Introduction: We are owed $328 by “Backyard City” for a defective grommet in a sun shade panel. The purpose of this blog is to warn and dissuade you from doing business with this outdoor yard and home products e-commerce company in Collierville, TN (www.backyardcity.com, www.backyardcitypools.com). Backyard City’s business model appears based upon denying valid warranty claims or agreeing to refund monies and then failing to do so.  Trey Collier, the public “face” of the business, is masterful at smoke and mirrors, and, based on our experience, acts like he’s doing something, when the reality is that he’s doing nothing but obfuscating and stringing you along. 


About BackyardCity (BYC):  BYC’s twitter account makes the grandiose claim that “BYC is North America's finest outdoor casual living store.” Trey Collier is the person you get when you order/complain. William Collier is the owner and a family member of Trey’s.  The office address is 452 Distribution Pkwy, Collierville, TN 38017 (the address they often give out is 875 W. Poplar Ave #23-130, Collierville, 38017, which is only a UPS box).  The email is support@backyardcity.com and phone is 901-751-8809 or 888-253-9736.  This is a very small outfit, despite Trey’s reference to having to get “approvals” from their “accounting department,” like it’s a corporate conglomerate. (He admitted the “department” is only two people—Taryn and Michelle—who sit near him).  It appears that the actual products are made by third-party businesses elsewhere, not by BYC.


Our Story: My spouse and I love sun shade sails (or panels).  We have owned many, including several when we lived on the breezy Texas Gulf Coast. In 2018, after we moved to Florida, we set out to purchase several to shade an atrium and native plant garden I was setting up.  My spouse couldn’t find exactly what we wanted through Amazon or our traditional vendors. He identified “Backyard City” through an Internet search.   In Feb. 2018, we ordered a 126 sq. ft commercial shade panel, with grommets in the corners, for $328; we received the shade in late March or early April.  (We also ordered from Trey a differently sized panel and a sail, and the materials and hardware of those products have been fine.) Within a short time, the grommets on the 126 sq. ft. panel began to fail, as explained and depicted below: 






"We will take care (sic) you!"



On April 20, 2018, my spouse did ask Trey to put the warranty issue on hold in May and until late June because we were going to be out of town for a couple of months and needed the panel in place while we were gone (he had rigged up a temporary fix for the panel).  Upon returning, we couldn’t get a response from Trey on the refund.  My spouse called him on June 28, 2018 and then two or three times in July and August 2018. 

I spoke with Trey on Sept. 5, 2018.  He claimed that he had received “approval” from their accounting people on Aug. 29 for the refund and first said it would take 7 business days to receive it, later in the call saying 10 days.   He finally said it was “reasonable to expect a refund by September 13.” I did state that we would consider a small claims court suit if our claim wasn’t honored, at which point he said it would be a “different game” because they would get their lawyer involved.  The reality is that it would cost us more than the refund to pursue a small claims case in either TN or FL, a point probably not lost on BackyardCity.

Our final communication with Backyard City was an email: 

<support@backyardcity.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 13, 2018 at 4:20 PM, stating that accounting:

planned to cut a check this afternoon and mail it.”

The proverbial “check in the mail” has never arrived. 
 
Avenues for Formal Complaints (a going-through-the motions exercise but may make you feel better). BackyardCity doesn’t do business on Amazon, isn’t a member of the Collierville Chamber of Commerce, and isn’t registered with the Better Business Bureau, so those review and complaint processes are unavailable.   However, these options are available:

      (1) File an e-complaint with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) at www.tn.gov/consumer.  I filed on 12/12/18 and received a letter from TDCI on 1/2/19 that a specialist had been assigned and would follow up.   Have all of the relevant facts at hand first before you e-file online, e.g., date and amount of the transaction(s), contact info, whether you’ve attempted to resolve the matter 1st with Backyard City.

         (2) Write unfavorable social media (BYC has a Facebook and Twitter account) and Internet reviews.  Example review sites include Google (sign-in to Google, open Google Maps, search on “BackyardCity, Collierville, TN; on the left, scroll down and click “Write a review”); www.sitejabber.com (see 20 “one star” reviews of BackyardCity for others’ bad experiences with refunds and poor quality service); https://reviews.birdeye.com.  

3     (3) File a small claims case.  You can probably file in your own county because BackyardCity has done business there by virtue of providing you a tangible product; however, service of process on an out-of-state business and individuals is likely going to cost you more than your out-of-pocket damages.   If you’re in the Collierville area, you can file in the Shelby County General Sessions Court, Civil Division, Memphis.  See the Shelby County, TN website,  https://gs4.shelbycountytn.gov (Civil Division), for more info and forms.  You’ll probably need to call the Civil Administrator (contact info on website) since the Civil Division’s website currently doesn’t provide specific info or guidance on the small claims process.   

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