RALEIGH, N.C. — A High Point furniture company must stop collecting money from consumers upfront and then failing to

deliver furniture as promised, Attorney General Roy Cooper announced Thursday.

“We’ve heard from hundreds of people who paid for furniture they never received,” said Cooper. “That’s not the way to do business, and we’re taking action to stop it.”

Wake County Superior Court Judge Narley Cashwell agreed with Cooper’s request for a temporary restraining order to stop N.C. Furniture Buy Direct, Inc. of High Point and its owners, Darrell and Russell Buck, from deceiving consumers. That’s according to a statement from Cooper’s office.

Cooper is also seeking to permanently stop what he called the company’s bad practices and is asking the court to order N.C. Furniture Buy Direct to pay refunds to consumers and civil penalities to the state.

The attorney general filed suit this week against N.C. Furniture Buy Direct based on complaints from hundreds of consumers. Of the hundreds of consumers who have complained to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division about N.C. Furniture Buy Direct in the last two years, approximately 170 complaints remain unresolved because the company has so far failed to provide refunds or fulfill customers’ orders, Cooper said.

Hundreds of consumers have also complained to the Better Business Bureau about N.C. Furniture Buy Direct.

The company required consumers to pay at least a 50 percent deposit when they placed an order and more recently required full payment upfront. Consumers were told that their furniture orders would arrive in four to 12 weeks, however, many people never received their furniture as promised, Cooper said.

The federal mail order rule requires companies like N.C. Furniture Buy Direct to give customers the option of a full refund if their order doesn’t arrive on time, which the company failed to do, according to Cooper.

To check up on a company, call 1-877-5-NO-SCAM toll-free within North Carolina or 919-716-6000.