USA Baby in Richmond, VA has closed, posting a notice on its web page that the franchised location plans to file for bankruptcy (see below). We heard this new from a reader who had special-ordered a glider-rocker from the store, only to find his furniture that was due today is AWOL.
If you have special ordered furniture from USA Baby in Richmond, contact your credit card company to dispute the charge. Great Beginnings of Gaithersburg, MD has offered to help folks out who have special ordered furniture. Contact Brian at 240-238-1003 or email for details—Great Beginnings can touch base with the manufacturer and arrange for delivery to the Richmond, VA area.
If you’ve been affected by this closure, post a comment below.
Here is the notice posted to USA Baby’s Richmond web site:
Effective August 26, 2011, the Richmond location of USA Baby has been forced to close. Open since 1992, the current owners purchased the business in 2006. After taking on a large amount of debt to purchase the business, and putting everything they have into it to make it successful, the effects of the recession have made the business very difficult to sustain. Over-leveraged and under-capitalized, they do not have adequate financing to continue operating.
In the interest of their valued customers and employees, the owners attempted to keep the business open by offering to give back the business to the original owners. With both their experience and financial resources, the original owners (who are also the landlords) offered the best opportunity to keep the business operating. Unfortunately, the former owners have declined the offer, and regrettably the business has been forced to close.
On behalf of the estate, a court appointed bankruptcy attorney will be assigned as the contact person for all unresolved business. In addition, please see www.usababyric.com for additional information regarding customer orders, which will be updated as information and instructions are made available.
Update 8/31/11: The Richmond Times Dispatch did a story today on the USA Baby closing. Also USA Baby posted this update to their web site:
UPDATE
All customers who’s merchandise is in the USA Baby warehouse in Richmond will be contacted by phone between this Friday and Wednesday the 7th. At that time, we will provide instructions for picking up merchandise at the Richmond warehouse. The date for customer pick up is expected to be confirmed within the next few days.
For customers who DO NOT receive a phone call by 6pm next Wednesday, information pertaining to your refund will be mailed to you by next Thursday.
Additionally, you may contact either Wendy at Baby 2 Teen (703-631-2166) or Brian at Great Beginnings (301-417-9702) to discuss how to fulfill your existing order.
The website will be continue to be updated as soon as new information is made available.
We’ll update this blog post as soon as we get any news.
Update 9/6/11:
Given the large number of customers affected by the closure of this store, we have set up a Facebook page to help consumers swap info regarding refunds, order status, furniture deliveries and more. Click here to go to the Facebook page. FYI: This is an UNOFFICIAL page that is not related to USA Baby, its owners or former employees. Feel free to post to our blog and to the Facebook page regarding any info you have about the USA Baby Richmond, VA store closing.
Update 9/8/11
USA Baby Richmond posted the following update to their web site last night:
The USA Baby email account no longer operates, please see below for information regarding product pickup and refunds.
UPDATE #3
Customers who’s merchandise is in the USA Baby OFF-SITE warehouse have been contacted by the 7th as planned.
If you were called by 6pm, September 7th, the date for merchandise pick up is September 10th, from 10am to 4pm. This will be the only opportunity for merchandise pick up.
There will be a limited supply of crib mattresses.
A reminder, the balance on all merchandise picked up must be paid at the time of pick up. Payments must be in the form of either cash or check.
There will be no equipment available to process credit card transactions.
For customers who DID NOT receive a phone call by 6pm, Wednesday the 7th,
PLEASE SEE BELOW
A) Due to both resource and time limitations, there was a pre-set Labor Day deadline for moving customer merchandise from the store to the off-site warehouse. There was an expectation that the established moving deadline would not be an obstacle, yet the landlord did not provide access to the store warehouse by this deadline, thus there is still merchandise at the STORE warehouse for many customers. Letters have been mailed to these applicable customers with instructions of who to contact in order to obtain your merchandise.
B) For all other customers who DID NOT receive a call by the 7th, letters with information pertaining to your refund have been mailed as planned.
Additionally, if you are not contacted by Sept 7th acknowledging that your order is at the Richmond warehouse, you may contact either Wendy at Baby 2 Teen (703-631-2166) or Brian at Great Beginnings (240-238-1003) to discuss how to fulfill your existing order.
Update 9/8/11 part 2:
If you plan to pick up furniture at the USA Baby warehouse Saturday, here are some consumer tips:
1. Bring all paperwork for your order with you—including what you ordered, color and any other details.
2. Carefully inspect any furniture before handing over any payment. Open boxes to make sure there is no damage, confirm colors, double check model numbers.
3. Make sure any cribs are compliant with the new federal safety standards that went into effect June 28, 2011. There should be a sticker or documentation that the cribs are compliant with “16 CFR 1219” for a full-size cribs. It is illegal to sell a crib that is not compliant with the new standard.
Update 9/13/11: Reporter Diane Walker of NBC 12 in Richmond did this story on the USA Baby closing:
We obsess over gear for families . . . so you don't have to. Baby Bargains has one mission: help you find the best gear for your family and home with unbiased reviews by experts with 20 years of experience. At prices that don't break the bank. When you purchase a product from links on this site, we make a small affiliate commission. Learn more 
We just heard about the USA Baby in Richmond, Va. Baby 2 Teen located in Manassas, Virginia would like to help out the Virginia customers with regards to special orders that need to be fulfilled and with deliveries to the Richmond, Va Beach, Charlottesville and Northern Virginia areas.
It was sad to hear about another small business closing up in this economy. Feel free to contact me at (703) 631-2166 if you have any questions. We carry all of the major furniture manufacturers and have been in business for over 27 yrs in the Washington Metropolitan area.
Thank you,
Wendy Woomer
Baby 2 Teen Furniture
Manassas, VA
703-631-2166
http://www.baby2teenfurniture.com
Thanks Wendy! Always nice when folks in the industry step up to help parents caught in these situations!
Alan & Denise Fields
Seriously…The hits keep coming..I ordered a crib and dresser for daughter 14 weeks ago from USA baby in Richmond. They call to tell me the order is in and ready for pick up. Just need to give them a day or two notice. This was August 25th. Two days before the hurricane is coming to Hampton Roads. August 26th they put up a notice on there website that they store has closed and now will not answer there phone. Problem is I paid cash for my crib and dresser. I have no idea what I can do now.
Buddy: Call Brian at Great Beginnings 240-238-1003 to see if they can help out.
The problem is your furniture is stuck in their bankruptcy case. You’ll have to contact the trustee for the case (I don’t think it has been filed yet; so we don’t know the contact person) to see if they can arrange for transfer of your furniture. But that is a long shot.
Buddy,
I’m Wendy and I am from Baby 2 Teen located in Manassas, VA. We have been taking phone calls all morning from USA Baby Richmond customers and the manufacturers are aware of the issue and the emergency in getting your orders ASAP. We ship to Richmond, Va Beach, Williamsburg…
Not quite sure why Alan Fields keeps referring consumers to a store 3 hrs away when there’s the largest baby and teen furniture store located only 1 1/2 hrs away from you. I’m so sorry for all of the issues. We are extending a 10% discount to all USA Baby Richmond customers that have been put in this position. Feel free to call us at (703) 631-2166 if you have any questions.
Regards,
Wendy Woomer
Baby 2 Teen Furniture
Manassas, VA
http://www.baby2teenfurniture.com
Thanks I contacted them via there website and have sent my receipt from USA BABY in Richmond to Jim at Great Beginnings. I also tried to contact the manufacturer to see if my order had even been placed or if it was shipped to which I was told they could not discuss the orders on there account. My wife is really beside herself and is pretty upset about this. We luckily aren’t expecting until the middle of December but this is cutting it close if we need to wait for order fulfillment again.
Well, there are two possibilities: either the furniture maker with whom the order was placed has shipped your order to USA Baby. Or not.
