An administrative hearing officer has ruled that the owner of The Amish Mill furniture store in New Castle County committed 23 violations of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act and was ordered to pay $1,000 per offense.
Allegations included adding an extra charge for customers who complained or asked questions about furniture deliveries.
“The bad faith was manifest,” according to the officer’s findings. The store is located in the Prices Corner area west of Wilmington.
After receiving complaints from customers, The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit filed an administrative complaint last year against Michael D. Wharton, The Amish Mill’s owner.
Separately, the Better Business Bureau of Delaware received nearly three dozen complaints, with the Amish Mill not responding to many of the BBB’s queries. The business received an F rating from the bureau.
The complaint claimed Wharton would promise customers to have furniture ready by a certain date but never deliver and that he charged customers additional, undisclosed fees if they called to check on the order or complained about the store’s business practices.
At a recent hearing on the allegations, former Amish Mill customers testified that they waited months past the time frame when Wharton said their furniture would be delivered and that the hidden fees included $5.99 if they called him to check on the status of their overdue orders or $85 for posting negative comments online. Wharton, according to published reports, indicated that his policies were posted in the store.
In an opinion, he administrative hearing officer agreed with the allegations in the complaint and found Wharton had committed 23 violations of Delaware’s Consumer Fraud Act.
The officer said Wharton not only failed to deliver items within the promised time frame, but in some cases never had any intention of having the ordered furniture built. When customers complained, no attempt to resolve the situation was made. Instead, the fees were tacked onto their bills or they were told their orders were nonrefundable.
Deputy Attorney General Stephen McDonald prosecuted this administrative case for the Consumer Protection Unit.
