Seven On Your Side has the answers.
Gail Grande and her granddaughter Destiny are looking forward to the Christmas season. But the family will have quite a bit less money than they planned.
Gail: "We wanted to spend it on the grandchildren."
Tappy Phillips: "Five hundred dollars is five hundred dollars."
Gail: "Exactly."
Last July, the Grande's bought a new rug from the Levitz furniture store near their home.
"When the rug finally came, it was damaged," Gail said.
They got a replacement and that was damaged, too. So they asked for a refund.
"We received the check, we deposited it and it bounced," Gail said.
In the meantime, the Grande's had bought a new rug.
"We figured with the money we received, we would pay for the rug we purchased. It's not working out that way," Gail said.
The reason? Furniture giant Levitz filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.
If this story sounds familiar, it is. Two years ago, Levitz filed for bankruptcy and was bought by another company which closed 30 of its store, but apparently they still couldn't make a got it and they also went bankrupt.
At one Levitz we visited, you'd never know they were bankrupt. When we were there it looked like business as usual.
But employees told us they would only be selling what they have in stock right now. In the meantime, customers who put down deposits, may lose them.
One man said he'd already put down $650 dollars and came to make his final payment.
"They wouldn't take the money ... they said, good luck," the man said.
Earlier this week, Levitz and all its inventory was auctioned off. The new owner will liquidate their assets and close all the stores.
Customers like Gail have two choices: use their balance to buy an item that's in stock, or put their name on the list of creditors with the bankruptcy court. Neither is a guaranteed option.
"How could you do this to a customer? It's not right," Gail said.
