Woman Accuses Furniture Store Of Forging Her Signature On Receipt; 'There's No Telling Who Else He Did It To'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- She went in to buy a sofa, but she said she wound up the victim of an apparent forgery after she changed her mind. CBS 2 Investigator Dorothy Tucker sorts it all out.
Pamela Glenn went to a Value Zone Furniture store on the South Side and picked out a sectional sofa for $1,300.
After a death in the family, she changed her mind about the sofa, but Value Zone wouldn't undo the deal, even though she hadn't signed any paperwork and hadn't received the sofa.
She turned to Acima Credit, which financed the sofa.
"The store owner sent us a receipt saying that the furniture was delivered, and you signed for it," Glenn said.
However, the original receipt Glenn received on the day she went to Value Zone did not have any signature.
Since Acima thought Glenn had the sofa, the credit agency wouldn't help her.
"I was so mad," Glenn said.
Digging deeper revealed a discrepancy. While the original receipt Glenn received from Value Zone had no signature, Acima was provided with a receipt from Xclusive Furniture on the West Side; a store she said she never visited.
That receipt had a signature bearing Glenn's name and indicated the merchandise was received in good condition.
"This is not my signature," Glenn said.
Tyler Montrone, chief legal officer for Acima, took another look at Glenn's case and acknowledged there was something wrong with the picture.
"There is absolutely something wrong with that picture. We automatically are quite suspect about the entirety of the transaction," he said. "I am suspect as to whether or not the merchant's dealing honestly."
Acima completes approximately 600,000 transactions a year with 8,000 merchants nationwide.
As a result of Glenn's case and other concerns Acima cut off Value Zone Furniture and Xclusive Furniture; a rare and drastic step it takes about eight times a year.
No one at Value Zone would talk about Glenn's case on camera. Off camera, they said, "we didn't forge her signature."
"There's no telling who else he did it to," Glenn said.
Glenn filed a police report, accusing the store owners of forgery.