High-quality items for rock-bottom prices: Furniture scam hits Walworth County

WALWORTH COUNTY (WITI) -- An alleged furniture scam which originated in Arkansas has made its way into Walworth County. On Thursday, September 11th, members of a door-to-door furniture sales team entered the Walworth County Office of Land Use and Resource Management. They were there specifically to inquire about obtaining a "seller's permit" to sell furniture door-to-door within Walworth County.

The request was denied, as the County does not sell that type of permit. The salesmen were directed to reach out to each individual township/town clerk regarding their request.

A recent scam alert bulletin from Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas indicates that these sellers are from a city in Thomasville, North Carolina. The side of their truck says “THOMASVILLE,” but the furniture is NOT made by Thomasville Furnishings which only sells to authorized retailers, galleries, and dealers.

Unknowing victims are paying for furniture that is not made by the legitimate furniture maker, and is marked up in some cases more than 100% face value.  Additionally, there is no warranty, no customer service, or refunds.

The scam involves the salesmen going door-to-door and telling unwitting victims that they are from Thomasville Furniture, and they have to unload this shipment off the truck immediately due to a clerical error in some other state. They add they must sell them now because they have another shipment to pick up in another part of the country.  The victims see “Thomasville” on the side of the truck and may believe that they are buying the high-quality Thomasville Furniture for rock-bottom prices.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas scam alert says the men have been pulling this scam for several decades across the country with hundreds of victims recorded by police.