NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A Nashville mother turned to WSMV4 after saying the furniture she ordered never arrived. Her promised refund was nowhere to be found.
WSMV4 has uncovered a list of complaints against retailers that might make you think twice before buying.
A growing family often requires more furniture.
“Just because I have three kids, we need to put more seating in the living room,” Katherine Rollman said.
Rohrman thinks she’s found the perfect complement at a pop-up store called Interior Define inside the Green Hills Mall.
She paid nearly $3,000 in May, but when WSMV4 visited her home this month, they couldn’t find any furniture.
“I had a pit in my stomach,” Rollman said. “Three thousand dollars is a lot of money to me, I just don’t know where to transfer it.”
The original order indicated an expected delivery around the end of October. She was later told it would be longer.
“They told me I was misquoted in the store and it was going to be longer,” Rollman said.
Unsatisfied with the schedule, Rohrman canceled the order and requested a refund. An Interior Define employee emailed her in October. 29 Her order was canceled as requested and received a 100% refund. Rohrman was promised via email that the refund would be returned to Affirm, the lender Rohrman used, within 10 to 14 business days. This never happened.
“I just feel like they’re stealing from us and getting away with it,” Rollman said.
Rohrman isn’t alone in his displeasure with Chicago-based Interior Define.
It has an F rating from the Better Business Bureau with over 120 reviews of orders not received and furniture arriving damaged. Some described the company’s information as “misleading and false”. The major design blogger parted ways with the company this month because of all the complaints.
“I’m sure they had a ton of emails and phone calls because there was a bunch of lunatics out there,” Rollman said.
Two days after WSMV4 contacted Interior Define about Rohrman’s order, she finally received a refund. A spokesperson for Interior Define told us, “We are offering Ms. Rohrman a refund for the delay and are taking steps to avoid any further delays for her and our other customers. The Nashville store is a temporary pop-up and will Open until the end of the year.”
Rollman said this was unacceptable.
“I worked really hard for the money I was making,” Rollman said. “It’s hard to trust people if I can’t go out and buy what I need and actually get that product.”
Rohrman was actually paying for the furniture to a third-party lender called Affirm. The company told her they couldn’t stop billing her until Interior Define issued a refund.
If you’re using a payment plan like Affirm, it’s important to keep in mind that it has its own policy when it comes to getting refunds.
A spokesperson for Affirm provided a statement to WSMV4.
“Affirm empowers consumers by offering a transparent and flexible way to pay in installments, with never late fees or hidden fees. If consumers who pay with Affirm want to return or refund an item, they will be subject to the merchant’s return policy. Most cases are resolved directly between the merchant and the consumer. That is, if the merchant is unable to help (or does not respond), the consumer can contact Affirm and we will do our best to help. Although we have a 60-day dispute window , but in some cases — such as shipping delays or cancellations — we may issue refunds outside of that time frame.”
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