Complaint Review: Homespun Home Fashions; Crate Furniture - Virginia

Look what I just found folks - State files suit against furniture maker Owner's surprised about consumer charges; firm is filing for bankruptcy Saturday, Aug 09, 2008 - 12:08 AM By GREG EDWARDS TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER A state consumer-protection lawsuit against an Internet-based furniture company came as a surprise, the Petersburg company's owner said. "What really hurts is people thinking I'm underhanded," said Mark McCracken, owner of HomeSpun Home Fashions, which did business as Cratefurniture.com. McCracken was reached at his home. A call to HomeSpun's business phone gets a message advising callers that the company is in the process of filing for bankruptcy. Callers are told to send their name and address to an e-mail address, to ensure their claims are included in the filing, McCracken said. Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell filed a lawsuit against McCracken's company this week alleging it had failed to ship more than 100 orders to callers in the promised time frame. Consumer losses exceed $80,000, a McDonnell statement said. "Given the serious nature of the complaints received about HomeSpun Home Fashions, legal action must be taken to provide relief to affected consumers," McDonnell said. An Internet search of the company's name turns up complaints against the company at various consumer Web sites. But more significantly, the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs has received 118 complaints against HomeSpun, including 10 in the past month, McDonnell said. The Better Business Bureau has given the company an unsatisfactory rating because of 183 complaints in a recent three-year period, he said. The suit in Petersburg Circuit Court calls for injunctive relief, consumer refunds and civil penalties. McCracken, who has been in the furniture business for 25 years, said his advice to customers with claims is to make sure the company has their name for the bankruptcy filing. "We don't want to leave anybody out," he said. HomeSpun Home Fashions sold crate-style furniture and replacement cushions and coverings. The company's problems began, McCracken said, when months back it lost its furniture supplier. Then, last year, after he found a new furniture maker, his fabric supplier went out of business, he said. He found a new fabric supplier but then his new furniture supplier went under with a day's notice, McCracken said. "It was a one, two, three punch" and the problems became insurmountable, he said. McCracken said he made refunds to customers as fast as he could and did so up to the point of deciding to seek bankruptcy protection. Credit-card companies refused to accept customer charge-backs and he lost his ability to process credit cards, he said. "I don't blame anybody," he said. "The reality is the U.S. textile and furniture [makers] cannot compete with China, so all the suppliers have been closing shop." Contact Greg Edwards at (804) 649-6390 or [email protected]. here's where I found it: http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-08-09-0079.html