does collection agency take back defective merchandise?

[steaklover]

What is the name of your state? new york

purchased defective loveseat. extended 5 year protection plus warranty plan also paid for but never turned over to company as furniture company kept it, then months furniture company filed bankruptcy.

i recently received visa permanent credit refund for this defective loveseat, and for breach of warranty and fraud, as furniture company kept the funds i also paid them on the same visa charge as the defective loveseat. ( instead of forwarding my paid visa funds to the extended warranty furniture plan). awarded visa permanent credit since defunct furniture company's bank never replied to the visa charge dispute.

i was told by visa to keep the defective loveseat indefinitely just in case anyone contacts me for full payment. (how long according to new york state law must i keep it?).

question please: if i do get collections agency calls, or calls from anyone else demanding full payment back, can i tell them to arrange to pick up the love seat at their cost and return it as full payment per visa's recommendation, and if not can i ask visa to just reverse my permanent credit so they will receive full payment?

there should be a law regarding receiving dangerously defective furniture, and furniture company stating they will arrange for its pick up and credit your visa account, only to find out they lied, then a long time later they claim bankruptcy, and still keep part of the consumers paid visa funds for themselves instead of forwarding it to the extended service plan warranty company.

don't consumers also have legal rights in this type of breach of contract & fraud situation?

please advise, and many thanks!

 

[BL]

I thought you had ALL your funds returned by Visa ?

Collection agencies try to collect money , not furniture .

How long has it been since you were refunded , and they went bankrupt ?

 

[steaklover]

reply to your questions bl and thank you

hello bl,

thank you, and here is the replies to your current questions:

i purchased the defective furniture in october 2007.

the furniture company claimed bankruptcy november 2007.

visa awared me my permanent visa refund credit in mid march of 2008.

visa filed my defective product dispute with the furniture company, but their merchant bank never replied, so visa awarded me the permanent credit.

visa also said i should hold on to the furniture indefinitely since the furniture company's legal reps could contact me and request it back. visa also stated if i did not have it in my possession for return i would be held legally liable for the full purchase amount and have to pay them the money back, ( especially since my visa credit is permanent, and visa said they cannot dispute it again). please advise....

bl i also learned according to their legal representatives statement on the furniture company's web site that they are only refunding money back to customers who did not receive their furniture but were paid for it, and these consumers have to fill out forms and forward them to the legal representatives**************...... but their web site under the policies category also states "no exchanges or returns", which leads me to believe that eventually collections agencies or their other legal reps will contact me and demand the money i was awarded by visa, ( since collection agencies i assume, will not accept the furniture return according to the information posted on the defunct furniture company's web site now). please also advise....

i am between a rock and a hard place now, and if the above is true i need to also know should i just call visa back and ask them to just give the full amount back to them, this way i have no legal obligation to deal with any collection agencies or any other legal representatives regarding this entire matter? ....also please advise. i feel so victimized by this whole scenario!

(now i truly fee that there is no consumer justice for dangerous defective furniture since the furniture company promised to take it back shortly after it was delivered back in october 2007. then they intentionally strung me along while sending me even more dangerous defective replacement parts, only to claim backruptcy, of which they were aware would probably happen all along).

would greatly appreciate your legal advisements to this entire dilemma asap, especially before this situation ends up in the hands of collections agencies or other legal representatives demanding full payment.

again, many thanks bl!

 

[BL]

You disputed the merchandise as defective with your credit card , and the Co. did NOT reply .

Now you are saying you have had an ongoing dispute with the Co. where they were sending you replacement parts .

I'd like for you to describe what parts you were sent to repair a LOVE SEAT ?

You then say after they sent you parts , they went bankrupt .

If there is no business any longer , there is no contract .

Then you refer to sending the money back through visa .

Back where ? There is no business is there ?
Are you serious ?

After all you have done to dispute this , you want to pay them for defective merchandise ?

 

[steaklover]

additional information you requested bl

this is a lengthy summation bl so you now have all the information i can furnish, which should enable you to understand exactly what type of position i am in now, and i do hope you will have legal advice which can assist me with regards to making the right legal decisions.

listed below are the various multiple love seat defects. also listed are the various replacement parts i received which mirrored the same defects. please note the furniture company kept sending me defective replacement parts in lieu of my repeated requests to have the furniture company pick up the defective love seat, and issue me a full visa credit refund. the furniture company also sent a technician to my home to take photographs, see the dirty smelly feathers, unsafe unalligned furniture clips, and multiple pillows with broken defective zipperrs. the technician took the photo's, shook his head & stated to me he would submit his report verifying the love seat and replacement parts were definitely defective & unsafe, and his professional recommendation with supported photographs would be that i was entitled to a full refund for defective unsafe merchandise.

bl before the furniture company claimed bankruptcyi kept requesting the furniture company pick up the defective love seat shortly after it arrived in october 2007 and issue me a full credit card refund on the basis that the love seat was dangerous and defective, and the fact that i had been lied to by the furniture company's sales rep the day i asked her if the love seat had any feathers in it .( reason i asked is i also told her i was disabled, asthmatic, and highly allergic to feathers). she replied there were no feathers in the love seat whatsoever, only foam and springs., so i believed her and made the purchase, but had i been told the truth i would have never purchased that or any love seat which contained feathers.

1st defects & replacements: feathers ripping thru & compromising velvet love seat fabric causing asthma attacks and pain.

the original love seat cushion had dirty feathers in it which kept popping up (quill side up which is sharp and painful to body parts), and the feathers not only caused me to have asthma attacks since i am highly allergic to feathers & asthmatic, but they also ruined the integrity of the love seat's velvet seat cushion fabric. the 2 other replacement love seat cushions the furniture company also send to me had the same defects, although the furniture company promised no feathers whatsoever in replacement love seat cushions. these 2 love seat replacement cushions arrived to me well before the furniture company declared bankruptcy in november 2007.