If the furniture has already been shipped and is sitting in USA Baby’s store, you are SOL and will have to place a new order if you wish to get the same items. However, stores like Great Beginnings have quite a few things in stock. Or can steer you to something similar that can arrive before your baby does in mid-December.
If the furniture was NOT shipped yet to USA Baby, then it is possible a store like Great Beginnings or Baby 2 Teen (see above) can try to snag it from the manufacturer. Hence, the delivery could be a matter of weeks, not months.
Either way, you will have to file a claim with the bankruptcy court for your cash deposit. You are then an unsecured creditor and will have to hope that when all USA Baby’s assets are liquidated, there are funds to pay the unsecured creditors. The chances are usually slim that unsecured creditors get anything more than pennies on the dollar.
PLEASE HELP ME! I’m 39 weeks pregnant and ordered furniture in May. In July (5th) they said my furniture was in GA being finished. I called and called to which their response was, in two weeks, in two weeks, etc. I just saw they went out of business. I gave a FULL PAYMENT IN CASH!! OMG WHAT AM I GOING TO DO??? Can someone please help me?!?
Gabrielle: Sorry to hear about this. At 39 weeks, you have more important things to worry about now! I would have your partner call the folks at Great Beginnings or Baby 2 Teen (see numbers in our post and earlier in this comment thread). They can try to troubleshoot!
I do have better things to worry about, however, I have NO NURSERY. What a horrible first experience for a first pregnancy. They’ve RUINED my last month. Seriously, I’ve been calling for 6 weeks and been lied to
We did the same thing!! All they kept saying was “in 2 weeks”. No wonder they went out of business!! I ordered May 7th and the furniture never arrived. I called the Manufacturer, Baby’s Dream, and all the items we ordered are stock items and could have been shipped to USA Baby within 2 weeks!! I don’t even think they (USA Baby) even placed my oreder!! They just pocketed our money.
usa baby WERE EVEN SUED BY THE STATE OF OHIO!!!!!!!!!
Stop this MADNESS! EVERYONE… CALL THE POLICE AND GET LAWYERS.
YOU HAVE BEEN ROBBED.
USA BABY HAS BEEN ROBBING PEOPLE IN THIS SCAM WAY FOR YEARS!!!
LINKS TO PROOF OF USA BABY ONGOING SCAMS!:
http://www.kidstodayonline.com/article/518654-Ohio_sues_USA_Baby_stores.php
.
That’s interesting that the owner has communicated with you. Also interesting that the manufacturer would talk to you. I to also hope that they are upstanding individuals and will keep the honest word in a desperate time. At this point I also in the same situation as you are…trying to make sure either the furniture can be picked up or i get a full refund. I am hopeful at best at this point.
I just want to also add to all of this that: I was contacted by the owner and was told to expect a refund in 7-10 days of which I will wait. Afterwards, if I fail to get a refund, i’m going to contact the Attorney General to prove that they falsely took money knowing they would be unable to get my furniture and did so under false-pretenses which is CRIMINAL and isn’t covered under bankruptcy. They KNEW in JULY that my furniture was back ordered and was NEVER going to be ready in time for my due date. Not to mention they knew about the impending bankruptcy. They just didn’t want me to come in and get a refund. BEYOND all of this, when I called in the beginning of August, the workers said they called the manufacturer and that they said 2 weeks. LIES LIES LIES. We spoke to the manufacturer, and they said they had informed them that it was way back ordered.
People, the staff told me this on Friday night BEFORE they posted bankruptcy: (And this was my last conversation checking on my furniture) ” I know it doesn’t seem that way right now, but TRUST ME, we’re on your side.”
I know the owners are reading this: YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PREGNANT WOMEN!!!!
I’m sure you’re wife, Happy, enjoyed rocking her baby to sleep in a nursery with furniture. SO DO THE RIGHT THING TO THOSE OF US WHO PAID CASH AND IN FULL TO GET YOUR “SPECIAL PRICING” AND SEND OUT A REFUND!!
How did you all get in touch with the owners? Did you call them? I have paid for half of my order, but have not recieved any of the furniture. Should I expect to get a refund for the products that I did not receive?
For anyone who wants information to the Attorney General Consumer Protection, b/c it feels like we really have been scammed here is the website. Time to get lawyers soon I suppose:
FYI: I spoke with them & they said we should all fill out forms. Apparently if they told us that our furniture would be available and the manufacturer said it wouldn’t be, then we had a right to be informed, regardless of an impending bankruptcy
Here is where the actual consumer complaint form is.
The more complaints that are filed the more likely the Attorny General will step in to investigate consumer fraud in this case. They already said that them knowing they couldn’t provide our furniture in the timeframe promised or even by our due date that they were well aware of and promised it would not be a problem to get our furniture as we had plenty of cushion was criminal. As soon as they knew from the manufacturer that it was so back ordered they should have informed us and not lied and told us it was on it’s way. That’s where the misrepresentation comes into play.
Shame on you and the way you ran a business into the ground Steve Krickovic and Happy Jordan Krickovic !!
I cannot speak for the owners of Baby USA RIC other than to share in my disappointment. I do not understand why a simple phone call to customers could not be made. I guess everyone’s work ethic is different and like so many things we just don’t know what really goes on behind the scenes.
I can attest that Brian at Great Beginnings was very VERY helpful and offered to do as much or as little for me and my 27 week pregnant wife. We were one of the lucky ones that paid by credit card so my heart goes out to those that paid cash and I wish you the best of luck in getting your money back. Brian was willing to call the manufacturer of all of our special order products and see if it could either be shipped to him or to our house directly. I thank him greatly for going above and beyond which is the exact opposite of how we have been treated by Baby USA RIC. Everyone I have spoken to said stop payment on your credit card ASAP due to the simple fact that it is a bankruptcy and most or all assets are frozen. If you wanted to continue to try and get your order and type of items then Brian is your best bet. Contact Brian at 240-238-1003.
Best of luck to all! Hopefully we will see some success stories on here soon!
-Cory W.
USA Baby in Richmond is of course what I meant to say in the above post. My apologies if there is actually a Baby USA as well. We called our credit card co (CAPONE) and they said as long as they had something in writing within 60 days of purchase should be no problem. I know some people don’t have that luxury however was just updated stating:
“All customers who’s merchandise is in the USA Baby warehouse in Richmond will be contacted by phone between this Friday and Wednesday the 7th. At that time, we will provide instructions for picking up merchandise at the Richmond warehouse. The date for customer pick up is expected to be confirmed within the next few days.
For customers who DO NOT receive a phone call by 6pm next Wednesday, information pertaining to your refund will be mailed to you by next Thursday.
Additionally, you may contact either Wendy at Baby 2 Teen (703-631-2166) or Brian at Great Beginnings (301-417-9702) to discuss how to fulfill your existing order.
The website will be continue to be updated as soon as new information is made available.”
Again if you have the luxury of waiting great. We are 27 weeks along and not sure we even have another week to wait if we need to get items that will be special order again. Definitely not holding my breath.
What have other been doing so far?
Thanks!
Cory
I have just learned about this whole situation from the Richmond Times Dispatch this morning…what a mess! I’m 29 weeks and had ordered a crib and dresser just over 4 weeks ago with a 50% deposit. I am hopeful that this will be handled in a timely fashion and things are “made right” for people…but realistic that things will be far from resolved before our due date. I’ve contacted Great Beginings and am waiting to heart back from them. I have also printed the complaint form and will get that sent in to the consumer affairs department. What a drag to be dealing with all of this right when I was hoping to be putting the nursery all together and having a finished product before my little one is here…oh well, so much for thinking i might be prepared ahead of time for once in my life.
We placed a large order with them at the beginning of July, about 8 weeks ago, for a crib, dresser and glider/ottoman. We were told 14 week turnaround on the furniture, 8 week turnaround on the glider. We put 50% down by credit card. Should I call my credit card company to dispute the claim or should I wait to see what they will do regarding refunds? This is a headache I did NOT need right now! 🙁
Hi Kristina: I would immediately contact your credit card company and tell them about the situation. USA Baby has posted a notice on their web site that it will contact customers regarding a refund (apparently, they either plan to do this via the phone by Wed Sept 7 or via mail).
