Weekenders Furniture, Anthony Tringale, Joshua Tice, Typical bait & switch RIPOFF! Mattress scam. We were promised a Simmons Beautyrest set and they delivered a cheap bra set which looked used. Sndellers are scam artists! Extremely rude and abusive! East Syracuse New York
Being disabled from 5 spinal surgeries over the last 10 years I was desperate for something to help relieve my constant back pain. As it turns out buying a set from Anthony Tringale & Southern Furniture Direct AKA Weekenders Furniture found a way to make me feel even worse!!!
Here's the story so far. I have to apologize for the length, but I am trying to get all the details in here.
On 9/1/2008 my girlfriend and I saw an flyer in the Times Union Newspaper advertising a "Distributor's Clearance Furniture Sale 50%-80% off retail - BUY DIRECTLY FROM THE DISTRIBUTOR'S WAREHOUSE, This Monday only, Sept 1st 11am-6pm" [SEE DOCUMENT tinyurl.com/brtqxr] .
We didn't arrive until 5:45pm. A salesman by the name of Anthony Tringale answered some questions on a Simmons Beautyrest mattress/boxspring.. I mentioned that I have had 5 back surgeries and he seemed to understand my need for a quality mattress. I asked if the price was negotiable. He then stepped aside and after placing a phone call he told us he could go down to $800.00 instead of the advertised $1200 price. By that point it was 6pm and he was closing. Since it was more money than either of us had planned spending I asked him to write down the make and model so we could research prices and get back to him. He wrote down "Simmons BeautyRest World Class Level 4 w/ Visco ~25 YR.~
[SEE DOCUMENT tinyurl.com/b2d7rs] and told us to get back to him asap.
On 9/2 we shopped around a bit and realized the mattress set we wanted was very expensive so decided to go back to the Southern Furniture Direct warehouse on Railroad Ave with plans on buying the $800 Simmons set. After sitting on the bed a few more times I questioned its firmness. He told me he could check to see if they had the same model with a slightly firmer pillow top. He placed another call and then told me they do have a Simmons with a slightly firmer visco foam pillow top. He explained only the foam topper would be different from the model we were sitting on and it would be a level 8 instead of a 4.
I asked him about the warranty and he assured me Simmons has a solid 25 year warranty and if anything is wrong to call him before dealing with Simmons. After a lot of research on it we decided it was a good deal and we should buy it before we miss out. We were asked to pay half now and the rest when it was delivered from the warehouse which is also said earlier would ship directly from Simmons. $464.80 was charged to my VISA card under the name "WEEKENDERS FURNITURE" He explained that their credit machine wasn't working and he had to phone it in to his partner (Joshua Tice) on a cell phone which I thought seemed unprofessional. The invoice read "QUEEN #8 MATTRESS AND BOX SET" [SEE DOCUMENT tinyurl.com/b2d7rs]. I questioned why it didn't say Simmons Beautyrest on it and he told me this was a standard invoice and they have all the details at the warehouse. I didn't give his response much thought and to be honest I was thinking more about the new bed and not of logistics at this point.
Ten days later Anthony called and told us our set was in. My girlfriend Chrissy paid the remaining balance [$464.00] with a check. We had arranged delivery the next day through a delivery service that Anthony had suggested. When it was delivered and taken out of the plastic, we both noticed that it didn't appear to be the same model that we had originally paid for. Since the delivery man didn't have any information on it we told him we would contact Anthony about it.
It was a totally different mattress and box spring! We previewed and paid for a Simmons Beautyrest set and we received a SleepMaster mattress and box spring. It was clearly stated on the tags [SEE DOCUMENT tinyurl.com/cy3nop]. It was clearly a different brand mattress and on top of that it also had several defects including loose threads, dirty spots, and holes as well. [SEE DOCUMENT tinyurl.com/au6hh8]. It was also about 10" taller than what we sat on in the warehouse and I had difficulty trying to get on top of it. NO WARRANTY was provided either.
We called Anthony right away and left a message. When he called back and heard all of this, he insisted it was in fact a Simmons brand mattress and he was sorry that he failed to mention it was a FACTORY OVERSTOCK! I told him it wasn't what we had tested in the warehouse and we weren't happy with it. At this point he became very defensive and wouldn't admit that he sold us a Simmons mattress and delivered a much cheaper Sleep Master set. After talking with him for nearly 45 minutes he then told us to try it out overnight and if we find we do like it he would replace ours with a defect-free version with warranty and if we were not happy he would take care of it. I was upset and exhausted and it was 5pm on a Saturday and nothing would get refunded anyway so I decided to do what he suggested.
The next day [Sunday, 9/14/08] I gave him a call told him we wanted a refund. He told us he would send out an email and get back to us on Monday morning.
