Complaint Review: Church Chairs Inc

On 5/12/10 I placed an order (#149536) quote #74,425 with sales rep. Susan McGivern of 100 Design Stacker III Plush 20" chairs with Canterbury Sable fabric and placed $2,500 down. We were originally told that we could chose fabric from either Absecon Mills or Johnston Textiles but that they had had problems with Absecon (email dated 4/29/2010). So we ordered chair with fabric from Johnston Textiles. On 6/2/10 we were told that the fabric we chose was no longer available but we could chose something else from Absecon Mills (email dated 6/2/10). I asked if we didn't mind waiting could we still get our original fabric (email dated 6/21/10) and was told yes (email dated 6/22/10)

I started calling around the first of August to get an update on the chair and no one would ever call me back. I sent an email to multiple addresses on 8/5/10 and still no one responded. Sometime between the 5th and the 10th I must have spoke on the phone (as I have no email record) to Susan and found out that they were not working with Absecon period and we could not get that fabric. Again sometime around 8/12/10 I actually was able to talk to Susan and tell her that since they were not able to fulfill our order that I wanted to get a refund. She said she would issue the refund

I have called several times since then and sent an email on 9/3/10 to Susan to check on the refund and as usual I haven't heard from the company. I finally spoke to a lady named Sherry and she said that she showed us getting a refund but it has not come and every time I call for Sherry she is never in her office. I sent another email yesterday 9/16/10 as well as left a message for the general manager stating I wanted someone to call me because I want my money back and no one has called me.

I went ahead an ordered chairs from another company and was told that they had had several calls like mine concerning Church Chairs inc. It seems they have a habit of not refunding money when they cannot fulfill contacts. I contacted the Georgia's Governors office of Consumer Affairs and they instructed me to file a police report with Detective Jerry Boyd of Floyd County PD. I did on or about September 17th (Reference File Number 267955) and was told that we were about the 21st Church that has contacted him. We are a small church of about 25 adults and 15 children and our yearly income is only about $60,000. We cannot afford to lose this money and really don't have the money to sue and go thru that process.