Pipefine Patio Furniture

Heath Combs — Furniture Today, June 29, 2009

Consumers are complaining about a free gas and grocery voucher incentive program - tied to purchases of furniture and other products - that is not delivering as promised, according to news reports.

The vouchers are offered as promotions by retailers including furniture stores, electronics chains and car dealers, among others.

According to reports, the vouchers are sold to retailers via brokers by BBZ Resource Management of Mesa, Ariz. Consumers send BBZ receipts from gas and grocery purchases, and BBZ is supposed to issue gift card rebates adding up to the total offer of the promotion.

Stories in the St. Petersburg Times and the St. Louis Dispatch say that hundreds of consumers have complained that they haven’t received the rebates as promised. Some Ashley Furniture HomeStores and Chicago electronics chain Grant’s Appliances were listed as among stores that use the vouchers.

BBZ claimed to have issued 160,000 certificates in March, the St. Petersburg story said. Furniture/Today was unable to reach BBZ.

Customers said inquiries to BBZ went unanswered or rebates went undelivered.

The St. Louis story reported that an owner of several Missouri Ashley stores was “deluged” by complains from customers whose vouchers have not been redeemed. It said Ashley has filed a complaint about BBZ with law enforcement authorities in Arizona.

A Better Business Bureau office reported more than 225 complaints from customers who did not receive gift cards, the St. Louis story said.

A story in the Phoenix Business Journal reported that the company has recently changed its name to Incentive International.

[Ed: We looked into this incentive program over a year ago and determined then it was a little misleading]

FREEHOLD, N.J. - The owner of a New Jersey furniture business has been sentenced to five years in state prison for scamming NJ furniture store owner gets 5-year sentence

Prosecutors say 62-year-old William C. Neumann Jr. of Leonardo received orders and took deposits through his Cabbage Rose store in Fair Haven and an Internet business, Chelsea Manor Unlimited. But he did not deliver the merchandise nor offer refunds.

Neumann pleaded guilty in March to theft by deception and failure to file state taxes.

As part of the sentence imposed Monday, Neumann must pay full restitution to 82 victims and pay more than $9,000 in penalties to the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

Maybe the market for high-end, one-off design is tanking–but it’s certainly not Brad Pitt’s fault. The actor recently showed up at Design Miami/Basel, and laid out over a quarter million dollars on just a handful of pieces by contemporary designers.

It’s not a passing fad for Pitt: He’s a regular at art and design fairs, and he’s known as one of the world’s most serious collectors of contemporary design. Here’s what he bought, this time around.

Pitt has an prediliction for hip young stars (like himself, at one time). He bought all three pieces in the Evolution collection by Nacho Carbonell, who just recently finished design school in the Netherlands. Total cost: a shade under $119,000:

He wasn’t done with the Dutchmen. Pitt bought three pieces by Atelier Van Lieshout, a high-concept design outfit that relishes design subversion. Apprently, he bought the the grim looking Mini Capsule Hotel for $134,000, with plans to install it on his private beach in Santa Monica:

Also by the Atelier, Pitt bought the Fossil chaise lounge and the bronze Family Lamp, for $32,500 and $24,800, respectively:

All of which makes us realize: If you never thought contemporary design had anything to do with you, you’re actually supporting today’s avant-garde designers every time you see the new Pitt flick. Who knew?

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