The Consumer Complaints Blog

Hello! My business dealings/complaint is in attachments. I don’t know where to go to find a blog for St. Louis, Missouri, which is where I live. Can you post my story or give me some info. about where to post this stuff? I have tried the BBB, my credit card disputes center, and the Missouri attorney general website. No use. All I have, apparently, is the ability to post my dissatisfaction on the web. so that other people don’t shop at this store. HELP!

Rachelle

ATTENTION: BILLING DISPUTES

CASE #D-590320100707
Citicard Fax #(605)357-2021

Following is an account of our transactions with “Room to Room Furniture.”

Friday, June 15, 2007. My husband and I, Justin and Rachelle Shields, went to Room to Room Furniture, located at 352 Jamestown mall, Florissant, MO 63034-2930. Phone number: 314-355-5500. We were looking for a bedroom set. We found one in a catalog and asked the store owner and manager, Ron, about the quality of the set. He assured us that it was “middle of the line.” He described the set as having good, solid particle board, as having solid metal tracks for the drawers, and a nice look. We agreed to purchase the items for $770.25, including delivery. We were assured delivery would come the following Tuesday, June 19th. WE HAVE A RECEIPT for this transaction.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007. No delivery arrived. We called Room to Room Furniture and they said it would come the next day.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007. No delivery arrived. We called Room to Room Furniture and they said it would come the next day.

Thursday, June 21, 2007. No delivery arrived. We called Room to Room Furniture and they said it would come the next day at around 3:00 pm.

Friday, June 22, 2007. 3:00 pm. No delivery arrived. We called Room to Room Furniture and they said delivery would come the next day. We expressed some concern to them about the constant rescheduling and the inconvenience of having to adjust our schedules for almost an entire work week. They then informed us that they would be able to deliver the items that evening at around 8:00 pm.

Friday, June 22, 2007. 8:00 pm. The items arrived.

Saturday, June 23, 2007. I unpacked the items from their wrapping to discover that they were very poor quality and in bad condition. The set consisted of two night stands, a headboard, a dresser, a chest, and a mirror. The mirror not only had been broken in half, but half of it was missing. Only half of a broken mirror arrived in pieces. The set was made from particle board, but the drawer bottoms were made of cardboard. The tracks consisted of one metal track that was loosely stapled down the center of the drawer cavities—one metal track per drawer. The drawers attached to these tracks via plastic clips. We were told the tracks and drawer attachments were of metal, and provided well for opening and closing the drawers. This was not the case. Most of these metal tracks were not stapled down adequately—if at all. Most of the tracks were hanging loosely, unattached to the dressers. This caused the drawers to slide in at odd angles, to get stuck, and to fall out at random. The set was held together only by staples. Most of these staples had not been put in properly, and were sticking out of the furniture and snagging our clothing, the carpet, and our walls. Some of the paper finish over the particle board was peeling. The particle board had been gauged in two places on the dresser.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007. We called Room to Room about the broken mirror and they agreed to reorder it. We decided to try to live with the furniture and see if it was functional. We had not used it yet because we had just moved into our house and were mostly living out of boxes and unpacking little by little.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007. We began to unpack our bedroom and to put clothing into the bedroom set purchased from Room to Room Furniture. When Justin was attempting to load one of the drawers of the chest with clothing, the drawer fell out by itself, and the plastic clip broke into pieces. Several of the other drawers would stick, or would not close properly. We decided that the furniture was not functional, and decided to call Room to Room Furniture about the issue.

Week of July 3 through July 7th. We called Room to Room Furniture about returning the furniture. They told us that no refunds were available—only exchanges were accepted. We tried to call several times that week about the furniture and no one would answer.

Monday, July 8, 2007. We went to Room to Room Furniture to discuss the matter personally with Ron, as they were no longer taking our phone calls. Ron insisted that we had not called him earlier, and that this was the first notice he had been given of the problems. He told us that his store has caller ID, and that he had not seen either of our cell phone numbers calling. We expressed our displeasure with the store, its delivery procedures, and its products. We asked for a refund, stating that an exchange was distasteful to us because it would require us doing further business with the store. Ron became aggressive and rude. He yelled at us and called me names, including “ridiculous,” and insinuated that my husband and I ought to be intelligent enough to agree with his views. He said that we had waited too long to return the items—that over a month had passed and that there was nothing he could do. (Note: Only two weeks had passed since we received the items, and one of those weeks was spent calling the store with no answer). He became sarcastic, saying that we did not want the furniture because “we didn’t like it,” and that we were “picky.” When it became clear to us that he would not listen to our case objectively, we left the store. We filed a complaint at the mall Customer Service desk immediately.

Tuesday, July 9, 2007. I sent an e-mail to Mr. Stephens, the Jamestown mall manager, describing my complaint.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007. I sent a follow-up e-mail to Mr. Stephens about the issue, with more detail. I sent a copy of the e-mail to Ms. Son, of mall customer relations.

Thursday, July 12, 2007. Justin returned the furniture to Room to Room Furniture for a store credit. He did so because the exchange window was 30 days. If we did not exchange the furniture within that window, we would not even be entitled to store credit. Therefore, he accepted $720.25 of store credit, $50.00 being deducted as a “restocking/delivery fee.” This credit would not expire, and therefore, would give us time for more negotiations. WE HAVE A RECEIPT for this transaction, stating $720.25 as “store credit.”

