posted on September 12, 2005 09:15:55 AM new
A friend of mine was telling me about a nut-case who had been calling his office for weeks.
My friend owns a company that manufactures items for celebrity collectibles. All items are licensed and royalties are paid to celeberity/estate Price Range from $35-100
The items can be anything from I love Ricky aprons, to Brody Bunch Clock, Plvis blue suede shoes, ect..... (yes, I am changing the names of the items because I do not know who reads these boards).
Each item comes with a certificate that states items are licensed collectibles and numbered.
This man buys an item at a store in Mississippi. Takes the item home takes the item apart (why, we do not know) and realizes that it's not an original item owned by celebrity X. It's reproduction. (no claim on packing says it's a real item owned by a celebrity)
He takes it back to the store and demands an explanation. The store plays dumb and says they were duped too because they thought the were getting an original item.
The guy calls the manufacture and tells them he will expose the company for fraud unless he gets ten thousand dollars for his pain and suffering!
The sales manager tells him that the items are licensed collectibles and he can check with the estate of the celebrity for verification.
The guy starts harassing the legal team of the estate. The estate's legal team starts calling the manufacture and tells them to "make this guy happy."
The manufacture is not about to pay this guy 10 grand for nothing.
The guy decides he is going to sue and expose the company all over the Internet.
Well, turns out no attorney will take his case because he doesn't have a case!
So he starts harassing the manufacture again, They tell him they will send him a new clock and that is the end of his "grief and complaints."
I ask my friend for this guys email because I want to block him on Ebay in case he is looking for other people to harass.
Turns out, this guy never got his clock. He lived right on the water in Mississippi and his entire neighborhood is gone. He may be gone for all I know. Katrina strikes.
The "store" where he purchased the item, tries to get into the act too, but turns out "the store" never purchased anything from the manufacture in the first place. They couldn't come up with a sales reps name or receipt. (they were hoping to get a big pay off too).
It makes me sick how people sit around think of ways to rip honest businesses and individuals off.
Has anyone ever experienced anything like that before?
I had my own experience with someone like that when I first started on Ebay. This women does a BIN but doesn't pay. She emails me and says she doesn't want the item. I explain how Ebay NPB works and she decides to pay. She still doesn't pay. Finally she demands I do not charge her sales tax (she is in the same state). I tell her she has to pay and that is when she decides to get nasty.
She tells me she is going to expose me for fraud because the items I am selling are fake and she is close personal friends with the celeberty who told her so. I tell her that he better stop cashing his royalty checks LOL. Anyway I give the the phone number to the vendors legal department and that shut her up.
A few months later a women is busted on Ebay for selling fake handbags. Guess who it was?
