Furniture Store Customers Dealing with Bankruptcy?

What happens when you buy from a furniture store that goes bankrupt and your goods have not yet been delivered or you wanted to return something? What a scary thought. Heard of Bombay (Bankruptcy filed on 9/20/2007)? Levitz (Bankruptcy filed on 11/8/2007)? Of course, these are (or were) one of the biggest retail furniture store chains in the US.

And then there’s also a string of bankruptcies filed by manufacturers that supply the furniture stores, such as the following:
-California’s Mattress Gallery 11/5/2007
-Kornmeyer Furniture 9/13/2007
-Rose Furniture 5/23/2007
-Rockaway Bedding 4/11/2007
-Rowe Companies 9/19/2006
(Source: furnituretoday.com)

What will happen to those warranties and lifetime guarantees for the products you bought that are backed by the manufacturer?

Well, good news is that when a company files for bankruptcy you still have time to contact the company and ask them questions if you have any concerns regarding the products you purchased. Bad news is that if it is one of those companies that have filed for quite a while and possibly closed their stores, you are stuck with an American loophole and no where to go for help. But most likely, what you CAN do is be sure you use a credit card and dispute the transaction if you haven’t received your merchandise yet. That way the major credit card corporations can do their job and deal with the furniture store for you.

And if you haven’t bought from these companies, may you can go directly to their store and find some really good deals on unadvertised closeout merchandise.

With the current state of the economy and the devastating housing slump you can be sure that the existing furniture store both online and retail will be fighting for your business, not just only on price but also on service!

So this is good news and bad, just buy safe with a protected credit card, and look for furniture stores that don’t charge your card until it ships or your items are delivered. If you are not sure, ask for it. In managing Visiondecor, we also provide that service to our customers where we do not charge our customers until we give them a valid and active tracking number.

You’re paying for it, so you deserve the service and product you paid for the way you want it. Demand it from the furniture store.