I purchased furniture from www.horizon-custom-homes.com on July 20th. I paid $1914.00 using Paypal for items including 9 pieces of furniture plus shipping. The company then contacted me notifying me that two of the items I purchased were not in stock and that they would issue me a refund for these two items. I never received the refund to my account.
I received my first shipment of the in-stock items on July 30th. The 2 shipments came directly from Target and Wal-Mart. Nowhere on the Horizon Custom Homes website did they describe the furniture as having come from Target or Wal-Mart, nor was there a web link to Target or Wal-Mart.
After looking at Wal-Mart and Target's websites, we found the exact items Horizon is selling under a different name and description and they cost nearly half as much. Horizon is re-naming the products on their website, charging up to twice as much for them, taking the money through Paypal, then placing an order with Target and/or Wal-Mart and sending the furniture to the consumer as a "gift" so that the invoice does not reflect the price actually paid. They do not accept returns, and have not returned phone calls.
Paypal, the company responsible for the transaction, claims no responsibility and continues to do business with a company that they have received complaints about.
After speaking to Target, they stated that Horizon is not an authorized re-seller of their goods. The company, Horizon Custom Homes, is misrepresenting their goods as Custom, Mission Furniture, all the while re-selling Target and Wal-Mart goods under different names. It's impossible to comparison shop (as it's recommend on Horizon's site) because they have ever so cleverly renamed their products from those they are selling off of Wal-mart and Target's site.
After speaking with Paypal and making them aware of these fraudulent practices, they only guarantee that the company does not have access to the actual credit card number, and that they would look into it further. Horizon Custom Homes even notes on their website that they no longer take credit cards due to fraudulent charge-backs, and they only accept Paypal or personal checks. The owners of the business, Dawn and Brent Wilson, have apparently found loopholes in the system and they are taking advantage of consumers through these loopholes.
We have contacted Target and Wal-Mart and intend on following up with them to make them aware of the way these people are using their companies. This is an issue for both Horizon, Ebay and Paypal as Horizon is taking advantage of consumers by misrepresenting their products, and Paypal is protecting them by not investigating the situation to shield it's customers for this type of fraud. I have since contacted the Attorney General, the Better Business Bureau of Mississippi, Ebay, Paypal, local law enforcement, FTC, Walmart and Target.
This operation is working in a very gray area and taking advantage of consumers. I've read Horizon Custom Homes rebuttal to another consumer that had a very similar problem and Horizon's hides in between the lines of it's "terms agreement"... However, reputable companies typical rely on these agreements to avoid the occasional misunderstanding. However, in Horizon's case I think I think their agreement relies upon being able to hide behind such policies and hoping the consumer wont' fight back. Frankly, this is a perfect Dateline story and a wonderful opportunity for a class action suit, which I fully intend on pursuing.
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