Jennifer Convertibles, Baltimore, MD & Pikesville, MD - unable to get sofabed order - not delivered, then order cancelled by store - terrible service experiences

# 20 for September 21, 2003

Complaints.com received the following on September 20, 2003:

From:

RE: Jennifer Convertibles, Baltimore, MD & Pikesville, MD - unable to get sofabed order - not delivered, then order cancelled by store - terrible service experiences

I am writing to tell you of the horrible experience I have had with Jennifer Convertibles. I can see by the posts on your site that many other customers have had similar experiences. I ordered a sofabed in early April 2003 and paid in full at that time. Despite repeated phone calls to the store from which the sofa was purchased, I was not contacted regarding a delivery date until early July, three months

after my purchase. At that time I was told that the earliest date my sofa could be delivered was August 1. As I was living in New Jersey at the time, and the sofa was for my new apartment, I had to make a special trip to

Baltimore, MD so that I could be there to accept delivery. When the delivery people arrived that morning, my sofa was not on their truck.

Repeated calls to Ms West, Store Manager, had no result; although Ms West advised me to remain in Baltimore until the next day in case my couch was located, it was not, and eventually, Ms West stopped answering her phone. I was forced to spend two nights at a motel in Baltimore, at my own expense, as I had been left with nowhere to sleep. I never received any sort of apology for this. I returned to New Jersey and tried several times over the next three weeks to contact Ms West and arrange for a new delivery date. Every time I called, I was told that no one was available to help me, but that if I left

my name and number, someone would contact me. Not a single one of these phone calls was returned. In early September I finally succeeded in reaching a salesperson at the Pikesville store, who informed me that,

because I had failed to call them back within 30 days of the initial delivery attempt, the order for my couch had been cancelled in their computer. They refused to acknowledge any responsibility for not returning

my phone calls, or for screwing up the delivery in the first place.

I was told that it would take 5 to 7 business days before the order could be placed again, at which point a new couch would have to be ordered from the warehouse. When I attempted to pin Ms. West down on whether it would then be an additional 6 - 8 weeks before the couch would be delivered, she refused to answer the question, eventually becoming extremely hostile and rude and hanging up on me. I did not hear back from the company until the following week, at which point I was informed that the earliest date my couch could be delivered was October 18th - six months after it had been bought and paid for! At this

point I became extremely frustrated and asked to speak to Ms West. I was told that she was helping a customer, but would happy to call me back as soon as she was free. Of course, she didn't call me back, and when I was finally able to get someone at the store to answer the phone, I was told that Ms West had already gone home for the day - despite the fact that it was approximately 2 in the afternoon. At this point I attempted to call Customer Service, which is when I discovered that Jennifer Convertibles does not HAVE customer service, despite what their "1 800 Customer Service Number" might imply. Repeated

attempts to navigate their voice menus resulted in my being transferred to their Upholstery Department. An employee there informed me that all customer service complaints must be handled by the Store Manager - Ms.West. I was told that the only person above Ms. West was a Mr. Massaro, General Manager, and was given his number. Over the past two weeks, I have left over 10 messages on Mr. Massaro's voicemail, and called him many more times than that. He has never once picked up his phone. Despite his outgoing voice message, which promises

that all messages will be returned within 48 hours, I have yet to hear from him. At this point I feel like I am out of options. I just want my money back - I don't want the couch anymore. I would like to ask for a refund; in addition, I think that Jennifer Convertibles should reimburse me for the $200 I spent on hotel rooms, and pay me interest on the $500 of my money that they have had for six monthes. An appology would also be nice. Unfortunately I have found it absolutely impossible to get anyone at that

company to even answer their phones, let alone take responsibility or try to fix a problem. I have contacted the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland, the Maryland State Attorney General's Office, and the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection regarding my complaint and am presently awaiting their repies. Joanna Satkowitz

Comment On This

Does anyone have an updated fax number for Jennifer Convertibles? It seems they may have changed it or wont answer anymore.

I am on the edge of filing small claims against store manager and Jennifer Convertible s. I only have one regret, that I didn't research them before buying from them.....never again.

jkozaki AT yahoo.com

James Ozaki