kitchen, could not find one, as I was looking specifically for a kitchen lamp..ended up buying a small chandelier, looks AWSOME!
" Those who come to a conclusion by a process without rational, logical thought, cannot be dissuaded from that conclusion by logical, rational argument.
evim şahane
We bought bedside lamps in BHS Landmark, reasonable choice and plenty of stock to buy multiples of the same design and they all worked!
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jjj75 check with Al Rowak American Furniture, it's not cheap but they have some good stuff from the U.S. (made in China, of course)
This store is located at Salwa Road, Decoration R/A.
Good luck.
But when the whole thing is just hideous, which most are, there is no disguising it with anything else. Suppose will have to live with the tat
jjj, you have to be innovative here. For example, the night stand lamps in my house were awful...so I went out and bought some scarves to drape around them. They look great now!
Or, I needed a lamp for my kitchen, could not find one, as I was looking specifically for a kitchen lamp..ended up buying a small chandelier, looks AWSOME!
As it is in Qatar with almost everything...you have to go to MANY places, often rather unusual places, AND search hard to find what you want...and you need to compromise.
Whatever doesn't burn a hole in your pocket ;-) You can ship it out too if ya got time :-)
I did my home with lamps I bought from the Sofitel area. There are many shops there that have some good stuff, but you have to look hard. I got some really funky stuff to hang over my dining table from two different shops (each one had only one :-P).
HC sucks for choice as well as price :-(
20-footer or 40-footer container. You need the C-130 to bring it home!
Spot on!!! For anyone doing up their home, Guangzhou, China is the place if you can afford shipping your stuff and getting it cleared through customs. I know of pilots who do that, buy a container worth of stuff from there and ship it to their home countries for a fraction of the price you'd pay elsewhere... :-)
the unknown China realities.
Lol, genesis!
Mandi
You definitely haven’t seen the furniture entire towns in Guangzhou, China ;)
An exact replica of materials made originally in Italy & Spain
Of course they’ll tell you that their crema marfil marble flooring is from Italy, not from China :/
Why do you think there is a daily Qatar Airways flight to Guangzhou?
LP - yeah that they are able to afford because they own tat shops which rip us all off like The One and Home centre
genesis, the ones I know use Italian tiles and furniture from Florence.
You certainly don’t know many Qataris ! The majority often Furnish their homes from shops on salwa roads. Nowadays, Upper Middle class import their Furniture from Guangzhou, China, that includes finishing material for floors , walls & lighting
Not only the quality of what is on display, but also the prices!!!
While there are many modern furniture shops recently opened in Doha like BoConcept, Nattuzzi & the pearl housing high end brands like Baker , Miele, Rolf Benz, Hülsta and Häcker, certain element is missing . The prices are exaggerated & almost double of what you can buy abroad
The wealthy people don't study in Qatar, they study abroad. What does that tell you about the quality offered in Qatar? Hm?
The wealthy people don't get medical treatment in Qatar, they go abroad.
The wealthy people don't buy in Qatar, they order from abroad!
Why should the Qataris care for the expats?
Mandi, have you seen the prices at The One - I went there in desperation but again, same old cheesy tat but at a much higher price!
Never seen lamps being sold at the Souq, except perhaps the ones that hang from the ceiling which is not what I want as I explained the bulbs keep blowing.
pticia - yours and my experiences are precisely the same. God know what my mother will think of her bedside lamps when she arrives next month, i think she will think I have taken leave of my senses.
but that place are for the "commoners". Lol!
Go the Souq there are plenty of Electrical shops just down the road from Soffitel Hotel
HC is not alone. At least for the lamps.
to excuse qatar for being short and slow on almost everything. they had almost everything in a bang only when oil n gas was discovered.
I echo your feelings of the cheap junk we have to buy here and now just buy it only cause i need it, try finding a good waterless cooking pot in this country is madness
How about The One at Landmark?
Mandi
i just came from home centre, was also going to buy bedside lamps, and didn't see 1 decent thing; everything is so over the top, yest cheaply made; ended up buying somthing completely differnt, not because i really liked it, but because I really needed it.
You need these -
get the warm white colour (not cool daylight) which mimics normal incandescent bulbs. u can get them at carrefour.
