On August 20th, I went to Jennifer Convertible’s in Vienna, Virginia, to purchase the New Yorker 3 piece special on sale for $799.99.

I made the purchase and arranged the delivery date, which could not be delivered until September 8th. Then, the saleswoman asked if I wanted the “Upholstery Shield Fabric / Leather protection plan” to which I declined. When I said “no thanks” she said in a very condescending tone “Are you sure you don’t want this? Your furniture might be delivered with stains if you don’t purchase this wonderful deal and we are not responsible for that.” I firmly said no thank you I do not want to pay an extra $200. I paid for the full balance of $1, 019.98 and left the store with my receipt.

On Thursday, September 6th, I received a call stating that my furniture would be delivered as scheduled on September 8th between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. AND that I had a $209.98 balance payable by money order. I had a very busy week that week at work and was unable to pull out my receipt and figure out what was going on. That Saturday morning right at 8:30 a.m. the delivery men were at my front door stating they couldn’t bring up my furniture until I gave them the balance due. I sleepily said OK sure let me find my check book and the delivery guy informed me he would need a money order or certified check. (I am sorry, but my generation has never heard of a certified check AND since I had paid everything up front, I didn’t look at the fine print regarding payment of COD balances.)

The delivery guy said that I would be charged with another delivery fee if I couldn’t pay the balance right then. I did not want to mess with two delivery fees of $179.99, so I told the guy I could go and get cash out of the ATM. I had to leave to delivery guys at my apartment alone, while I went out at 8:45 a.m.

on a Saturday morning and pull out $220 cash AND pay a $2 transaction fee at the ATM AND a $2 from my own bank. Then, the delivery men had no kind of copy of a receipt for me to take to prove that I actually did pay the balance. After the delivery men left, I noticed weird blue marks on my furniture as well.

First thing Monday morning, I called the store where I bought my furniture, and asked them to explain why I had a balance on my account and had to pay the delivery men when clearly stated on my receipt I had no balance. The lady on the phone was polite and looked into the matter. Apparently, the “Upholstery Shield Fabric / Leather Protection Plan” was added to my order afterwards by mistake. (It was supposed to be added to a different order supposedly). I told the lady that was rather ironic because first, I clearly did not want and two, my furniture actually came with markings on it. She put me on a hold for a second and then got back on the phone and said “When can I send a technician to your house to fix the stains?” I restated again that I did not want that Fabric protection plan and I want my money back and I want to be reimbursed for this huge inconvenience Jennifer’s Convertibles has put me through. She then informed me that the store could only refund me my money.

I called every day that week to check on the status of my “refund” only to be told things like “Only a manager can process a refund.” “The manager is not in.” “The manager is at a meeting with the regional rep.” “The manager is new and needs to get permission from corporate headquarters.” Then I was finally told that my refund would be issued by check from corporate.

On September 18, I finally received a call from corporate headquarters stating they received the complaint letter I sent them. Then the lady told me that I shouldn’t have been confused about the payment of the balance since it is clearly stated on my receipt, but she apologized for the ordeal. Then, she informed me that my refund is being processed and my credit card will be refunded. I didn’t pay the balance with my credit card. I paid the balance with cash. I wonder if they will reimburse the full $224 that I had to spend OR if I will just get back my $209.98?

I am very disappointed – a voicemail left on my personal phone does not suffice for this inconvenience.