I think you need to enjoy your purchase and not worry about the history of it.

The people you bought from were dishonest, but you can't control them.

ML

I would at least let them know, you know what they did and you know they lied about being the original owner, even though there's nothing you can do about it.

I'd forget it. If they are liars they aren't going to give a whit that you "know".

I agree with olychick. They have your money and don't care what you think. If they did, they wouldn't have lied.

Forget it and enjoy your new to you furniture.

I get what you all are saying. And I agree they most likely don't care what other people think. I'm probably not going to bother but part of me wants to. If only to tell them I know they were dishonest and hope that it nags at their conscience (even if only a little bit).

Its just galling, really. Grrrr.

At this stage I think I am more upset with myself than with them. As my grandma used to say (long before Forrest Gump), "Stupid is as stupid does."

Yes, they were dishonest, but in the end you did get the pieces that you wanted. I wouldn't dwell on it.

Some people use CL as a means to clean house, others use it as a means to make money. They may have been dishonest, unethical or misleading, but they seem to know how to work the system to their benefit. Buyer beware because, unfortunately it's every man (or woman) for himself. Sorry it happened to you.

I feel your pain! I wanted a sectional last year, and was really sad about the size and quality at my $3000 budget point. I found a large sectional, 12' by 8' on craigslist. Stanford furniture, 8-way hand-tied springs, down cushions, hardwood frame, good construction, with matching ottoman.

It was described as being in excellent condition. The loose back cushions were a little slouchy, the fabric was very red, and the arm style was a little dated. So i paid them $800, and planned to get my friend, a local upholsterer to redo it for me probably in blue in a year or so.. So i will probably put another $1500 to 2000 in fabric and labor, but i can have the arm style altered cushion density altered.

But... When i arrived with moving truck, the seller happily told me that she had pulled it out from the wall and vacuumed it all over for me and she was going to give me all of her decorative pillows too. We went in the room to inspect it and the entire sofa had been pulled apart into 4 or 5 sections, and Seat cushions, back cushions and decorative pillows were stacked in piles everywhere. She proudly announced, "i've been putting them in bags for you, so they will stay clean for transport." I felt a little rude but i told her as politely as possible, that i would need to see the cushions before i bought them. (trying to be wary here, i was afraid of stains, etc....). The cushions were clearly invery nice condition.

We paid and loaded and drove 2 hours home. We unloaded and discovered that Four of the seven back cushions were missing!

At first i thought we had maybe left them there or dropped them in the snow, lol, but when you looked at her photo in the ad -- - i dont know how to describe it exactly - but she had plumped the decorative pillows forward, so they looked like they were resting on back cushions. And with the deep red sofa, and the kind of grainy photo... It just wasnt easy to see that there were back cushions missing, even when you knew!

At her home, with all the sectional pieces apart and the pillows and cushions stacked in piles ---- i thought to examine the condition of them, but i never thought to count them!

So i was furious, but to best salvage the situation for myself, i politely emailed her, told her that 4 cushions were missing, and that i assumed that they had gotten damaged or something. i was aware on CL it was caveat emptor, but if the cushions were damaged, i would still apprecite having the down bags that go inside the cushions. She apologized and offered to mail me back $200, and said she didnt have the cushions. Never heard from her again. Definitely didn't receive the $200.

Anyway, since i was planning to reupholster it anyway, it is not a complete disaster, but now i have the additional cost of having 4 large down cushions made. And it looks goofy right now. But it is exceedingly comfortable and solid. So ultimately it will come out right. I hope.

But as an aside, if you want revenge - ask high school students! They are all secretly creative evil geniuses with enough free time to hatch a plan.
I tutor, and one of the vocb words was "dupe" During breaktime, we were laughing about my experience being Sofa-Duped and my students suggested that since i knew the seller's address, that i could use google earth to locate all the addresses of neighbors in her community.

My students offered to write a letter describing my experience, paste in a copy of her ad showing the deceptive "staging" of the sectional, paste in a copy of the sofa as it actually is, and close by saying that "i cant fix my transaction but i can publicize her behavior" andmail the story to everyone in her neighborhood.

I did NOT do that, and instead assigned an SAT style essay on whether revenge is ever justified ; )

(apologies for typos, i have a terrible time typing on ipad screen!)

Here is a link that might be useful: This is exactly my ottoman, shows color of sectional.

ROFLMAO!
And what a great way to turn the topic into an essay!

(Sorry about the back cushions. Those puppies aren't cheap...)

I like it, no wait, I love it!

Sorry about what happened to you, though. That stinks. Its good that you have a sense of humor about it. I'm still looking for mine...

Oh, i was miserable over it, but i rebounded. You will too!