While we hope the owners will do the right thing and refund their customers whose orders are outstanding and are unable to fill, I would take steps to protect yourself. First, as mentioned above, contact your credit card company and tell them about the situation. While you don’t have to immediately dispute the charge, you can put them on notice. And then perhaps follow up after Sept 7 in case a refund is not issued.
Second, I would contact one of the sources we mention above about sourcing your furniture. It is likely your furniture was not yet shipped to USA Baby, but is still in process at a furniture company. The 2 stores we mention above can help contact the furniture maker and see about alternative delivery.
The USA Baby in Burbank closed around April/May 2010, right after I had my baby. We purchased everything from there and the owners and staff were very accommodating. When we asked the owner what happened, he explained that in addition to dealing with the difficulties of having a small business, there was a problem with the USA Baby parent company. He mentioned that they were going bankrupt and help for the small business owner was not there. The individual stores were on their own.
The owners made sure that every order was taken cared of before they officially closed their doors. They were great and I was sad to see them close
wanted to add that my heart goes out to those having to deal with this. The company as a whole is so disconnected. And customer service varied from store to store. I hope that many of you get the attention and help that you may need. Sometimes Facebook is a great tool to get attention.
My husband and I went to USA Baby and purchased furniture on May 29, 2011 in the amount of $2100.75 with an expected delivery date of 6-12 weeks.
On July 2nd, USA baby called me and told me one of the pieces of furniture was discontinued and we needed to pick a different furniture set. So my husband and I drove 45 minutes to their store location at 1201 Mall Drive, for us to be told that we can purchase the same furniture but in a different color. We also added an additional piece at that time to our order in the amount of $377.99, making our total purchase with USA Baby $2478.74. After making those changes, we were told our furniture would be shipped to us in 3-6weeks. We also discussed the option of backing out of our contract and Happy told us, that a team of managers had to get together to decide if we could back out of it or not because the order was already made to our specification… So by her telling us this crap, we decided to stick with the contract and hope for the best.
On August 18th, I received a phone call from the store manager (Happy) and she left a voicemail stating the furniture should be here at the end of August to the beginning of September.
On August 29th, I called the store at 804-379-0987 and left a voicemail for someone call me back. However, I was thinking due to the hurricane that they were closed because of the Richmond Area not having electricity. After I left the voicemail, I checked their website and I saw “store closing information” with a link below it: “The USA Baby email account no longer operates, please see website for information regarding product pickup and refunds. In addition, we are coordinating the logistics associated with getting open orders shipped to alternate stores. The website will be updated as soon as new information is made available, which is expected by 8/31/11.” I also called the 1-877-488-5237 phone number and spoke with Jenny; she is the person that directed me to call/talk with GE Money about disputing these charges because we haven’t received our baby furniture.
The concern I have with USA Baby closing due to a bankruptcy is our baby is due October 31 and I am due in 9 weeks and we don’t have any furniture. I also just paid the furniture off on August 25th and again haven’t received anything from USA Baby.
YOU WILL MOST LIKELY NOT BE ABLE TO GET YOUR FURNITURE IF YOU SPECIAL ORDERED PEOPLE: FYI
USA baby doesn’t pay the manufacturer for the furniture AT ALL until it’s been delivered. SO, if you’ve made a cash deposit of some sort and cannot dispute the charge on your card, You’re totally SOL!
I’m sorry for all the pregnant women, like myself, out there. I’m 39 1/2 weeks now…This is so unbelievable to me.
ALSO: If you’ve ever had a problem with delivery and USA baby, The Baby’s Dream Manufacturer told me over the phone the following- The Richmond store barely ever let us deliver to them and weren’t getting trucks from us but the other stores that sold our furniture did.
THIS MEANS: They consolidated our orders to save money, didn’t care if we got it on time b/c they could claim MANUFACTURER DELIVERY ISSUES when really it had NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM. USA Baby Richmond just didn’t schedule deliveries and this way they didn’t have to give any discounts to parents still waiting since it “wasn’t their fault”. THEYVE BEEN DISHONEST FROM THE START!
I went there to look at furniture and had a friend tell me about their “cash flow problems”…how orders were always late because they consolidated shipments. So I got my crib, etc from Babies R Us. I am SO thankful my friend gave me the heads up! Sorry that you didn’t have the same advice!
If that is true I’m completely irritated. I have most of my things – thank goodness, but I ordered my crib, toddler rail & dresser in January of 2010. I didn’t get my toddler rail until March of 2011. Yes that is right – OVER A YEAR!
I ordered the wooden rail that goes around the changing table in October of 2010 and when I called in early August (2011) they said it was finally in (though no one ever called me to let me know that). So when I went to go pick it up of course they were closed.
I’ll be calling my credit card company to see if I can get a refund. It is just so irritating that I know it is in their warehouse but I just cant get it. The lawyer they said to call to get access to the store’s website said he has NOTHING to do with this.
If anyone knows how to get things out of the store warehouse – please let me know!! Thanks!!
Hope everyone gets their stuff.
I recenty purchased from usa baby and I have not received my furniture yet. I have contacted my credit card company and I am getting the charges reversed. I had purchased my first babys furniture set with usa baby 3 years ago, and although it was a waiting process I did receive my furniture and I loved it. There was no doubt that I was going back to them to get my second babys furniture, but this is a big headache.
I don’t think the owners are scammers, because if that was the case I would not have received my furniture 3 years ago. I do however think they could have given us a call and given us a heads up. I have met the owner once before and she did not seem like the kind of person that would want to make any trouble. I can’t beleave how some people are being so cruel, especially since they seem to be trying to resolve the issues. I am pregnant again, and I remember what it was like getting ready for my first babys arrival, but I am willing to let them make an effort to get us all through this tuff time.
I’m sure you feel like we’re all being cruel b/c you are getting your money back. For those of us who paid cash, we are going to get pennies on the dollar IF THAT.
If they weren’t scamming us, then why wouldn’t they have told me back in JULY when they KNEW from the MANUFACTURER themselves that my furniture would never be in on time? If they weren’t scammers, then why when I called 3 times in August did they keep telling me it was on the way?
Maybe you feel okay b/c you weren’t lied to and can get your money back. I’m super glad for you…but I’m 39 1/2 weeks pregnant and don’t have disposable income. Also, your opinion of the owner really means little to me as you aren’t out a thing. By the way, you’re “waiting game” was a bit of a scam too..see above threads *winks*
Has anyone been successful at reversing a credit card charge with American Express that was more than 60 days old? I am being told by AE that I am too late. Appreciate any info. F
In case it helps someone else, I have an answer to my own question. American Express has agreed to “Suspend” the charge. The key points were “possible fraud” and “failure to deliver as scheduled”. I have to go through a dispute process but I am pleased with this course of events and the folks at AE. The FCRB issue of 60 days keeps popping up however. Hope this helps. Grampa
I feel the same way Gabrielle!!! We were definitely scammed together in all of this. We thankfully decided to finance with GE Money because we didn’t have that kind of money at the time to pay for it in full.. So thankfully the credit card company is able to refund us our money. Hang in there… things will work out… If you need furniture ASAP Go see NORMAN at Babies R Us on Hull Street… He is excellent and our stuff WILL BE HERE within 2 weeks.
Thanks Jenn!!!
