TO GET A REFUND

Customers who paid for but never received their furniture from High Point Furniture can file a complaint with the Summit County Office of Consumer Affairs by June 19. Call 330-643-2879 or send a letter with copies of documentation, such as invoices, of items you have not received. The address is: Office of Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 22448, Akron, OH 44302-2248.

Customers who were left with nothing for their payments to the former High Point Furniture, which abruptly shut its doors in October, will soon be receiving refund checks.

An agreement has been reached between the store's owners and a local consumer watchdog agency. The agreement also allows for other customers who lost money or were left without furniture by the closing to file complaints within a 90-day period to receive a refund.

Steve Daniels, who owned and operated the longtime furniture store on Tallmadge Avenue at the Tallmadge-Akron line, and his ex-wife, Athena Daniels, have paid the Summit County Office of Consumer Affairs more than $23,000 to refund to 45 customers on record.

The complaints were compiled from those submitted to the Summit County Office of Consumer Affairs, the Ohio Attorney General's office, the Akron Better Business Bureau and Tallmadge police. Another five or so complaints are pending.

Cynthia Sich, director of the Summit County consumer agency, said the agreement was the first investigation for the 3-year-old county agency ''that resulted in a significant refund to multiple customers.''

Too often, Sich said, consumers
don't receive any compensation when a store or business suddenly closes. Sich said her office considered criminal prosecution, but often with a store closing, it can be difficult to prove the store owners knowingly harmed customers or continued to harm them after closing.

Sich said it was important to get consumers' money back instead of the furniture they were promised. There was also an added difficulty — some of the furniture is still locked up in the store, which is tied up in a dispute with the former landlord, Sich said.

''I felt it was more important that consumers had the money back in their pockets,'' said Sich.

Check for $1,350

Brenda Miller of Akron will be receiving a check for about $1,350 as early as next week for a dining room table, hutch and buffet she ordered almost a year ago.

''I'm so happy I'm getting that money back. I'm on a fixed income and I had to save for that money,'' Miller said.

But she's also angry that she and others were the victims of the store closing.

''I was to the point where I was getting angry. If I would have taken money from (owner Steve Daniels) or ripped him off, I would be in jail,'' Miller said.

Good outcome

Mary Ann Rabin, the attorney for Daniels, said the economy was to blame for the closing. Rabin downplayed the sudden closing with no notice to customers.

''When the business closes, it's a little chaotic. Should they sit down and write letters to everybody? Perhaps. It has been my experience that when a business closes, usually the people who are affected somehow get in touch with somebody. In this case, it was incredibly smooth,'' said Rabin, of Cleveland.

Rabin said that as soon as Sich's office contacted Daniels and her in October, they began to cooperate.

''The creditors in this case got a very, very good outcome. It's not always this way,'' Rabin said. ''Usually, when these places close, there is no money. The principals stepped up to the plate and took care of it.''

Rabin and John Variola of Canton, the attorney for Athena Daniels, declined to say how the two were splitting the payment of refunds. Variola said his client did not actually have ownership in the business, but had worked at the store.

''I don't know that she's legally responsible, but she felt some responsibility to the people to make sure they simply got their money and deposits back,'' Variola said.

Tallmadge Law Director Penny Taylor credited Athena Daniels for taking personal interest in trying to resolve the debts to customers.

''That went a long way in getting the matter resolved,'' said Taylor, who had also considered whether to prosecute over the closing, but said there was not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges.

The matter instead became a civil concern, and ''most of these people who bought the furniture couldn't afford their own attorneys.''

Sich said that the refund checks could go out as soon as next week. Many of the complaints were from people who paid on layaway plans and never received furniture, she said. The office has also received a few complaints that were forwarded from various agencies after the initial refunds were processed and has gotten a few recent calls that it is pursuing. Any follow-up claims will be sent to the Danielses and processed within 30 days, Sich said.

Customers need to provide documentation of their undelivered furniture, Sich said, because the Danielses do not have access to their records. If customers don't have documentation, Sich said, her office will still try to work out a refund.

Customers have 90 days from the day Sich signed the agreement, which was March 21, to submit claims. The last date will be June 19.

Complaint coming

Dave Warrington of Akron was among some customers who contacted the Beacon Journal after High Point closed. When reached on Thursday, Warrington said he had never gotten around to filing a complaint, but would do so right away.

''That's hard-earned cash. It gives me a glimmer of hope,'' Warrington said.

Warrington is unsure whether he'll be eligible for the refund, but hopes he will get it. He had a $550 store credit that he had not used because the furniture he originally ordered several years ago was sold before he came to pick it up. He then sent his mother to the store to order some furniture with his credit card and her furniture was also sold before she was able to pick it up.

''All I want is what is coming to me,'' he said.

Miller, the Akron woman who is receiving her money back for her dining room furniture, said she will use the refund to go buy new furniture, ''but I'm kinda leery of furniture stores.''

TO GET A REFUND

Customers who paid for but never received their furniture from High Point Furniture can file a complaint with the Summit County Office of Consumer Affairs by June 19. Call 330-643-2879 or send a letter with copies of documentation, such as invoices, of items you have not received. The address is: Office of Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 22448, Akron, OH 44302-2248.