PITTSBURGH – A Western Pennsylvania woman alleges that the sofa and ottoman she purchased had arrived to her home in a defective condition, and wants damages from the defendant for breach of contract and other claims.
Carol A. Scalese of Monroeville filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Aug. 16 versus Perlora, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, plus Lora Sigesmund and Perry Sigesmund (doing business as “Perlora Leather”), all of Pittsburgh, and American Leather Operations, LLC, of Dover, Del.
“All of the Perlora defendants share and commingle resources, including but not limited to, the website at www.perlora.com. Perlora is a seller of American Leather merchandise, either as an independent reseller or as an agent of American Leather. American Leather trades and does unregistered business in this Commonwealth through its agents, including, but not limited to, Perlora. On or about Oct. 18, 2020, plaintiff purchased legal goods from the defendants, namely residential furniture,” the suit says.
“By defendants’ agent salesperson and designer Patty Frankhouser, defendants made factual statements regarding the purpose of certain furniture to be described below, the location in defendant’s home where it was to be installed, the size, the desired high quality, and other aspects of the product to be purchased by defendant. Moreover, defendants, by said agent, consulted and guided defendant (via catalog and small samples) to one of its product lines, from which plaintiff selected based on said quality description other express and implied warranties made by defendants. On that same day, plaintiff purchased a sofa and matching ottoman. The cost, including delivery charge and tax, for the remodeling design and products was $8,977.30. Plaintiff made a down-payment deposit of $5,000.”
The suit adds that the defendants delivered the products to the plaintiff’s residence on or about May 27, 2021 and on the same day as delivery, on plaintiff’s first use of the sofa, the plaintiff observed that the sofa cushions did not lie flat failing to conform to defendants’ representations; the cushion covering material was crumpled and distorted, and the core filling material was flattened and without resilience.
A few days after delivery of the sofa, on or about June 2, 2021, the plaintiff emailed the defendants through Ms. Frankhouser, and reported the problems with the products. The plaintiff provided photographs of the crushed, wrinkled and otherwise defective products, leading defendant Perry Sigesmund to admit the existence of the defective product in a June 3, 2021 email, saying “Yep, not right.”
“On or about June 12, 2021, Ms. Frankhouser telephoned plaintiff to report that replacement for the defective sofa cushion cores had been ordered. Plaintiff received an e-mail from Ms. Frankhouser representing that the cushions would ship soon. On Aug. 25, 2021, plaintiff received another e-mail from Ms. Frankhouser representing that the cushions would ship soon. On Nov. 16, 2021, plaintiff received an e-mail from Ms. Frankhouser representing and admitting that because of the defects and other problems with the sofa delivered to plaintiff, that American Leather “is changing the core on that group!!!” being that the product was defective, unusable and should not have been sold to plaintiff. On or about Dec. 28, 2021, a replacement set of cushions was delivered to plaintiff. A few days later, plaintiff reported to defendants that (i) the replacement cushions exhibited the same defects as the original set and (ii) the color (dye) of the material on the replacement set of cushions did not match the balance of the merchandise purchased as a matched group, thereby rendering the materials reasonably unusable for their intended function of decor and usage,” the suit states.
“In approximately March or April 2022, plaintiff received a second set of replacement cushions for the sofa at issue, by continued defectiveness, a third set approximately five months later. The replacement cushions were delivered to plaintiff by defendant Sigesmund. Upon leaving plaintiff’s residence, Mr. Sigesmund took with him one of the defective products, stating that he wished to show it to the defendant American Leather. By way of e-mail on Jan. 24, 2023, Mr. Sigesmund acknowledged that each previous set of cushions was defective and yet another set of cushions was needed. In that same e-mail, Mr. Sigesmund acknowledged that the manufacturer had used the incorrect core/filling on the previous set of cushions. On March 14, 2023, defendants delivered a fourth set of sofa cushions. This set had same defective and non-conforming issues as the previous set; that is bunching and rippling of covering material; material that will not lie flat; color (dye) that did not match either the back cushions or the frame material. Accordingly, as of this date, the products in plaintiff residence remain defective and unusable as represented, warranted and intended; the cushion covers do not fit properly to the core/fill material; the core material is crushed and not firm; the color of the cushion material (now from multiple different dye lots) does not match the material of the sofa frame. Plaintiff demanded and demands hereby that defendants remove the goods from plaintiff’s residence within 10 calendar days or plaintiff, as involuntary bailee and as otherwise permitted by law, will cover its damage caused by defendants by selling at a price for an immediate transaction or remove the good by all necessary means to provide room for replacement furniture that plaintiff will purchase and charge to defendants.”
For counts of violating the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, breach of contract, fraud and violation of the Uniform Commercial Code, the plaintiff is seeking damages covering the cost and other damages resulting from each defendant’s breach of the contract, to be proven at trial, pre-judgment interest, and such other relief as this Honorable Court may deem just and proper.
The plaintiff is represented by Gregg R. Zegarelli of Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants have not yet obtained legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-23-009806
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com