Question:
What is the quality of Bassett furniture?
June 6, 2020 (Revised 1-26-2023)
Answer:
Bassett’s mass produced, imported upholstered furniture is at the very middle of mid-range quality furniture.
Bassett’s American-made custom-built collections are higher quality and more expensive.
Bassett was once one of the largest U.S. furniture manufacturers. That is no longer the case.
Bassett Furniture currently manufactures its custom-made upholstered furniture lines in North Carolina.
The company’s mass produced furniture is currently made in Thailand.
Bassett has two different custom-built upholstered furniture lines.
Both are made in Newton, North Carolina.
The BenchMade collection consists of reclining sofas and chairs with high legs that appear almost indistinguishable from non-motion living room furniture.
The Club collection has two very different segments:
One of these is custom-built high quality reclining furniture (but no high leg styles) with zero gravity mechanisms, made in North Carolina.
Bassett’s American Made custom-built BenchMade and Club collections are available with All-leather. All models are powered.
Bassett’s other Club level upholstery segment is mass produced in Thailand.
Bassett’s imported upholstery is mass produced, with an average lifespan that is about half of its custom-built furniture.
Bassett’s imported Club Level reclining furniture uses Leather Match – genuine top grain corrected leather on the seats, inside arms, and inside backs. Everywhere else is 100% synthetic faux leathers.
Note – the Bassett website makes it difficult for non-professionals to distinguish between its American-made custom-built furniture and models that are mass produced in Thailand.
Also, Bassett’s website identifies its leather match upholstery as “Genuine top grain leathers.” It does not mention “leather match” anywhere.
I guessed that this was leather match based on the pricing. This guess was confirmed by checking Bassett’s retailer websites, which identify the material as “leather match.”
The most important single component that will determine how long your Bassett sofa will last is the cushions.
When possible, spend the extra money to get the highest quality cushions available.
These may have higher density foam or coil spring construction.
Bassett’s standard cushions have a 5 1/2″ thick 1.8 density foam core with a polyester fiber wrapping.
It has an average lifespan of 3 – 5 years for most people. It begins to soften within one year, eventually losing its shape and resilience (ability to bounce back) after 3 – 5 years.
Bassett’s American made custom-built upholstery is available with better cushions.
The Club Level is available with 2.0 density foam only. The seats are non-removable.
The BenchMade line has removable seat cushions and a choice of 3 cushion options
If cleanability is a concern, check out high performance fabrics.
These have built-in permanent stain resistance technology.
Leading high performance fabric brands include Crypton, Sunbrella, Revolution and LiveSmart.
Almost every large furniture brand is available with at least one of these high performance fabric lines.
Other high performance fabric brands are also available.
Below are a couple of independent review sites with unedited reviews about Bassett.
Independent reviews (that cannot be edited or deleted by the store) usually get about 75% – 80% negative comments (an average rating of 2.0 – 2.5 stars)
The truly bad companies will have independent reviews that are over 90% negative.
Shoppers who write reviews when the furniture is new usually write positive reviews.
Many brands issue financial incentives to encourage early (positive) reviews.
Reviews written after living with the furniture for several months (or years) are far more likely to be negative.
Few people write reviews several months (or years) later when they have not experienced any problems.
When reading negative reviews from the past few (Pandemic) years, ignore complaints about late deliveries.
That was an industry-wide issue from 2020 through late 2022.
PissedConsumer.com (This site has mostly negative reviews for every company it lists.
Bassett’s own review site has a 4.6 average from over 20,000 customer reviews.
Retailers solicit reviews from recent customers who experienced no problems with delivery and are happy with their new furniture.
Stores have the ability to edit or delete reviews they don’t like.
Reviews from customers who have used their furniture for a year or more should be given more weight than reviews from customers whose furniture has just been delivered.
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Great info! Insider info that is hard to find. What is the minimum cushion thickness and density that you think will last 7-10 years in general? How does spring play a role in conjunction with density, in terms of back support?
