WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is working to shut down a religious garment company in Franklin County that customers are saying doesn't deliver on its orders.
Dr. Serena Rowan made an order with Hoffman Brothers Robe Company two years ago.
"I never got the robes," Rowan said. "I continued to call and wait, for over a year."
When she realized her robes were probably never coming, Rowan contacted the Better Business Bureau. She wrote the Attorney General Eric Schmitt. Rowan also took Hoffman Brothers Robe Company to small claims court.
"I filed a claim and had a court date," Rowan said. "Hoffman Brothers was issued a subpoena to come to court. No one showed up."
The small claims court judge awarded Rowan the roughly $1,100 she was owed, but Hoffman Brothers has never paid up.
Rowan did end up getting robes through another company, but some Hoffman Brothers customers decided to wait it out.
Amber Wilson of Belleville, Illinois, put down a $300 deposit on robes for her husband. She said Hoffman Brothers Robe Company never completed the order, and she never got her deposit back. She's still hoping the company makes good on their deal.
In October 2019, the Missouri Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit against Hoffman Brothers Robe Company. In the filing, it states 17 customers are owed robes or a refund from the Franklin County business. The lawsuit also states that in all, Hoffman Brothers Robe Company owes $34,000 worth of products to people across the country.
Dr. Rowan can't speak for the other people still waiting on robes from Hoffman Brothers, but she does say this: "If I got a package in the mail with the robes, all would be well with me. I just want the right thing to be done."
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