Better Call Behnken: Tampa luxury furniture store shuts doors, leaving customers in the dark

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Maria and Andrew Roig shelled out thousands of dollars for the perfect living room furniture. But, a matching chair worth $1,200 never showed up.

For two months, the Roigs have tried to get answers, but recall excuses. Then, Paris Flea, a go-to store for luxury furnishings, shut its doors. The Roigs found out their chair was never ordered. They say they were promised a refund.

“They sent my wife a picture of a check, that was already addressed and stamped and it never made it. They never sent it,” said Andrew Roig.

The couple called 8 On Your Side for help and so did another customer, John Rubin.

Rubin hired Paris Flea to decorate his condo in downtown Tampa. He describes the process as bumpy and said that when the storefront closed, he got stuck with no couch and a $4,000 credit.

“It’s been a year, so that’s why I said, ‘hey, at some point, can we just end the relationship and figure out how to get the credit back?'” Rubin said.

8 On Your Side went to Paris Flea’s warehouse in south Tampa. Owner Ashley Russell said she and her daughter were partners. Her daughter went out on her own, opening her own business, Russell said, and she plans to work with designers only, out of her warehouse.

Russell said customers are upset as a result of a misunderstanding. The customers claim they got in the middle of a dispute between mother and daughter.

Russell vowed to make things right. She said she plans to send the Roigs a check for their $1,200 and that she will try to work something out with Rubin to use a credit with one of her vendors.