Scam Pre-Recorded Telemarketing Calls Being Made To Region: "We're from BBB – Because of bailout, we can offer you a low-rate credit card." [Spokane.net] (Photo: tj scenes)

[Parent company] Event Tickets LLC has an unsatisfactory rating from BBB due to its performance, which includes nearly 100 instances of non-delivery of tickets, nearly another 100 complaints involving refunds and exchanges, and on about 200 occasions, the company has failed to even respond to BBB or consumers to resolve issues.

Remember, avoid this company when buying tickets. We've heard only bad things about them, and have yet to hear of any sort of resolution or follow-up story that would make us change our minds.

"BBB Warns Sports Fans, Concert-Goers, and Theater Buffs: Beware of TicketsMyWay.com" (Thanks to Cheriset!)
(Photo: Getty)

The faxed scam says, "We are happy to info you that you have emerged a winner under the F&F EQUITY DRAW, which is part of a promotional draws organized by all crediting lending partners to enable home owners who owned a home all over the United States of America have more money, and at the same time buy more homes in the area where they live. The funds were drawn from part of the total Fifty Billion US Dollars ($50 Billion) release to the financial institutions and creditros by the Government and other donor nations who have so much interest and investments in the United States of America."

Here's the BBB's report on investigating the scam:

After faxing my official “Equity Draw” information sheet to a number in Idaho, I called the 778 number and had the pleasure of speaking to “Jorge Marcelo”, at Fannie n Freddie Prize Headquarters. He said he had my fax right there in front of him, which is interesting since I never told him who I was nor did he ask. But he did tell me that to collect my big prize I was required to wire a “processing fee” of $850 to the Vegas address in my documents via Western Union, call him with the WU control number and then I could collect my riches.

Obviously I’m excited, so I invited the FBI to share in my excitement. I’m not sure if there’s anything here worth law enforcement pursuit, but that’ll be up to them. My guess is Jorge is probably not in BC, and that the WU office in Vegas will forward my $850 to another location, and it may be bounced several times.

Fraudsters have a core set of scams that they just keep putting new hats on old scams to fit the zeitgeist. Most of us wouldn't fall for this iteration, rife with spelling and grammatical errors. But a few, like the desperate, elderly, ignorant, non-native-English-speaking, or some combination thereof, might. The scammers, will, however, try another variant on the lottery scam. For them, it's all a numbers game, and their auto-dialers just keep ringing up one more.

(Photo: ptaff)

Here's the actual BBB complain that went unanswered by Taco Bell:

About 3 weeks ago i called the 800# asking what grade of beef they use. All they could tell me was usda approved. I called 4 times and got the same, twice i left my # and was told a nutritionalist would call me back....no call ever came. I next e mailed corp with the same question. I was answered by a Sandy Shakelford telline me:I have located a phone number contact in which you can inquire about our meat. Taco Bell Corporation 949-863-4500 and ask for the QA Department. I called a total of three times first got a prompt telling me to put in MY voice mail # to get my messages. Next i was transfered to a recording telling of bad cheese both plain and mixed and to throw them out and call in for a credit. Third was disconected. 4th i got a voice mailbox in the Quality control dept. i think his name was Steve...Again i left my question and # and again no call back. On Feb 27 i e mailed Sandy telling her what my phone experiance was and had not got an answer to my question...That was 10 days ago and again no contact from Sandy nor Taco Bell. Side note the web sight says contact us call 1800 TACO BELL when its actually 800 TACO BEL....The companys resistance to answer my question tells me what i was told by a friend that worked there that they use poor yet usda approved beef could be true.

(Thanks to Bob!)

This is an excerpt of Stephen's original complaint, posted over 18 months ago:

My most recent bout came with a company named Tiny Details based out of Syracuse, NY. My wife was interested in earning some extra money for us from home, a prospect that I found very appealing. What with our son and all, it's really not feasible for her to go to work, so finding her a way to draw income at home was ideal.

I found Tiny Details while researching along those lines. I considered the link pointing to it to be more legitimate than most (and trust me, I know a lot about links). The site seemed a bit unprofessional, which should have been a big tip-off, but I didn't find anyone saying anything negative about it. My wife was very excited at the prospect, as much as she loves arts and crafts.

