Complaint Review: Emporium

Placed a furniture order on 9/18/2016. This is a lease-to-own business. Trying to build up credit after divorce, I decided to go this route - if you pay in full in 90 days, same as cash and reports to credit bureau. I found the furniture, placed the order. It indicated shipping was 3-5 days.

After several days, deposit had been taken from my checking account, but the order showed "pending" so had not shipped. I needed this furniture quickly, so I called to cancel my order to the customer service number. I called the first time and spoke to Rueben, who told me it didn't ship because they had to wait for my bank to approve ACH. I told him again I wanted the order cancelled and asked if there was a cancellation fee. He assured me the order was cancelled and there was no cancellation fee and I would receive an email confirmation of the cancellation, be sure to check my spam folder.

Called back next day and spoke to him again because I received no email. He told me the email could take 24-48 hours. I explained that was unacceptable to me. My online account still showed the order in "pending status" so I needed the confirmation. He said he was looking at my account and that the order had been cancelled. That I would need to speak to someone in accounting, and he gave me that phone number.

So I called the accounting number. She told me that I needed to call shipping, and gave me that number. I called shipping and received a voice announcement, but the voicemail was full so no message could be left. So I called accounting back and the gentleman who answered said the order did not show cancelled, I would need to speak to Ernie or Mia, and he gave me both of their numbers. The number he gave me for Ernie took me to a voice announcement, but, again, the voicemail was full and no message could be left. I called the number I was given for Mia and received a voice announcement but was able to leave a message. That has been well over a week now and, not surprising, I have received no return phone call.

So I started sending email requests to their customer service email address. I believe I have sent around seven emails now, but no reply at all to any of the emails I sent. And I still have not received any email confirmation of the cancellation.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016 I called the customer service line again and spoke to a lady who I believe is Ellie (she had a strong accent and I couldn't understand what she said her name was). She assured me the order showed cancelled and I would receive an email in 1-2 weeks. I inquired again to assure there was no cancellation fee, she confirmed there was not a cancellation fee.

On Wednesday, Sept. 28 I received an email with an invoice for payment that would be due on October 16. What? I have a payment due on a cancelled order? So I called the number listed in the email. I was told they had not received a cancellation, that it is an active account, and the payment would be taken from my checking account on October 16.

So I called customer service again and spoke to Rueben AGAIN. He was what I felt was very sarcastic and rude. Rueben (maybe Robin - hard to understand when they say their names, yet everything else they say is very understandable through the accents) told me I had never spoken to him, he had been out of town last week so it was not possible it was him I spoke to. But he said he would cancel my order and I would receive an email in 24-48 hours.

As of this writing, my account is showing pending and I have received no cancellation confirmation. No furniture has shipped, cancellation confirmation has not been received, and a payment will be taken directly from my checking account on October 16.

Isn't that theft? I will be calling my bank and closing my account to prevent them from taking more money. I am considering calling the Attorney General's office to see if they've received similar complaints.

And they have the BBB emblem on their webpage, but when I looked it up online, I see they are not registered with the Better Business Bureau - so I need to check into this to see if they are or are not registered with BBB. I am very concerned that these people have so much of my information from my application. I am very concerned what is going to happen and I feel scammed and ripped off!