Uniway of Southwestern Ohio closed their doors on January 7. There was no prior notification that they were going to do this. I received a letter in the mail stating that they were closing.
Membership fees were due at the time of joining. These fees were for lifetime and you only paid $100 per year for a renewal fee. After I singned up I went to Rick Ross, president/owner of Uniway, and explained to him that I did not feel that I had made the right choice and would not really get that much use out of the membership. He advised that he could not refund me and said that had he been the one to interview/sign me up he would have told me that I probably would not get that much use out of the membership for my circumstance.
There are Uniways in the southern states. It would be very difficult and defeating the purpose to buy something through a Uniway in the South. The purpose of the membership was to give members access to goods, furniture, appliances, electronics, cabinets, ect, at lower than retail cost. Items are not shipped to the consumer, they were shipped to the Uniway warehouse.
I had not bought anything through Uniway so I had not even exercised my membership. I did decide to make a purchase in December and found out, when I received the closing letter, that my furniture had not been ordered. Essentially I have paid $2500 for nothing. If a consumer does not pay their membership dues, they are not allowed to use the facility or the services the facility offers. However, what is the consumers recourse on the company when they no longer offer the facility or the service of the facility. Are we just out that money? They opened their doors in November/ December and closed their doors in January.
I have filed a complaint with the BBB and the Attorney General. Rick Ross has not return any letters or calls from BBB. Is it worth getting a lawyer over? Also, I am trying to find other members to see what they have done and I also have forms from the Ohio Attorney General for them to fill out if they wish.
I have heard that Rick Ross has gone on to find another job and that he and his family are fine. His father in law, David Shaw, was also a partner in this business. They lived off of the membership fees for a year and gave the members nothing in return
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