Thousands of St. Louis furniture buyers are clamoring for the free $25 grocery gift cards they were promised in exchange for buying more than $500 worth of furniture and then spending more than $100 per month at a grocery store. The complicated if not weird promotion was managed by BBZ Resource Management, an Arizona-based company that doesn’t seem to have any intention of sending out the promised gift cards.

Steve Phillips, an owner of five St. Louis area Ashley stores and another in Columbia, Mo., said his stores have been deluged by complaints from customers who say they are waiting for gift cards to purchase groceries at local supermarkets.

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Ashley has filed a complaint about the firm with law-enforcement authorities in Arizona, Phillips said.

No one at the Arizona company could be reached for comment. The firm’s voice mail does not allow callers to leave messages, and the outgoing message says the company communicates only via mail and e-mail. A reporter e-mailed the company, but did not receive a reply.

The Better Business Bureau lists several hundred complaints against BBZ Resource Management, and gives the company an “F” rating.

Ashley furniture plans to honor the promotion, but they’re going to partner with a different company, and anyone already waiting for a gift card will be forced to re-register.

Furniture buyers still waiting for free grocery coupons [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
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