The Consumer Complaints Blog

Shek Ko is a Toronto based conductor who is with the Brampton Lyric Opera. A few years ago, she attempted to start a company called Panda Eye Passion that catered to “virtuoso inspiration, youth involvement, and cultural exchange tours, all with a multicultural twist.”

For her first show, Mother’s Day Italian Classics Concert: 1 Tenor, 10 High Cs, 100 Angels, Countless Love, a musical extravaganza that featured violinist Mario Zhang, she contacted me by phone for a press release and to get online exposure. Set for Sunday, May 6, 2007, she contacted me in mid Feb. Here’s what happened next:

Feb 26, 2007: emailed her quote for requested services.
Feb 27: Agreed and says will send a 50% deposit.
March 1: she requested a business letter to be edited. Additional cost added to outstanding balance.
March 2: First draft of press release.
March 12: Final draft completed. Press release out on March 14.
April 3: Email reminder for outstanding payment of $329.10 not sent. June 6: Another email reminder as well as letter sent to her home address.
June 7, 2007: Sent to collection agency. No success in getting the money (I guess since the amount was so small, they didn’t try very hard)

I also called her SEVERAL times, but I don’t remember the exact dates. Most of the time, it went to voice mail so I left a message. The last time I called her a few months later, I did speak to someone who claimed that she “would be dealing with all of her unpaid bills”. I guess I wasn’t the only one she swindled.

Sure, it’s a small amount – but that’s not the point. I provided a service, exerted the effort to complete it and was not compensated for my work. If you’re a freelancer or small business owner, you’ll probably understand how infuriating it is to be duped like this.

And there’s no way to collect.

Shek Ko
Panda Eye Passion (apparently, it’s not even a registered company)

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I am remodeling my house and I purchased a rather nice bathroom vanity ensemble made by Magick Woods Ltd. located at 111 Creditview Rd., Vaughn Ontario, Canada, L9T1. This purchase was made at Lowes in Florence, KY. This was a closeout model, according to Lowes, and was offered at a substantial discount. I took it home and put it the closet until I was ready to install it. This came as a complete set with the cabinet, marble top, glass sink bowl, and vertical faucet. When I went to install it, I found that the inner works to the faucet were missing. I called Lowes and was told that since this was a closeout sale, there was nothing they could do and I would have to contact the manufacturer.

The installation guide that came with the ensemble clearly states on the cover page to “contactsupport@Magickwoods.com if any parts were missing. I emailed support@magickwoods.com, a Canadian company, and was told this unit came from their office in India and there was nothing they could do. I emailed them again to find out who in India I needed to contact and I was told “Unfortunately there isn’t anyone that you can contact. The agreement between Lowes corporate office and our office in India is that there are no replacement parts available for this product. I’m very sorry about this. The only other suggestion would be is to purchase a new faucet”

I would like to know who produces or markets a product that is not repairable? Who ships products which are apparently missing parts? Who would make an agreement with a retailer to “not have replacement parts”? Who basically tells the consumer to pound salt when they contact them with a problem about their product missing parts?

MAGICK WOODS Ltd, that’s who!!

I suggest if anyone out there plans on buying one of their products, insult and embarrass the retailer by asking them to open the box, remove everything, take apart anything that is assembled, and inspect every piece to make sure it’s complete. Then ask them to reassemble it and put it back in the box for you. If they ask you why, tell them you read about this company on www.penciltrick.com.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I am currently experiencing a situation that seems to be unheard of to anyone that I have talked with. HHgregg had a Toshiba laptop on sale the week of March 15, 2009 at a great price. When I called the store on Sunday March 15, I was told that they did not have any of the computers in stock but they have some in the warehouse that would be delivered to the store on Tuesday and I could come in a pay for the computer and then pick it up on Tuesday. After paying for the computer I was told by the salesperson that it would be in the store on Tuesday and to call after 2 to make sure that it had arrived. On Tuesday I contacted the store and was told that the computers were still in the warehouse in Ellenwood and would be delivered to the store on Saturday. Since the computers were in a warehouse in GA I decided to call back on Friday to see if they had been delivered prior to Saturday and was once again told that the computers would be there Saturday after 2.

On Saturday I arrived at the store after 5 pm and after giving the salesperson my receipt I was told that my computer had already been picked up on Tuesday 3/17. Of course I did not pick it up nor authorize anyone to pick it up and I questioned how someone picked it up when I was told that the computer would not be delivered to the store until Saturday. After waiting for about 20 minutes for several people to attempt to research the invoice the manager walked by and he was informed of the situation. He looked at the info in the computer and also told me that the invoice shows that the computer had been picked up. I told him that I did not pick it up and he offered to go in the back and check the surveillance video. After waiting about 30 minutes the manager comes back and tells me that there is a problem and he is unable to download any video feed and offers to call me on Monday. I questioned how someone was able to come into the store and pick up my computer without my receipt and without showing id and he stated he did not know and he would need to verify with the video that it was not me that picked it up on Tuesday. I was forced to go home without my computer on Saturday.