We ordered our baby furniture back in JANUARY 2011 and I STILL have not recieved one piece of the 3 piece set!!! I was 20 weeks pregnant when we ordered and we were told the furniture would arrive in 8-14 weeks…well ahead of our due date of June 10. We received 2 pieces of the 3 piece set after 14 weeks and were told that the 3rd piece was dropped and damaged during delivery, therefore they were going to have to order us another one. We were upset, but they told us it would be 3-4 weeks…this was back in April. May rolls around and I’m getting really close to due so we start making calls to USA Baby asking where our furniture is. They tell us that they’ve placed the order but the manufacturer (Creations) is out of stock and that they will ship it as soon as they get it in. So we waited another couple weeks…I’m now 38 weeks pregnant and about to pop, so I call them back and tell them we want our furniture. The “owner” starts to turn the situation around on me and NEVER apologizes; also they try to charge me for delivery of the other furniture which I was told was to be free and I never agreed to the charge…it was clear in the list of charges that I had to agree to that no delivery fee was on there. She eventually made me cry and hyperventilate (at 38 weeks pregnant this was NOT good) and then proceeded to hang up on me. This was the 2nd time I was hung up on and I assure you, I was not being hostile in any way…I was VERY pregnant and had been trying to stay calm for the sake of my baby. This continued for the next few months, where we would call and ask where our furniture is and they would give us the run around saying that it wasn’t in stock. We finally called the BBB last month (our baby is now 3 months old, by the way!) to report them for their hostility towards us, COMPLETE lack of customer service, and for holding our money hostage for 5 months. USA Baby responded to the BBB saying that it was our fault and that we were hostile with them. Again – no apology or acknowledgement of them not doing their job as a middleman. Well, my husband works in Distribution so he called the manufacturer direct himself and learned that they have NEVER been out of stock of the piece of furniture we are still waiting on. So, at that point, we knew that they were playing games and had STOLEN our money all the while LYING to us about our dresser for 5 months. My husband called USA Baby and told them he knew what game they were playing and told them that he’d spoke with the manufacturer and learned that the dresser had never been out of stock. We basically called them out and they said “oh, well your dresser is shipping next week (which was last week) and will be delivered to you the following week (this week)”. CLEARLY, this was just them putting us off for one more week so they could file a bankruptcy. They have LIED to us and SWINDLED us out of our money (plus interest on the money that we wouldve earned) and our furniture and caused a lot of distress (on a 39 week pregnant woman) and us during our sweet baby’s first 3 months of life. I was shocked to see the article in the newspaper simply because we were expecting our dresser to be delivered this week, but not surprised at all that these people have lost their business. They were terrible business people that have lied and cheated honest hardworking people out of their money and happiness during a time in their lives that is supposed to be the happiest. Unbelievable…makes me sick to my stomach to know that I was had by these immoral people living the high life on my (and others) hard earned money.
EXACT same story here!! LIES, RUDENESS, and total lack of customer service! I placed an order with them when I was only 10 weeks along to ensure that it would be here in time. This was in Dec of 2010. My baby was due in June, and is now 9 weeks old, and my dresser is STILL in their warehouse. I went so far as to contact the distributor himself and he told me the order has so late (by 5 months) because USA Baby only took shipments from California when it was a “full” shipment, IE when the truck is completely full. They constantly lied to my face since Dec. They finally called me when my baby was three weeks old to tell me that my order was here, but that they no longer offered delivery, so I would have to come pick it up. I have a three week old—how the hell am I supposed to come pick it up?!!?!! This is unbelievable. These people should be ASHAMED of themselves. Terrible business owners. The whole time I would always say “I don’t know how you people stay in business, this is terrible service!” Funny that now they’re not. At least a phone call or heads up would have been nice. I show up to b*tch about my furniture STILL not being here and am greeted by a “No Trespassing” sign on your door and a phone number that leads to no answer or even answering machine. Nice people, realllly nice. I hope you are reading this and know what a dis-service you’ve done to Richmond and your former customers.
I AM SO SORRY THIS HAPPENED TO YOU!! They really did lie and say manufacturer problems and delivery issues when they didn’t even speak to manufacturers in order to KEEP EVERY CENT THEY COULD!!!!!!
Please HELP ME BY: Contacting the Attorney general’s office for consumer protection in Virginia. If they know this story, bankruptcy does NOT cover them for purposely fraudulent behavior! They can be charged criminally by the state. PLEASE CONTACT THE OFFICE!!!!
Does anyone believe that there is actually furniture in this warehouse? I ordered my crib in early July and if some people haven’t received their orders from January or May I would say there is no furniture waiting for us in Richmond. I am going to dispute the charges at my bank today (I paid with a debit card). I hope everyone that paid cash will find a resolution to this.
Credit card customers please let us know if you were able to get your money back after so much time has passed and these bills were paid long ago and if they are able to refund money after bankruptcy has been filed. I know it will take 30-45 days for many of you to find out while CC companies investigate. The banks are eating this loss of course for their customers if charge reversals are made. Hopefully the CC companies will get involved and go after them also and make sure that these 2 can never again start another business that accepts credit cards. If anyone would like the owners home address so you can at least have the satisfaction of sending them a letter to let them know how you feel then email me at liveyourdream13 at the Gmaildotcom and I’ll forward it to you.
Without a doubt dispute the credit card charges. I called Brian at Great Beginnings again and he followed-up with the Best chair manufacturer and the order had not even been placed with them.
USA Baby certainly did hold orders until their “large shipment” was fulfilled. I’m sure this was to reduce their over all overhead but to constantly blame the manufacturers for having no stock or item is no longer available is a crock. So my resolution to this was we found out that Penny’s Home Store (10800 Hull Street Rd you can look up their number as I don’t want to flood their number with spam here) sells the best chair tyrp glyder rocker that we wanted. She will have it to us in 4 weeks or less and it was cheaper than USA Baby also. They don’t sell cribs but if you had a rocker or other non baby furniture item I think they can hook you up, AND some items are made here in VA!!!.
I realize this is no help to the folks that need their furniture last week or have already had their baby. I truly can’t imagine what you must be going through. I wish someone could explain to me who has a private business that if you know you will need to file bankruptcy as I’m sure you don’t think everything is going fine and then all of a sudden the cops and the bank come and put a lock on your door? Is that how it works? Are you just too scared to call your customers and tell them the situation? For gods sake give them more time to reverse their credit card charges if nothing else as most CC co’s will do nothing after 60 days. We reversed our CC, money is back on card so we are some of the lucky ones. Make sure you tell you CC CO if you did receive / pickup any product. We did receive our Baby Einstein so we just had the CC CO subtract that. Certainly don’t want anything coming back on us for fraud, we have been defrauded enough!!! Please keep fighting it. Hopefully the attorney or organization taking over the bankruptcy will be more forthcoming but not holding my breath. Good luck to all and keep posting your hopefully “successful” stories!
Based on multiple peoples experiences on how they ran things when the business was open, there are many more bad reviews online going back 2 years at least (also this is an obscure thread that only savy googlers would even find, imagine how many more people are out there who they swindled, the numbers must be in the 100’s if not 1000’s) I would not hold my breath that there is any furniture or money to be returned now that the business is closed, we all know they could care less based on all this. Still if people do end up having a good experience next week where they make things right, I would welcome hearing about that also (and take back some of what I have said but by no means all)…I have my doubts. Bankruptcy should not even be granted to them if they embezzled money out of their business and the courts should thoroughly investigate all this. Payback should be a bitch for them and I hope in the end their professional, financial and personal lives are affected by this in a negative way as a result of all these bad choices they have made. After reading all this it is clear that these people were malicious, greedy and premeditated in their actions and are nothing but thieves and liars who take from and lie to others for their own benefit.