[Monday 9/15/08] We called him Monday afternoon and asked if he had heard back and he told us "nothing yet". After waiting a few hours I felt like we were getting the run-around so I called him back and told him to issue a refund and arrange to have his mattress and box spring picked up. At that point he became very rude and told me that isn't possible. I questioned if it was a "manufacturer overstock" why did it have a manufacture date of SEP 08 2008 and at that point he told me he had helped us enough and hung up!
He called back telling me I had 3 options. 1. He would send us a real Simmons Beautyrest like we ordered, 2. We could have the floor model (which had a big tear through the side of it along with being used) 3. We could get a refund minus a 35% restocking fee and pay to have it delivered back to him. I told him I want a refund, but I wasn't paying a restocking fee and he said those are your options and hung up.
We have since contacted the local police (Colonie) and waited over an hour for them to show at a location near his storefront. The policeman seemed to know Anthony quite well and told us he'd rather not file a report on him because he felt it was more of a BBB situation.
I filed a fraud complaint with my Chase Visa card and Chrissy put a stop order on the check. She was able to stop it in time. My credit card company credited me for the other half. 3 Months after that, they took the money out of my account AGAIN! The only explanation I received was this...
Chase: (when a customer signs a receipt with "All Sales Final" clearly printed on it, it severely limits our ability to dispute a charge.) First of all I never signed the invoice. You can see Antony's signature at the bottom:
[tinyurl.com/b2d7rs].
I am very upset by their decision and thought Chase would value a customer over rotten sellers like this. I lost all faith in their "buyer protection". I told them I am thinking about canceling my account which has been in 100% perfect standing for over 12 years now. They even tried to sell me extra buyer protection when I called to complain... Now that really *#^$% me off!
I am very stressed out over this and feel it's so obvious what they have done here. I have voice recordings of Anthony telling me it was a Simmons brand and even offering to swap this SleepMaster $200 mattress for a Simmons Beautyrest, but after all of his lies and rudeness I didn't want to dig a deeper hole. I just wanted to return this set and buy from a another store. I even have him recorded telling us that we are wasting our time trying to get our money back. As he said "Many customers have tried to get their money back and no one ever does"... That line pretty much sums up their intentions and ethics. Weekenders Furniture's shady business should be investigated and all the customers who have been scammed by them deserve a refund.
Thinking this was finally behind us we purchased a Serta mattress and boxspring set from a reputable company back when the credit from Chase Visa was posted. Now that they Rebilled us for Weekender's Furniture a second time we're having to pay for both sets and it's left me financially unstable.
To sum up, We were shown a name brand mattress (Simmons Retail $1600), lied to about the invoice (which he signed, not me) and delivered a $200 SleepMaster mattress (which he called an "overstock" and never mentioned the company SleepMaster).
He had several cell phone numbers which are all OUT OF SERVICE now. He claims to be very religious, ending most phone recordings with "Have a blessed day". Yet he told me not to SCREW HIM, along with other very rude language.
He ran a business in Colonie, NY, which is now an empty warehouse. I recently came across someone else on here that was scammed by him [# Report: #432198] and I'm guessing there must be many more people that haven't filed. To be honest if Chase didn't do a REBILL and take the money back I might have just dropped this.
I ask other people to please file with BBB and RipoffReport. Maybe if we have enough people come forward, we will stand a chance of getting justice against Anthony Tringale, Joshua Tice, and Weekender's Furniture.
Thank You,
Matt
Albany, New York
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Notaripoff
Syracuse,New York,
U.S.A.
Southern Furniture Direct
#4REBUTTAL Individual responds
Wed, March 28, 2012
Dear sir,
Anthony Tringale was an employee of Southern Furniture Direct located in Albany Ny. Owned by Gary and joshua Tice. Anthony was a sale man for their company.
You were looking at a beauty rest mattress in the showroom, you specifically said the mattress was too soft. I told you that there was another mattrees, not a beauty rest, that was harder feeling but similar quality.
That is the mattress set you purchased. I very carefully explained to you that you were not purchasing, nor getting a Beauty rest mattress. You were explained to, at least once, that Southern Furniture Direct was an overstock and closeout warehouse for various mattress and furniture manufacturers.
Everyone signed the bottom of their sales receipt stating that all sales are final. It was company policy that no furniture or mattresses were to be delivered unless the customer had signed the "all sales are final" portion of the receipt. No one for the company signed any customer name to any receipt that was left blank. We would call the customer and explain they never signed the line and would ask them to come back into the warehouse to sign before we delivered anything to their home.
I am sorry if you feel that you made a wrong purchase. Obviously I do not work for the compnay any longer so there is nothing I could do to help your situation. I would ask that you stop your attack on my name and that you attempt to contact the owners of the company of you have any unsettled issues with their business.
Further, I do not appreciate the attacks of someone who clearly has nothing better to do with their life. Please, stop. You are attempting to ruin the name of someone that did you no wrong. I appologize if you did not understand everything when you purchased your mattress. AS with every customer, we never preasured anyone into making a purchase and we explained everything in detail to every customer.
