Pitting the company who wants to sell my furniture

The BBQ Pit
1

December 13, 2004

Attn: [store manager] [RessenFressen] Furniture [Fax No.]

I?m trying to get delivery on furniture purchased back in November from your store. My husband, [Ramit Trumpeter], bought a bed, two dressers, and two night stands. One of the dressers was not in stock on the date of purchase, but we were assured by our sales person that it would be available in time for delivery the day after Thanksgiving. It was not. All of the other furniture was delivered and set up quickly and efficiently by your delivery crew.

We were recently contacted to schedule delivery for the last item. It was to be delivered Sunday, December 12, 2004. I received a phone call on Friday, December 10th, confirming my delivery address, and confirming that we would be called Sunday morning and given our delivery time window. No call came.

We called dispatch and were told that the item had been loaded onto the truck, and then removed, because our area was not eligible for Sunday delivery. Our sales person was responsible for calling us to let us know (we were not called) and we were told that we could not schedule an appointment for delivery because the item was no longer in stock.

We called and reached our sales person, and was told the earliest delivery date we could get was Tuesday, December 14th. We agreed, because we had another appointment scheduled that day. That appointment was moved because we could not be home during the day during the work week two days in a row (we?d offered to wait for delivery on the 13th, as we would be home for other appointments, but were told the delivery schedule was booked and there was no way for us to take delivery that day, despite two missed delivery appointments that were entirely not our fault).

I have again spoken to the sales person today, and we have also spoken with dispatch and customer service. No one seems to be capable of scheduling any sort of delivery appointment that will not cause us take more unpaid leave from work ? no weekend delivery is allowed in our area, no late night delivery is allowed in our area, and when I asked to have an appointment scheduled on December 27th, the first day we will be available at home during the day without penalty, we were told that we could not schedule our appointment that day because our furniture might no longer be in stock.

Is it the normal policy of your company to allow incomplete deliveries after assurances have been made that a complete delivery will be made? Is it normal policy for your company to allow scheduling and call backs for weekend appointments to outerlying delivery areas, and then cancel the weekend appointments with no notice, and then do nothing to accommodate any reasonable delivery schedule for the customer, and then pretty much tell the customer that the furniture they paid for, on the spot, would be sold to someone else?

I?m simply going to assume you?re having a rather busy day today, and that is why, four and a half hours after spending 20 minutes on hold waiting for you to get off of the phone, you still have not called me back.

I expect to receive a call back from you or your representative within 48 hours, with either a weekend delivery date of this Saturday morning, December 18th, between 8am - 12pm, or Monday, December 27th, with no vague mutterings about my paid-for furniture being sold off to someone else.

Thank you,

2

Faxed that to the store manager the 13th, on the 17th the company president.

Nada.

Grrr!

3

Hey Mynn, if it gets to that point I want to play the role of your lawyer on the phone. I can sound very attorney like when I need to.

That is ridiculous, it sounds like you are doing everything right, so I have no advice. Please keep us updated though. I am eager to hear when you achieve your (inevitable) victory.

4

Ramit is disputing the charge on his card (for all pieces) tonight with the credit card company.

5

I’m just wondering why you haven’t arranged pickup on your own. After the first or second dropped ball, I would have rented a truck and picked it up my own damn self.

You might consider it…

Sam

6

Because they shouldn’t have to, GaWd. Why should they go to additional expense, effort and trouble to do something the furniture company committed to doing?
Max.

7

I shouldn’t have to, and I honestly haven’t had a lot of lesiure time to go to the expense to get a truck, drive it three counties away, and hope they haven’t lost my furniture - and then expect to have that cost remibursed plus the fees I paid to them by delivery.

8

Another letter to the President of the Furniture Company, with a copy to the Consumer Affairs Division of your State’s Attorney General’s Office.