The next Monday I went back to the store to see if any progress had been made since I did not receive a phone call as I was told that I would. I was told by the manager that there were people in the store working on the camera system. I also inquired about how long the surveillance had been out and the manager stated he did not know. I then asked what happens if he gets the video feed but the date and time that the computer was picked up is not on there and he states that he doesn’t know. I then ask to speak to his boss and I am told that he is not there but he will get him to call me. At this point and I beyond infuriated, he can’t answer my questions and is now getting an attitude with me because I keep questioning him and he then walks away from me. Once again I walked out of the store without a computer and no knowledge of when I can expect to have my problem resolved. At this point I have been without my money for 8 days and without a computer that I was told that I would have 6 days ago. My major issue is the fact that someone walked out of the store with my computer without showing a receipt because I had it in my car the entire time and obviously without showing any id to verify who they were. Second the store manager can not answer any of my questions and I am just told to wait. I have never experienced anything like this before and I wanted to share this with others.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I ordered a replacement AC adapter for my Acer laptop. I went to the
site, purposely choosing it because it claimed to be out of California. I
placed the order February 8th, 2009.

I used the sites search engine and using my laptops series number found
what looked like the right AC adapter.

I ordered it, using my credit card and awaited its arrival.

When it came…days and days and days later I was disappointed to learn that it was the wrong one and incompatible for my laptop.

I instantly called Papatek.com and was told that returns/exchanges could only be dealt with via their website. Disappointed I emailed their
customer service and awaited a response. I did get a quick automated
reply from “Sophy” but could tell from the use of the English language
that it was being written by folks who do not reside in CA let alone
America. I have written “Sophy” 5 times requesting a return address and a exchange for the correct charger. And besides being apologetic, I cannot seem to get a return address. I then called Papatek directly again and they confirmed that they have outsourced their customer service abroad. I felt like Papatek concealed the truth about their outsourcing and are not the all American company they appear to be.
According to “sophy” I am responsible for the return postage and then the postage again on the correct charger…even though it was their site that recommended the incorrect one. I think this is wrong. I no longer want a replacement, just my money returned.

I emailed “sophy” again today and again asked for the correct delivery
address. If I do not hear from them again I will just return it and
dispute the charges with my Credit card company. What a waste of time and
energy.

DO NOT USE PAPATEK.COM or you will be ripped off!

Thanks for reading!!

Audaces fortuna iuvat

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

Business involved:
Yorkdale Volkswagen o/b 2031113 Ontario Limited
600 Wilson Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M3K 1C9
Phone: 416-741-7480

I leased a new VW Passat CC through this dealer. They used an offer to lease form which doesn’t include the selling price of the vehicle on it. They told me the purchasing price was $34,735,which included the base price of $31,975 + $1,400 for auto transmission and $1,360 for freight and PDI. The leasing company is VW Credit Canada Inc. The numbers were the same as posted on VW Canada’s website. The monthly payments were a little more than what I wanted to pay so I asked if they could lower the purchase price enough to make the monthly lease payment an amount of $350 per month (this included an $8,000 trade-in). The salesman told me that he required my credit card in order to present this to his manager. He came back with a reworked offer to lease form and told me I have a deal. At that time, the salesman took my ownership papers for the car I was going to trade-in.

What they did not tell me was that they retained the same purchase price, but increased the amount I would have to pay up front, not to mention that they used a slightly higher interest rate to calculate the lease payments than the amount posted on VW Canada’s website. After I released what they did, I called the new car sales manager to complain and ask for my $1,000 deposit back. He would not give back the deposit. He agreed to reduce the my up front payment by $700, while maintaining everything else the same. Further I was told that I could have the car in the colour scheme that I wanted by the end of the week. I later found out that they do not have the car I wanted, and promised to order one for me from the manufacturer. The car arrived three weeks later. It did not come from directly the manufacturer. Instead, they acquired it from another dealer and had a manufacture date that was ficve months old, meaning it had sat through the Canadian winter — they did not disclose this to me.

When I picked up the car and fill out the leasing paperwork, the leasing rate offered by VW Credit Canada had dropped from 4.9 to 2.9%. The dealer had forms for me to sign which stated that the interest rate was 2.9% but the monthly payments or up-front payments had not changed. The residual value had been lowered by a mere $340.00. Again the purchase price was not disclosed on the new offer to lease form. When I pointed out that the lower interest rate should have a more significant effect on lowering either the up-front payments or the monthly lease payments, I was told that the effect was minimal. The Business Manager told me that they made $250 and he would make it up to me in services. At this point they already had my car and my insurance had already been transferred to the new car. So I just took his word for it. However, the lease agreement itself, which is an entirely different document, only presented to me after all of the above had occurred, contained a Vehicle Selling Price that was 37,662.83. This price was significantly higher than the MSRP of the vehicle, and when I questioned it I was told it includes freight, security deposit and first month payments as well as some other small charges. Not having a computer with me at the dealership, these items cannot be easily checked. After getting home, I realized they the selling price only included freight, not security deposit and first month payment and was $3,319.83 above the selling price I had agreed to.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.