Action 9: Woman says furniture store where she made down payment cleared out

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A woman said she made a down payment at a Charlotte furniture store and then found it had cleared out.

Latoya Pratt went online to show Action 9 the two rooms of furniture she placed on layaway at Discount Furniture and More in the university area.

She said she gave the store $570 down and it was supposed to order the furniture after she paid the $600 balance.

But when Pratt recently went back to Discount Furniture, it was closed and cleared out, with no forwarding number to call.

“No way to contact them, no way to reach them,” she said. “That's not how you do business.”

This is the same store the BBB just ranked as the fourth worst business in Charlotte for failing to respond to customer complaints.

When Action 9 went to a different Discount Furniture location on Eastway Drive, we found the name changed to Money Wise Furniture, with a sign saying “under new management.”

But the manager inside is the same person we talked to before about complaints at Discount Furniture's Eastway store. He said he'd have the former owner, AJ, call Action 9, and he did.

AJ said he was planning on reopening his university-area store and promised Action 9 and Pratt he would deliver her furniture this week.

“Action 9 really gave it the punch to go ahead and get the ball rolling,” Pratt said.

WSOC