That letter reads something like:

"Mr. John Q. Bigshot, President
"Ressen Fressen Furniture
…

"Dear Mr. Bigshot:

"Enclosed please find previous correspondence including a paid invoice relative to our purchase of a bedroom set from your firm and your seeming unwillingness to complete delivery or to provide any explanation as to why you took our money and are refusing to fulfill the order for which it paid.

"I would hope that we can come to an amicable conclusion to this problem, ideally delivery of the item of furniture for which we have paid. In the event that you are unwilling to do so, however, we reserve the right to file suit for fraudulent business practices, including damages, and to request the Consumer Affairs Division of the State Attorney General’s Office to intervene on our behalf, perhaps pressing criminal fraud charges against your firm, your salesman, and you personally. A copy of this letter, with enclosures, is being provided them to bring them up to date on the problem up to this point.

"I trust that you will be in touch with us rapidly to resolve this situation.

"Sincerely,

Mrs. (Minn) Ramit"

9

I can tell you exactly what happened. The store sold your dresser and is now bull shitting you til the replacement arrives. How do I know? It happened to me several years ago.

I bought new living room and master bedroom furniture when I had my house built. I bought the furniture in January, because I found what I wanted, even though I figured I wouldn’t move in the house until about the end of February. I mean, what contractor ever finishes anything on time, right? They said the house would be ready by the end of January but I knew that automatically meant end of February. However, much to my surprise, the house was actually finished at the end of January! A contractor miracle. So, anyway, the store assured me they would hold the paid for furniture and that I could schedule delivery as soon as I was able to move in. I called the store to tell them that I would be in the house at the end of January (January 29th to be exact) and scheduled delivery for that day. Ok, they said. On moving in day, I got the bedroom furniture, one sofa (I bought two), one accent table and no recliners (I ordered two). I also noticed the sofa I did get was a sleeper sofa which I had not ordered. I called the store to ask about the missing furniture and to say I got a sleeper sofa instead of a regular sofa. No problem they said. Just a mix up in the order. We set up a delivery for the following Tuesday. It didn’t happen. I call again. “We’re so sorry we missed your delivery” they say. I stated that I would expect delivery on Thursday (I was gonna be home then) of all my furniture. They acted as if that wouldn’t happen. Thursday comes, and I get two sofas (they took the sleeper away) but no chairs. I am not happy. I went to the store to ask why I didn’t get my recliners. I talk with the manager and am assured that the recliners will be delivered the next day. However, while I am standing there, I here two sales persons talking to each other. One says, “That’s the guy whose furniture we sold because we figured we had a month to replace it.” I went apeshit right then and there. I told that manager that either I get two recliners NOW! as in that day or they could come and take all the other furniture and refund payment in full. Long story short, I got two recliners that day. Not the ones I ordered but much nicer ones for the same price.

They sold your dresser Mynn and are now stalling you. No doubt in my mind.

I still buy furniture from that store. The difference now is, when I go in there, I get what I want and get it delivered promptly at my convenience.

They learned a valuable lesson. Do Not Piss Off An Irate Bear. :smiley:

10

swamp, I’m not so certain of that. Like I said, they offered to deliver it that tuesday - but we couldn’t be home.

The mutterings were some rule that they’d not mentioned before about delivery required within a certain amount of time (five days) that I’d never heard about before (but I didn’t purchase it or do anything other than help pick it out and chase the kidlet while Ramit handled the details.

I am jealous of your house being ready - Mine was due in Feb and we closed at the end of October (NOT early).

I’ve been reading their website:

Today, I am proud to say that each and every one of our employees works with our same enthusiasm and dedication, making Furniture a successful and prestigious organization. Our philosophy is consistent. It is to continue to grow and to lead in the furniture industry while preserving the personal touch. There is a sincere interest and respect for our employees, our customers, our vendors, and our service providers, who directly or indirectly are a part of the family. “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” This is one of our core values.

UGHHGHHGHG.

I was going to call our local “problem line” but they ‘can’t promise a personal response’ and I’d really like my damn furniture next week when I’m frikken home.

