Franklin Report Report Card for Richard Moller Ltd. in New York City
★ Franklin Report Card
Richard Moller Ltd.
3881 Danbury Road
Brewster, NY 10509
(914) 329-1531
www.richardmollerltd.com
rich@richardmollerltd.com
Main Contact: Richard Moller
Categories
Furniture

Services & Specialties
Antique furniture repair and refinishing

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FR Review:
Moller trained with European craftsmen in New York, and later became head of the cabinet shop at Sotheby’s for five years. Moller specializes in 18th- and 19th-century European pieces. Clients say that he admires antiques’ historical significance, and his philosophy is to increase or maintain the value of the pieces he works with. Services include cabinet work, veneering, marquetry, carving, gilding and French polishing. Trade professionals rely on Moller and his staff of two, but we hear he also takes on new private clients. Though some report mixed experiences, many clients employ Moller for their collections because their parents, too, have been loyal to him since he established the shop in 1977. Moller has been featured in New York's “Best Of New York” edition.

Representative Client Comments:
“Outstanding work, would never go anywhere else.” “Used them for tons of projects and never been displeased.” “Trust him with everything.” “Maybe he saves his best work for the bigger, expensive projects.” “I recently inherited an old grandfather clock from my in-laws that needed a lot of work, I shipped it straight to his warehouse and he did a fantastic job, now we have a beautiful grandfather clock worth more than it was when we got it.” “Lots of expertise.” “Heard about him from my children’s principal and couldn’t be happier that we found him!”

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1 Stars   (1)
 
 
REGISTERED (1 review )
Posted 3/7/2012
Reviewed By:
Laura E New York ,NY

Bottom Line:
Go anywhere else if you value your furniture and/or your money.
Recommendation
Work Quality
Cost Evaluation
Value Analysis
Project Description & Comments:
Richard Moller came highly recommended through the Franklin Report so I hired him to repair some reproduction French furniture that was damaged in a move. His estimates would have been reasonable (about $350 per piece for a total of approximately $4000) had he done an OUTSTANDING job. Unfortunately, he did the WORST WORK I HAVE EVER SEEN BY ANYONE IN THE INDUSTRY.

I will be specific. I had an unholstered arm chair that had a broken leg. I hired him to fix the leg. He put the leg back on the chair but FAILED TO PUTTY, SAND, PAINT, and RESTORE the leg to its original look. So now the leg is glued onto the chair but you can see where the wood was broken. Worse yet, while my chair was in his possession, it apparently got wet and became stained. This is a big deal because it was covered in imported French silk/cotton fabric that cost me $1500. I asked him about the stain and he said "oh sorry, just get some stain remover and take it off'. When I asked him if he had any stain remover, he said 'no just buy it at the hardware store'. I tried to remove the stains he got on my chair but unfortunately could not get them out, so now the chair needs to be recovered. Worse yet, I repeatedly asked Mr. Moller to fix his shoddy work where he failed to paint the chair leg to 'hide' where he repaired the fracture, but he was always 'too busy' to stop by my apartment (he gave me a series of excuses over a period of 8 months). I had to pay him $350 for that fiasco and have to pay someone else to fix the chair's leg and now to recover the chair. To date, he still has not restored the chair as promised.

My second example: I hired him to fix my tall secretary desk which had a broken metal post (where the secretary arm slides down to hold the desk open). I agreed to pay him $350 for sanding and repainting the bubbled desk surface and to replace the little metal pegs (so the desk would stay open). He only replaced the metal pegs (which, by the way,have since bent and are no longer functional) and when he came to my apartment without having sanded and repainted the bubbled desk surface, I asked him why he didn't do the second part of the job. He never gave me a straight answer and promised to return later to finish the job. To date, he has never done so despite my repeated requests.

I am thoroughly disappointed in his work 'quality' and frankly am wondering if he really is a professional in this industry or if he only does good work for really rich clients and crappy work for middle class clients. Regardless, if you value your furniture and/or value your money, I am sure you will do better anywhere else. All in, I paid him $750 for two jobs that he did not complete as promised (with regard to what work was/was not performed and with regard to the timeframe in which he promised).

All of his work needs to be redone by someone else (around $700 additional), and he also cost me $1500 to recover my French upholstered arm chair.
        Cost of Project: $1,001 - 10,000
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