State and Monmouth County
Furniture Retailers Settle Lawsuit
NEWARK - Attorney General
Paula T. Dow and the Division
of Consumer Affairs have
settled a lawsuit filed
against Monmouth County
furniture retailers, with
the defendants agreeing
to resolve existing and
future consumer complaints,
revise their business practices
and pay up to $216,938 in
civil penalties and reimbursements
to the state.
The Office of the Attorney
General and Division of
Consumer Affairs filed suit
against Spectrum Home Furnishings,
Inc., Charles Serouya & Son,
Inc. a/k/a Gallery, CS&S,
Inc. and Charles Serouya,
Inc., last June in State
Superior County, Chancery
Division, in Monmouth County.
The state' s lawsuit alleged
that companies, all owned
by Charles Serouya, violated
the state's Consumer Fraud
Act and related regulations,
among other things, by delivering
defective or non-conforming
merchandise and then failing
to provide consumers with
refunds.
Pursuant to the settlement,
defendants agreed to pay
$104,657.00 in civil penalties
and reimbursement of the
state's attorneys' fees
and investigative costs.
The $112,281.00 balance
of the settlement amount,
which represents civil penalties,
will be suspended and automatically
vacated at the end of eighteen
(18) months, provided defendants
comply with the terms of
the Final Consent Judgment.
In entering into the settlement,
defendants made no admission
of liability or wrongdoing
of any kind.
"This settlement addresses
all existing consumer complaints
and requires the defendants
to resolve any future complaints
through binding arbitration,"
Attorney General Dow said.
"The defendants agreed to
revise their business practices
to be in compliance with our
consumer protection laws and
regulations."
Under the terms of the Final Consent Judgment, the defendants agreed to:
-
not accept payment for merchandise, then fail to deliver the merchandise to the consumer;
-
not fail to deliver merchandise on the promised delivery date or at all;
-
not deliver merchandise to consumers that is of a different quality or condition from the merchandise ordered;
- not advertise and/or
offer for sale merchandise,
whether through defendants'
websites or otherwise,
then deliver to consumers
merchandise that is of
a different or inferior
quality or condition of
the advertised merchandise;
- in any advertisement of merchandise accompanied by a picture or illustration of the merchandise in an assembled condition when it is intended to be sold unassembled, defendants shall indicate that the merchandise is to be sold unassembled;
- clearly and conspicuously
post their refund policy
on defendants' websites
within thirty (30) days;
- issue refunds and/or credit card chargebacks to consumers who cancel their merchandise orders prior to delivery or return defective or non-conforming merchandise to defendants;
- deliver merchandise by the promised delivery date, or within six (6) weeks after accepting money through the mail or any electronic transfer medium for all merchandise advertised and/or offered for sale though a mail order or catalog;
- include in all contract forms and/or sales documents for household furniture the date of the order as well as the following language required by N.J.A.C. 13:45A 5.2(a);"The merchandise you have ordered is promised for delivery to you on or before (insert date or length of time agreed upon)";
- fill in the delivery date at the time the contract of sale is entered into or when the sales documents are issued, either as a specific day of a specific month or as an agreed upon length of time;
- include, within 30 days, on the first page of all contract forms and/or sales documents for household furniture the following notice in ten point bold face type, as required by N.J.A.C. 13:45A 5.3(a):
- If the merchandise ordered by you is not delivered by the promised delivery date (insert name of seller) must offer you the choice of (1) canceling your order with a prompt, full refund of any payments you have made, or (2) accepting delivery at a specific later date;
- In the event defendants fail to deliver, make a partial delivery or deliver defective and/or non conforming merchandise, defendants shall provide consumers with the option of cancelling the order for a full refund or accepting delivery at a later date;
- not charge the consumer delivery fees for replacement merchandise or merchandise to complete what was originally a partial delivery; and
- instruct their employees
that, upon a consumer's
request, a manager or supervisor
shall be made available
to speak with the consumer,
and such manager or supervisor
shall be made available,
but no more than one (1)
business day after the request.
The defendants do not have retail stores, but maintain a warehouse in Farmingdale.
As part of the settlement,
any of the 51 existing consumer
complaints that remain unresolved
will be referred to the
Division's Alternative Dispute
Resolution ("ADR")
Unit for resolution through
binding arbitration. Additionally,
all consumer complaints
received by the Division
over the next year will
be referred first to the
defendants for resolution
and then, if necessary to
the ADR Unit.
Deputy Attorney General Sabina P. McKinney of the Consumer Fraud Prosecution Section represented the state in this action.
Consent Order
