Complaints over free grocery promotion costs Ben's Fine Furniture

Better Business Bureau takes away retailer's positive rating

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, December 20, 2010

PORT HURON, Mich. — A Port Huron furniture retailer said it tried to make good on a free grocery promotion after two third-party companies handling the giveaway went out of business, the Times Herald reported.

Bryan Wak, co-owner of Ben's Fine Furniture with his brother Peter, said the store offered other coupons and furniture discounts to customers unable to redeem coupons for groceries. He said the coupons were part of a promotion for Ashley.

Complaints resulted in the 60-year-old business losing its positive rating with the Better Business Bureau, the newspaper said.

Ben's said it gave out 300 to 350 coupons during the promotion and about 20 people had problems. The coupons were redeemable for $600 in groceries. Recipients were to send in $100 in grocery receipts each month for a $20 universal gift until the whole $600 was redeemed.

During the past three years, similar voucher promotions have snared several furniture retailers and the distributors offering them shut down for not fulfilling claims.

Three of the most prominent were: My Free Travel of Chicago, a division of Hort Financial Services, which shut down abruptly in December 2009; BBZ Resource Management, of Mesa, Ariz., which filed for bankruptcy in June 2009; and Tidewater Marketing Global Consultants, Largo, Fla.

Tidewater was shut down by a state appointed receiver in early 2009 and used websites such as FreeGasCentral.com or GasolineRedemption.com.