On April 30, I placed an order for 8 pieces of the San Carlos bedroom set from Furniture Discount Source. The 8 pieces included: 1) King bed with canopy, 2) TWO nightstands, 3) dresser, 4) mirror, 5) chest, 6) armoire, and 7) leather bench. Shipping as stated by "Randy" in an e-mail was given as 2-4 weeks. None of the furniture was received in the designated time frame; four pieces were finally delivered on June 13, namely the two nightstands, the mirror, and the dresser. The dresser had damage to its marble top; specifically, it was warped and had a large chip. I immediately notified Randy by both phone and e-mail about the damage, attaching 6 photos to my e-mail.
Randy acknowledged the damage and said he would report it to the manufacturer for a replacement. From June 18th, to December 17th, excuse after excuse was given by Randy about why the remaining/replacement furniture was taking so long to be delivered; prospective delivery dates came and went. On December 8, Randy answered one of my numerous e-mails by saying that I would get the furniture by Christmas; on December 17th, I confirmed my address for him by e-mail (as I had done many times previously). On December 19th, I sent off my most recent e-mail to him asking whether my furniture would be arriving in time for Christmas, as he had promised; I have not heard from Randy since that date.
The cost of the furniture was $5,789, with a shipping charge of $379; total payment was $6,168, made in the two amounts of $2,000 and $4,168, via PayPal to Sirena Calderon on April 30 (Unique Transaction ID #6CK97056A27602312 and #7HB66875P75974504, respectively). When I originally ordered the furniture, the company had excellent reviews on eBay and had a website called www.furniturefurniture.net; it is no longer a working website.in addition, when I first placed my order, the company's phone number was (773) 698-0926; on July 27, it was no longer an active number, and Randy gave me a new number to use, (708) 802-1885. All calls to this new number have always either been answered by voicemail with a woman's voice or as "the voice mailbox is full". I have saved copies of all e-mails sent to and received from Randy, and have records of all phone calls made and received; phone calls from Randy always read "Private Number".
Upon doing research online, I have since learned that "Randy" may be an alias for Mel Lieberman/Christopher Conner/Gil of Decorators Model Homes, Inc. This individual/company has received a slew of complaints from consumers through the years and has earned an F rating from the BBB. I have since filed complaints with my local police department, the Berwyn Police Department, the Illinois Attorney General, the Internet Crime Complaint Center, and the BBB (the BBB has now closed my case with them since the police have become involved). Since my husband is active duty military and I am a Department of Defense civilian, I have also consulted with the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate's Legal Assistance Office on Ft. Stewart regarding this situation.
After giving Randy more than sufficient time to deliver either the bedroom set that I originally ordered or an alternate bedroom set of my own choosing, I would now like to request a refund in the amount of $4,300.00. This amount is approximately what remains after deducting the $379 shipping charge and cost of the two nightstands and mirror ($536.69 X 2 and $388.49, respectively, as determined from a different company's website—www.ivgstores.com; the same furniture has a different name on this site, the Fabiana bedroom set) from my total payment of $6,168.
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