January 2005 - Caution Message Board

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In Nov 2004, I won two yahoo auctions by yazoo user name kjoylv with e-mail of moneymanlv@hotmail.com.

This person indicated the total of the two auctions plus postage was $845. I mailed a check for that amount to J D Joy, Jefferson Hills PA 15025. On 3 Dec 04, I saw the check had cleared and I emailed asking if coins had been mailed. On 5 Dec 04, he indicated coins will be mailed tomorrow. On 11 Dec 04, I emailed him that I had not received the coins, and if coins not mailed, to refund money. On 13 Dec 04, he advised coins were mailed 6 Dec 04 and to advise when they arrived. On 14 Dec 04, I advised I had received no coins, and asked for the insurance tracking number and his phone number. I have not heard anything further from him.

This matter has been referred to the Internet Fraud Center.

John Wigley

I stupidly filled the thing out before investigating...then looked on the google search and found a scam warning.

I sent them a letter telling them to never contact me by phone, emial or post and told them I forbid them to sell my info to telemarketers. Is there something I should do that you can recommend?

Thank you.

Denise LaFrance

HeadStarts Cards is still doing business! They have been told to ship items that are owed. But they still refuse. Even when there is overwhelming evidence against them. Myself and others have filed complaints. And still there are items that have not been shipped by them. It seems to me you can sell on e-bay or other online auctions. Not have the items and take peoples money... Currently I had to hire a collection agency to try and get my money back. If you can post the message about HeadStarts Cards I'm sure you would be doing the community a great favor. If you need more info or anyone else does... Please have them e-mail me at Wesley62@verizon.net

Thank you for reading the e-mail,

Cliff B

1 year later - no shirts no refund. I have saved every e-mail and piece of correspondence regarding this fraud of a company and I am willing to contribute to and pursue legal action against them. Please advise me on what I need to do. Is there any way to get my money back????

--This person's Bad Trader Page--
http://www.traderlist.com/AmericanaCouture.html

Sakura - serial # 4D3A8PB0

Buckingham- serial # 47UB33SJ, 4DDBUBX3, 4RPAJ667, 47UB339J, 47GD339J

Thanks and have a nice day!

Sincerely, Peggy Gallagher

----- Original Message -----
From: Mark - Americana Couture
To: Mills Crenshaw
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: SETTLEMENT!

Dear Mr. Crenshaw:
This is our only settlement options..no negotiations on this matter. We will send the first check pament out next day air on January 2nd 2004 and follow this payment plan.

-JANUARY 2ND 2004 $1000
-FEBRUARY 1ST 2004: $1000
-MARCH 1ST 2004: $1000
-APRIL 1ST 2004

The final payment shall be made at the same time on the fourth month less the value of the thirteen shirts we did receive

Thank YOU

<>M<>
--------------------------------------------------------

When the 2nd of January came and went with no overnight payment we sent this follow-up email:

----- Original Message -----

From: Mills Crenshaw
To: Mark - Americana Couture
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 12:39 AM
Subject: Re: SETTLEMENT!

Mark,

Today is January 5th, 2005. In the attached e-mail you stated, "We will send the first check payment out next day air on January 2nd 2004 and follow this payment plan.

-JANUARY 2ND 2004 $1000
-FEBRUARY 1ST 2004: $1000
-MARCH 1ST 2004: $1000
-APRIL 1ST 2004 The final payment shall be made at the same time on the fourth month less the value of the thirteen shirts we did receive"

NOTHING HAS ARRIVED: Please e-mail the next day air tracking number to verify that you kept your word on this matter.

If we do not hear from you, or, if the tracking number does not prove to be valid, we will publish your "promise" together with a warning that your statements to the effect that you want to achieve a "friendly" settlement are as bogus as all your other postings. We will also publish instructions on how other victims can join a RICO class action.

Most resolutely,
Mills Crenshaw
-------------------------------------------------------------

This is his reply:

----- Original Message -----

From: Mark - Americana Couture
To: Mills Crenshaw
Cc: mills@networld.com
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 7:11 AM
Subject: Re: SETTLEMENT!

Dear Mills:

We have been advised by counsel not to speak with you.

We do intent to honor and will honor complete repayment of all funds due despite your threats and unwillingness to assist us in recovery of packages or further information on this matter.

I would suggest that you please wait until Friday of next week for the arrival of your check.

You are not an attorney, your not liscensed to practice law as an attorney and you have no legal right to solicit business for a "RICO CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT". This is a small claims issue and if you continue to harm or attempt to harm Americana Couture we will proceed with legal action with an actual attorney against you as we have ample evidence to show that you have encouraged the disruption and harm of our employers day to day operations through numerous agencies and online postings.

Thank YOU

<>M<>

www.americanacouture.com
---------------------------------------------------------------

Friday has come and gone and no payment.