No quality here anywhere sadly enough.
Hi
To use an expression from the North East of UK, these stores are "All fur coat and no knicker" ie they look glitzy and the part but look underneath and it is a different story.
Sorry for chuckling, it's just such a familiar feeling! I first moved to Oman in 2001, OMG, there was NOTHING in my villa and NOTHING to be had in stores.
Mandi
jjj75 : It’s the Unholy union of money and political affiliation.
Most of the businesses in Qatar are ran by the “ U know who “ so kinda says it all.
Its Business !! why would they invest on expensive items when they can earn plenty with the cheap versions, anyway they know that the people here got no other choice !
but why are the owners of these businesses do damn greedy. Why can't we have a quality product for the price we pay?
Oh well it’s a very immaturely manipulated market so I’m not surprised.
Doesn’t matter where u go for your shopping you will always end up paying big money over crappy stuff made by the cheap labor force in Asia.
DC - that is exactly where I did go.
jjj75: Did you try Home Centre?
The long-life bulbs either admit an odd (IMO) light or a normal yellowish light. The box is usually clearly marked which one.
Bachus - thanks, bought the lamps now but don't those light bulbs emit a strange light - just a question?
2020 - what better places, pretty much every shop i have ever been to here, the build quality is very poor.
BG - think what you write - what has Qatar got to do with the launch arrival of a shop in Qatar, it should be perfectly obvious, or do you need me to spell it out?
jjj75--for bursting lightbulb try getting the long-live options, which run at a much lower wattage and thus are not nearly as likely to burst. It has worked for us.
yeah but what has qatar to do with its launch or arrival?
My comment was a general one regarding those wishing for IKEA
To your OP I would say shop at better places or import to your taste from Britain. Clearly, you are not the target audience for home furnishments.
2020, that was my point, in UK Ikea was what I would consider cheap tat but comapared to here, it would be like manna from heaven right now.
BG - all companies that set up here are 51% Qatari owned (or more) and would be what I call franchises due to this fact. The parent company, has little or no say over how it is run here.
oh i share the same pain....you pay and still u dont get what u want.....my bedroom set is falling apart...
thinking to shift everything on floor ...but then tiles of my house( another long story).....
but yeah welcome to doha
You get what you pay for. If IKEA is your top standard, your doomed to a life of poor quality and tastelessness.
Welcom to Doha :)
ikea is qatari company ? then we need to expect amazing
BG - years - again, what a joke
Qatar, Expect Amazing???
they will come its not so easy to set a business in 1 or 2 days right give IKEA their time
Apparently we are supposed to be getting IKEA soon but that is what they said last year and the year before.
Yawn.....
I miss Ikea here. I always buy things from Ikea as it is cheap and yet nice and comfortable. Most of my furniture in Saudi Arabia was bought from Ikea, and I really liked it. Compared to what I'm seeing from the stores here.
Doha is not in Italy, jjj75. That's for sure!
BG - I have looked around, I have shopped around and it is all expensive cheap stuff, which does not even look very nice - has style upped and left this town in terms of home decor?
MM, yes, I know, he wanted to sell me only one of a pair of beside lamps that was a display model, at full price and that was broken, biggest joke going.
ROFLING. :) I love how they try to sell the floor models at full price. Anywhere else in the world you get a huge discount if you buy the demo or floor model!
there r places or showrooms just little hard work u need to find them
Bg - I think that you will find I am not the only person who has had trouble with furniture stores here. Perhaps that is why Ikea has not got here yet, they are frightened of the competition, which will surely blow them out of the water.
Why is it so hard to set up a shop that sells decent stuff?
yup LP so far furniture is fine with me so i cant moan abt it , just bad luck for jjj75
Which means that BG is happy with the rubbish from HC!
BG - it was Home Centre!
where do u buy ur furniture from ? try home center
BG - but why should I have to? These stores have the look but that is all they have, scratch the surface and you find cheaply made tat that falls apart in about 5 minutes.
there is nuthing offensive infact i suggest u to order from UK if the furniture is wrong here say thanks to me
jjj75 is right! The stuff you can buy in Qatar is what can't be sold in other countries!
I hear u there and share your pain as well..