N.C. AG Orders Grand Furniture Gallery to Stop Taking Orders

September 26, 2011  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Legal on September 27, 2011

The North Carolina Attorney General has ordered online furniture store Grand Furniture Gallery to stop taking orders until it fills existing orders or gives refunds.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper filed suit last week against Cary-based Grand Furniture Gallery its owner, Max Robert Godfrey Jr., based on numerous complaints from consumers who paid the company money but never received their furniture. Thirteen consumers filed complaints about Grand Furniture Gallery with the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, and 51 consumers complained to the Better Business Bureau, which gave the company an "F" rating.
 
Wake County Superior Court Judge Osmond Smith agreed late Friday with Cooper's request to temporarily bar Godfrey and his company from taking any new orders or payments until all existing orders have been filled or consumers have gotten refunds. Cooper also seeks to permanently bar the company and its employees from unfair or deceptive business practices.
 
As alleged in the lawsuit, Grand Furniture Gallery requires consumers to pay for orders in advance. Since late 2010, the company has either required payment by check or encouraged it by offering discounts. Consumers who place orders with the company are usually told that their items will arrive in four to 16 weeks, but the items don't arrive as promised. Under federal law, mail order companies must tell consumers if their orders will be delayed and offer them a new delivery date or a refund.
 
"Companies that take your money need to be prepared to make good on your order or they shouldn€™t be in business," Cooper said in a release. "Our goal is to make sure consumers get what they paid for or help them get their money back."

According to their complaints and affidavits,  most consumers who've complained about Grand Furniture Gallery say they're still waiting to receive their furniture or get their money back. For example:
 * A Guilford County consumer ordered $618.70 worth of furniture on Feb. 4. After sending several e-mails asking when his order would arrive, he was told that most orders are delivered within four to eight weeks, but that it sometimes takes as much as 10 to 12 weeks. More than 30 weeks later, he still hasn't gotten his furniture or a refund.
* A Georgia resident paid Grand Furniture Gallery $2,249.51 for furniture on Nov. 26, 2010. The company gave him a 5 percent discount for prepaying by check. After he repeatedly tried to contact the company, he was told that they were working on his order and would deliver it in another few weeks. Neither his furniture nor his refund has ever arrived.
* A New York consumer paid $2164.17 by check for his furniture order on Nov. 15, 2010. His check was cashed four days later, but 10 months later he has yet to receive his furniture or a refund.
 
Cooper contends that Godfrey has previously owned and operated two other furniture companies, and at least one of those companies, NC Home Furniture, had problems delivering orders as promised. Between 2004 and 2006, 74 consumers complained about NC Home Furniture. The Consumer Protection Division was investigating the company when it filed for bankruptcy on December 6, 2006.