By Kay Luna | Comments(18)
\nLarry Fisher\/QUAD-CITY TIMES The sign on the locked door to Evans Furniture warehouse, 825 W. 4th St., says it is closed for inventory.
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\nWith mail piling up, furniture stacked awkwardly near the door and no one
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\n answering telephone calls, the status of Davenport\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Evans Furniture warehouse store is in limbo \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and customers are fuming.
\nThe Iowa Attorney General\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Office is investigating the situation after receiving nearly 50 complaints by phone and e-mail since Monday about the Quad-City furniture company, which apparently locked its doors without fulfilling outstanding furniture orders or issuing refunds, Attorney General\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Office spokesman Bob Brammer said.<\/p>\n
A sign taped to the window says the store at 825 W. 4th St., Davenport, is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153closed for inventory,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and an old Evans Furniture delivery truck is for sale in the parking lot. Meanwhile, the chain\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 14-year-old Waterloo, Iowa, location quietly closed its doors late last week, causing an uproar with customers there.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to try to find out what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on \u00e2\u20ac\u201d specifically, what are their plans to provide refunds of deposits or the furniture,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Brammer said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if it was typical business failure or what.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Jack Evans, the company president, does not have a listed phone number or address in the Quad-City area and could not be reached for comment. His daughter, Angela Evans, also could not be located.<\/p>\n
Davenport lawyer William J. Bush, who is listed on the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s state business license as a contact person, was unavailable for comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The attorney general\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s office issued subpoenas Tuesday to John Frederick \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Evans and his daughter, Angela Carol Evans, giving them until 2 p.m. June 27 to provide a complete list of every commercial and consumer customer and the status of their orders, including whether their goods have been delivered or picked up.<\/p>\n
The subpoenas, set to be served by the Scott County Sheriff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Department, also ask for a record of all Evans Furniture\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sales, inventory and banking statements since Jan. 1, and a full list of every secured creditor and supplier, including contact persons, addresses and telephone numbers.<\/p>\n
Nothing could be found online related to Evans Furniture filing for bankruptcy, and Brammer said he does not believe the company has taken that action.<\/p>\n
The company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s business licenses are still in good standing with the State of Iowa and the City of Davenport, officials said.<\/p>\n
However, Evans Furniture is listed as having an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unsatisfactory record\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with the Better Business Bureau, according to a report posted online that shows the agency has fielded 13 complaints in the past three years about the company.<\/p>\n
Complaints range from delivery and product problems to refund or exchange disputes. Evans Furniture did not respond to the bureau or the customer in seven cases, while others were resolved.<\/p>\n
Natalie Young of Davenport isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to give up. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been calling every agency she can think of, trying to find help to get the $1,300 bedroom set she said Evans never delivered to her home \u00e2\u20ac\u201d or to get a refund.<\/p>\n
Young said she has repeatedly called and visited the Evans Furniture warehouse building in Davenport but never finds anyone around. This has been going on since May 17, when she ordered the Ashley Furniture bedroom set from the warehouse.<\/p>\n
Her new mattress was delivered, but the rest of the set never appeared. She called several times and was given various excuses: The set was on order, a delivery was missed, it hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t arrived yet, and that it would be shipped soon. After weeks of waiting, she visited and called again after Memorial Day to find the doors locked and no one answering the phone, she said.<\/p>\n
Young now is considering filing a civil lawsuit against the company, along with her complaints to the state. She also called the maker of the furniture, without any luck tracking down her merchandise.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I feel the longer you give them, the longer they have to run,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got my money, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not happy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
In Waterloo, the Evans Furniture building owner, Ken Lockard, said late last week that his company still owns the property and Evans still is leasing it. He declined on Friday to say whether Evans was current on its lease payments.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153His lease is not up,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lockard said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not surprised.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He declined to elaborate.<\/p>\n
On Friday evening, mattresses covered all the windows and doors of the Waterloo store, and a semi-truck with its back open, windows down and lights on was parked around back, seemingly abandoned with a new couch sitting in its trailer.<\/p>\n
People drove by every few minutes in the hour before the store\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s usual closing time. Among those were\u00c2\u00a0 Kip Lewis and Brandi Bartz, of Brandon, Iowa. They came looking for a $500 oak headboard and bed post set they ordered in April.<\/p>\n
Bartz said she had called the store and its Davenport headquarters in search of her furniture. When she talked to a store employee, she said he offered no explanation.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He honestly said, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what the hell is going on with this company,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bartz said.<\/p>\n
(The Waterloo Courier contributed to this story.)<\/p>\n
Kay Luna can be contacted at (563) 383-2323 or kluna@qctimes.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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