Complaint Review: Stellar Flooring Company - Owner Joe Smith - Orlando Florida

Sorry, Mr. Smith, but you need a ticket to ride the Reality Express Greg Dawson | The Last Resort September 13, 2008 That chugging sound you hear is the train to Reality leaving the station without Joseph Smith, owner of the tragically misnamed Stellar Flooring Co. And that dot on the horizon is Joseph Smith standing in the middle of the tracks facing the onrushing train. Lord knows I tried to help Joseph Smith save him from himself, to stop him from taking up permanent residence in the State of Denial. His response was to move to Fantasyland. That was evident in a recent "postcard" to me, an e-mail that shows Smith has no intention of returning to the real world. For those just tuning in, some background. In my Aug. 16 column, I answered a letter from Melissa Chatelier of New Smyrna Beach. "Stellar Flooring opened a credit card in my name and charged $6,256 on it. I received no goods or services -- and for a good reason: I canceled the contract. The owner, Joseph Smith, says I owe a 35 percent restocking fee ($2,189) even though he wrote on the contract, 'Customer has seven days to cancel with no penalty,' which I did via phone and certified mail." I have seen the contract -- Chatelier is correct. I was about to say "undeniably" correct, then remembered what state Joseph Smith lives in. Greg Dawson Greg Dawson E-mail | Recent columns Among the contract terms and conditions is, "35% restocking charges on all canceled or changed orders within 15 days." Smith drew an arrow from that sentence to the "SPECIAL NOTE" section above where he wrote, "0% financing for 36 months, wood to be installed in living room. Customer has seven days to cancel with no penalty." And he initialed it, "JMS." This is as good a working definition of "no-brainer" as I've ever seen. The contract is augmented by phone records and certified-mail receipts proving that Chatelier canceled within seven days. Yet Smith heatedly denied the facts with reasoning that brought to mind Bill Clinton's classic, "It depends on what the definition of 'is' is." "It depends on your definition of 'cancel.' My point is she did not cancel," Smith wrote in one of his long, wandering e-mails to me. Smith's "point" is that Chatelier decided to use a different company, which he did not like but is her right and had no bearing on his signed promise to let her cancel. Not only did Smith charge Chatelier $6,256 for flooring she never received; he opened the GE credit-card account without her permission. She only gave him the OK to get her pre-approved for financing, Chatelier said, and she was shocked to find he had opened the account and charged the entire amount to the card. When Smith demanded a cancellation fee, she naturally disputed the charge with GE, and Smith claimed the matter was now out of his hands. Smith's statement in my Aug. 16 column ended with a glimmer of hope that he would come to his senses and refund the entire amount. "Stellar Flooring reserves the right to waive any and all fees at our own discretion." While waiting for Smith to discover discretion, Chatelier got bad news from GE. "They informed me they are planning to credit me $4,000 and change because Joe sent them a contract that I supposedly signed without the seven-day cancellation clause." Smith claimed that GE based its decision on the original contract, but added, "I can still request GE refund the rest, but she still hasn't asked me." "Hasn't asked me"? By that time, Chatelier had been trying for two months to get her money back. "She still hasn't asked me" convinced me Joseph Smith could not be saved from himself and was headed for a terminal State of Denial. On Aug. 30, Chatelier swallowed her outrage and sent Smith an e-mail formally requesting a full refund. I told Smith if he instructed GE Money to remove the charge from her account by Sept. 9, I would not return to the subject in my column. He ignored both of us. One reason for this follow-up is that Melissa Chatelier is not alone. If this were the Old West, it would be easy to form a posse to go after Joseph Smith. In addition to Chatelier, it would include Elaine Pechacek, who said she used Stellar financing and was charged double for carpet; Sharon Snyder, who gave a $1,700 deposit for carpet that was never installed; Dwight Sayer, who fired Stellar for endless delays and charging $1,000 to his card without permission; and Ron Mishlen, a former employee. "I had the misfortune to work for Joe Smith this past June," Mishlen wrote after seeing my Aug. 16 column. "He never ordered the material for Melissa Chatelier. How can he charge her a restocking fee for something he never ordered? Ask him to produce the distributor's invoice. He will state he fired me, and then he will defame my character. Attached are my worthless paychecks he will not honor." "Listen to Mr. Mishlen if you choose," Smith told me, then rattled off a series of allegations and personal remarks about his erstwhile operations manager. "Mr. Mishlen worked here for two weeks and knows very little about anything." On Aug. 16, Smith addressed a letter "To Our Valued Customers" apologizing for delays in installation and blaming the lousy economy. He said that money paid for jobs still undone -- "due to circumstances beyond our control" -- amounted to "a short-term loan" from customers to the company. "We will be compensating all affected customers with a gift card proportionate to 18% annual interest on the money held by Stellar Flooring, pending completion of their installation." That's the word from Fantasyland. I would say to Joseph Smith -- with apologies to Tattoo -- De train! De train!

Read all the rip of reports oabout Joe from Stellar, he is either bouncing checks or financing and taking customers money with out delivery any material. "Dear Greg: On June 7, Stellar Flooring charged $6,256 to my credit card. I received no goods or services -- and for a good reason: I canceled the contract. The owner, Joseph Smith, says I owe a 35 percent restocking fee ($2,189) even though he wrote on the contract, "Customer has seven days to cancel with no penalty," which I did via phone and certified mail. I do not wish to do business with Stellar Flooring. My area was overestimated by 117 square feet, resulting in a $1,404 overcharge. I have a thick file of paperwork including a contract and pictures of my floors that I had installed for half the price by someone else. Meanwhile, the entire $6,256 charge is still on my credit card while this is in dispute. MELISSA NEW SMYRNA BEACH Dear Melissa: Joe Smith was very patient and civil in reviewing this matter with me. Unfortunately, he is in major denial about the contract, on which he clearly wrote, "customer has seven days to cancel with no penalty." Key words: no penalty -- i.e. restocking fee. There is no asterisk voiding his addendum for any reason, including your finding another company to do the job. Even though there is ample evidence that you canceled within seven days, Smith insists, "She did not cancel. 'Cancel installation of wood flooring' means exactly that: not hire a different contractor." No, that is not what "cancel" means in this context. It means you canceled your contract with him -- not your intention to install wood floors. The sky is blue. You did cancel. There seemed to be dawning awareness of that in Smith's formal statement to me in which he restated his position but added, "Stellar Flooring reserves the right to waive any and all fees at our own discretion." To which I would add: Discretion is the better part of valor. And denial" E-mail Greg at gdawson@orlandosentinel; or call 407-420-5618; write to Greg Dawson, Orlando Sentinel, 633 N. Orange Ave., MP-218, Orlando FL 32809. Greg doesn't mean to be rude, but due to volume he can't answer most calls and letters. See Greg on The Daily Buzz at 10:20 a.m. Mondays on WRDQ-Channel 27 and read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/consumer file Contact :