Customers complain furniture store doesn't deliver

The Furniture Showcase has a rating of "F" from the Better Business Bureau. The state Attorney General's Office has received about a dozen complaints against the company.

Customer Christine Subasic didn't think she would be working on a card table for so long after ordering an Aspen Home desk from a Furniture Showcase store in June 2008.

Subasic paid $522, half the cost of the desk, up front. The desk was supposed to arrive within eight to 12 weeks. After 16 weeks passed, she called the company.

"They just said, 'We're having trouble getting it shipped. It's going to be a couple of weeks,'" Subasic said.

But months went by without the desk being delivered. Subasic described what company representatives told her: "It was always, 'Oh, I need to talk to the owner about it.' Or, 'I need to look into it some more.'"

Then in March, nine months after she ordered the desk, Subasic received a letter from Furniture Showcase, saying they company had filed suit against Aspen. It said customers would likely get their furniture "within weeks."

When that didn't happen, Subasic canceled her order but could not get a refund. Furniture Showcase ultimately told her to contact Aspen directly for her "warranty needs."

"When I saw that, I was so upset. I'm out $500. These guys have no intention of giving me my money back," Subasic said. "They're telling me I have a warranty problem. I'm like, 'I don't have a warranty problem. I don't have a desk.'"

Four other Furniture Showcase customers complained to 5 on Your Side. None involved furniture made by Aspen.

One WRAL News viewer said that in five months of waiting, he never "had a phone call or an e-mail answered." Another viewer said that she was given "several false dates" for delivery and that the manager "has never bothered to contact me."

A quick online search turned up more complaints. One customer talked about getting "nothing but empty promises." Another said they "could not refund" a deposit because the furniture was "already on the truck," yet they still couldn't give him a "delivery date."

Furniture Showcase's store in Raleigh has closed, and manager Aaron Vestoff now works in the company's Reidsville location.

Vestoff said the company is not "shafting" customers or giving them the "run-around." He added that some customer deposits, including Subasic's, are "tied up" in the lawsuit against Aspen. But, he said, she will "absolutely" get a refund "at some point."

Subasic said she believes the dispute between the two companies shouldn't be her problem.

"I didn't order my desk from Aspen. I ordered the desk from Furniture Showcase," she said.

Representatives from Aspen Home did not return phone calls.

The Attorney General's Office recently met with Furniture Showcase representatives because of the complaints.

By law, if a furniture store does not meet its delivery date, the customer has the right to cancel the order immediately and receive a refund.