For home-makers, there’s nothing like that new furniture feel - the excitement of taking it home, the joy of seeing the family settling in, the satisfaction of a purchase well made and the expectation of years of comfort. Tifara Halliday had all that when she bought a new couch set late last year – only to find that while she thought she was sitting pretty, she found that she was riding dirty. Here’s why.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
About six months ago when Tifara Halliday came home with her three piece couch set that she bought at this downtown store, SP Home Depot, she was excited and eager to get her family in the seat.
Tifara Halliday, Bought Sofa Set
“You feel good that you buy something which you can sit down and feel comfortable.”
But no more then six months later, that anticipation would turn into bitter disappointment when the chair fell in.
Tifara Halliday,
“The boards seem to be rotten right.”
And when she flipped over the chair to see what was wrong – she got a very unpleasant surprise.
Tifara Halliday,
“Then I lift up the chair and I was about to repair it and then I noticed that the pampers are in here.”
Jules Vasquez,
So what was your reaction?
Tifara Halliday,
“Well I was frightened. I was in shock because I wanted to know what was going on with this because I paid $650 for this.”
$650 for couches stuffed with pampers many of them soiled. It’s a hideous and downright nasty sight. And when she was cutting open the two-seater, she had to take a break because it became so repugnant. And when she cut open the single couch for us, again inside, beneath the orderly veneer, were more pampers. And they come in all sizes form infants to even this adult sized one - and what’s worse many of them look soiled
Tifara Halliday,
“Well I would say those are used pampers. Trust me because those don’t look new brand, no way.”
And that certainty led her to an unpleasant conclusion which she shared with the storeowners when she went to complain.
Tifara Halliday,
“I told them better I had bought pampers for my whole family and just sit in there, sit on the floor. It is better than sitting down in this chair because it is pampers they have me in. It is best I had gotten a pack of pampers and sit down in it because dis dah fool.”
And now that’s what this mother and her children are doing – sitting on the floor – and the couch pieces are sitting in the yard and that’s where they’re staying.
Tifara Halliday,
“Of course I give up on this. This is only pampers. This will make your house smell stink like you’ve got lot of used pampers left in your house for days.”
Representatives of SP Home Depot wouldn’t comment on camera but a company representative did call us from Orange Walk and expressed disbelief and surprise at our finding sofas stuffed with diapers. He said that they bought the furniture from a local producer in good faith. He says that if she has a problem with it, they will have it repaired or replaced for her. That representative asked for Halliday’s number, but up to 5:00 this evening she told us she had received no call from him.
Checks at leading furniture stores in the city show that the average price for a new three piece set starts at $800.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift
