Furniture store shut down leaves one couple's delivery in limbo

Tag : furniture stores

ELGIN, SC (WIS) - David and Mary Spears stand outside their Elginhome -- it's just been rebuilt following a tornado in March.
"We're not having a very good year," Mary said. "It's just onething after another."
A few weeks ago, the couple went to Ashley Furniture at the Villageat Sandhill and laid out some big bucks to refurnish their home.
"I took a check for $20,000 dollars and paid it and they said I'dget my first delivery in like two days," David said.
The Spears home is still more than half empty. The couch isborrowed from their daughter and two guest rooms are missing beds.
"We actually don't have no furniture in here at all," David said ashe pointed out a barren extra bedroom.
Dinner isn't fun either as their kitchen set is nowhere to befound.
Thursday night, the Spears' salesperson called them to warn them ofthat the two Ashley stores in Columbia have shut down. Nowcustomers are greeted with a note on the door with an 800-number tocall.
Mary says she "stayed on the phone for hold 2 hours and 25 minutesbefore a customer service rep was able to answer."
We called another number to Ashley Furniture's headquarters inWisconsin. They say the South Carolina stores are franchises ownedby a company in Georgia. The manufacturing company in Wisconsinsent a statement, saying as a quote, "Ashley hopes we can be GoodSamaritans. Ashley can resolve customers concerns about furnituredelivery, but notice there's no guarantee customers will get eithertheir furniture or money back."
"They're calling themselves Good Samaritans and I hope it's true,"Mary said.
For now, the Spears' hope Ashley's promise to help is more thanjust comforting words, because right now, what they really want issome comfortable furniture!
Reported by Brian DeRoy
Posted by Jeremy Turnage