Comments on: What happens if a company you have an outstanding order with goes bankrupt?

Question: What happens if a company you have an outstanding order with goes bankrupt?

csimpkins — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:21:57 -0800

A company we ordered flooring from filed for bankruptcy while we were waiting for our stuff to come in. What now?

We ordered $140 worth of flooring from iFloor on 11/22. Thirteen days later they filed for bankruptcy. They never contacted us to let us know. So today, I called to find out if our stuff arrived and am greeted with a notice that the store is closed - permanently - and I should leave my info after the prompt to be contacted regarding the issue.

I'm pretty livid. But even more so, I'm unsure of what happens now. Do we get our money back? Do we get our stuff? Are we screwed? How long does a resolution, if there is one, for these things generally take?

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:31:27 -0800

How did you pay? It's trivial to reverse the charges on a credit card.

By: bcwinters

bcwinters — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:32:33 -0800

$140? Just call your credit card company and reverse the charge.

By: csimpkins

csimpkins — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:32:45 -0800

Credit card. Hmm... I hadn't considered that.

By: DarlingBri

DarlingBri — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:45:47 -0800

Yeah, credit card.

And while obviously I would not suggest, say, opening a window and throwing your hard-earned $140 out of it, I would invite you to think about this incident in a broader context and tone down the livid. Livid is hardly ever worth $140. Life is short.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:47:06 -0800

Just contest that charge when the bill comes in. You have to do it in writing and within a specific time period which will all be spelled out on the back of the credit card bill.

By: csimpkins

csimpkins — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:58:20 -0800

Just called the credit card company and put a dispute on the charge. Thanks for the advice!

That's one of those benefits that's there, but I never thought about until I had to actually use it.

By: NoRelationToLea

NoRelationToLea — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:58:54 -0800

Hi - I have a similar problem. Same vendor, slightly different details - orders of magnitude larger amount of money, involved.

I got my materials, then got a call from the subcontractor saying ifloor wasn't going to pay him, so I had to pay him, and to dispute the initial labor charge, or else he'd put a lien on my house, which I hadn't even moved into yet. I wouldn't describe my reaction as livid so much as annoyed with a healthy portion of panic.

Ultimately, it all worked out. Unless you have the World's Worst Credit Card, you won't be out the money. You will, however, probably need to buy your flooring from somewhere else.

By: caddis

caddis — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:54:14 -0800

Just called the credit card company and put a dispute on the charge. Thanks for the advice!

That's great, but don't forget to follow up with a written challenge to the charge. Some card companies are very much sticklers for this and people have lost their disputes for failing to provide a dispute in writing.