Gomez Custom Upholstery - Walnut, California

Ric S.

A Nightmare Experience!
I try to be fair, even in negative reviews, but my experience with Bernardo was so disappointing that I feel obligated to warn others—especially owners of high-end, exotic, or collector cars.
After relocating to the SGV following a wildfire, I found Bernardo’s shop through Yelp while looking to reupholster small leather pieces from my Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Porsches. His Yelp page featured photos of similar vehicles, which made me think he had experience with exotics. In hindsight, I question whether those photos were even his work.
I began with a small Ferrari dash piece. At first, communication was great—Bernardo was responsive, confident, quoted a reasonable price, and promised a 3-day turnaround. I’ve previously sent parts to Germany for leather work, so I had a solid sense of pricing and quality expectations. His shop was cluttered and dusty, but that didn’t bother me—I’ve worked with humble shops that delivered excellent results.
He showed me various leather options and explained the difference between American and European hides. Since the piece wasn’t highly visible, I chose the more affordable American Napa leather to test his craftsmanship.
First Attempt:
The part took a week instead of three days, which was fine. But when I picked it up, I saw a dent and visible wrinkling that hadn’t been there before. Bernardo blamed the glue drying process and said it would improve over time. The stitching came out pink instead of OEM red. He claimed the original had just faded. I wasn’t impressed, but I let it slide as a 7/10 job—barely acceptable. He offered to redo it if I wasn’t satisfied.
Second Attempt:
A few days later, the wrinkles hadn’t improved. When he followed up about more work, I gave honest feedback and asked him to redo the piece. He agreed without hesitation, which I appreciated. I believe in second chances when people are willing to make things right.
But that’s when the nightmare began.
Weeks passed with delays, excuses, and lies. I made repeated trips to the shop after he began ghosting me, only to find the part untouched, half-done, or missing—despite him saying it was “ready.” Eventually, he stopped replying entirely. On one visit, I found the original part and two failed attempts sitting there. He even texted me a photo of the first failed version, pretending it was the second.
Each visit became an exercise in frustration. One day he claimed he was out of red thread. Another, he said his phone broke and he missed all Yelp messages. His coworkers or family would say he wasn’t around or pretend not to speak English. When I finally caught him in person, he showed me a half-finished piece and promised it would be done “tomorrow.” That day never came. He repeatedly made me drive down for nothing.Through it all, I remained calm, respectful, and patient.
Bottom Line:
What should have been a simple job turned into a two-month ordeal full of dishonesty, poor craftsmanship, and zero accountability. Bernardo couldn’t even match a basic stitch color. Rather than admit he was in over his head, he lied and wasted my time. At several occasions, he literally hid from me at the shop like a mouse!
This business, once run by the late Mr. Gomez Sr., is headed for failure under his son’s management.
This situation could have been handled so easily:
- He could have declined the job like other shops did.
- He could have admitted he couldn’t improve it and returned the part.
- He could have offered a refund.
- Or completed another 7/10 job and called it his best effort.
Instead, he chose the path that earned him this nasty review—for just a few hundred dollars.
He may do okay with regular cars, but if you care about quality, customer service, attention to detail, or integrity—especially for valuable vehicles—do yourself a favor and go elsewhere.

Margarita G.

Best ever!!! I have a 2007 used car with the worst upholstery - seats, arm rests, headliner and carpet. My car is so beautiful now thanks to the amazing upholstery job. Great job and very honest. Thank you so much 😊

Panda N.

I looked around countless number of shops for upholstery service for my office chair - all were quoting really high prices. I even asked another shop if they could customize colors and they gave me an attitude. Went into Bernardo’s shop here at Gomez Custom Upholstery and he talked over the colors and what he could do for cushioning and stitching. He made everything sound like not a problem. And it really wasn’t for him as he really did do all the things I asked him to. Not only that, but he was adamant on having a same day turn around for me. Other places would be weeks. Truly a hard worker.

Really good communication as he texted me on updates in a quick manner for material he has and he remembered everything needed to be done. Also worked with me on the time I could pick it up and was flexible.

I had a minor issue with my chair when I took it back home and told Bernardo about it. He fixed it for me quickly and told me if I have any other issues I can let him know. Grade A quality service and customer service! This is definitely my go-to for upholstery needs from now on.

Gary

Mr. Gomez is very good at what he does. With these times of being hard to get employees he was very delayed by months on getting my project done. I would go back there again because his work is excellent.

David R.

I was happy to find Gomez Upholstery on Valley Blvd. in Walnut. I took my 1999 Toyota Tacoma Truck with a torn driver side seat and Daniel said he can fix it but he wasn't sure if he could match up the material. Low and behold, he located a material shop in Los Angeles that matched the fabric on my truck. Daniel and his Team did an Outstanding Job and the price was reasonable. They worked their magic, my seat looked new again.
If we need any upholstery work done in the future I will reach out to Gomez Upholstery.
Thank you!!

Sierran261

Ran across this business page and it brought back horrible memories from years ago. Way back in 2009 I took a custom convertible Camaro in to have the top replaced. While work seemed slow to me I preferred to have it done properly, not fast. But picking up the car after finally being told it was ready I found that the front seam hadn't even been stitched closed. It was a quick fix with what appeared to be fabric glue and I trusted it.
I must admit that the glue did indeed hold, because the top had been put on so tightly that my Camaro seemed to have trouble even closing properly. After just a couple closures the extreme pressure put on my hydraulics to stretch the fabric to close caused both my hydraulic cylinders to rupture and leak. I returned to Gomez Upholstery and was refused ANY form of mitigation, either as a suitable repair or refund.
As a custom vehicle, finding replacements on my own was extremely difficult and eventually required custom manufacturing. I returned to Gomez Upholstery seeking refund and, after some disagreement, they finally admitted fault and signed an installment note to repay me. After many many letters and phone calls, while some of the amount was paid, much was not. To this day it remains unpaid.
As they are still in business I have to believe that most customers leave satisfied. But trust me when I say that I will NEVER return. While their work was obviously seriously flawed, it was what I found to be a lack of customer service and character that I suggest is even more concerning. My eventual replacement top was completed elsewhere and functions wonderfully to this day.
One star rating simply because zero was not an option.

Nena Q.

Had the opportunity of dealing with the owner Bernardo Gomez ... Customer service was unpleasing. I dont know if he didnt know what he was doing ..completely want a refund for services not done properly $900
I recommend to anyone that is thinking about going there....save yourself the drive and head ache...its not worth it...

abraham T.

Can be a bit pricey depending on what kind of work they’re going to do, but get what you pay for. Absolutely amazing work. I highly recommended them. They have 30 years of experience