TomPeashey Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Hi Folks, I have waited months before going public with this, but there seems to be no alternative. Last summer, Heartliner from Ludwigshafen Germany attended the DCA World Championships and also competed in Bridgeport CT and Pennsauken NJ. They were very well received and had a wonderful tour. It was my privilege to advise them on this tour. It was a great experience for all of us on both sides of the ocean. However, there is one black spot hanging over the tour - something that is personally embarrassing to me, and embarrassment to the drum corps activity and indeed an international embarrassment for the United States of America. They wanted to purchase USA tour shirts in the United States. Through another drum corps advisor, Bill Aldrich-Thorpe working with them for Drum Corps World and through no fault of his, they were put in touch with someone in Arkansas to provide these shirts. The Arkansas person requested 100% prepayment and the money was wired from Germany. I have all the legal documents to prove this. This person in Arkansas had them send $2500 to his sister in another state. This confuses the legal issue. Bill, like I, is most embarrassed and feels awful about this whole situation. To make a long story short, the shirts were never produced. I even got involved in trying to save the situation and was promised shipment. NOTHING! At this point, the very least anyone would expect is a complete refund... many promises - no refund... I'll not go further than this for now, but if there's anyone who has legal knowledge of how to recover these funds without spending the entire $2500 for an attorney - please contact me. To that drum corps person in Arkansas, all I can say is: Let's put this situation to bed - refund their money... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) Hi Folks, I have waited months before going public with this, but there seems to be no alternative. Last summer, Heartliner from Ludwigshafen Germany attended the DCA World Championships and also competed in Bridgeport CT and Pennsauken NJ. They were very well received and had a wonderful tour. It was my privilege to advise them on this tour. It was a great experience for all of us on both sides of the ocean. However, there is one black spot hanging over the tour - something that is personally embarrassing to me, and embarrassment to the drum corps activity and indeed an international embarrassment for the United States of America. They wanted to purchase USA tour shirts in the United States. Through another drum corps advisor, Bill Aldrich-Thorpe working with them for Drum Corps World and through no fault of his, they were put in touch with someone in Arkansas to provide these shirts. The Arkansas person requested 100% prepayment and the money was wired from Germany. I have all the legal documents to prove this. This person in Arkansas had them send $2500 to his sister in another state. This confuses the legal issue. Bill, like I, is most embarrassed and feels awful about this whole situation. To make a long story short, the shirts were never produced. I even got involved in trying to save the situation and was promised shipment. NOTHING! At this point, the very least anyone would expect is a complete refund... many promises - no refund... I'll not go further than this for now, but if there's anyone who has legal knowledge of how to recover these funds without spending the entire $2500 for an attorney - please contact me. To that drum corps person in Arkansas, all I can say is: Let's put this situation to bed - refund their money... Tom ... you might try to contact a local TV news station in the area and ask if they have a Consumer Affairs Advocate/Reporter working for them ... they are VERY effective in getting results due to the bad publicity for the vendor on TV ... might be worth a try ... :-) Edited November 11, 2013 by ajlisko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcorpsfever Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) I'd start with looking into small claims court. You don't need an attorney. http://www.jp.pima.gov/Pages/SmallClaims/NewSmallClaim/ edited for: Here's another link that may provide helpful info: http://www.smallclaims.com/?cat=7 Edited November 11, 2013 by drumcorpsfever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff danchik Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 This may be a case of felony theft of services. Have you contacted your local District Attorney for guidance. If they feel there's cause, they may point you towards either the FBI or Postal Inspectors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 This may be a case of felony theft of services. Have you contacted your local District Attorney for guidance. If they feel there's cause, they may point you towards either the FBI or Postal Inspectors. I agree Jeff... and that may well be the next step... I just wanted to hesitate for the same reason I did not post his name, I'm still hoping that he just gives them their money back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 (edited) This is international wire fraud; contact the feds. The feds always like these easy ones. They'll handle this faster than crap through a goose just to get the coverage and press; anything to make themselves (feds) look good.......and this one is a no pain with a lot of (pr) gain for the federal authorites. Edited November 11, 2013 by bill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 This is international wire fraud; contact the feds. The feds always like these easy ones. They'll handle this faster than crap through a goose just to get the coverage and press; anything to make themselves (feds) look good.......and this one is a no pain with a lot of (pr) gain for the federal authorites. This is an excellent point and it takes care of the problem of the money having been sent to his sister in a different state... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff danchik Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 From my own experience of having Identity theft by a trusted family friend and my own work with the court system, don't wait.The fact that money was diverted to another person is a red flag.File the charges, if the person makes good you can always drop them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pheonix1 Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 This original post is but one side of the issue. Within forty eight hours of the order being placed (not paid for, but placed) a representative of Heartliner was sending rude and profane messages demanding the shirts. The very unprofessional behavior of this representative was staggering. The shirts were still produced to fullfill the order regardless of the behavior. When the profane and derogatory messages persisted, the order was cancelled in accordance with American law. When arrangement were being made to return the funds, three different ppl stepped forward with claims that the funds were to be returned to them. While negotiating in good faith with one party, there were others that were creating issues and slandering the company in the background. The funds were NOT sent to a family member but were sent to the business owners. The matter is being forwarded to the US state department for investigation and federal and civil charges are pending against the originator of this post along with others that have perpetuated the faulty allegations against the company contracted for the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 This original post is but one side of the issue. Within forty eight hours of the order being placed (not paid for, but placed) a representative of Heartliner was sending rude and profane messages demanding the shirts. The very unprofessional behavior of this representative was staggering. The shirts were still produced to fullfill the order regardless of the behavior. When the profane and derogatory messages persisted, the order was cancelled in accordance with American law. When arrangement were being made to return the funds, three different ppl stepped forward with claims that the funds were to be returned to them. While negotiating in good faith with one party, there were others that were creating issues and slandering the company in the background. The funds were NOT sent to a family member but were sent to the business owners. The matter is being forwarded to the US state department for investigation and federal and civil charges are pending against the originator of this post along with others that have perpetuated the faulty allegations against the company contracted for the work. Thank you for the clarifaction. I'm sure once the matter hits the State Department they will drop everything else and jump right on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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