Matthew
Albany,New York,
U.S.A.
Anthony Tringale the thief & liar
#4Author of original report
Fri, February 18, 2011
I just noticed you actually responded to this so I am going to do a follow-up.
First of all, do you really think I would type all of that because I have nothing better to do?
The fact that I hate to even type an average sized email should tell you something! I'm not easily
upset, but you have really taken advantage of people and it's obvious by the other posts.
You're only as good as your name and yours is mud.
Anyway, to follow up on your rebuttal,
Anthony Tringale:
"His receipt even says that it was not a simmons or beauty rest, that is was a #8 bed"
An obvious bait & switch tactic. What I want to add to this is that he wrote on a note
Simmons Beautyrest World Class Level 4 w/ Visco ~~~~25 Year ~~~~. I even questioned
him about why it didn't say SIMMONS BEAUTYREST on the receipt and he told me he had
that info in the computer and that is the information on that is sent to the warehouse.
I really should have known better at that point, but he seemed good natured, extremely
friendly, as well as very religious, so I didn't expect that from him. The devil's in the details
though isn't Anthony?
Anthony Tringale:
"the receipt that I have shows his signature saying "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" that is why the credit card company will not allow him to steal this mattress from me."
I NEVER signed a receipt. The fact is YOU signed my receipt with your name and dated it
9/4/08. It looks nothing like my signature, but what am I going to do... hire a hand writing
expert and fight him?
Anthony Tringale:
"When the bed was delivered, Matt called later that day and was upset. my best guess is they realized how much money they were spending and wanted to attempt to get their money back.
Now I would laugh at this if you hadn't stolen my money!"
Of course I was upset! You sold me a Simmons BeautyRest $800 mattress and delivered a POS $200 generic. You ripped me off (as well as several other people who have complained and
probably many more who weren't so observant!
Anthony Tringale:
"The fact that Matthew is attempting to take his money back, yet has never contacted me nor tried to give me the mattress back shows that he is trying to steal the mattress. Matthew has my phone number and address and has never tried to contact me."
I'm sorry to say, but you just caught yourself in another LIE! This is a prime example of his
lying ways and this proves it.... If I haven't tried to contact you how would I know you
lost your cool when speaking on the PHONE?!? LIES...
Anthony Tringale:
"But give me a call, I'll talk to whomever and explain my side yet again."
3 of your 4 phone numbers are invalid! Sure sign of a great business of course. The part that is
laughable is that I talked to you on 10 different occasions. I caught you in a lie on several
occasions too. I even recorded all of our conversations. Unfortunately my credit card company
said they couldn't use them though, but if ANYONE wants I will be happy to provide
all of these recorded calls along with all scanned documents.
I, unlike Anthony Tringale and "Weekenders Furniture, have absolutely NOTHING to hide!
This person must be stopped. He's an expert at conning and he might even be using his
extremely religious signs and personal messages as a front. If not, I hope he realizes there is
going to be some judging and he should know he's made a lot of people very unhappy!
Hopefully people will continue to speak out about him when they are ripped off like me and several others who have come forward.
Notaripoff
Syracuse,New York,
U.S.A.
Clearing my name
#4REBUTTAL Individual responds
Thu, April 09, 2009
Matthew is not correct in his post.
He came in and laid in a beauty rest bed, he said it was too soft and asked if there was a firmer one. I told him there was, I did not tell him that it was a simmons or beauty rest. His receipt even says that it was not a simmons or beauty rest, that is was a #8 bed. the day before the mattress was delivered Matt girlfriend came into the store to pay the remaining balance via check. She looked at the bed and never mentioned anything about simmons, she left with a smile on her face. When the bed was delivered, Matt called later that day and was upset. my best guess is they realized how much money they were spending and wanted to attempt to get their money back. I hold this theory because the next day they cancelled their check! I could do nothing about that except sue them and take it to court, I did not go to this extreme because they had already paid $489 and that covered my cost for the mattress and delivery(they had paid via credit card when they first came in). They have tried for months to dispute this thru their credit card company and every time the company decides in my favor. They recently filed a BBB claim and after talking with John Kaiser at the NY BBB, they are choosing to side in my favor. The fact that Matthew is attempting to take his money back, yet has never contacted me nor tried to give me the mattress back shows that he is trying to steal the mattress. Matthew has my phone number and address and has never tried to contact me.
This is not a bait and switch as he claims, I never signed his name to any paper work, the receipt that I have shows his signature saying "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" that is why the credit card company will not allow him to steal this mattress from me.
And I am not perfect, I lost my cool but if someone was trying to steal $500 from you, you would be a little mad too.
But give me a call, I'll talk to whomever and explain my side yet again.
And God Bless.