A word about Mark’s threatening comments: No, I’m not an attorney. I am not licensed to practice law as an attorney; but then I have never pretended to be, nor have I held myself out to be a “legal department” of a business as it appears Mark has done repeatedly. Further, I am not “soliciting business” for a RICO CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT as Mark has accused. However, I do have the right to communicate with fellow victims. I have the right to suggest that we band together in sufficient strength that we can hire an attorney who understands Civil RICO actions. Mark claims this is a “small claims action.” Apparently, his plan all along was to defraud us as individuals and then claim we had no rights as a group. I think he will find that he is wrong. It is my belief that he crossed the line into criminal conspiracy. The only way for us to find out if that belief is correct is to band together as a class and hire the toughest, no holds barred attorney we can find.

What are your thoughts?
Mills Crenshaw

--This person's Bad Trader Page--
http://www.traderlist.com/AmericanaCouture.html

Donna Dippel

--This person's Bad Trader Page--
http://www.traderlist.com/AmericanaCouture.html

Member Profile: mom2lindnandy
Chris and Miuchelle Johnson from Cedartown
4 - McDONALD'S - "101 DALMATIONS" SNOW DOME ORNAMENTS
Item number: 2294178693

Where are these items? Wish I had the information from this site prior to bidding.

--This person's Bad Trader Page--
http://www.traderlist.com/MichelleJohnson.html

I did what Ebay suggests, sending lots of emails (though I got no response), and I telephoned her home and place of business, a retail store where her clothes on Ebay originate. I received an email from her, saying I was "harrassing" her and she would contact her local police for a restraining order, even though she is in CA and I am on the East Coast. Frankly, I am happy to bundle up all my emails and send to her local police, which I may end up doing.

I followed all of Ebay's guidelines: Wrote to SafeTrade; filed a Fraud Alert; left negative feedback; filed a complaint with the CA State Attorney General's Office. Tomorrow I will write to the Better Business Bureau in her home town. What's left? Isn't this Internet Fraud?

Here's the kicker: She has re-listed same item today at a reserve price and a 'buy it now' price that is $35 higher than my winning bid. I think she took advantage of me, because I sent a check, and because in the end, she didn't really want to sell the jacket at the winning bid, which was a relative low price to pay. She has bilked other customers in the past, if you read negative posts (which I did too late).

Any other recourse? She has promised a full refund, but I've received nothing and no email. Just threats of police action. She has had access to my money now for over 3 weeks. What do I have? She has told me on several different occasions she has sent item, but never did. I could never get a tracking number from her. Never returned emails or phone calls.

She is trader Sarahllv and her email is Sarahllv@aol.com. She has received 8 negative feedbacks in the past 6 months, 20 over the last year, and 50 overall. Item number was 8150728824. Item is now relisted. I have copy of email where she said she had decided not to send item, and will send a full refund instead.

Thank you for any help you can give me. Ebay has proved useless.

I ordered a few products totaling $80.65 on February 16th, 2004 and was told that I should expect them "no later than the 12th business day" after the order was placed on that date. On 3/30/04, I received an "update" on my order, which was really just a bulk email to every customer, apparently addressing/responding to "several thousand letters we have received in the past few weeks" regarding delayed merchandise. They even promised free merchandise to consumers waiting more than four weeks for their items, but this would be merchandise I would never receive either. On 4/07/04 I received another email that appeared to contain shipping information, but stated "This order was reported lost by shipper, we have scheduled reshipment - please check the schedule above." Alas, there was no schedule given in the email. This entire time I had been emailing them but had not (yet) received a personal response from them--only these vague, confusing emails. On 4/30/04 I received a similar email, stating that it contained shipping info, but it had no tracking #. I never received the items and continued to try to contact them by both phone and email. They state they have "live" support available during their 9to5 Mountain time hours but I have never been able to reach anyone and they have not returned any of my phone calls to the company. On June 1, 2004, an individual finally responded personally to my email inquiries by stating the following "I'm terribly sorry you have not received your shipment yet - Your tracking was generated but I believe there is a label print error. I am sending this over to production to get your order pushed through this upcoming week." She also reiterated the free merchandise offer. I still never received the items so I once again emailed them. Their next response came on June 8, 2004, which was a mass/bulk email claiming some internet assault on their company. I continued to attempt to gain some personal response from the company to no avail. Also, these vague supposed shipment emails without tracking numbers at one point switched my original order total from $80.65 to $80.54--even though the merchandise had not been altered and the original charge to my card was for $80.65. I looked them up on the BBB website and was very discouraged to see their poor rating. I decided to finally request a full refund and on 9/16/04 I heard from someone stating the following "We have issued a credit with our merchant bank. Please note, we have changed merchant banks, in the event this credit does not post within 7 days please file a dispute and we will affirm the charge in order to ensure prompt credit to your account." Of course, I didn't realize at that time that most banks allow only 3 months for credit card disputes post the original order date--whether the company exploits this fact or not is unknown to me and I can NOT and really can't speak on this subject--but it naturally and understandably IS of concern to me. Needless to say, I have received no refund since then despite numerous phone calls and emails. I filed complaints with the BBB and FTC and was very upset that the company told the BBB that they refunded the money to me when they had not. Therefore the dispute remains unresolved. On 9/21 they sent a mass email stating they were "back to business!"--which struck me as more frustrating than reassuring. If they were "back to business" (whatever that means) on 9/21, then why are so many of us STILL waiting for refunds/resolution of our charges? I emailed again on 11/01/04 and received an email the next day stating I would hear back in 72 hours--but I heard back on 11/13/04. This time I was told again to file a dispute with my credit card company but he also added "I will be cutting refund checks in December...". I emailed again and received a response 1/05/05 stating the following: "I wanted to give you an update on this and I am sorry for the delay in sending out your refund. The refunds are still coming they have just been pushed back to after the holidays. This is a very busy time and we are working diligently to make you happy." Happy? I don't think so. I emailed him back and cited much of the aforementioned info, requesting a response, only to receive an email stating "Your order should go out next week by January 14th 2005. This is my best guest on delivery.I am sorry for the delays. We have been a little slowed down do to shipping of our shirts,Swarovski crystals, rivets and so forth due to the weather delays in various parts of the USA." And it also offered $50 in free merchandise. ??? I want a REFUND, which I have stated clearly. And to blame almost yearlong delays on weather NOW? Shipments lost, misprinted labels, internet assaults, etc... Hmm. This all made me wonder if I was receiving a bulk email of some form, so I responded, again requesting a refund,... Guess what? I received an identical email to the one cited above from 01/05/05. So, alas, no answer. I have emailed him and stated that I give them 7 days (as was the time period they cited to me back in September) to credit my purchase. At that point I intend on posting back on this site to let everyone know if the situation has been rectified or not...as I want to make sure that the entire story is told in this forum.

