Dear Help Squad,
We bought a love seat and sofa from Nick’s Furniture of Sugar Grove on February 14 and never received it. We ordered and paid for it in full. The total charge to our credit card was $2,426.
We were told it would be six to eight weeks for delivery. At week 12 we called Nick’s and were told they would get right back to us. They didn’t. We called many more times before Nick’s called back – always with a different story as to why the furniture was not ready. [Another columnist from a different newspaper] tried to help us twice but is now gone. After eight and a half months, we finally told Nick’s we wanted our money back. On Oct. 31 we went to the store to cancel our order and get a full refund, which they told us they processed. However, it is still not showing up on our credit card. It’s been over two weeks and nothing. Previously, Nick’s said they would return $600 to us for our trouble and delay. However that refund also never showed up, and when we contacted them two weeks after the refund was processed, Nick’s said we wouldn’t receive the $600 until the furniture was delivered. We had not been told that previously – very misleading and untruthful. Can you please help us get our $2426 refunded??!!,
Wayne and Bev,
Sugar Grove
Help Squad started by calling Nick’s Furniture and speaking with owner Nick Bumba. Nick stated that he had issued the full refund of $2,426 to Wayne and Bev, and that it often takes up to two weeks for a refund to post. On the date that Help Squad spoke with Nick, it had been 13 business days and nearly three weeks since the refund was issued.
Nick said that if Wayne and Bev felt the refund was taking too long, they should contest the charge with their credit card company on grounds of non-receipt of merchandise. This seemed an odd suggestion from a retailer, as merchant banks don’t typically look favorably on credit card chargeback requests.
Next, Help Squad called Capital One’s (Wayne and Bev’s credit card provider) customer service number. We spoke with a representative and asked why it might take so long for an electronically swiped refund to post. The CSR said this was extremely unusual; electronic refunds typically post in one to three days.
Following this conversation, Help Squad decided to take a closer look at the Nick’s Furniture refund receipt. In the lower left corner we read the words “Apprvd: Offline.” Could this mean that Nick had never actually submitted the refund to Capital One?
Our next call was to Capital One’s Credit Card Relations group. There we were put in touch with spokesperson Amanda Landers, with whom we shared Wayne and Bev’s struggle. Upon reviewing the Nick’s Furniture refund receipt, as well as Wayne and Bev’s account activity, Amanda confirmed Help Squad’s suspicion.
“You’re correct regarding the receipt and it stating ‘offline,’ which means the transaction didn’t go through and Capital One didn’t receive the refund. However, because we have that valid credit voucher from the customer, we’re refunding the money and going through the dispute process. We [have already] issued the request for the chargeback [to Wayne and Bev’s account].”
Said Wayne upon receiving the refund, “We are grateful for [Help Squad’s] quick actions on our behalf to have our refund processed. This was a lot of money to us; we saved for some time for this purchase. I’m also thankful we didn’t just write a personal check to pay for the furniture back in February. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have gotten that money returned unless we pursued it through the court system.”
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