Timberlake Lighting of Lynchburg

I went in the Timberlake Lightening store to inquire about a lamp globe. The lady behind the counter was rude, arrogant and would not acknowledge my question. In the middle of my question she totally dismissed me when some other person came in.

Review: I ordered four "expensive" outdoor ceiling fans. Once they arrived and my contractor looked at them, he was unable to use them as he had already wired our home and these fans required different wiring due to the remote controls (remotes of which we would not have used). I was NEVER told nor was it explained in any way that I would not be able to return these fans. If that had been the case, I would not have ordered them until I had my contractor's approval. Upon returning fans to the store, my husband was informed that we would be charged HALF of the cost as a restocking fee (Price paid for fans: $1,010.00!!). Again, this policy was never brought to my attention by the sales associate. My husband called me and subsequently put me on the phone with the "manager" of the store. The "manager" was very monotoned and stated that the "specs" were there for me to see on the fan and that he couldn't do anything about it. I explained that I was not an electrician, therefore the "specs" would not have made a difference to me. He was adamant about not being able to do anything about it. After repeatedly voicing my disappointment and how this was not right considering this policy was not explained to me, he reluctantly said he would call the fan company to see what he could do but didn't think anything could be done. When he came back to the phone, he said that they would only charge me $260.00 which was pretty much the cost of one fan. These were not cheap fans and $260.00 is still a lot for a "restocking fee". I will not use this store for any future home needs nor will I recommend them to anyone else. (Near the end of our conversation he did ask if I would be getting a different product from them but with the help of our contractor we had already found the proper fans at a different store)Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund as their policy was never explained. Their employees should be better trained to explain fully to the customer their policy on orders. Again, I would not have ordered these expensive fans if I had known this policy without my contractor saying these were the correct fans.

Business

Response:

We are sorry she is unhappy about the special order purchase she made. We have a policy implemented that states no returns on special orders, ordered lights, or lights that have been installed. The customer was told by the sales person that there were no returns on special orders, and is also very clearly printed on the customers invoice of her purchase. After the customer picked up the merchandise she ordered, the customer's husband came back making a strong argument on his wife's behalf. He explained she forgot to check with the contractor to see how her house was wired. I explained to him of our policy of no returns on special orders, a policy that we have had no problem with since 1981. Her husband admitted that his wife should not have made the purchase without his approval. I even made an exception and refunded his money back on 75% of the purchase, something we cannot afford to do every time a customer special orders an item, followed by a return for reasons of their own neglect.This is quite shocking that she would, in fact, write a letter of this incident when we considerably helped her out, along with giving her 75% of her money back.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The "sales associate" not once informed me of this store policy. Coincidently, when I left the store that day after ordering fans with this particular sales associate, I phoned my husband and told him that I did not feel very confident in the transaction that had taken place as the sales associate was not very knowledgable about the fans. The sales associate handed me my copy of the receipt but did not point out to me the "policy"...I didn't have to sign it so I didn't look at it...my mistake, I now see. To my husband's defense, he never said "she should have checked with him". So, this all being said, it basically comes down to "he said/she said" and this "local business" is trying it's best to cover up their "sales associate's" lack of doing a proper and thorough job of informing the customer of THEIR store policy. They charged me a restocking fee that amounted to the price of one of the four expensive fans purchased...absurd! There is a lot of emphasis put on supporting your local small business...this is one I will never again consider supporting in th future. If they are comfortable taking $260.00 from a customer who was not properly informed from their sales associate of store policy, then so be it.

Regards,