SOUTHWICK — Last February, Matthew Collins paid a $2,500 deposit on a custom cedar bookcase for his home office in Westfield.
The builder, Nathan King, of New England Farmhouse Furniture, told him it would take 10 to 12 weeks to finish, Collins said.
“I never heard from him again,” Collins said.
He filed a small claims complaint in Westfield District Court against King. When he went to his court date in November, King did not show up, and Collins won by default. Collins also noticed other people in court the same day who had similar cases.
He is one of several people who filed similar complaints last year against King or New England Farmhouse Furniture who are trying recover deposits for projects they say never came close to completion.
King or another company representative did not respond to multiple requests for comment through phone calls, texts and emails. The business’ storefront at the Gristmill Plaza in Southwick is now vacant and a “for lease” sign is displayed on the roof.
In corporate paperwork filed with the state, King is listed as the business’ secretary and a director. All three people who spoke to The Republican and filed court complaints said they worked and communicated specifically with King.
That includes Patty Fritz, who commissioned New England Farmhouse Furniture to build her a closet for her A-frame home in Colebrook, Connecticut. Fritz said she worked with King, who initially seemed excited about the project and the challenge of it.
She paid the business $2,000 in an October 2023 check, a copy of which she provided The Republican.
But the closet never came, Fritz said. She contacted King, asking for updates, and was told that he was working on it, she writes in her court filing.
When nearly a year ago she finally asked for a refund, “then he cut me off,” she said.
“I have called, texted, called the shop, nothing,” she wrote in her filing. “He has no intention of refunding or completing the project.”
Fritz feels he took advantage of her. “He knows he’s ripping us off,” she said.
She still wants a refund. “And to make sure he doesn’t keep doing this to people,” she said.
When she filed her small claims case, she won when the defendant didn’t show up to the November court date. But, she has yet to see any of the $2,100 the court says she is owed, because the court wasn’t able to deliver the judgement paperwork in her favor to the business. Unlike Collins, who filed the claim against King personally, Fritz filed it against the business.
The mail to New England Farmhouse Furniture came back as undeliverable, her court docket says.
She has another court date scheduled for February, and she is frustrated she has to miss a day’s pay at work to go to court again.
‘I’m at a loss for words’
Artao Rashaun Cogman commissioned King to make a vanity for a bathroom in his Southwick home. It went well, so last year he commissioned another one and put down a $200 deposit. Then, he never heard from King or the business.
“It was very shocking. He did a beautiful job the first time,” Cogman said.
“I’m at a loss for words,” he wrote in his complaint filed last year in Westfield District Court.
Like Fritz and Collins, Cogman also won at his court hearing when King did not show up, and he said earlier this month that King has started to pay him back.
Like Cogman, when Collins didn’t hear back about the bookcase, he was surprised. At first, he worried something bad had happened to King.
“My experience was so unusual,” he said. His social media showed he had good reviews, and he didn’t notice any red flags. “He had the appearance of a person who operated a legitimate store and did good work.”
Collins tried calling and showing up at the storefront in Southwick. “I’d go during posted store hours, and he was never around,” he said.
Later this week, Collins has a court hearing in which he expects to hear details on how he can be made whole, but he’s not optimistic he will see a payment anytime soon.
