Simpsonville Man Says Havertys Wouldn't Give Refund for Damaged Sofa

A Simpsonville man says within an hour of the delivery of his new sofa he realized it was damaged. When he tried to return it the store wouldn't give him his money back.

By: Dianne Derby | News Channel 7
Published: June 24, 2009

Mitch Talley knew something wasn't right within an hour of the delivery of his new sofa from Havertys Furniture in Greenville.

"I had sat on it in the store and the one in the store wasn't rocking," said Talley.

He said the recliner on one part of the sofa rocked. When he looked underneath he noticed the frame on the bottom was bent.

"I called them right then and I talked with the clerk that sold me the furniture and they said they was going to make a service call," said Talley. "It took them maybe two weeks to get here."

Two weeks later the recliner on the other side wouldn't lay all the way back.

"(The service person) was going to fix it but after the second piece went out I'm really disgusted now," said Talley.

When he asked for a refund, "They told me they had a 3-day cancellation clause in the contract."

Talley says he would have cancelled but the service call wasn't even scheduled for weeks later and he wanted to give them a chance to fix it.

"I just finally got fed up with talking with them and I said what can I do and then I thought about you guys," said Talley.

When we asked Havertys General Manager, Sid Harris, for an on-camera interview he sent us a statement instead:

"Our company policy is 3 days to decide whether to keep the furniture.( It is stated on your paperwork). His situation was different than most. We pride our company in keeping our clients returning. We are picking up the merchandise and hopefully the situation is resolved."

"That's what I wanted from the start," said Talley. "Just refund the money and I'm free to go somewhere else."

Here's what you need to remember about cancelling a purchase over -25- dollars. The Federal Trade Commission says under "The Cooling-Off Rule":
-The salesperson must tell you about your cancellation rights at the time of sale.
-The salesperson must give you two copies of a cancellation form... one to keep and one to send... and a copy of your receipt.
-The receipt should be dated, show the name and address of the seller and explain your right to cancel.
-For more information about your rights click here