Shareholder: Unethical Activity Caused Major Delays At Ashley Furniture
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Shareholder: Unethical Activity Caused Major Delays...
Marc Kloner, the largest shareholder for Compass Furniture Group (Ashley Furniture), said former CEO Paul Rizzuto was fired last week.
George Jackson/WJHL
Ashley Furniture Homestore on Marketplace Drive in Johnson City
Published: December 26, 2008
Updated: December 26, 2008
Johnson City, Tenn.—News Channel 11 received several calls and e-mails from concerned customers of Ashley Furniture Homestore this week. Their orders were not being filled, they said.
Today the company’s largest shareholder, Marc Kloner of Compass Furniture Group, responded to inquiries made by News Channel 11’s George Jackson.
1. Ashley Furniture will not close it’s showroom in Johnson City, Kloner said. No one in Johnson City is accused of any wrongdoing. Kloner commended them.
2. Paul Rizzuto, the former CEO of Ashley’s former parent company Baker Group International, was fired last week for “unethical behavior,“ Kloner said. His behavior affected the company’s bottom line and, as a result, furniture orders were delayed.
3. The new owner, Pam Kubler of California, will fly to the Tri-Cities region on Sunday. She will also make an appearance at the Ashley Furniture Homestore in Johnson City on Monday.
4. Compass Furniture Group wants to know if Rizzuto committed any crime to cause these financial delays.
5. Kloner set up a hotline in Johnson City to answer customer questions (423-794-1460 ext. 1460). One employee will be solely devoted to this phone line, he said.
6. Ashley Furniture will begin pro-active telephone calls to eager customers on January 2nd. Customer service representatives will provide them with an exact delivery date for their furniture, Kloner said. All customers will have their furniture and a gift certificate for their trouble within the next three weeks, he said. Kloner added, 40-percent of the outstanding orders are already on their way.
7. Some of the “catch-up” shipments will go through Asheville, their largest store in the country. Ashley will allow delivery drivers to earn overtime, in order to expedite the catch-up process, Kloner said.
For a video report, click the play icon above.
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Reader Reactions
The information provided to Channel 11 by Marc Kloner is simply not true. My husband and I purchased furniture in this store last August. We received a partial shipment in October but was told some items were not being delivered because they had arrived at their distribution center damaged. I have been calling repeatedly since before Thanksgiving. I could not get an answer from the sales associate (who became beligerant to me on the phone last week), so I finally asked for customer service. I left two messages for customer service on Jan. 15 and never heard from anyone. I finally got in touch with a lady on Jan. 16 who promised to call back the very next day. No telephone call from anyone for the next three business days. Today, Jan. 21, I CALLED her again, and she basically told me that Ashley Furniture has absolutely no idea when I will receive my furniture. They have had a full payment for a dining room set and a large living room set since August, and I went through the holidays without an entire set of either. I have had it with this store, but I do not know where to go at this point. I will probably never see the remainder of my furniture, and now they have full payment and all I have are partial sets. As for Mr. Kloner’s assertions that customers are being actively called and notified of exact delivery dates, that is simply not true. The best advice I can give anyone is to steer clear of Ashley Furniture.
Mafia owned. Keep U hands off.
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