Con-artists Give Upholstery a Bad Wrap

[TheHogRing]

Hall of Shame: A New York couple running an auto and furniture upholstery shop has been convicted and imprisoned for running scams for almost a decade - taking people's money and not following through with the work.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/7q7trb9

[kodydog]

A few years back we were getting calls from people asking if we knew any thing about a certain upholstery shop. They would give an estimate for recovering furniture, get a deposit for the fabric but never pick up the piece. They would order the fabric and it would sit in their shop for months. When the customer called there was always some excuse about a death in the family or the upholsterer being sick and then they would suggest to just come and pick up the fabric. The perfect scam in that they really did nothing illegal.

[DCAutoUpholstery]

I once had a customer bring me a disassembled seat with a bag full of upholstery patterns.  The poor guy said an upholsterer took on the job, took apart the seat and before he can begin to sew the new upholstery was arrested and sent to prison.  I wanted to help him out but half the pieces were missing.  I told him his best bet is to buy a used set of seats and have them recovered.

[sofadoc]

Back in the early 80's, when my mother owned the business, she made an agreement with a competitor in town. He would close HIS shop, and come to work for US.

We already knew that he did great work. What we didn't know was that he had cheated so many of his customers. He had taken deposits, and then never would do the furniture.

So when he came to work for us, his reputation as a crook came with him.
At first it was just a few unhappy customers coming forward. He always had good excuses as to why he hadn't done their work. Then complaints poured from all over town. One elderly lady using a walker came from the other side of town demanding her deposit back. My mother promised her that WE would make it right, and then drove her home.

By osmosis, we had acquired the bad rep that HE had established. For years after that, we were unable to ask for deposits because no one trusted us. My mother tried to keep him on until he had worked off his debts, but for obvious reasons, the relationship quickly went south.

Whenever the phone rang, there was a 50% chance that it was either one of his former angry customers, or a bill collector trying to find him.

It took us years to shake that "bad rap".

Reason #412 why I don't hire anyone.

[mike802]

Wow sofa, that sucks :o  It is so hard to find anyone who knows anything about upholstery to come work for you, then you get burned by their bad reputation.  I don't understand why people didn't come to yours moms shop and complain about the guy; long before she hired him.  We had a upholster in my area when I was growing up, he had a wonderful reputation and everyone praised him up and down.  He has been dead for many years now and I get one of his pieces to reupholster every now and again, how can I tell it is his work?  He had some signature ways of doing things, and his work looks like the biggest hack I ever saw, apparently his prices were low enough that people excepted his poor workmanship, otherwise I don't understand how he ever got his great reputation.  His old customers are hard sells because they think I am getting rich on their job alone. 

One of my biggest buttons are upholsters who set up shop and charge very low prices.  These guys work for less than minimum wage, but the general public who knows nothing about upholstery values the trade by those who charge the lowest, that makes it difficult for those of us who try and charge the going rate for a tradesman in the area.  Its OK for a mechanic, plumber, electrician, or a contractor to charge between $50.00 and $125.00 an hour, but ho my god let the upholster try and charge half that and he, or she is some kind of shyster.  Sorry for the rant.

[Steve at Silverstone Fabrics]

In Charlotte, NC we have an upholstery shop that advertises $99 labor for a sofa.........the catch is you must buy the fabric from him.

He sells fabric at huge mark ups (fabric prices could break $100/yd.....even though the suggested retail price would be in the $40/yd range)

I came in after him on an estimate and was told by the house wife that I quoted from the same Greenhouse book but my price was $400 less than his estimate. She went on to say that he said the fabric had a 20 year warranty.

His approach is high pressure and is a "one shot" shop........if he has repeat customers they must have $ to burn.

He has had a "successful" business for over 20 years and if you are in Charlotte on a Monday or Wed....pick up a Charlotte Observer and you will see his ads.

He sub contracts all of his work out and in my opinion is a pox on our industry.

Legal? Yes. Ethical? No.

Steve

[sofadoc]

I don't understand why people didn't come to yours moms shop and complain about the guy; long before she hired him. 

You would think so, wouldn't you? BUT NO-O-O-O!
I swear, that guy was made of Teflon (nothing bad stuck to him). He was a slick talker. We thought that merging our client lists would be beneficial to both of us. Didn't work out that way. All we got were HIS unhappy customers. Meanwhile, he stole a few of OUR good ones, and took 'em down the road to another shop, where he was hired and fired umpteen times over the next 10 or so years.
Alcohol destroyed his liver. In the final years of his life, he came to me again asking for a job. I laughed him right out the door.

[sofadoc]

She went on to say that he said the fabric had a 20 year warranty.

Seems like that would come back to bite him in the butt.
If he is a "one shot" shop, the last thing he wants to do, is honor a warranty.

[Gregg @ Keystone Sewing]

Not the right place for me to air dirty laundry, but this happens quite a bit in the sewing machine dealer industry.  In fact, this happens in all industries, really. 

[CreativeCanvas]

You ain't seen nothing. FL is the retched refuge for con artists & fly by nighters. Name your profession.

For example 'Blue Water Marine' set up shop nearby bout 9 mos ago. Don specialized in replacing broken outboard parts with not quite yet broken outboard parts. And charging the customer for new, naturally.

I pegged him from day one and always had cash in hand before I did any canvas work. He came close to burning Beth on a cushion job once but thankfully she wized up in time.

Last time I checked the dude was in jail for passing bad checks.


I dunno but reckon I just don't understand how the CSers continue to get away with it. In my business I strive to deliver the highest quality product, customer service, etc. And if I'm lucky make a couple bucks? These aholes have a whole different mindset & make us all look bad.

[sofadoc]

You ain't seen nothing. FL is the retched refuge for con artists & fly by nighters. Name your profession.

Thanks to caller ID, I don't even answer the phone if it's from a 954 area code.

[kodydog]

Remorse is an emotional expression of personal regret felt by a person after he or she has committed an act which they deem to be shameful, hurtful, or violent.

Psychologists say that with some people this emotion is missing from their brain. Murderers, Rapist, and people who torture animals. And con-artists.

[RocketmanMH1]

In my business I strive to deliver the highest quality product, customer service, etc. And if I'm lucky make a couple bucks? These aholes have a whole different mindset & make us all look bad.

You said a mouthful there CC,  But the good thing about our quality and standards is when we lay down at night we're not staring at the ceiling we go right to sleep with no regrets!!!

[Gregg @ Keystone Sewing]

"He had taken deposits, and then never would do the furniture...So when he came to work for us, his reputation as a crook came with him."

Very intresting.  I have people that will call or email and tell me that our company has a good reputation.  I always find this inresting, as I wonder where these 'reputation' of ours is floating around, and how they ran into it.  I never really thought too much about it, as I never felt I could personally do anything about it, other than do the best job I can for everybody, and let the chips fall. 

I guess the moral, and I've been thinking about this post quite a bit, is that you can do little to nothing to improve your rep, but you can very easily damage it by making one wrong move.