Suite Dreams Murphy Beds

Hello.Olivia came by to see me at my showroom/shop and was interested in a Murphy bed. She needed one in short order. Our usual production time is 8-weeks. She showed up in the middle of 4th Quarter, the Holiday RUSH. At that point in time, we had two dozen beds in cue to
build, deliver and install. We happen to have a queen size bed made for one of our part time employees/long haul delivery who decided he did not want it and to sell it if we could. She picked that one. A price was quoted hundreds less than our published price since she was a personal friend of mine and helped babysit my grandson as I was building this business right out of my home. (This business truly was a "cottage industry," since I took in my grandson when he was just two days old and my daughter was in prison. I was going through a divorce, broke and had to do something.) The deal was set and I jotted the price and her name on a PostIt pad out in the shop. A few days later she wanted to add side cabinets. I made note of the sizes and added that to the order. Mind you, this is in the middle of a whirlwind of production with people pitching in to help, myself and my production manager had spent nearly days a week working 16+ hours a day to stay up on our schedule (He and I locked ourselves in one weekend and timed ourselves in the production of just one single order with side cabinets. We came up with man hours as a personal best to help us guide our scheduling for future orders. Times that by the nearly dozen orders on the board. Well, by the time we delivered her order, it was 11:PM. The bed and cabinets were delivered and installed. BUT, the side cabinets were the wrong width. I told her I would make two new side cabinets. At least they had a bed ready for guests. I don't recall the time we were ready to deliver two new cabinets to match her bed, but husband called to demand that we remove all the furniture after I told him the cabinets were needing one more day to finish. That was not good enough. I reluctantly made arrangements to go pick up the bed and side cabinets where he had a long note for me to sign stating ad nauseam the micro details of our arrangement. I would not sign it but did sign basically the IOU of refunding them $2200. Of course, they had another deadline. Ironically, the day that we picked up the best originally built for my friend and part-time employee, was the day my friend committed suicide. The deadline for the refund demanded by my former neighbor, friend and babysitter and her new husband came and went. Their bed is still not sold, nor is the new cabinetry, which was bespoken to their order, which also represents hundreds of dollars of material costs and labor. I am not in the business to lose money. I have enjoyed making these pieces for hundreds of clients, many of whom become friends of mine in the process. Unfortunately, I will have to be a tougher business man and currently have an attorney looking at my simple one-page "Custom Work Order" to protect myself from the unrealistic demands and map out a timeline suitable to have the time to create custom work in the time frame required. I have had enjoyed 99% of my clients and they would say the same. When this business becomes too much like work, I will quit and go ride my motorcycle or something. It is sad. But somewhere there is a solution. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, *** ***
*** ***

I will again reach out to *** to resolve this issueThank you for the reminder

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because these are excuses and we are victim to the owner's poor business plan. We were patient and tried to make the situation work. When we agreed to purchase the bed with the wood he had available, we told him the date we wanted and he happily agreed to the November 30th delivery date. There was no mention of the rush or multiple beds that were ahead of our order. This business owner fed excuses when in actuality we should have been given a realistic time frame. On countless occasions I was assured they were coming to deliver and/or fix the bed. We even said if this isn't going to happen please be honest and give us a true time or date. This was not the case.  Some parts of the owner's account are false and omitting the actual occurrences, we are still without our refund or any contact from the owner other than this response. All emails, phone calls, text messages, etc. have been ignored.  We have no way of actually knowing when our money will be refunded, if ever. We expect a refund of our $2,200 based on our signed and verbal agreement. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Hello,Attached is a copy of the "Custom Work Order" which Mrs. [redacted] signed and paid her initial deposit for her custom-made Murphy bed.  I have done hundreds of them as I go into my 5th years of business.  During that time, for one reason or another, I have had maybe 5 or 6 people seeking...

a refund.  BUT!  Each custom order is BESPOKE to that client and their is a specific clause in my proposal that "No refunds, chargebacks, or disputed deposits after 72 hours upon agreeing to the terms of this proposal."  For Mrs. [redacted], that boat has sailed.  Her custom Murphy bed with the bench will be ready for delivery and installation in our estimated time.If you or anyone else has a question concerning this or anything else that pertains to making the best Murphy beds in Texas, please feel free to contact me directly at ###-###-####. Thank you, [redacted]Owner-builder-designer