(CBS) CHICAGO Customers say the owners of a baby furniture store disappeared—and took the deposits with them.


CBS 2’s Dorothy Tucker has an update on how the Illinois Attorney General has joined the fight to get expectant parents their money back.

After months of being closed, there was movement Wednesday morning inside My Child’s Room store in Niles. It looked as if the men were taking inventory.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” one worker.

While the workmen tried to block the view from CBS 2 News cameras in the back of the store, curious customers peered through the front windows. Mark Romero was one of them. He has a 6-month-old baby and had hoped to outfit her with a new chair. Six months ago, he gave the company a deposit of $320.

“It’s been frustrating because you wait for this long, and I’ve already tried contracting their customer service and their mailbox is full,” Romero said.

On the door of the store is a new number to contact. It is for the First DuPage Bank, but it is a false lead. The bank is one of many creditors suing the owners of the store, claiming the owners defaulted on a loan.

“This is fraud and theft,” said Betty Morgan, another customer.

Morgan has a grandbaby due next week. She ordered a crib from the store six months ago for $540.

“They knew they weren’t going to deliver, yet they kept taking orders til the beginning of May,” she said.

Did the owners knowingly take customers’ money? It is among many questions the Illinois Attorney General is seeking to answer through a series of subpoenas.

“Why did they take the customer’s deposit if they might have known they couldn’t honor them? Why did this happen? What’s going to happen? What’s the plan of action for the company and what happens next?” said Melissa Merz, spokeswoman with the Illinois Attorney’s General office.

The goal of the Attorney General’s office is to get the company to reimburse its customers.

But in the meantime, officials have some advice:

– If you paid by credit card, contact your credit card company and dispute the charge.

– Do not just make a verbal complaint, write a letter.

– If you wrote a personal check, then you will have to allow the Attorney General’s office to fight your battle.

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