Unfortunately, I didn't do my research as thoroughly as I should have. It wasn't until after we had bought a kit for my wife that I came across these Tiny Details customer complaints and some more recent warnings about Tiny Details. I also managed to find the Tiny Details Better Business Bureau report. I'm ashamed to say that I missed such glaring stop signs. I guess I must have been dreamy eyed over their false promises rather than incredulous as I rightfully should have been.

At any rate, I've cancelled our order and plan to seek reimbursement through whatever means necessary, up to and including legal action. I don't expect them to make it easy; companies like this never do. I fully suspect it's money that I'll never see again one way or another, in which case I'll take it as $55 worth of valuable education: If it seems too good to be true, it is. Do your research first, and do it right.

Email #1:

I am writing about the substantively incorrect postings that you have on your website.

I am asking that you remove this point immediately. Your representation of Tiny Details is inacurate and libelous.

I have forwarded this information to our company attorney, along with your domain registration information.

Please govern yourself accordingly.

Kristopher Buchan
President
Tiny Details, LLC

Email #2:

Mr. Ward,

You will be hearing from our attorney.

What you have posted is indeed libel.

I am in the process of seeking your address through your domain registrating information. You will be hearing from us shortly.

Kristopher Buchan

From WAHM.com

"You also reminded me that I had sent them a kit (to Christian Miniatures actually) on Nov. the 30th. I added a "Delivery Confirmation" on the package, and it states that they received it on Dec. the 2nd. I had returned a completed kit that needed corrections. It's the 21st already and I've heard nothing. I just called and they just have a recording stating that they're unavailable and to leave a message for a return call (yeah, like THAT'S gonna happen!). So, I just sent them an email with Deliver Receipt Proof. Two weeks ago they had told me they'd never received it, so they couldn't tell me anything about it. The receipt showed that they HAD received it. Hmmm, something fishy's going on here!!!"(posted by rtanza, December 2004)

"Well, I finally heard from Tiny Details today - it seems as though my returned materials were also "never received". I filed a complaint with the BBB. I foolishly did not send my materials with a return receipt so I really can't prove anything... but it's really not the money part of this that is so annoying to me, I just can't stand the idea of folks being taken advantage of like this. Oh well, live and learn..." (posted by scarletbrook, January 2005)

From Rip-Off Report

I decided to try sending them back their own perfect samples as my first sample to see if they were accepted. They made sure to reassure me that they wanted one sample sent back to them so they could inspect it and save me any trouble making a bunch of mistakes. The only problem with that was that I had to send them a sample and wait longer to see if it even passed their ridiclous inspection. Suprise! It didn't pass. Wow, go figure. Now I know I have been scammed. I even sent an e-mail to them saying that I sent them their own sample to see how truthful they were and they rejected it. I have yet to get a response. I'm sure that this is just another scam and that I'm out $55 because I was fooled into falling for it. (posted by Leila, April 2006)

But you can't get all ham-fisted with complaints about your service and try to sue former customers into silence, Buchan. Besides, Stephen's initial post is so vague that it doesn't say much more beyond "I decided not to do business with them." Based on Buchan's aggression towards an unhappy former customer who was just stating his opinion, we think Stephen made the right call.

"Tiny Details" [Project Paradox]
"Rather than listening to its critics, president of company threatens blogger with libel lawsuit" [Bloggasm]

RELATED
Tiny Details
"BBB Reliability Report for Tiny Details LLC" [Better Business Bureau]
(Photo: Paul Keleher)

The short version of the story: after signing up with Vonage, Keith discovered it wouldn't work with his company's Asterix private branch exchange (ooo fancy telephone lingo), so he canceled and went with another company. The Vonage router was never shipped out, the company never connected to Vonage's servers, and yet due to some easily-preventable email errors on Vonage's side*, they claimed to have never received a request to terminate the service. So, from January to August, Vonage continued to charge the company.

Keith repeatedly contacted Vonage's customer service, then escalated the issue to the Better Business Bureau, which contacted Vonage on his behalf. Vonage remained firm: Keith did not cancel the account properly, and whether the device was shipped out or not, he bought the service and they were going to charge him.

Keith's email carpet bomb was short but comprehensive, respectful, dispassionate, and clear. It made a strong case for why and how Vonage screwed up, and Keith offered additional evidence for anyone who wanted to follow up. "I had to look online and find every name and email of every single employee of the company that I could. I searched through press releases and the investor website and so forth, after sending this complaint in to about 50 people over there I got a quick response that I would receive a full credit."

