‘A hard pill to swallow': Boston man may be out $30K as furniture company shuts down

A South End man may be out more than $30,000 after a high-end furniture company shut down last week.

Christopher Reed’s home office is on hold and he doesn’t have anywhere to sit in his living room. He placed a $30,000 order with upscale furniture retailer Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams when he moved to Boston in April.  The furniture delivery was delayed over the summer and a week and a half ago he learned the company has closed its doors.

“I’m like, this can’t actually be true,” said Reed. “I imagined that in the days following this announcement that Mitchell Gold would reach out and let customers with pending orders know how this was going to be resolved. So days later, though, not only had they not reached out, but they weren't returning my calls, nor the emails that I sent on their website.”

NBC10 Boston Responds couldn’t reach anyone at Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams via phone or email. 

The company has stores in Boston, Natick and Burlington. 

The Stephens Group,  a private equity firm that bought the company in 2015, told us:

"At The Stephens Group, we pride ourselves in our principles and living those out through how we conduct our business, who we work with, and what we invest in. Throughout our history, we have been able to help many companies unlock their value and succeed in the marketplace. While we do everything we can to support our portfolio companies, how their stories play out are not always fully within our control.

We invested in Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams (the “Company”) in 2014 in full support of the Company’s priorities, solid vision, and unique offerings. Over the past 9 years, we have worked closely with the Company as it has released new and exciting collections, collaborated with various designers, and designed unique pieces that are used with love in homes all across the world. Recently, we invested another $20 million to restructure the Company to support its operations and set the business up for success moving forward.

Unfortunately, shortly after this restructuring, the Company’s lender withdrew its support, forcing Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams to cease operations. The Stephens Group knows that the Company has done the best it could in a very challenging situation and empathizes with all those who are impacted."

An apology note is posted at the Boston location telling clients who have open orders that they don’t have any answers. It says they tried to refund orders, but the banks stopped their actions.  The note advises customers who placed orders to dispute the charges with their credit card companies.

“I have indeed filed a dispute with my credit card company, not confident that anything is going to come out of that,” said Reed. “It is a hard pill to swallow. I mean, you know, fortunately, I will recover from losing that money, but it is it's a big chunk of change.”

He’s still holding out hope that the company resolves the situation,  but knows he may have to shell out even more money to furnish his home.

“I'll give it a couple of weeks, but at some point I’m going to need a chair or a couch to sit on versus laying on the floor to watch television,” said Reed.  

When you make a big purchase you should always pay for it with a credit card because it offers more protection.

In most cases, credit card holders have a 120-day window to dispute a charge.   But Reed is outside of that window since he placed his order in the spring.  His credit card company said it is investigating his claim.

The Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams website makes no mention of the closure and appears to still be operational.    The Boston store has posted it will be open for a liquidation sale with progressive discounts.

If you have a consumer problem, contact NBC10 Boston Responds by filling out our online consumer complaint form. We will get back to you!