I want to complain to Ashely furniture headquarters about deplorable
customer service and a store manager/owner who refused to see me.
Who is the best person to send a complaint to and what is his/her
contact information?
Also, should I send a copy to the store manager/owner in question or
just bypass him completley?  What's protocol for such a situation when
dealing with a franchise?

Here is contact info for the Ashley Furniture Corporation:

Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc.
1 Ashley Way
Arcadia, WI 54612 
Phone: 608-323-3377
Fax: 608-323-6008
http://www.ashleyfurniture.com  

Hoovers Online
http://www.hoovers.com/co/capsule/2/0,2163,55652,00.html

Regarding your complaint, I suggest that you address your letter to
any or all of the following people at the corporate headquarters:

Ron Wanek (Chairman of the Board and CEO) 
Chuck Vogel (Vice Chairman and Chief Sales Officer)
Todd Wanek (President and Chief Operations Officer) 
Ben Vogel (Vice President)

OakPlus Furniture
http://www.oakplus.com/ashley.htm

In addition to mailing a detailed letter of complaint to the
corporation, it's a good idea to send a copy of the letter to the
store manager/owner, particularly since the manager's behavior is part
of the problem here.

Many years ago, I had a serious complaint against a fast food
franchise called Minnie Pearl's Chicken. I wrote to the corporate
headquarters and sent a copy of the letter to the store manager and
the owner (two separate people.) Before I got a response from
Corporate, I received two very apologetic letters from the manager and
the owner, including coupons for $100 in free food. Franchisees are
often very concerned about their "image" in the eyes of the corporate
overlords, and are likely to try to make amends in order to maintain
an appearance of good customer service. In my case, I later got an
apology from Minnie Pearl's corporate headquarters. It was not a form
letter, and it specifically addressed the issues I had raised in my
complaint -- plus it gave me another $100 in coupons. If the Minnie
Pearl chain hadn't gone out of business shortly thereafter, I might
still be eating free chicken today.

Here are a few online sources that will help you to formulate your
letter of complaint:

Essortment: Writing a letter of complaint
http://wywy.essortment.com/complaintletter_rcst.htm

Essortment: Writing the great complaint letter
http://nhnh.essortment.com/writingwriteco_rgwo.htm

Booker High School: How to Write a Letter of Complaint 
http://www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/bhs/bryan/bryan_complaint.html

City of Salford: A CONSUMERS GUIDE: CONSUMER COMPLAINT?
http://www.salford.gov.uk/consumer/tradingstandards/consumer/sample_letters.shtm

Search terms used:
"ashley furniture"
"ashley furniture corporation"
"ashley furniture industries"
"writing a letter of complaint"

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, please
request clarification; I'll gladly offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.

Best wishes,
pinkfreud

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Request for Answer Clarification by genki2-ga on 19 Jun 2003 07:01 PDT

http://www.phoenixcoyotes.com/features/news/news_releases/20030603.1.shtml

Please see above link (indicates a different president) and try to
detemrine what is most accurate. thanks.  maybe another website can
confirm the current officers??
thanks

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 19 Jun 2003 09:35 PDT

According to another site, Michael Jedlowski is the President of a
division of the Ashley Companies:

""The growth of leather has been phenomenal," said Michael Jedlowski,
president of the Millenium division of The Ashley Companies, furniture
makers located in Arcadia."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/sunday/interiors/0525mortrend.html

Ashley Furniture's own website lists Todd Wanek as President:

"The direction and leadership of owners Ron Wanek (Chairman of the
Board and CEO) Chuck Vogel (Vice Chairman and Chief Sales Officer)
Todd Wanek (President and Chief Operations Officer) and Ben Vogel
(Vice President) has positioned Ashley as a furniture industry leader
and world class manufacturer."

http://www.ashleyfurniture.com/ashley_used_equipment/About_Ashley.htm

In any case, all available information names Ron Wanek as Chairman of
the Board and CEO of Ashley, so a letter addressed to Ron Wanek would
get you to the top level of the corporation.

~pinkfreud

Thank you!

Thank you for the five-star rating and the tip!

~pinkfreud