2nd defects & replacements of unalligned safety love seat and love seat frame clips:

the large one piece love seat cushion itself has elastic and clips which were sewn in by the manufacturer. the love seat frame has the same elastic and clips sew in. you are supposed to attach the love seat cushion clips to the loveseat frame clips in order that the loveseat stays secure and safely in place, and does not slope down. (which without the clips being properly and safely clipped together cause anyone sitting on the love seat cushion to eventually slide off, since none of the clips were ever properly alligned, neither on the original love seat cushion, or on the two other replacement cushions. these 3 defective love seat cushions the furniture company sent me well before their bankruptcy went into effect.

3rd defect & replacements: th enumerous love seat's pillows were made with defective zippers. they kept breaking, and i also reported this to the furniture company twice before they filed for bankruptcy. again asking for a pick up of the loveseat and a full credit card refund. their response was to continue to send me more replacement pillows, again long before they declared bankruptcy). to date a few pillow zippers have not broken out of the 6they sent to me. (1 replacement pillow the first time, and again 2nd batch of pillow replacements long before they declared bankruptcy).

i called the furniture company and demanded a refund loudly and they said before they could pick up the item to issue me a full credit card refund, they would have to dispatch a tech to my home to take pictures and give them his report that the love seat was still defective even with all the numerous replacements the furniture company had sent to me.

when the technician arrived with his camera to take pictures of what i explained above, he told me i am definitely entitled to a full refund and he would state that in his report to the furniture company because the love seat with all the replacements the furniture company already had sent was still was definitely unsafe to use under all the circumstances i explained to him, (and i also gave him a few very sizeable handfuls of dirty feathers i was saving from the love seat). the loveseat cushion had about 100 of the feathers half visible standing straight up, and he also took pictures of that as well.

bl the above displays i tried in vain to get this furniture company to pick up their defective merchandise and refund my visa a complete full credit refund, but all they did was continually send me defective replacements, then they declared bankruptcy in nov. 2007. (

btw all of these telecommunications, the defective love seat replacement items, and the technician who came to take photographs of the defective love seat in my home, transpired well before the furniture company declared bankruptcy. my requests for a pick up and full refund continued via telecommunications up to the day before the furniture company declared bankruptcy and no longer were available for telecommunications. i also kept the names and dates of each and every customer service rep and supervisor i conversed with asking for a pick up for the defective furniture & refund credit since their numerous replacement parts had the same defects). after that there was no way to reach them which was why i filed the dispute with visa. first batch of all photocopied documentation with colored pictures displaying all defects of defective love seat issues visa said their branch received but lost. when they finally admitted they could not locate my ups courrier sent documentation they asked me to fax them duplicates, which i did, and they received the fax in january 2008. that is when they opened the dispute.

now there is information about refunds and no exhanges or returns on their web site which i only viewed yesterday, and yet it is clear i will not be one of the lucky ones to have the defective furniture picked up at their expense so i can keep my visa credit refund and they can take the defective furniture back. if i am not mistaken it is a legal firm which has posted all the information regarding refunds, no exchanges and no returns, and also listed their contact address information, and i have no idea if another furniture company is now invloved who perhaps purchased the furniture company's assets and or liabilities.

i hope this clarifys your questions bl, and yes unfortunately i am serious, because it seems if i am contacted by any legal reps by your already having advised me they will want monetary restitution and not the defective furniture return, it may be best if i just have visa give them my permanent dispute credit refund funds back.

i do not wish to be held liable in any collections actions or any legal actions demanding the money back, in view of the fact that the legal reps representing the defunct furniture company state on the defunct furniture company's active website that there are no returns or exchanges, and that they are only honoring refunds for paid items not received.

bl since asthma attacks are also triggered by stress, the stress of painful dirty feathers and the dust they emit in the air when they rip thru the love seat cushion causes stress, as well as the safety factor of sitting on a defective love seat cushion which has safety clips which are not properly alligned also causes stress. these combined stress factors promote asthma attacks and usage of asthma inhalers. therefore, i must consider my health, and the health of anyone entering my apartment.

also at this point i wish to completely avoid any future collections actions requesting i pay them the money back. this is is why i need to know if it would be in my best interest to just tell visa to give them the money back, even though i will lose close to $1,500.00.

bl i only have modest means, am elderly, disabled and ill. i must also consider my health and well being and the health of anyone elses entering my premises. i still cannot come to terms with having to lose close to $1,500.00, but the thought of collections and repayment actions, or any future legal implications & liabilities only adds to my stress, promotes more asthma attacks, and frightens me even more.

since it seems there is no consumer justice for me in this issue, i need to just handle it quickly so it is completely legally resolved, and i think the only way for me to deal with this is to accept the fact that i will end up losing close to $1,500.00 after all, and have the love seat disassembled and thrown out,. then i will have to call a pro to come in and clean the apartment of the dust and dirty air particles. i hope this will help my asthma in as far as not using the inhaler so often, but i shall wait until you reply should you offer any legal advisements to the contrary regarding this specific paragraph.

again bl i thank you for your awaited advisement, and hope you have enough information now, and i respectfully await your final advisements.

 

[TigerD]

Give it up.

You got a full refund and the company went out of business. throw the darn thing out if you want to. It is time to move on with your life.

DC

 

[steaklover]

thank debtcollector

thanks for the links debtcollector.

i read them and still could not find the answer if a collections agency is within their legal rights to demand back all the money my credit card company refunded me with a permanent dispute refund in my favor, but thanks anyway.