On September 19, 2009 I delivered to Parvizian Headquarters in Chevy Chase, MD, a Chinese wool rug, hand-knotted, 90/5/8 measuring 9 x 12'10, in excellent condition, for consignment. This rug was originally purchased from Parvizian. I spoke to Mr. ** and was given a consignment contract, which I signed. Consignment price shown on contract is $1,000.
I called monthly for a status report. On November 30th, I was told that it was not yet sold but that Parvizian would be having a very big sale at the end of December at which time it would probably be sold. I specifically told the lady I spoke to that I did not want the rug to go to auction. She told me to call back at the beginning of January.
On January 11, I called the Parvizian office. As I had done on previous calls, I gave the ticket number. The lady told me that the rug was not there. "Great! It's been sold. I will come and pick up my check," I said. "Let me call you back later this afternoon," she said. Since I did not hear from her for over 24 hours, I drove to the Parvizian office/showroom where I had left the rug on consignment. When I identified myself, there appeared to be great confusion. Someone went to the computer, then started looking through rugs, the lady I had spoken to joined him and Moe, looking for the rug.
I showed Moe a picture of my rug. "I remember that rug," Moe said. It was sold to a black couple. It was a beautiful rug." I was impressed that he could remember and asked, "Wow! That's great! How can you remember one rug when you sell hundreds of them?" He replied, "I remember the rug very well and the black couple who bought it."
Assuming that the issue was settled, I said, "Good! So you can give me a check." Moe replied, "There is only one problem, it sold for $400." I again showed Moe my contract which stated consignment for $1,000. I also told Moe that Mr. ** had told me that I would have to pay him $200 as a consignment fee, to which I had agreed verbally. Moe replied, "You will have to speak with Mr. **. He is at a funeral right now." I told Moe that I had spent over one hour driving to get there. I would wait for Mr. **.
Moe said, "I will try to call him at the funeral." He walked away and when he returned, he told me that Mr. ** would not return to the office that day. And to my surprise, he also said that the rug had not been sold but was in a warehouse. He said that Mr. ** would call me. I drove home and wrote Mr. ** a letter via Fax, stating the facts and asking him to remit payment in the amount of $800. I have a fax confirmation dated January 13 at 10:06 a.m. I also sent a letter via USPS. Today is January 20. I have not yet heard from Parvizian.