Oh and if it helps we were also referred to Weebs World in Richmond, Broad Street West End by Brian at Great Beginnings. We went in there last night. They have an amazing selection of strollers and accessories and EVERYTHING is in stock. Same prices for items you can get online. Yes they sell more expensive products but they don’t sell low end stuff. We are getting a babyjogger city elite instead of the chicco travel system. Please note I’m not dissing chicco or any other brand so no hate mail on that please 🙂 All brands are great based on your needs and what you get for the money. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! The city elite is more expensive but it sells itself and is all in one and supports your child up to 75lbs! Read ALL reviews though it has many pros but a few cons. Anyway just thought I’d mention as all this has opened our eyes to so many things. We went to Pottery Barn Kids last night and the manager gave us 10% off a crib that was already on sale and promised it would be at our door in 10 days FREE SHIPPING from CA!!! This is the way businesses should step up when a customer is in need. Also Living Social has a 40$ for 80$ deal worth of stuff from Weebs World. They are also running a deal where if you spend 500 you get 50 off the car seat. If you spend 800 you get 100 off the car seat that goes with the stroller. Then buy all your accessories and whatever else using the living social deal. Giving one to my parents and one to my wife’s parents. We are saving 170$ doing this! Again just thought I would share how we are trying to turn this around and into a positive thing. I know we are very fortunate and lucky to be able to do this and I hope all the ones that have placed orders so long ago will get the same benefits in the end!!! Best of luck!
Thank you Alan and Denise. I have called the credit card company to dispute the charge. Brian from Great Beginnings has been a huge help, helping us “replace” our furniture and glider order. I was shocked when he told me they had never even ordered my glider/rocker, yet they took our 50% deposit back on July 9th! Even our Munire furniture order had been placed “on hold” unbeknownst to us. Unbelievable!
One more note, I certainly don’t want my prior post to sound like a sales pitch. I don’t personally know anyone that I mentioned above but again wanted to try and turn something of this truly horrible and maddening situation into something if at all positive if possible. I’m all about saving $$$ where we can and just wanted to share in what we’ve found so far. I am hoping sharing a little positive will give some people hope out there. Please keep posting your stories!
ATTENTION: IF THEY TOOK A DEPOSIT FROM YOU AND NEVER ORDERED YOUR FURNITURE PLEASE HELP ME AND CONTACT THE ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION!!!
They are NOT covered under the bankruptcy law for fraudulent behavior. If they took the money with no intention of ordering and knowing they were going out of business, they are not personally protected.
PLEASE HELP ME FIGHT THEM! THEY DESERVE TO ANSWER TO A COURT OF LAW IF THEY REFUSE TO ANSWER TO US!!
For more information on this, please feel free to contact me on this thread!!! I spoke with the Attorney General’s office for Consumer Protection. They’ve told me if what I’m saying can be proven, and it it OBVIOUSLY can with your stories, that they may have a viable case against the owners STEVE AND HAPPY KRICKOVIC. They WILL send you a form to fill out with your complaint!!!
What a nightmare! A huge thank you to Brian and Great Beginnings who really helped us out in a pinch! This was supposed to be a happy time in our lives and we were so excited to be putting our nursery together within the next week or two which almost didn’t happen. After a few deep breaths and a handful of phone calls, things appear to be back on track. Thank you Alan & Denise for centralizing all of this information for those of us left in a lurch by USA Baby, for putting us in touch with Brian at Great Beginnings and thank you to Munire furniture for taking care of our replacement order. We were able to order the same items but actually managed somehow to be saving money in the process! Several of my friends from my new mom’s classes found themselves in the same situation, I’ve given them all Brian’s number. What a fiasco but we’re pleased to have Great Beginnings take some of this unnecessary stress off of our expectant shoulders. Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed for a refund on our original order.
Alan,
Thanks for the update to this horrible situation. We too lost our deposit in this scam. FYI, in my knowledge of bankruptcy law, all assets of the business are locked by the court including furniture in the warehouse. The officers of thecorporationn do not control the entity anymore and do not have the power to release our furniture or money. Secured creditors will be paid 1st. Consumers will get pennies on the dollar. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Thanks for your recommendation of another store to go to. Great Beginnings has been incredible. They contacted the manufacturer and found the status of my furniture. They are arranging a white glove delivery service to deliver it to us. Wish we had gone their first. I too talked to Brian and he said we were the 31st order he has taken from this situation. I am amazed at the potential number of consumers that UBabyAby has left high and dry.
Thanks again for your help.
Julie
I wanted to let everyone know who is local to Hull Street that we met with Norman at Babies R Us and ordered our furniture last night…. We will have it in 7-14 business days! We paid 20% down and pay the rest in full when it arrives and we also received an additional 10% off our purchases for one night. They are also running a deal this weekend where you buy two peices of furniture and receive the crib for FREE!!!!
We also looked at Babies R Us but did not like the lower quality furniture they carry. Plus the sales people were apathetic and not helpful. It did not help that some of their displays were not in working order.
We also ended up ordering from Great Beginnings today. We are going to make the trip up to their store to pick it up when it arrives.
Alan, we will report back to you on Great Beginnings when we see it in person.
Thanks for your guidance.
Alan,
Thanks for all your help.
We called Great Beginnings and they were able to get our furniture we had originally ordered from USA Baby that was ready to ship at Munire. Our furniture was able to be shipped with Great Beginnings orders two days after I initially contacted them. Way to go GB!
I am so upset with the owners of USA Baby. Sounds like they knowingly took advantage of us consumers in what is supposed to be a very happy time of our lives.
I have to interject here to all of these FALSE ACCUSATIONS against the owners of this USA Baby. I have known them for years. They are incredibly WONDERFUL PEOPLE who have a family just like most of you, as well as those of you working to create one of your own. For the people constantly bashing them and listing personal information about them–I should hope one day that no unfortunate incident such as this ever falls upon you–if it ever does, I hope there is someone out there just as ignorant as you who adds insult to injury and belittles you all over the internet. I understand that you all have placed furniture orders with this company and are expecting children, I can sympathize–I have yet to pick up my furniture as well and my son is almost 6 months old (I will say though that my order was never late in arriving to the store–I have simply yet to pick my order up due to our using the pack and play and also a recent move). Having said that, I KNOW that the owners of USA Baby NEVER took anyone’s money with the intention of the store going out of business. As a matter of fact, the closing of the store was just as much of a surprise to them as it has been to us, the customers. They are extremely upset about what has happened–after all this business was their bread and butter–and are doing everything they can to ensure that customer’s whose furniture has arrived are able to pick up quickly and also to quickly process refunds for those customer’s whose orders have yet to be fulfilled. They are also referring customers to other store’s for order fulfillment. If their intention was to take your money and run they would have done just that!!! That is obviously not the case here!! Of course, this situation stinks for everyone involved and the resolution will take some time but if you can stop for a moment and set aside your emotions (yes, pregnant mom’s I understand having just been pregnant very recently myself–and to the husband’s dealing with those pregnant mom’s) and to develop some patience and understand that the owners are diligently working on resolving every open order. Never lose sight of the fact that these are GOOD people who ran an HONEST business that struggled and in the end, were unsuccessful in their attempts to survive the recession.
This is a reply to Christy,
Christy i have read what have you wrote, and I understand that they may be nice people to you but in our eyes they have screwed us over!!!! We have worked hard for our money to not know what they have done with it and where our sons furniture is!!! Apparently they have not worked hard enough to let any one know, if they did they wouldn’t have all these comments on here regarding how bad of service this is!! We have not even received a phone call, letter, email, anything letting us know about this! Bankruptcy does not happen over night. I hope at they end of all of this everyone gets what they deserve, they shouldn’t have been taking honest peoples hard earned money! I have no real words for the people who ownED this business but im so glad that it is not in there hands anymore. This has really upset me and my husband very much we were sooo excited about getting our lil mans furniture I was telling everyone how beautiful everything was, just couldnt wait, and now just a huge slap in the face. What is this world coming too? You can’t even trust someone to make a simple order for your unborn child to sleep in something safe! and if they were so HONEST like you say, why have we been told nothing but LIES?!?! I have talked to the manufactor that makes they furniture that we so called ordered and they have never even heard of a quick ship so I spent $120.00 on what? Can you explain that for me since you are taking up for them and they wont come out and even talk to any of us that have questions and are concerned about our money?
