Daniel H.

I ordered a bathroom sink online in November 2010 for $848. On December 1,2010 it was delivered by a shipper called Mana. When I opened the flimsy box it came in, it was severely damaged. I contacted ATG Stores that day at *******744 and spoke with Larry Lacaille. He gave me a claim #******* and his email address (*******@atgservices.com), and I emailed him 4 digital photographs of the damaged sink. I emailed Larry and telephoned ATG Stores several times after that and was told that the claim was still being processed and that it could take up to 30 days to resolve. Larry never responded to any of my emails. When I heard nothing back I challenged the charge through my credit card company Citibank. Citibank temporarily credited my account for the charge, but on February 7,2011, I received a letter from Citibank indicating that it had contacted ATG Stores and was informed that they have no record of receiving the sink I returned, indicating that it had closed its investigation and reversed the credit. I responded to this letter that I had not yet received permission form ATG to return the sink and had it available for return. This morning, February 16,2011, I again called ATG Stores and spoke with an agent who identified herself only as Rhonda. I gave her the claim number and told her about the letter from Citibank and asked for authorization to return the sink. She responded that is was out of ATG's hands because I had filed a dispute with Citibank and that it was now a matter between Citibank and me. I told her that was ridiculous and that ATG had made misrepresentaions to Citibank. She, like all of the prior agents I had spoken to, was extremely rude. She told me to calm down that there was nothing she could do. I asked for a supervisor and she said she was the only one there, and she ultimately hung up on me.

I have filed a complaint with both the Better Business Bureau (http://alaskaoregonwesternwashington.app.bbb.org/emailopt/form.html) and the State of Washington Attorney General's offfice (www.atg.wa.gov), and I encourage others who have been defrauded to do the samme. The following is the information for ATG Stores, aka lighting Universe: Business Name:

Allied Trade Group Inc.
******* NE 122nd Way Ste 200
Kirkland, WA *******-6927

Bus Phone: *******515
Bus Fax: *******875
Toll-Free:
Email:
Website: www.lightinguniverse.com

Name of Owner / Manager: Gary Rubens and Jennifer Rubens (She is the contact person and is either Mr. Rubens' wife or daughter)

The day after I filed my complaint with the Better Business Bureau, Jennifer Rubens responded as follows>

Cusotmer has filed a chargeback, in order to proceed further the customer must either reverse or resolve the chargeback.

Attached is a copy of the chargeback process from the return policy.
Please do not request a charge back from your credit card company during the return process. Due to the time it takes to resolve charge back disputes, it is usually better to be patient and wait for the return process to run its course. If a charge back has been submitted, we will not be able to credit you for your return until the charge back mediation process has been completed. This process can take up to 180 days

I responded to this today, 2/22/11, as follows:

ATG, which is owned by a businessman out of Kirkland, Washington, Gary Rubens, has apparently instructed his employees to engage in sharp and unscrupulous business practices with respect to returns. One of his employees, apparently on his instructions, lied to Citibank and he has apparently now instructed another employee to lie to you in the above response.

As indicated in my complaint, an employee of Mr. Rubens, Larry LaCalle, on December 1,2010, told me that it would take up to 30 days to process my claim. That alone surprised me, as in all my previous experiences with retailers - both internet and over the counter - returns or exchanges were handled immediately. When it was not promptly processed, I challenged the charge with my credit card holder, Citibank. When Citibank contacted ATG Stores, another of Gary Rubens' employees, apparently also on his instructions, lied to Citibank, advising Citibank that it had no record of receiving the merchandise that was returned, knowing full well that it was (allegedly) still processing the claim and had never authorized a return. As a result, on February 7,2011, S. Larson from Customer Service at Citibank notified me by mail that Citibank had closed its investigation and reversed the credit. Why did the employee of ATG not simply tell Citibank the truth if it was the truth that it was still processing the claim?

Another employee of ATG has now responded, likely also on the instructions of Gary Rubens, that ATG ceased processing the claim when I filed the challenge, and will not proceed further until I "either reverse or resolve the chargeback," exactly what Rhonda from ATG had told me our telephone conversation last Wednesday. I told Rhonda that Citibank had reversed it - which was the reason for my call and she stated that ATG had not yet received notice of that. How can any resolution with Citibank logically occur unless ATG agrees to credit my card for the damaged sink? Citibank should not be on the hook for this. Also, suddenly the period for processing the claim has increased from 30 days to six months. I need to be patient, the response alleges.
As to returns, my family was in the retail business for 30 years, and I worked in their store in my youth. If someone returned damaged merchandise, we processed the return immediately, refunding the amount paid. In nearly every case we recovered our cost from the manufacturer. We, of course, did not recover our profit from the sale, but we retained a customer. We never in a million years would have thought of telling a customer that we needed to investigate the return and to come back in 30 days or 6 months while we thought about it. What kind of a responsible business does that? What kind of a responsible business takes 6 months to process a claim for refund?

ATG, if it were a responsible business, and Gary Rubens, if he were a responsible businessman, would not be instructing his employees to stonewall and lie to customers with legitimate returns - apparently in the hope that they will give up in frustration. He should be ashamed. Each of his employees should be ashamed they are working for such a man and instructed to lie and cheat. As I told Rhonda in our conversation before she told me to calm down and hang up on me, "I hope you can sleep at night."

Thank you for responding so promplty to my complaint. Please excuse the length of this reply. I am a cranky 62 year old retired person with nothing better to do that wear out my word processor. I will not be cheated.

Incidentally, the item I ordered from ATG was a handicapped sink for my newly remodeled bathroom, which is has been designed as a wet room for easy access by the elderly and infirm.

The sink, had it arrived in one piece, would have been perfect. I was forced to replace it with one not nearly so nice.

If you wish to contact me my email address is *******@yahoo.com and my phone number is *******537.
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