Friday, July 13, 2007. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau at 9:03 am. I received an e-mail from Mr. Stephens, Jamestown mall manager, at 11:33 am. He stated that he had spoken with Ron. Ron told Mr. Stephens that he had offered us a “free upgrade,” and that he had tried very hard to ensure our satisfaction. Mr. Stephens said that he has no authority to negotiate exchanges and refunds for stores in his mall, and therefore expressed his sympathies. I e-mailed Mr. Stephens back at 11:56 am and stated that an offer of a “free upgrade” was never mentioned. Had it been proffered, we most certainly would have taken it with satisfaction. I told Mr. Stephens that we had exchanged the furniture for store credit, but did not wish to do further business with Room to Room Furniture, and were attempting to find a way to recover the money.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007. The Better Business Bureau contacted me with Ron’s response to my complaint. He cited that an exchange had been conducted, and that the matter had been resolved. My husband and I determined that it was unlikely that the Better Business Bureau would mitigate this matter, and decided to try and find something in Room to Room Furniture that we would be willing to buy with the store credit. We realized that their delivery process was very unpredictable, and that their customer service was bad, but we felt we had no choice.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007. We went to Room to Room Furniture. Ron was calm, and did not yell at us. We became interested in a chair and ottoman set. Ron told us the chair was $285. The matching ottoman was an additional charge, which we can not recollect completely as we only wrote down the price of the chair. It was around $110.00. We agreed to these prices, and selected a fabric for the upholstery. Ron told us he would order the chair “right away” and that it should be at the store soon. He did not issue a receipt—just told us that the chair would be ordered.

Friday, August 10, 2007. After calling several times over the ensuing weeks, with promises that the chair “would come soon,” we were informed that the chair had arrived.
When Justin went to purchase the chair, they attempted to charge him $399 for it. Justin cited the price discrepancy, and they agreed to drop the price to $330. They cited that they were charging us additional cost because they had to pay for shipping, and that the factory had increased the price of the chair. When Justin complained that he did not agree to pay this price and that the chair should not have been ordered at this sum without his permission, they told him that as he did not have a receipt or written proof of their initial price quote, it was his word against theirs anyway. They charged $180 for the accompanying ottoman. Justin was seriously displeased, but after so much fighting and waiting, he agreed to purchase the chair and took it home. WE HAVE A RECEIPT for this transaction. When he arrived home and we unwrapped the chair, we were shocked to discover that they had ordered the wrong chair. We had ordered a high-backed chair. This chair was low-backed, and completely different from the chair we had ordered—although, it was covered in the fabric we had selected. I sent an e-mail to Mr. Stephens, mall management, about how things were progressing.

Saturday, August 11, 2007. When Justin went to return the incorrect chair, the store was closed with a sign saying that the operators would be back at 5:45 pm. Justin had arrived at 5:10, and decided to wait. 5:45 passed, and Justin grew anxious about his time. Apparently, Ron was gone at a conference and his children were running the store. They returned at 6:20 pm. When Justin finally was able to enter the store, Ron’s children said that Ron wanted to speak with Justin, and they called Ron at the conference. When Justin spoke with Ron on the phone, he informed Justin that the store would have to charge him an additional $50 due to a “clerical error.” When Justin expressed his alarm at this new charge, Ron again became angry. He yelled at Justin over the phone, and became insulting. Eventually, Justin was able to return the incorrect chair and receive store credit. WE HAVE A RECEIPT for this transaction. We were now left with the same $720.25 in store credit that had been issued to us on July 12. Justin returned home and sent an e-mail about these transactions to Mr. Stephens, mall management.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007. Mr. Stephens e-mailed Justin with his findings. He agreed to act as mediator, and spoke with Ron about the proceedings. Ron informed Mr. Stephens that a new chair had been ordered “on rush” This new chair and ottoman would cost $510.00. The remainder of the balance Ron agreed to refund. Ron said the chair should arrive in a week. Though Justin and I were very upset that the price increase had been sustained, we were anxious to conclude the matter and agreed to the terms as long as the chair would arrive in a week.

One week later (approximately August 21): Room to Room Furniture called to say that our fabric selection was gone. We were asked to come select more fabric.

One week later (approximately August 28): Room to Room Furniture called to say they had located our fabric selection, and that the order would be put on “rush” and should arrive a week later, putting approximate delivery date at around September 4th.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007. Justin and I both contacted Mr. Stephens stating that no chair had yet arrived. I stated that Justin and I were no longer willing to purchase the chair at the increased price, as part of the bargain was the expedited delivery. Mr. Stephens agreed to speak with Ron and requested a few days to handle the problem

Wednesday, October 3, 2007. I contacted Mr. Stephens at 11:33 am and asked how the problem was progressing. He responded at 2:25 pm to say that Ron was not willing to negotiate in any particular, and urged me to seek redress through Small Claims Court and the Better Business Bureau. He stated that he has no authority to impose policy on Room to Room Furniture.

Room to Room Furniture continued to insist that they were ordering the chair at their expected price.

Monday, October 8, 2007. I filed several complaints with the Better Business Bureau, each in a different category.

Friday, October 19, 2007. We continue to call Room to Room Furniture to attempt negotiations. They never answer our calls when we call via our cell phones. When we use other phone numbers via calling from our friends’ phones and phones at our business locations, they always answer. We have tested the method, calling first with our cell phones and receiving no answer. Then, we immediately call via another phone number and receive an answer. When we manage to engage them on the phone, Ron is always unpleasant and rude. Room to Room Furniture continues to say that the chair has been ordered and will come “in two weeks.” They have been saying this since September 4th. They keep telling us they will call us with updates yet we have not received one phone call from them. At this point we do not ever expect to receive our item and they still have our $770.25.

Please contact us to let us know how this will work out.

Thank you,

Justin & Rachelle Shields

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.