According to the website, all of the customers will receive calls–refer to that and the Fields’ messages above regarding when. I’m not sure what you’re referring to in terms of lies however I do know that “quick ship” was part of an in-store shipping program that USA Baby had in place not having anything to do with manufacturer’s. Customer’s who placed their orders super early in their pregnancy and didn’t need “quick ship” ran on the regular order time frame of 8-14 weeks, or whatever the time frame was at that time. People who paid additional to get their order’s shipped early were tracked in the store and were picked to ship on trucks before these orders who agreed to have thier orders run the regular time frame. That’s what you were paying for, to be put ahead of other people who were given the same opportunity, but who chose not to have a “rush” put on their order for whatever reason. Again, as stated in my original post I too, am a customer who also has my furniture tied up in this sudden store closing and you’re right, this situation is less than ideal for ANY consumer, much less those who are expecting, but again, none of it was intentional and like the website states, the owners are doing everything they can to ensure that customer’s get a speedy solution.
Not to bash on Christy because she’s not the person who has done anything wrong
The part that everyone is having a tough time understanding is that they have up to this point made little communication to any of their customers. Regardless of if the doors had been shut on them or not. It’s their jobs and number one priority to look out for the customers. If there is an issue day one they should have communicated this to their customers. Instead as it feels they are hiding behind their website with meager and very uninformative updates that do not relive anyone’s anxtied at this very delicate time.
I understand that this in fact may be shocking for the owners of USA baby and I am sorry for them on loosing this business. I think however if they had stepped up and come to us all, it would be a much easier pill to swallow. At least then we all could have had a sympathetic ear and understanding that they are working on trying to come up with a plan. We would then all have some sort of sigh of relief. Instead we now are left with only hope that we are one of the lucky golden ticket holders.
Which brings us to this webpage our only avenue to give and receive group therapy on how to navigate the storm waters we all left in? I will say this, if it had not been for this website we all be left with even less information pertaining to what’s going on and what’s going to happen. Sally and Allan have gone well above the call of duty for helping us all out. They got us in contact with Great Beginnings and Baby 2 Teens. These two places have little or nothing to do with this situation and have gone well above any expectations any of us had every envisioned. They have been one of our sole means of communication and our single glimmer of hope during this time.
I will end with this. I try to take everything I do and learn from my mistakes try to adapt and not let this sort of things happen again. I now understand why businesses like USA baby are just purely unable to compete in a brick and mortar form. This is in fact a great market to be in however with increased competition on the web and true customer service regardless of the circumstances. Places that are run like USA baby will continue to be put out of business. I am sorry that this has happened to them but I’m more sorry for all of us in the long run. I hope that they too have learned a valuable lesson. It’s actually something I learned when I was a kid. It’s easier to meet the problem head on then to pine away allowing the situation to grow well beyond your control.
Thanks again to Brian, Mary, Sally and Allan for helping us all out. We appreciate it more than you can ever imagine.
Christy, What is the reason for taking a 50% deposit from us back on July 9th on a LARGE order, and come to find out here on September 3rd that they NEVER EVEN PLACED OUR ORDER two months down the road? That is fraudulent in my opinion. They took money for an order they never intended to place.
Has anyone received a phone call yet? I was told on Thursday, Aug.25th, that my order was in the warehouse. So, I should receive a phone call. Brian also told me my order should be there. Now, waiting to see if they really call me. Should be interesting.
EARTH TO CHRISTY: Are you kidding me? You think it’s a lie to say that when we spoke directly to the manufacturer and they TOLD the owners that they wouldn’t have our furniture anywhere NEAR our due date that we’re lying? THEY KNEW FULL WELL THAT WE WOULD NEVER GET OUR FURNITURE….THEN TOLD US IT WAS ON ITS WAY IN TWO WEEKS (TWICE BY THE WAY)
CLEARLY you are a friend of there’s trying to defend their dishonable actions. More than enough people have confirmed their actions that haven’t been consistent with your solo description of them. So, save it for someone who cares what you have to say. We’re out $1300 because of their deciet. Had they told us the facts of our order we would have had time to order different furniture or even gotten our refund…of course, they spent our money and clearly didn’t want to or were able to give us a refund.
So, in conclusing Christy, give us all a break. We are all pissed b/c we were all DUPED and they were just trying to buy time….Hope they enjoy their GOLF COURSE! I could care less how they feel at this point b/c it’s obvious to me they LIED ON PURPOSE.
Um, I called 6 pm friday and they told me 2 weeks. Oh wait THEY FILED BANKRUPTCY THAT DAY
Get with it Christy
No, I’m not a friend of theirs–I’m a former employee, knowing very well the in’s and out’s of the business regarding how orders were placed, timing, etc. And again, I know everyone is upset, but let me reiterate MY FURNITURE is ALSO tied up in this mess. I am simply explaining to those people listing personal information on the owners, most specifically THEIR ADDRESS–that that is uncalled for and they have a family as well. Again, they are just as distraught over this as any business owner who has experienced a failing business in this economy when they tried their best efforts to keep it afloat. And yet again, if their intention was to take everyone’s money and run they would have done just that! That isn’t the case as they are in the process of calling customers to arrange pickup for furniture orders that are in and also getting in touch with consumers to issue refunds, and referring them to other local businesses for order fulfillment. The updating of their website is how they are communicating this to customers, to the person who mentioned that the owners won’t come out and talk to anyone. Finally, I’m not saying that this unfortunate situation isn’t a mess, because that is exactly what it is, but bashing the owners by making them out to be criminals, when they are anything but in trying to resolve all of these open orders for everyone is not making this situation better for ANYONE involved.
Mary–the website states that calls will be made between last Friday through this week to arrange pick ups. They are updating the website whenever new information is available. I too, am expecting a phone call as to when I can pick up.
Thanks Christy. Will let you know if we get the phone call. Keeping fingers crossed.
Has anyone actually gotten a call from them?
No call here and I was told by creations baby they received my furniture on the 25th.
Nope…No Call here either. And I was told by USA themselves that chair had come in on Aug. 25th.
I’m still awaiting my call as well but according to the website, if the call does happen for customer’s, the time to pickup will be this coming Saturday between 10am-4pm.
To add to my previous posts as I was unsure on what details the owners wanted released, I have received permission to mention a few details which speak to the element of surprise regarding how the owners were unaware in advance of the store closing. The owners had been trying various in-store techniques to increase sales in order for the store to survive the recession and turned to the landlords of the USA Baby building, also the previous owners of the business, to see if they were interested in purchasing the business back as they had run it for years and have a lot of experience on various fronts regarding USA Baby. At some point, the discussion turned heated and there was a falling out between the owners and the landlord. The owners planned to continue working on ways to make sure the store succeeded. On Friday, (to correct the customer who stated she received a call from USA Baby that day–the business closed before ever opening Friday) when the owners arrived at the store to open for the day they found the doors locks were changed and they were unable to get into their building. Given this turn of events, considering thier customer’s open orders and not being able to access contact numbers, manufacturer information, etc. and with no visible solution to the falling out, they were forced to declare bankruptcy. In any case, this is what I know and I hope it helps customer’s to, at the very least, understand a little bit as to how all of this suddenly came about.
Thank you for that info Christy. And, if we don’t receive a phone call by Wed., maybe we should just show up on Sat. ?? Hoping they will still have access to the warehouse.
I’m not sure what is to be done at that point, to be perfectly honest. I do know that the lawyer is the person in charge of making those calls–as of this morning, I still haven’t received one. I also know the owners have been updating the website frequently with new information, so that should be where any new instructions are posted in the event that we do not receive a phone call. The furniture should still be at their warehouses, if your order is in like mine is. It’s just a matter of them gaining access to it in order for us to pickup.