Poly … I’m thinking that very strongly right now.

Fruit … aren’t there laws agains that sort of thing?

11

Both you and Max are right, Mynn. You shouldn’t have to. But in the interest of expediency, you probably should have looked into it. If they kept fucking with me, I would have snapped and showed up on their loading dock with a truck just to relieve myself of the bullshit I was dealing with.

Besdies, maybe you could have actually caught them with their pants down and no furniture for you. Then you could have really let them have it, and could have manipulated the situation to your advantage.

Sam

12

Have you tried to contact Luis E. Capó directly? I don’t think a fax is the best form of communication in this situation. A certified letter is good, but an assertive phone call gets more action. IMHO.

13

filling a complaint with BBB right now for now; if I don’t hear anything anytime soon I’ll borrow dad’s truck next weekend and go show up and sit on their loading dock, waiting for the damn thing. (Dad’s truck is also three counties away, so I’d have to go down in the mom-mobile with Wolfie in his carseat, and drag Ramit along to drive the mom-mobile while I herd the truck. Then sit on the loading dock nursing the boy (hrm, time to do a topless nursing sit-in?) waiting for them to get my damn furniture on the truck - and demand my delivery charges back).

14

Yes, called and faxed his office. No return call or fax.

15

Aren’t their laws against just about everything? In truth, I don’t know that there are any laws(in my region at least), that would prevent a consumer from pretending he was an attorney with the goal of trying to work to get his already-paid for merchandise delivered to him. Besides, who’s going to tell furniture that he’s NOT an attorney?

Really Mynn, you’ve been way too passive about this. Your passivity has allowed furniture to totally take advantage of you. Seize the bull by the horns and do something about it!

Sam

16

Just a note about the BBB-

THey are a nutless organization that serve almost no purpose in business today. You can complain about a company, lodge a complaint with them, verify the complaint, and if they don’t belong to the BBB, or just don’t care, they can feel free to ignore them.

In fact, most people today hardly ever use the BBB to investigate potential vendors, so your complaint will do little harm to furniture.

Sam

17

//

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18

Yup, gonna have to agree with GaWd here. It’s time for some face-to-face desk-thumping. No, you shouldn’t have to, but what should be and what is are often two different things. I guess you have to figure out what you want most; do you want to teach a disreputable company a lesson, or do you want your furniture?

19

well, I downloaded the FLA atty general’s complaint form, haven’t yet faxed it.

Salesperson called (21 min after the store opened this morning - was going to call and verify her last name) and … ya’ll were right. They did sell or never had it in stock.

At this point they are offering to deliver a floor model (we will inspect CAREFULLY) on Monday the 27th (when I will be home) at a 10% discount - or I can wait until it is in stock again in the middle of January (insert a ‘yeah right’ here).

We’re going to leave the dispute on the card for now - and I’ll hold off on the BBB complaint and the Atty Gen office complaint until after I inspect the piece monday. If it is too shop worn to be acceptable, I’ll send it back and figure it out from there.

20

Mynn, no reason not to file the BBB complaint, but you probably won’t see any results from it-that was my warning to you. The BBB will send them a letter or E-mail requesting a response from the company and once they respond, you can respond back as a happy customer or an unhappy customer.

You can file your complaint online if your local BBB chapter is represented online(most are, I think), and by phone or on their website, you can also check the status of other unhappy customers of the same company. It gives you a good idea of the company’s track record. Just remember, the BBB is a toothless tiger and the company can choose to disregard any attempt to gain feedback from them.

Involving the AG, who is most likely inundated with complaints this time of year, is not something I would suggest just yet. Right now you can write this unfortunate episode off as incompetence and crappy customer service. If their most recent offer to you is unsatisfactory and they tell you that they don’t plan on complying with your requests to provide your piece of furniture, then it looks and sounds more like fraud than just plain old incompetence. At that point, I’d run-not walk-to the AG’s phone line to lodge a complaint.

Damn, I should do this for a living…

Sam