BARBERTON, Ohio — A Barberton mother is frustrated with the furniture store fallout, and she’s certainly not alone. The News 5 Investigators have been getting calls from angry customers of Value City Furniture after they said the company broke its promises and is closing stores.
“When I have a chance to try and do something for her, I try to,” said Regina Skipper, 61, from Barberton. She just wanted to give her daughter, Tori Skipper, a furniture set for her birthday.
MOM WORKED EXTRA SHIFTS TO BUY FURNITURE
Regina told us she put it on layaway and got extra work to pay off the nearly $4,000 invoice.
“As I pick up all these shifts and I get enough money to take them the balance, I take it up there,” said Regina. “They said have (the furniture) out by December.”
When they got there, they said store employees told them the furniture set wasn’t there, and since Tori couldn’t find anything better, they were promised a refund.
"I feel very upset because I wanted that furniture,” said Tori. “I had my mind set on that furniture. I even went online trying to find that same furniture.”
And to add insult to injury, they told us that once they paid off their purchase at the Cuyahoga Falls store, it was the very next day when the company filed for bankruptcy.
“If you knew you was going bankrupt, you should have said 'hey, we ain’t taking no more payments…because we ain’t for sure how this going to pan out,'” said Regina.
ORDERED LOVE SEAT, GOT CHAIR, THEN CHARGED
Gene Marsh, 90, from North Olmsted, is upset, too. “I told them I didn’t order that chair. Why should I pay for it?” he told us.
He said he bought a loveseat from Value City Furniture in North Olmsted, but it sent him a chair. He said the company then charged him $500 to pick it back up and restock its mistake.
He called the store, which told him to contact corporate.
“I call corporate, they told me to call the main office in Columbus,” said Marsh. “And Columbus told me to call the store on Great Northern. It was a three-ring circus, is what it was.”
The parent company of Value City Furniture, American Signature, said it will look into Skipper’s and Marsh’s problems. It also referred us to its website, which has instructions on how to file a claim.
The Skippers said they tried that.
“It gives you like 10 questions, then it will click off on you to where you can’t get through,” said Regina.
ZOOM CALL PROVES UNFRUITFUL DURING FALLOUT
The women said at one point they were invited to a Zoom call for customers and employees of Value City Furniture, but got no answers there either.
"It wasn’t saying like when people was going to get their money, and people was asking like…when should they be expecting their refunds,” said Tori. “And (the company) said they can’t put a date on it.”
News 5 will follow through.
