Sapna Furniture — What went wrong
Every one has their strengths. And some show up prominently while some do not (possibly that is what is called telent)
I thought I had a good knack of picking up the right place to get the best deals — and in one of those few cases, it failed, with me picking up Sapna Furniture to get all the furniture for my house. I had some long term plans too — like suggesting them to any one who visits us, get something nice for our shop... But all shelved now, because they just cannot deliver.
But the realization came in too late. This was one of the places where I went with just my gut feel — no searching on the net for reviews, no calling up friends to ask.
The Beginning
We went furniture hunting for our new home. While searching in the local areas, we had frequent references to — you will get that model only in Shivaji Nagar. So we though — how about spending a day at Shivaji Nagar and looking at more models. We checked a few shops and found a big one with a very large number of models. The size possibly tilted our decision making to the wrong side.
We interacted with Salim who found out what we were looking for. He showed us quite a number of good models — we selected one sofa set with a center table, one dining table set and an additional chair. We asked for a slight change in fabric and he said it can be done. The total bill came to Rs. 45,000/- along with taxes. We asked regarding the transportation and Salim confirmed that it would be free. This was all in the last week of March 2017. We asked when he would deliver and then came the not so good part — we were told it would take 10 days. We asked if this was for the change in the fabric — he said that the pieces were display pieces and new ones would be made. We were OK — should have walked out and searched for someone who could deliver immediately — strangely, we did not. We, in fact, paid an advance of Rs.17,000/-. And that led to trouble.
The Modus operandi
What Salim did and we did not notice at that point to time let do issues. We asked for a centre table to go with our sofa set. The ones in the store were not really to our liking. We almost walked out and Salim said his own store nearby had more models. We went with him to the nearby store, Shine Furniture, and saw one which we liked. We found another chair too — which we wanted. Salim quickly pulled the bill-book from that place and made a bill for Rs. 7,000/- for the items we wanted from there.
Back in Sapna stores, he created a bill for the remaining amount and put an advance of Rs.10,000/- on this bill. The delivery was all to happen on the same day.
We did not realize what we got into.
Delivery Slippage
It was a week — Salim called to confirm on the chair model — luckily we had that and we sent it back. On the 10th day, we called up to confirm if things were ready, Salim said — Almost. Just the covers were to come.
Then a month passed by and we visited the shop to see what was happening. Salim said — other than the cushions and the covers, things were there. We actually saw what we ordered — polished, but with out the cushions. We asked when they would be ready — he said 3 days. We said OK. When no call came by, we called up only to be told — we would get it on Monday. Two mondays passed and we realized he was calling us on Friday and avoiding our visit over the weekend (possibly when he gets most customers). So we called him for two consecutive days and he suggested we cancel the order if he was not able to deliver on Friday.
We went to the shop on Friday and asked what the status was — there was no change except for the fact that now Imran (who introduced himself as Salim’s brother) said he would get everything done and we could cancel the order if he does not deliver by Monday.
The Story so far
As you can anticipate, no delivery happened on the next monday or tuesday or wednesday. So Thursday, 25 May 2017 (two months after placing the order), I went to the shop early (around 10:00 AM) and was told by Swamy that all the persons would come only around 11:30 AM. I explained to him the problem — he saw the bills and said — yes — for Rs.10,000/- there was an entry — however for the Rs.7,000/- the bill did not belong to his shop. I explained that Salim was the one who took me to this shop — he just asked me to wait or return back. I decided to wait. I called up Salim only to get a message that his phone is not available for another 5 hours (possibly my number is blocked)
Then comes in another person (let me call him Mr. Abusive) and blames me for not following up and escalating. Imran follows him, recognized me and says, delivery will happen the next day. I asked him if the fabric change was done and the answer is negative. I asked if he could still deliver the next day and the answer is now — “doubtful”. Mr. Abusive now takes over, sees that there are customers slowly coming into his shop, snatches the bill for his shop from my hand, practically throws Rs.10,000/-, confirms that the order is cancelled and asks me to leave. I ask him what about the remaining Rs.7,000/-, to which he says, go and ask from that shop.
I took his advice and go to “Shine Furniture” and wait for it to open. I try calling up the number on the bill and get no response. After about half an hour, the shop opens. I show the bill and ask the person the status of the items, he asks me to wait.
Then he tells me that the bill is made, but no order placed. It is routine for salesmen from the other shops to make bills and deliver on different shop names. As I try to understand the situation, Salim walks in, understands that the order is cancelled, agrees to cancel this order too and refund the money to my back account. And I fell for this again. His luck, my bad.
Then I called up Salim almost every day and he promises to return the money next week. During the holy month of Ramzan, he said he was fasting and will not tell lies and will return the money in two days. That month passed too. It is two months now since cancellation and I am still yet to get my money.
He calls me up every Saturday to say he will return the money on Monday.
The Followup and Cheque Bounce
I went back to the shop only to be introduced to another person as the owner — He asked Imran to see what went wrong. He also said one of the persons to whom they give orders never delivered.
We were again taken to Shine Furniture to meet another Brother of Salim, who drew a sorry face and said he was the “unfortunate” brother of Salim and that Salim had caused him Rs. 25 lakhs (2.5 million) in losses. He asked us to take any item we wanted. All we wanted was a chair — so we took that. He was making a cheque for the remaining amount — I insisted on Cash. He said he did not have it. So I was left with a Cheque for Rs. 6000/- . Deposited it in the bank, only to know that it got returned. The cheque had the name of Mohammed Khizer K (A/c №: 0162301000029381 in Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Cantonment Branch, Bangalore)
A request:
If you can really help me, if you have a free calling facility, please call up any of the numbers below and ask them to return the money they owe to customers and not continue to cheat.
Sallu (Mohammed Khizer K)— +91 9901056148
Salim — +91 9916446006, +91 9008838146
Imran — +91 9035286286
Other Numbers: +91 9880706642, +91 9972688707, +91 8040903056, +91 8095456824, +91 9901630038
Just for Info, Sallu is opening up another new shop very soon — as on 25th July 2017, he was ordering for the tiles replacement and related works. He was in a hurry to open it. Hoping his future customers will be more careful or hope he gets the good will to stop cheating his customers and treat them well.
The proofs
→ The Bills: I would not have had the copy of these bills had not Imran asked me to send it to him for validating the order.


→ The delays
Suggested:
Avoid Sapna furniture and the shops associated with them (the one called Shine Furniture). You can look at their online reviews too.