Christy— All of that information is most likely true, and in some ways, I feel for the owners. BUT, I notice you still haven’t addressed the fact that they took orders back in the very beginning of July, that still had YET TO BE PLACED with the manufacturer. Brian from Great Beginnings confirmed that our rocker/glider had NEVER been ordered, and our furniture order had been placed “on hold” from the very beginning. This is what is fraudulent in my opinion, being that they still took 50% down deposit on our order and never placed it, also never letting us know. Obviously they knew they were in financial trouble in beginning of July, yet waited another 9 weeks without placing our order!!! Thank goodness they did go into bankruptcy, or who knows when they would have gotten around to placing our order. (probably never.) I will be filling out a consumer complaint form regarding this issue alone. It is a shame, as we ordered all of our first daughter’s furniture from the store 2 years ago and never had any problems.
The phone call just came. I am to be at the warehouse on Sat. I had just about given up hope.
I got a phone call that my chair was ready for pick-up just days before the store went out of business. I am assuming that it is at the warehouse, but have not gotten a phone call yet? Can you tell me where the warehouse is because I might just stop by?
Mindy – I am in your boat. I found out my order was in their warehouse (thought they didn’t call – I found out when I called for the millionth time to check in) but I never got a call for that off-site warehouse pick up. I sent my husband anyway and they didn’t have it of course.
Called the lawyer they said to call and he says he has NOTHING to do with it. Let me know if you hear anything about products that are in the store warehouse.
Thanks!
Congrats Mary…Glad you got a call. Hopefully we all get some calls in the next day or so.
We have set up a Facebook page for folks who have been affected by the closing of USA Baby in Richmond. This is an UNOFFICIAL page that is not connected to the owners or former employees of USA Baby. Feel free to use this page to communicate with other former customers regarding refunds, furniture delivery and more. Here’s the link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Unofficial-USA-Baby-Richmond-VA-store-closing-info-for-consumers/111297298976128?sk=wall
Ok, I have more information. If your furniture order was IN, you are supposed to be receiving a call by 6pm Wednesday to pickup this coming Saturday at the off-site warehouse, which is across Midlothian Turnpike from the store. If you are one of the unfortunate ones, like myself, who had scheduled to pick up around the date of the store closing and your furniture is physically at the store–you will not receive a call–the owners do not have access to it in order for us to pick up. Letter’s are currently being sent out to all of us regarding how we may obtain our furniture. The letters state that the owners do not have access and should also have the landlords information–Rob and Claudia Simon–as well as their lawyer’s information on how we can take steps to pick up our furniture. For the remaining customer’s whose orders had not yet arrived to the store and who paid via cash or check, refund checks are going out in the mail this week. Hope this helps.
Here is the info on where you find the warehouse. Heres hoping this all ends soon ….for the best.
Kristina,
I don’t know about your order–again I’m a former employee having left my job with the store in February of this year during my pregnancy. Yours is the only one specifically above stating that it was placed but never confirmed with the manufacturer and all I can do is explain what has happened previously in a few cases. Orders are typically confirmed with manufacturers via the sales consultant’s in the store and every once in a while an order may go without confirmation out of sheer human error. That very well could be what happened in your case, but I can assure you that your money was never taken maliciously and that you should be receiving a refund per my email above with the most recent information.
The warehouse is located on Research Rd. You will see a sign that says Southern Electronics. Its near that.
Wow, I can’t believe this! My experience sounds so similar to everyone’s. We ordered our baby furniture the 1st week in June and now I’m 38 1/2 weeks pregnant anxiously awaiting/calling for my furniture. I called USA baby in August and received a phone call on the 25th saying that it would be 2-4 more weeks for my furniture to arrive at the warehouse because it didn’t come in on the truck as expected. Apparently the manufacturer didn’t send it with the load as expected. After putting over $2000 on our credit card back in June we are still waiting for our furniture. Thankfully we do have a crib so we’ll have enough to get by. This is so sad. Someone out there has got to have a conscience and know that this is just plain wrong.
I agree with Kristina in that this couldn’t have been a surprise to Steve and Happy Krickovic. On the contrary I think this was an exit strategy that was planned well in advance. June 1st Bandyworks of Petersburg announced they had hired Steve Krickovic as their new Executive Vice President. He basically walked away from the store well over 3 months ago The only people surprised on August 26th were customers. I guess under the cloak of bankruptcy the Krickovics will attempt to slide out of this mess they created and move onto new careers. Hopefully he will not be dealing with customers. This is the same guy that several years ago was arrested for assault and battery of a customer at USA Baby.
Christy, thanks for the information. You suggested refund checks were being mailed to customers who paid cash/check. What about those who paid (thankfully) with credit card? Are they not receiving refunds? I guess the owners are just assuming that the banks will dispute the charges for those customers?
Also, I do not think it was “human error” that our furniture order was never placed for over 2 months.
EDITED BY MODERATOR: Christy had posted here the contact info for the store’s landlord’s attorney. We spoke with the attorney and he told us the Krickovics have picked up all the paid for merchandise that was at the store. The landlord has also allowed the Krickovics to get their customer records from the store. All paid-for merchandise that was in the store has apparently been moved to the warehouse. Hence, we’ve deleted the attorney’s contact info. If for some reason you believe your paid-for merchandise is still at the store and in the landlord’s possession, email us at [email protected] and we’ll put you in touch with the attorney.
Does anyone have any contact info for who has this magical list of phone calls that are supposed to be made by the close of business today? My baby is due in 17 days; I was supposed to have my furniture by the 2nd week of August.
Of all the people on this website posting I have only scene one person with call from whomever. At this point I’m really not sure who is going to be calling. I know that if I dont receive a call the Krickovics will be receiving one from my attorney.
Just got the call from the law firm. my furniture is in so ill be picking it up on Saturday. Hope you all get the call soon.
Does anyone have the name or the telephone number of the law firm that is making the calls on behave of USA Baby Richmond?
I spoke with Katie Moran yesterday – 804-771-5644
The furniture that is in the store at USA Baby has NOT, in fact, been picked up by the owner’s and taken to the off site warehouse. That has been confirmed with the Property Manager who, in addition to the landlord’s, also has a key to the store. If you want to contact him regarding this since the landlord’s lawyer’s information has been removed because of their claim about the furniture having been moved, you can do so at 804-364-0433 and his name is Henry Lescio–I also spoke to him today regarding my furniture that is at the store.
Taline,
The phone calls will be made to customer’s whose furniture has already, in fact, arrived into the warehouse. If yours was due in prior to that, chances are you are one of the customer’s to receive a refund.
I have also gotten word that the store’s website will be updated today or tomorrow with the newest information.
Great….to add more confusion to this big mess…I just got a voice mail from the law firm saying they are contacting me regarding my furniture order. As I understood it, they were only contacting customers whose furniture had indeed arrived and was sitting in the warehouse. I guess I have to wait to hear back from the law firm again. In any event, I have already placed a new order with Great Beginnings.
I just spoke w/ the law firm. To our surprise, our crib and dresser are in… great! Now we’ve already placed a new order w/ Great Beginnings. I have no way of picking up my furniture on Saturday, so I suppose I’ll just stick w/ the new company. I am just so confused by this whole deal though…
Hello. New to the site. Our baby is 3 months old and we also received “the letter.” I see a lawyer is involved. Who is this lawyer? Thanks!
What did your letter say?
The lawyer being referred to is the counsel for USA Baby Richmond.
Just spoke w/ the manufacturer. They confirmed that our furniture had not yet shipped. Hence, USA Baby is probably trying to pawn off furniture they had laying around their warehouse. No thanks!! We told them we will NOT be picking up our furniture on Saturday. To all those in the same boat, if you have made other arrangements already, you are not obligated to pick up furniture from USA Baby.
really disappointing to see so many customers left in the ungracious wake of USA Baby Richmond’s bankruptcy.
Maybe if USABabyRic spent more time with existing customers than posting 5-star reviews of themselves on citysearch.com things would’ve worked out more positively.
I received my phone call last night from the Lawyers office and part of my furniture is in. I told the Lawyers office that they can keep the furniture for all I care because if I can’t have ALL OF IT, then I don’t want NONE OF IT!!!
