On Wednesday 06/18/03 I purchased a Sofa and a Loveseat at the Levitz Store # 13 located at the address of 5353 Almaden Express, San Jose, CA 95118.
The sofa was a clearance item and sold as a Floor Sample. It clearly indicates on the Sale Order that All Sales are Final and Merchandise is sold AS IS.
Personal arrangements were made and my previous furniture removed from my place to make room for the new purchase.
I paid for man power and a van to help me transfer my new furniture from Levitz to my address.
When I arrived at the store I was informed by Sale Associate (person in charge during the absence of Store Manager) that an error occurred and I owed the store an additional $200.00.
Rather confused and upset I refused to pay the quoted additional amount and requested to speak with the store manager. He informed me Store Manager was absent and would not return until the following day Thursday 06/19/03.
After numerous times explaining to the person in charge that I had my previous furniture removed and now have no furniture, he left to contact with his manager. Several minutes later he returned to inform me, that the Sales Associate made an error and the Store Manager was not willing for me to take my newly purchased furniture home, unless I paid the additional fee.
I left the store to return the following day to discuss this matter with Store Manager.
I paid for the moving expense on the service of using the van and returned home to my empty living room.
I phone contacted my daughter and told her about the situation.
My daughter and I returned to Levitz approximately at 08:00 pm.
My daughter asked to speak to the person in charge for the day and was directed to him again.
She requested information regarding the furniture I purchased and what the problem was with the pick up. She told the same story I was told earlier, however she insisted for him to contact Store Manager immediately and advised him of her legal rights.
Person in charge left to call his manager and returned several minutes later. He told her that the manager was unavailable; however he left a voice message. He was told to follow the chain of command and to contact the next available manager. It was very clear at this point that he was nervous and realized that my daughter was not accepting of his excuses. At one point he attempted to give my daughter a guilty feeling and stated that the sale associate involved in the transaction would most likely lose her job over this matter. My daughter told him, that was irrelative.
Further she told him that Levitz customer service was of poor quality and rather than requesting additional money they ought to reduce the price. The conversation continued and needless to say, more and more poor excuses such as:
You cant take home the floor sample, your couch is in the warehouse
Your couch is in the warehouse, but it is closed
Sale Person in charge stated he totally agreed that this situation was terrible, but his hands were tied and for him dealing with us, he was loosing business since he worked for commission.
My daughter was instructed to call Manager the next day during morning hours rather than personally returning to the store. During the entire conversation he made a statement regarding my sale / invoice being voided. She requested him to explain what he was talking about and pointed to the bill of sale. He continually repeated the sale was a void. When asked to explain how this was possible after taking my money and not notifying me of this action, he was only able to point to the terminal computer screen and stated it is in here.
She requested for him to show us the void and to print a copy. Much to my surprise, the sale order had been voided and accordingly to Sale Person it was done earlier in the day by Manager without my knowledge.
My daughter left a written message for Manager to phone contact her the next day, he would staple with the invoice to ensure Manager would see it. She told Sale Person in charge that this was not the end of this and she would be contacting consumer report. Sale Person in charge agreed and stated it was terrible and he would do so himself.
We left the store approximately at 09:25 pm.
On 6-19-03 My daughter attempted to make phone contact with Store Manager. This was done at approximately at 1:00pm after receiving no call from Manager or the LEVITZ store. I was informed at this time that Manager was off for the next two days and would be in on Saturday.
This whole experience has been very upsetting and has left me feeling like I was doing business with criminals operating out of the back of a van. They have not even provided me with any documentation of crediting my account of which they took $433.00 from. I even contacted my credit provider and was informed that at this time it was not credited, but it could take up to seven to ten business days to show.
I do not know if this type of business is typical for LEVITZ, but unfortunately when Person in Charge and other sales associates present stated you need to go to small claims court, it is unfair what is going on, I think it is a familiar practice for this store.
When they tell me the couch I looked at and purchased would not be the one I would be getting, it really reinforced my concerns of the validity of the stores business practices. It states clearly on the CLEARANCE SALE ORDER * CLEARANCE AS IS*. So when I was told that the couch I would be receiving if I paid the extra $200.00 is in the where house and was unavailable at this time for pick up, I knew something was not right. I have not purchased anything of substantial worth without looking it over first. Especially if I know that one of the terms of the sale is as is. Meaning they would have given me a couch that I have not seen before and not had a chance to decide if it would be acceptable to me for the stated price.
In todays economy, especially in California, most reputable businesses stress customer service and customer satisfaction. Most professional organizations, either retail or services understand the importance of customer service to the longevity and success of a company. This is abundantly not the case with this LEVITZ store.
From the poor attitude of the Sales Associates who complain about poor pay and not having any supervision and the lack of concern and avoidance of the Management at this LEVITZ store it has really put a sour taste in mouth about the name LEVITZ! I have talked to my friends and family about my dealings in this store and they too are dismayed and can not believe the lack of business ethics being conducted at this store.
I hope this letter helps improve the business practices at this store and helps establish some elementary guide line for customer service which is non existent in this store.
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