Furniture store ordered to pay in voucher case

Beck's Furniture in Sacramento appeals ruling

Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, March 11, 2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This week a small claims court awarded a customer $500 and court costs from Beck's Furniture after the voucher promotion it offered went bust, a CBS affiliate here reported.

Beck's said it was also a victim of the voucher promotion, according to the CBS-13 KOVR story.

The furniture retailer has offered vouchers through two defunct promotions companies: BBZ, which went bankrupt last summer, and then through My Free Travel, which closed in December.

The story also reported that Beck's is now involved with a third voucher promoter.

The retailer told the court that thousands of customers had signed up for the promotion. A store official also said that if it had to pay all the offers that went unredeemed, it would cost the company $3.5 million, putting it out of business.

Beck's is appealing the ruling. It faces three other cases in small claims court, the story said.

To read more, click here.
Several voucher promotions companies have disappeared or gone bankrupt over the past year, including Tidewater Global Marketing Consultants of Largo, Fla.

The firms offered promotions to retailers such as giving free gas and grocery vouchers to entice customers to buy furniture. Consumers were supposed redeem receipts from gas and grocery purchases, and then receive debit cards for the value of the promotion.