Valentine's has been purchasing custom made Purple Mountain Sweaters and Baby Shoes since 2007. Pat Valentine ordered and reordered at the Boston Showroom several times. Pat set up her account with Purple Mountain to pay with her American Express card. The signed guarantee of payment and the credit card payment information was on file with Purple Mountain for all orders.
Pat Valentine ordered in December and the amount on the invoice was paid by the American Express card on file. The January order was also paid with the credit card on file.
In July Pat ordered a larger order for the Christmas Season. Purple Mountain agreed to provide extended terms for the payment of the product which arrived to Valentine's in September.
On September 17 Tom Valentine called Purple Mountain to say that his wife had not ordered properly and he wanted to send some product back to Purple Mountain. The owners of Purple Mountain waited to receive the product which did not arrive right away.By the end of the month, Tom had changed his mind and wanted to keep a lot of the product he had requested to return.
A Funny thing happened in the midst of all of this - Pat Valentine ordered additional Purple Mountain merchandise on September 19 - 2 days after Tom Valentine wanted to return product they had received September 10th!
Another interesting thing about the request to return product. It appeared as if he strategically planned the return so they sent back all items in one size. For example, one sweater design they sent back all size 6 months and size 18 months. The strategy was that the consumer would easily buy the 3 month or the 9 month or the 12 month or the 24 month since it is a sweater. Or they sent back all size 3 months of a style or all 18 months of a style.
Purple Mountain was trying to be patient and understanding since apparently business was not very good and Valentine's was looking for way to deplete inventory.By October the product they wanted to return arrived. The majority of the product had been taken out of the original bags and must have been stocked on their store shelves.
The product was not in a presentable condition for Purple Mountain to be able to sell it to another boutique. The owner of Purple Mountain tried to reach Tom Valentine several times to discuss the condition of this product. He never did return the phone calls.
By November, Purple Mountain applied a 10% restocking fee to the account. The restocking policy is normally 20-40% when merchandise is returned in an unsaleable condition. A statement of the account was sent by mail to Tom Valentine in the hopes he would call to discuss the situation. He did not call. The owners of Purple Mountain called to ask if they wanted this large amount charged to the American Express - again no reply and no check to clear up the account.
On December 4, 5 months after the shipment of one order and 3 months after the second shipment, Purple Mountain charged the credit card on file to clear up the Valentine's account. Tom Valentine disputed the charge with American Express saying he had been billed directly by Purple Mountain.
To this day, January 20 Tom Valentine still owes Purple Mountain Sweaters for merchandise he has had in his store since July and September. Tom and Pat Valentine owe Purple Mountain Sweaters $7099.67.
Purple Mountain has since turned over the account to a collections agency. The collections agent tried for weeks to contact Tom Valentine but Tom will not return a phone call even from a collection agent!
Valentine's is now being sued by an attorney for the money they owe to Purple Mountain Sweaters.
Does an honest man avoid a collections agent?
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