I feel that this situation is highly irresponsible of Americana Couture. The individuals that have emailed me (Mark and Maryanne) have been (in general) relatively pleasant (in emails--as I said, no phone calls have been returned), but it really can not make up for the fact that this has been such a frustrating ordeal. I simply want my refund that I am owed and I hope that Americana Couture--if they remain in business--do not put future customers through this unfortunate chain of events. As I stated in an email to Mark yesterday: "The money may seem like an insignificant amount, but the principle of the matter comes down to ethical and responsible business practices. Issues that I hope americana couture values and upholds--but I have no evidence of up until this point." I will send an update if they refund the money.

Thank you for providing a place for us to feel like we're not alone!

TH

--This person's Bad Trader Page--
http://www.traderlist.com/AmericanaCouture.html

*Note from Mediator, Pat:
Although this complaint is very lengthy, it is so similar to all the rest of the complaints we have received about this company, that I felt it was important for everyone to see the entire complaint. I know that others have received the same excuses from Americana Couture..some for almost a year..and still believe they will get their product or refund, so they don't bother to complain.

I too have had a year long ordeal with Americana Couture and cannot seem to get any resolution despite numerous e-mails and "promises" from their customer service (Maryanne) dept.

I ordered a t-shirt in December 2003! Without giving you all of the details, I never received the shirt, I was promised a free gift shirt for my "inconvenience" I never received either of the shirt though my credit card was charged.

After an entire year has passed, their excuses have ranged from UPS stole a bunch of packages to they were the victims of a huge internet smear campaign to the shirt was shipped to an address 30 miles away from me with no similarities to my address whatsoever.

I finally filed a claim with the better business bureau in December 2004.

This has been the worst online shopping experience I have ever had.

--This person's Bad Trader Page--
http://www.traderlist.com/AmericanaCouture.html

Morena Lakes, Ca.

I sent her a money order for 3 presale beanies on Dec 18th through her Ebay listings. They were expensive but decent prices. Had to keep asking about receipt? I have sent out 85 money orders for Ebay purchased and none have ever gone missing. After several attempts to get an answer I rec'd a nasty, verbally abusive phone call from Mr. Sawyer threatening me with non payment. I had already sent them the money order number. I had to hang up the phone and they tried again but I would not answer. They filed against me for non payment and I filed against them for harassment and threats. I have kept a file and it is full of lies and threats and a great deal of nastiness all on their part.

I checked on my money order and it has not been cashed but the beanies have since increased in price. I suspect that when they get a letter with an MO and the value of those beanies increase - how hard is it to say 'you never got it' - only I have been pressing so they are getting back at me with nasty threats of being thrown out of ebay. Yes, they do a lot of selling BUT I WON'T DEAL WITH THEM. These folks can't be trusted and by their language and behavior have proven to be predatory!.

Comments on Ty.com have uncovered some similar behavior that others have experienced with this seller. PS I have 100% + feedback as a purchaser and never have encountered this behavior before and hopefully never again.

It is now costing me 15 dollars to recover my funds (hopefully) which is $97.55 and they have also accused me of being crazy. Oh well whatever floats their boat. Ebay makes money from them so why rock it ---what a shame!

--This person's Bad Trader Page--
http://www.traderlist.com/EstieSawyer.html