Hudson’s Furniture, Tampa Bay area
We bought a leather chair on sale but they did not have the color we wanted. The salesman said they could order it, so we did. I didn’t sign anything, but they did take my credit card. 3 to 6 weeks was stated on a “special orders” page they gave us. My next credit card statement indicated that they billed the entire amount. I called and informed them that we had no chair and I do not pay for things that are not delivered. They insisted upon ½ and credited ½. After 3 weeks, I called and the salesman stated the chair would be available in the first week of January. That would be about a total of 6 weeks. Told them I needed it before January 22nd as out-of-town guests were arriving. I called in that 1st week of January and our salesman quit. The manager had taken over his accounts. Manager told me it would be 10 days. I told him I had to have it before the 22nd and this target was now at the 15th. He said he would attempt to expedite deliver and will call me. Never called. I called again and was now told the 19th. I told him I needed it before the 22nd (again) and the 19th was close to 8 weeks from order. He repeated that he would try to expedite it and would call me. Never called, again. I called a few more times and although the 19th was repeated, no effort was expended to be sure I received the chair before the 22nd. I called the manager on the 19th and he told me the chair would be delivered on January 26th. That date would be 2 days shy of 9 weeks.
I stated unacceptable and I was cancelling the chair. “You can’t cancel. This is a special order.” He was rude and demanding. I told him several times that I was cancelling the order. I called my credit card company to dispute the charges and had to run out to buy an in stock chair at full price that same day from a different furniture company. When I arrived home, I had a message from the Hudson’s manager telling me that they can deliver the chair on the 22nd. I had to call him again to inform him that I cancelled that chair. “That is not an option,” he told me. I explained that no matter what his policy was, my policy is that I do not buy something with an infinite delivery date. If I had agreed to the 22nd delivery, I highly doubt that I would have received it anyway. I informed him that I had purchased another chair from someone else.
Hudson’s warehouse called a bit later attempting to schedule delivery for the 22nd. I explained that I cancelled the order. I received one more call from the manager after that with a level of demand and rudeness that sealed his fate. While my credit card company was working on a charge-back on the 50% deposit, the manager decided to bill my credit card the other 50% that had credited earlier. I had nothing but fast and empty promises, no effort, no understanding, no courtesy and no chair, but I did have the full $900charge on my credit card which I have concluded was the fee for having Hudson treat me with rudeness and gall.
That was the sleaziest attempt at retaining a customer that I had ever witnessed. My credit card company forced a charge-back as the law demands.
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