Complaint Review: Rec Room USA

This is a mom and pop type of outfit. They sell pool tables, arcade machines and other game room furnishings. To be fair, the products are of decent quality. Some of the items are a very good deal; and the others are competitive, although I have now found that with a bit of research, I can find much better deals in Ocala, Fl.

My husband and I decided to purchase the furnishings from our game room from this establishment. In good faith, I purchased a used pool table, a brand new poker table, and provided a deposit of $1,093.51 (over 50%) on an arcade machine that was priced at about $1995.00. the total for all purchases was over $4000.00. I also paid additional for set-up and delivery of the poker table and pool table, opting to pick up the arcade machine once I had paid it off, as it needed no assembly. I am the one who made the purchases and authorized the payments.

At the time of purchase, I expressed concern over the arcade machine and the lay-away process. At that time, the proprietor, Jay, laughed and assured me I had nothing to worry about; that he would not "be holding the arcade machine" for us because he got them in "all the time."

On 03/04/2017, when our purchases were delivered, however, the poker table was missing parts, and the workers delivering and setting up the game tables were unable to complete its assembly. They immediately called Jay, advised him that the parts were missing and asked for them so that they could complete the assembly of the poker table. He refused; saying they would be mailed and we have to assemble the table ourselves. My husband called Jay himself to request the part; however Jay advised him rather harshly that the assembly was a "courtesy", although we had paid for it and we could wait for the part to be mailed. I know of very few people who can assemble game tables such as pool and poker tables themselves. I certainly cannot, which is why I paid extra to have it done. As a customer service manager with over 20 years of experience, and after the large amount of money we paid, I was shocked by his rudeness and behavior.   Considering the amount of money we spent, this items should at the very least have been over-nighted to us. As of this writing, they have not even been sent out. 

After discussing the situation, my husband and I decided that we did not wish to do any further business with Jay. After the way he treated us and spoke to us once he had our money, we do not consider him a man of integrity, or a proprietor who values his customers. We are also concerned that he will not honor any warranties or defects, particularly with the arcade machine, which is electronic. 

I called Jay to cancel the purchase of the arcade machine. I advised him that I had decided against purchasing the arcade machine, and that I wished an immediate refund. At first he tried to tell me that he would not refund me and that there were no cancellations...he tried to insist it was in the paperwork. I am well aware that this is NOT the case. When I insisted, he said he would charge me $400.00 as a restocking fee for holding the arcade game. I was very surprised at this, since when we had been in his shop, he had assured me he would not be holding the machine. When I reminded him of this conversation, he became truly nasty and advised me that it was on the contract. Since this is standard for many organizations, and possibly really on the contract, I did not argue the point. He also advised me that I would have to wait and call him back on Monday for my refund. However, I this man has proven to have no integrity, and I do not trust him, and so I demanded that my money be immediately refunded. Jay refused and hung up the phone on me.

Jay then called my husband in an attempt to get him to force me to purchase the arcade machine. It was not until my husband refused that he agreed to a partial refund, once again claiming a re-stocking fee. Although I paid for these purchases, and authorized them on my credit card, Jay email the receipts to my husband (previously, all emails were sent to me). At that time, he advised my husband, that as a “courtesy” he (not me) had a $400.00 credit towards an arcade machine, should he choose to change his mind. Again, all purchases were made by me and authorized on my credit card.

While this man any not have broken any laws, he has absolutely no integrity; he is the most shady, dishonest and nasty character I have ever come across. I would prefer to lose my $400.00 than to ever do business with him again.