I, too, was scammed just like everyone else -- my story is the same, so I'm not going to bother with a recount.

Here's the important thing -- by myself, the dollars involved are not enough that it would be economically reasonable to hire a lawyer or to travel to New York for a small claims judgment (which I understand is practically optional to pay). But I have contacted several lawyers trying to generate interest in a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. We do qualify to file such a suit, according to the rules. Taking the average amount of loss for all the complaints posted, it's approximately $1500 per claim. The BBB has 269 complaints lodged against Furniture Brands Group, of which, 189 are unresolved. This calculates to about $300, 000 of our money lost to Al and Suzie (and now Kathy of shopsmartfurniture). And that is only the people who went to the trouble to file a complaint with the BBB. I would guess there are even more of us out here. Punitive damages apply if we can prove fraud -- and if you are like me, there is no doubt in your mind we could. Punitive damages are to punish and set an example for other companies, and in this world of Internet reliance, I think it would be likely awarded. Punitive damages are 4 to 10 the amount of actual damages, making this case worth ... you do the math, but minimum of 1 million dollars.

Unfortunately, class actions are a very specialized area of law and take a large initial investment by the lawyer to get off the ground (this is why most class actions are against a huge corporation for tens of millions of dollars). The lawyer is paid by winning and takes 25-30% of the judgment. Sounds fair enough to me -- and I hope to generate interest by pointing out the dollars amounts in our case. No, it’s not $10M, but it is a worthy paycheck. Eventually, we will get a lawyer.