Problem Solved: Metropolitan Warehouse won’t pay up for damage
After sending you damaged furniture twice, company should have reimbursed you promptly.
Q: Last year, I paid $1,500 for two Baker Furniture side tables from a business called The Local Vault. I contracted with Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery to deliver the furniture from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, to Saratoga.
A month later, Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery tried to deliver the tables, but I refused the delivery because the tables were damaged. Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery agreed to take the tables back for repair.
Two months later, Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery redelivered the tables. I was out of town and the delivery was accepted by my 21-year-old son, who didn’t know he should check the repair. The dispatcher had called to set up delivery while I was out of town. No one asked to speak to me. Therefore, my son agreed to the redelivery window.
A few days later, when I returned, I discovered that although the repairs had been attempted, the end result ruined the finish on both tabletops. I contacted Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery to report that the repair was unacceptable.
It has now been nine months since I placed my order. There is a long thread of email communications with various representatives at Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery. My refund request has languished on the desks of employees, and I feel as though I am being strung along with no real intent by Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery to resolve the claim.
A representative agreed in writing that Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery would pay a settlement of $1,972. However, I have not received a check yet. Can you help me?
Anne Furlong, Saratoga
A: Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery should have delivered your tables undamaged, as promised. Unfortunately, things sometimes break during shipment. When they do, you expect a business to fix them quickly.
Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery failed to deliver your furniture as advertised, failed to fix the tables to your expectations and dragged its feet on a refund it had promised in writing.
Fortunately, you kept a meticulous paper trail. It suggests several reasons for the extraordinary delay. First, your initial claim went to someone who left the company, so your case fell through the cracks. Second, Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery’s claims office was going through a “restructuring,” which caused even more delays. Finally, the company had to submit your claim to its insurance company, which took even more time.
Those excuses are unacceptable.
The behind-the-scenes problems of a company are no concern of yours. You should get what Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery promised you within a reasonable amount of time — not nine months.
By the way, executives at Metropolitan Warehouse and Delivery are easy to reach. Their emails are firstname@metropolitanwarehouse.com.
I contacted the company on your behalf, and it promptly cut a check for $1,972.
Christopher Elliott’s latest book is “How To Be The World’s Smartest Traveler” (National Geographic). You can get real-time answers to any consumer question on his forum, elliott.org/forum, or by emailing him at chris@elliott.org.