2.0 density foam cushions that are at least 8 inches thick (with a solid foam core at least 5 inches thick) should last 6 to 8 years for average size people with average use.
The actual lifespan is affected by other factors. For example, 2.0 density cushions may last only 3 or 4 years for someone weighing 250 lbs.
They may last less than one year for 300+ lb. individuals. The amount of use also affects the actual lifespan.
Larger size cushions with more surface area last longer. A sofa with two cushions will last longer than the identical sofa with three cushions.
Coil spring cushions have longer lifespans than most foams. But not longer than all foam cushions.
2.5 density foam cushions (with 5 – 6 inch thick cores) can last just as long (10 to 15+ years) without any coil springs.
There are two different types of coil spring cushions.
High end Spring Down type cushions have cylindrical springs that are individually wrapped in a fabric pocket.
The springs act independently to provide focused support and can support higher weights over longer periods of time. They are more comfortable than foam cushions over the long-term.
This type of Spring is often called a Marshall unit, after the man who invented them in 1901 for use in high end mattresses aboard luxury ocean liners.
The type of foam used to surround the cushions is not as critical as it is in all-foam cushions. Most of your weight is on the springs, not on the foam.
High quality coil spring cushions, surrounded by 1.8 density foam, should last 10 to 15+ years for most people.
Surrounding the springs with 2.5 density foam increases the lifespan further and will support larger (250+ lb.) individuals.
Spring Down cushions require a lot more time and skill to manufacture. Upgrading from a 1.8 density cushion to a high quality Spring Down cushion with 2.5 density foam can increase the cost of each cushion by $200 or more.
High end coil spring cushions are reversible for seating with fabric covers.
Lower cost pocketed spring cushions last at least twice as long as 2.0 density foam cushions. 6″ thick pocketed coil spring cushions have very similar costs to 8 inch thick 1.8 density foam cushions.
Pocketed coil cushions are not reversible.
Cheaply made pocketed coil cushions often have insufficient foam padding above the springs. Unless upgraded foam is used for that padding, or the overall cushion is at least 8 inches thick, pocketed coil cushions can feel uncomfortably firm to many people.
Unlike higher quality Marshall units, pocketed springs do not act independently. The springs are shorter with smaller diameters. They are far less comfortable than expensive Spring Down cushions.
I bought a sofa and matching love seat. When they delivered the , the large sofa was damaged. I bought
the furniture from Bonds Furniture in Greer SC. They got us a new sofa, they were geat. We didn’t use the love seat until recently. My son sat on the love seat and we heard something cracked. I called Chris at the store and guess what the store is out of business. Is there any way you can help up with this problem. I tried to contact Chris, but he did not answer me
Bonds Furniture is a chain. If your local store went out of business, but not the entire company, other Bond Furniture stores should honor your warranty.
If the entire chain is out of business and if the loveseat brand was imported or unknown, you may be out of luck. If it is a U.S. brand, you can contact the manufacturer and let them know your situation. Bonds sells a lot of Ashley Furniture. If that is the brand you have, they should be able to help you.
Another possibility is to examine your warranty. The warranty may not be through Bonds, but through a 3rd party company that Bonds contracted with. If you purchased an Extended warranty, it is definitely through a 3rd party. If that is the case, your warranty should still be in effect.
In any case, you should have the loveseat examined. If there is damage, the repair person may be able to reinforce it before the damage gets worse.
The information in this article is false; Bassett only has select collections that come from overseas; 80% of their product is still made in the United States.
Also – the cushion ratios are also incorrect. This is old information.
ALSO FALSE: “Keep in mind they are allowed to edit or delete any reviews they don’t like.”
This article is almost libel and slander considering all the false information.
Thank you for your comments & corrections. The article was written a while ago. It has now been updated.
Please let me know whether there are additional corrections that still need to be made.
I stand by my statement that furniture retailers (and manufacturers) control reviews on their own websites. Whether or not, they delete or edit any of the reviews, they do have the power to do so. Many furniture companies take advantage of that power.