Storage Company To Return Furniture After Upholstery Worker Disappears
DENVER (CBS4) - A man collected people's furniture and deposits for upholstery work and then disappeared. CBS4 viewers then contacted 4 On Your Side Consumer Investigator Jodi Brooks for help.
Brooks has been working to get people their furniture back and at 70th Avenue Storage several people have been reunited with their missing furniture. But there are still many items that have not yet been claimed, and if they don't get claimed soon, they will likely be given away.
For months now half-started or half-finished upholstery work has been locked up. For Gina Guy it was a chair and ottoman she dropped off last November with Cipriano Garcia, an upholsterer.
Garcia worked at a Wheat Ridge location before being evicted. He then set up shop in a storage unit in Adams County. Shortly after, Garcia disappeared. He was eventually evicted, leaving behind furniture, fabric and all of his business documents.
"I'm just outraged at his behavior. That he'd done fine work on three other pieces of furniture for me," Guy said.
Somehow Garcia fell on some back luck. He also abandoned a self storage unit full of furniture.
Customers like David Gloss paid a lot to have their furniture refinished.
"It was $2,500 for the couch, and we gave him $3,000 to get actually this and another bit of upholstery done," Gloss said.
Now Gloss is out the cash and stuck with a torn-apart couch.
Brooks went to Ackerman and Sons Furniture Workshop in Littleton for some insight on how to hire an upholsterer.
"Ask how many employees they have. If it's one person, that's fine. If they're a craftsman, that's great; but ask to see their space," Mike Ackerman said.
He says if a business has pride in their shop, they'll have pride in their work.
As for Guy, she at least has her chair and ottoman back. And Gloss now has his couch.
"We are actually quite grateful to your station for going after him because we had no idea where the couch was," Gloss said.
70th Avenue Storage provided CBS4 with photos of furniture in storage (View The Photo Gallery). They ask people to provide an invoice or a picture to prove it's their furniture and then come get it.
70th Ave. Self Storage
981 E. Hwy 224, Unit A
Denver, CO 80229
(303) 288-1111
info@70thaveselfstorage.com
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