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):
o 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.
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