Consumer Alert: What happens if your baby furniture store goes
bankrupt?
The problem: some baby stores are on shaky
financial footing---and as a result, your special-ordered nursery furniture may
be stuck in limbo. Here are tips on how to handle this situation.
The problem: some baby stores are on shaky
financial footing, meaning your special-ordered nursery furniture may be stuck
in limbo. Here are tips on how to handle this
situation.
1. Pay any deposit by
credit card (not debit, cash or check). When
ordering nursery furniture, you often have to put down a 50% deposit and then
wait 8-12 weeks for delivery. Be sure to put ANY deposit on a credit card---if
the store runs into financial problems, you can dispute the charge and get a
refund from your credit card issuer. That protection does NOT extend to deposits
paid by debit card (or, of course, cash or
check).
2. Watch out for red
flags. If your furniture delivery runs late,
start asking questions---call the store and see what's up. Few will admit to
having financial difficulties. Post to message boards like ours to see if other
parents are having delivery delays with XYZ brand. (Yes, sometimes manufacturers
do get backed up because of import problems, etc). If you discover you are the
only one who has a problem with your furniture delivery, bingo! Your store may
be the problem.
3. Here's the
most important step: next contact the manufacturer of your baby furniture
(numbers are in our BABY BARGAINS book). Tell
them about the situation and ask for help. Suggest they TRANSFER your order to
another dealer in the area. Yes, that means you will have to pay for it again
(but remember, you put the deposit on a credit card, so you can get a refund).
Most likely, your furniture is sitting in a warehouse waiting to ship . . . but
the financially troubled retailer may be on credit hold. FYI: Most manufacturers
will not admit publicly that one of their dealers is in trouble; so you'll have
to be diplomatic in discussing
this.
4. If your furniture
manufacturer won't help, contact us. We have
contacts at most baby furniture importers and makers---we can ask them to take a
second look the problem. We do this all the time for our
readers.
5. Most of all, don't
delay---if you discover your furniture is late
or delayed, take action immediately. Call your credit card issuer and call and
the manufacturer quickly.
Posted: Fri - September 2, 2005 at 01:38 PM