Congrats, Keith!

* More on the email errors for those of you who are curious—Vonage sent an email that said they weren't compatible with Asterix. Keith responded to that email to cancel the service. However, Vonage's return address wasn't a legitimate one, but their servers did not send back an "invalid address" warning to alert Keith's company, so as far as Keith knew the email was received and the service was canceled—especially since they never shipped out the router. (return to top of post)

RELATED
The Ultimate Consumerist Guide To Fighting Back
(Photo: Getty)

While not able to resolving complaints, the BBB does a good job of documenting and publishing them. When warranted, the organization passes on complaints to the proper authorities.

These publicly available records can warn other customers, provide a basis for lawsuits, or aid local investigative reporter make a point about unscrupulous local businesses that no one seems to be able to do anything about.

Find a Better Business Bureau Near You

But it's okay, it was their parents money to begin with, right?

One reseller you may want to avoid is eCampus.com, who, according to Briana's letter, practically defrauded her.

We've heard, and experienced first hand, the ignominy of high text book prices met with perversely low buy-back rates. Are there any good, fair, sites or services out there for college students looking to finance their next crate of Ramen?

Briana's letter, after the jump...

Briana writes:

"Thought I'd share my story with you since a) I love your site and b) it's that time of year again when students everywhere are seeking to make a buck for their textbooks.

On November 3, 2005 I placed a buyback order with eCampus for some textbooks totaling $125.85. On November 5, 2005 I mailed out the box of textbooks using a printed label supplied by eCampus.

On January 30, 2006 after not having received my payment, I checked the status of my account online and it still indicated the transaction was being processed. I emailed customer service and received a response from hhershey that indicated my books had been received and that, due to a backlog my check would take another 6-8 weeks to be delivered.

On May 4, 2006 I still had not received either a check or further word on my account, and it was still listed as 'processing' online. I emailed customer service again, and received a response one minute later (according to the timestamps on the email sent to me) from hhershey telling me my order was never received.

When I asked why I was told otherwise before, and why my account still showed 'processing' (as opposed to 'cancelled' as it would in the instance my order was not received) I was referred to a customer service rep, Brittany. She informed me that since I did not insure the package, there was nothing further they could do for me.

I asked her why then had I been told my order was received previously, and why my order still listed as processing. I also questioned whether the one minute between receiving my message and responding was really adequate time to have verified the package was not received. My response was referred back to hhershey who replied to tell me there was nothing further they could do for me.

Six months of waiting for my check, and they lost my order and refuse to work with me further or give me compensation. I decided to do a little research to see what I was dealing with here. According to the Better Business Bureau they have an unsatisfactory rating (208 complaints in the last year), and searches on both PlanetFeedback and Epinions return scads of negative customer complaints for similar situations.

So we've learned two lessons in this little tale: 1) always make sure you get insurance for anything worth more than $20 when mailing, and 2) never use eCampus.com for your textbook needs. There's no telling how many unsuspecting kids they've hosed with this scam, telling them they 'lost' their order, or that it will be 6-8 more weeks when they're just skimming the free books for resale and hoping their victims will forget about pursuing compensation.

Shoulda known better,
Briana L."

From Consumer Affairs:

The BBB's program is designed to demystify the complexities of data security and give small businesses a non-technical roadmap to securing their customer data.

The national program includes free, easy-to-read security and privacy toolkits, with separate kits focused on customer and employee data protection. The customer data kit is available now, and the employee kit will be released in the fall.

Great stuff. Now how about distributing these non-technical roadmaps to the companies like Citibank? After all, they're the ones who really need to fucking wise up already.

Small Businesses Urged to Lock Down Vital Data [Consumer Affairs]

She reports the Better Business Bureau has opened a case and Uniwill has until the 11th of March to respond. She says further that the laptop was purchased from the MAX Group, a discount wholesale computer seller. So it may be that the Uniwill is simply a reseller. But if so, they shouldn't offer full on-site warranties if they can't live up to them.

We'll say it again, always buy from a reputable source with a positive track record. Otherwise, you may as well be buying a paper bag covered with question marks, which won't be the best for getting a good product at a reasonable price but can be fashioned later into a fetching clutch for your Riddler halloween costume.