If you plan to pick up furniture at the USA Baby warehouse Saturday, here are some consumer tips:
1. Bring all paperwork for your order with you—including what you ordered, color and any other details.
2. Carefully inspect any furniture before handing over any payment. Open boxes to make sure there is no damage, confirm colors, double check model numbers.
3. Make sure any cribs are compliant with the new federal safety standards that went into effect June 28, 2011. There should be a sticker or documentation that the cribs are compliant with “16 CFR 1219” for a full-size cribs. It is illegal to sell a crib that is not compliant with the new standard.
Jennifer — HA HA! That is exactly what I said… do not want to deal w/ them anymore. What if something is wrong w/ the furniture after you get it home…then you are SOL for lack of a better word!! Not to mention, having to pick it up by yourself, get it home by yourself and put it together. No thanks!! And, they want cash or check…sketchy!! We are having Great Beginnings deliver everything and set up in our house for pretty much what we were going to pay USA Baby since MD doesn’t charge sales tax. Good luck to everyone else picking up furniture this weekend. I hope it all goes smoothly for you.
Got the “letter” about my refund. Just FYI, their form of refunds (at least in my case) was “call your Credit Card to request a refund”. That’s criminal…very disappointing (although not unexpected given their other recent actions, or lack thereof)
Just wanted to give another good word for Great Beginnings. We worked with Amanda to place a Ragazzi order to replace the order we had placed at USA Baby. She was telling me they were getting 12 orders a day. I guess a lot of people in Richmond were effected by this issue.
I should be receiving my furniture in the next 4 weeks which will work out perfect.
Does anyone have the contact info for the attorney? We got our refund letter that stated we needed to contact our credit card company for refund………the problem is that we actually paid by check card, so essentially same as cash! Now we don’t know what to do!!
I received my refund check today which I promptly deposited! I paid by check in early June and we got back every penny. Included with the check is a letter of apology and the invoice for what we were purchasing. I did not expect to be refunded my money at all and expected to have to fight for it IF we got back anything at all. My daughter arrived a few weeks early and although I wish I had a crib for her to sleep in, I am satisified that USA Baby did the right thing by returning my money. I hope everyone else has the same luck.
Got a BoA cashiers check in the mail today for a refund of our full cash payment. Despite the bad customer service, lack of communication, repeated misrepresentation about the status of our order and lack of any furniture after our baby has been born despite ordering well in advance I am ultimately satisfied with this outcome during this unfortunate situation which was compounded by all these factors. Based on how we were treated we simply had no faith that this would happen but are glad that the attorneys handling this and the owners did what was right in the end.
It was good for us all to have this forum during this stressful time in order to vent our common frustrations.
I WOULD ASK THE MODERATORS THOUGH TO DELETE ALL THE POST WE HAVE MADE THAT MENTION THE OWNERS BY NAME. GIVEN THE FINAL OUTCOME, PERHAPS BECAUSE OF PRESSURE THEY MAY HAVE SEEN ON HERE, BUT NONETHELESS IT WOULD NOT BE FAIR FOR THEIR NAMES TO BE TARNISHED IN SUCH AN EXTREME WAY ON THE INTERNET WHEN ANYONE GOOGLES THEIR NAMES IF IN THE END THEY DID STEP UP AND DO WHAT THEY COULD TO RECTIFY THIS SITUATION AFTER LEAVING US ALL HANGING WONDERING…
Common knowledge is that in bankruptcies unsecured creditors usually get pennies on the dollar after assets are liquidated and all other matters settled sometimes taking years. So our anger was justified. Still I’m glad money was set aside to make refunds right away for customers like us leading me to think this may not be a full on bankruptcy where cash-flow was not available at all and recourses were in the red.
Despite the difficulties and bad experiences I hope that everyone receives a satisfactory outcome. Glad I can put this behind me and not have had to step up to my next phase of countermeasures.
Robert: Glad to hear you got a refund today. As per your request, I have deleted your previous posts.
If any user wants us to delete any of your previous posts, we are happy to do that. Please email us at [email protected] or post a note here.
Oh yeah my check was soaking wet and wrinkled. Hopefully bank will take it. Or was this a further tactic to screw with us?
Mine is wet too, Robert, (or was). I also only got a refund for one of the two orders I placed. Anyone else have multiple orders?
Checks were wet? Give me a break. Have you not been aware of the weather this week in Va? All my mail has been damp or wet recently.
Thank you. Today, I received my furniture. You were all kind and helpful. So very sorry for your misfortune. Better times must be coming. Best of luck.
Yeah, that’s right! I really like the look of your site, really very colorful and very funny. Incidentally, a few more months I will soon have a baby. And I desperately need information about a variety of equipment and supplies for infants. I get some great products for babies on this site. Thanks for sharing this information.
By: Emil
I learned something today. Bankruptcy is a legal way of stealing peoples’ money. Thanks USA Baby for not even attempting to contact me via email, phone, or mail, like you said you were going to do. Thanks USA Baby for making (who knows probably) hundreds of pregnant women cry.
You might be friendly people, but you are crap business owners and crooks. You have taken advantage of people in order to shave off some of your own debt. Way to stand on the back of your customers in a time of crisis. How ever USA baby owners decide to move forward with their own career choices and finances, I hope it is not in business again. I wouldn’t buy a pair of socks in the dead of winter from them.
I ordered furniture from USABABY in Richmond, VA and not receive any call or letter from them about store closing. I have my receipt for my order. I have calling number listed on their website but no help. I’m really disappointed because the owner promised me that I can pick it up anytime. I’m really upset not be able to get my crib.
We placed our order back in june and paid in full via credit card. We have not received a letter from usa baby regarding a refund but we did talk to our credit card company to dispute the charges and they said they cannot gaurantee the refund since usa baby is out of business . So now what do we do to get our money back??? Is there anyone else who has still not received a refund or furniture??? also we talked to the furniture company and our order was never placed and the style we ordered had been discontinued anyhow!!
Hey Stacy…
Contact Katie Moran – she is the lawyer handling the case with USA Baby. 804-771-5644. I had to give my credit card company the name of the lawyer so they could investigate the situation. Hopefully this will help!!
Thank you Jennifer…. I called her and she said to go to the credit card company to dispute the charges. But now that you say that I think I will call them and give them her information. Hopefully it will help us! Hope we all get our money back! It’s not all that fair that people who paid by card have to fight for their money.
Oh I agree… GE Money has a 7 to 10 business day turn around on disputing their charges. So disputing charges is easy, just a little time consuming. Since I work for a bank, the more information you can provide to the bank/credit card company the better off you are with getting your money back. Good Luck to you!!!!
Did everyone who paid by check receive a full refund?
I only received a refund for one of our two orders. The check I got was drenched and damaged in the mail so I am wondering if a second check was issued and lost/destroyed in the mail or never issued at all. We have yet to hear anything back about our other (orginial) order that was placed at the beginning of July. At this point we have contacted the laywers, the bank who issued the refunds, and the manufacturer. No one can provide us any answers.
Thanks.
I never received a phone call, and I just found out the store closed. I had bedrails in the warehouse I never picked up. My creditcard company will not reverse the charge since it has been over 60 days. Any advice on what I should do
Did you ever hear anything about your bedrails? I’m in the same situation but I do not know if mine were actually in the warehouse. We were told they were “backordered” in August. Thankfully we received the rest of our order right before they closed. Have you heard from anyone or talked to anyone? I tried contacting their lawyer but he says he cannot help any of the “burned” customers. Our credit card company also will not reverse the charges since the order was placed and paid for nearly six months ago.
I’ve never heard anything. I ordered my stuff a year ago. The bedrails were in, I had just forgotten to go pick them up. I knew I wouldn’t need them anytime soon. I hate to have to order more. I just hate how I never received a call to come get them knowing that they were closing.
I purchased a built to grow crib almost 2 years ago, and this past August I ordered the side rails. I live an hour away, and when I was at Chesterfield Town Center today, I drove by and saw the signs. I a very disappointed that they did not give customers a call on something that was already ordered and paid for.
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