In December of 2002, I became a member of a dating organization in Virginia
Beach called INTRODUCTIONS. I later came to learn this business
has done things to me and possibly to other members that have been at least
grossly unethical, and at worst, fraudulent.
Because I figured the matching process takes time, I did wait until
early 2004 before initiating my complaints to Introductions. In March
2004 I mailed and faxed a letter to the Introductions
office, detailing my grievances. They include their moving to their
office to a new location without telling me, skipping out on their own
appointment with me, not returning any of my phone calls and not
delivering on the referrals they promised in their contract.
Introductions never answered my letter.
After it became clear they would not reply, I contacted the Virginia
Commonwealth Attorney. It turned out two other members had similar
complaints to mine.
After repeated attempts by phone went unanswered (all during their business
hours), I then wrote a letter to the Virginia Beach Consumer Affairs
Division office. An investigator Phil Pritchard took my case. He sent a
couple letters to them both of which went unanswered. He
made a couple trips to Introductionsı office during business hours and found
it locked. It was only after leaving them his card that their president,
Cissy Sweeney, finally replied.
On May 26th 2004, Mr. Pritchard reported to me that Introductions had
closed down business in December 2002, changed their status to an LLC, and
so, nullified my contract with them. Imagine my shock when I realized all
of this had happened at about the time that I had first signed up with their
office--and no one had told me.
Apparently Ms. Sweeney feel this gives them the right to both keep my money,
but not deliver on the service that I paid them for. Their rationale: The
contract I signed was with their ³former business². This ³new² business is
literally the same as the old one with just a different name and business
category; they even have the same staff and manager now. The fact that
neither Ms. Sweeney, nor anyone else at the Introductions office, had ever
told me this important information at any point in time is outright
dishonest. Whether this be willful deception or managerial incompetence,
what happened is inexcusable.
After Mr. Pritchard gave me this news, he said he could not do much more
than tell me that I may have a chance to re-activate my membership with Ms.
Sweeneyıs LLC. Of course, I do not believe that anyone with common sense
would want to continue to do business with someone who would both stonewall
and withhold important information from their clients.
I had snail mailed and faxed a letter to Introductions on June 9th 2004,
detailing how I felt about this non-disclosure issue. As is typical,
Introductions has still not replied. I made a couple
more repeated attempts to contact them afterwards. Still no answer. Ms.
Sweeney has never once contacted me in order to offer me this
³re-activation² option, despite all the numerous times Iıve contacted her.
But then again, this no longer surprises me.
I have already contacted the Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
They only concur with their investigator--even though it is clear to all of
us that Introductions has a communication problem. Even on the absolutely
remote chance that I did want to re-activate, based on the experience Iıve
had, I doubt they would answer me anyway.
I had also contacted the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S.
Department of Commerce, who then steered me to the Federal Trade Commission,
who could only put my complaint on file.
The Virginia Attorney General could only recommend me going to a lawyer
referral service. However I am in a bind when it should come to litigation.
Introductions LLC can always argue that the ³previous² business is the only
one I can hold accountable, and since they are ³defunct², who would I have
to sue?
I had contacted CALL FOR ACTION, another consumer advocacy group, who
advised me to go to the Better Business Bureau. All the BBB could do was
write to them and put the complaint on file. Introductions has contacted
neither their office nor me personally.
During these other correspondences, I also contacted a more pro-active
consumer action office called Consumer Xchange, whose chief manager, Mr.
Shoolman was actually able to get a return call from Cissy Sweeney on August
3rd. According to Shoolmanıs report, Sweeney claims she cannot be held
responsible for my money because she is ³just an employee². (though I
went to the Introductions site and I got a printout that contradicts
this claim) When asked
where the ³real owners² could be found, Sweeney told Mr. Shoolman she had no
idea.
Cissy Sweeney then proposed something to Mr. Shoolman. After telling him
that she promised she would contact me, she told him that I could renew my
contract with their agency, but only on the condition that I never say
anything bad about their business. She extended this offer out of
³kindness², as opposed to any real professional obligation. Having to hear
this made me ill.
Despite what Sweeney told Mr. Shoolman at Consumer Xchange, she has never
contacted me to this date, much less refund my membership fee for services
not rendered.
Finally I called a law firm. They wrote a letter on my behalf, telling them
about the breach of contract. Unfortunately, Introductions did not respond,
and though Iıd like to sue them, the cost of litigation apparently exceeds
the amount I am trying to recover, assuming the judgment is in my favor at
all.
INTRODUCTIONS has changed their office location since I first joined in 2002
but now currently operates under management of Cissy Sweeney at:
485 South Independence Boulevard, Suite 113
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Introductionıs Number: 866-468-0832 or 757-468-0832
Introductionıs Fax: 757-963-8471
Cissy Sweeneyıs Number: 757-437-1010.
I am willing to mail copies of the membership contract, my
correspondence, the files on the other members who got cheated and the
printout of Sweeney's article to any researcher who needs to read them
in order to come to a solution. All of this is public information I
acquired legally.
Also, the amount I am trying to recover is too much for a small claims
court action. I am willing to tip an additional $200 for a correct
answer that directly leads to a full refund of my membership fee
without litigation. This is because the total amount is only a
fraction of what I'm trying to recover and is roughly equivalent to
hiring the most inexpensive contract lawyer I could find.
What can I do to definitely persuade INTRODUCTIONS to refund my money
without having to go to court? |
Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
22 Apr 2005 12:32 PDT
Here's my two cents:
You should go ahead with a small claims filing anyway, for two reasons:
1. This will get the company's attention, and may even get you into a
pre-trial conversation with them (some small claims even require an
attempt at mediation). Let them know that if you win in small claims,
you intend to publicize your victory, so that others who were wronged
by the company can also file suit. You might even want to notify a
local reporter about your plight, and have them give INTRODUCTIONS a
call. With the spectre of public pressure hanging over them, the
company may be willing to settle by fefunding your original fee in
full.
2. Even if none of this comes to pass, small claims may stil find in
your favor, regardless of whether this is the original company, or a
re-born version of it. Sure, you won't recover the full amount you
paid originally, but without having to deal with hefty lawyer's fees,
you may come out ahead of the game, all the same. This may be the
best you can hope for.
Like I said, just my two cents. Good luck.
pafalafa-ga
|
