amaryllisbelladonna-ga,
Hello from the west side of the Atlantic.
In the US, businesses generally register with state governments in
order to incorporate. However, only public businesses (e.g. those
traded in the stock market) are required to make public their annual
financial statements.
Nonetheless, there are numerous sources of information that can, in
combination, provide an overview of how reliable or well-established a
business is.
From all appearances, plus-size.com is a respectable web-based
business. There is one smallish red-flag, though, which I would urge
you to check into with the company before going forward with your
order.
As a first stop, I checked the whois record for the site:
http://whois.domaintools.com/plus-size.com
Whois Record for Plus-size.com
Some of the information from the record is excerpted below. But two
salient points are:
--The site was created in 1997, and doesn't expire to 2009. This is a
good sign, as it means the site has been around for a while, and
intends to be around a while longer. Scam fly-by-night sites often
register for the shortest time available.
--The site is registered by a business, Peggy Lutz Plus, Inc. This is
the registered name of the company you are interested in doing
business with.
=====
Created: 1997-01-16
Expires: 2009-01-17
Registrant:
Peggy Lutz Plus, Inc.
6784 Depot Street
Sebastapol, CA 95472
US
Administrative Contact:
Lutz, Margaret
Plus Size Designer Outlet
7650 Bell Road
Windsor, CA 95492
US
(707) 824-1634 fax: (707) 823-4412
Domain Name: PLUS-SIZE.COM
===============
Next, I checked with the California Secretary of State, to see if the
business is registered in the state:
http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html
...This search can be used to determine if an entity is currently
registered with the Secretary of State
The results (below) show that Peggy Lutz Plus, Inc is indeed a
registered business in California. Registration dates back to 1997,
and prior to that, operated under a different name -- Peggy Lutz
Design -- since 1989.
=====
Results of search for " peggy lutz "
C1633421 1/13/1989 suspended PEGGY LUTZ DESIGN INCORPORATED MARGARET E LUTZ
C1999322 1/2/1997 active PEGGY LUTZ PLUS, INC.
Corporation
PEGGY LUTZ PLUS, INC.
Number: C1999322 Date Filed: 1/2/1997 Status: active
Jurisdiction: California
Address
7650 BELL RD
WINDSOR, CA 95442
Agent for Service of Process
MICHAEL CHURLEY
740 W SEXTON RD
SEBASTOPOL, CA 95472
You can order more detailed records on the company from the State of
California by following the procedures below (though, in my
experience, the records provide rather limited insight):
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/corp/corp_irc.htm
...the following table identifies the type of corporate information
available by ordering a Status Report or a copy of the last complete
Statement of Information on file.
===============
Peggy Lutz Inc, and the site plus-size.com, have a web presence which
is basically positive. A Google search for mention of the company or
on sites *other than* plus-size.com:
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-04,GGLD:en&q=%22plus%2Dsize%2Ecom%22+%2Dsite%3Awww%2Eplus%2Dsize%2Ecom
did not turn up any negative comments, and did uncover some fairly
positive mentions in the press and other sites:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20000123/ai_n9602326
Web offers clothes encounters for petite plus-size gals
Chicago Sun-Times, Jan 23, 2000
http://extras.denverpost.com/life/kerri/kerr0314c.htm
...Peggy Lutz Plus - essential clothes for large to supersize
professional women and party girls. 707-824-1634; www.plus-size.com
http://www.pasazz.net/plus-size-bridal.html
Editor's Choice
...Peggy Lutz Plus create fashions exclusively for plus size women.
Whilst Peggy Lutz Plus specialize in forma and evening wear, they have
a beautiful selection of bridal garments which you cannot miss. The
designs are lovely, the fabric is a dream and the sizes are extensive.
===============
I did mention a small red-flag. The site has an unsatisfactory rating
from the Better Business Bureau:
http://www.goldengatebbb.org/commonreport.html?bid=60101
Peggy Lutz
7650 Bell Road
Vallejo, CA 94592
Telephone: (707) 837-1897
BBB Membership: This company is not a member
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the
Bureau due to an unanswered complaint.
Contract Issues - Claim of alleged failure to honor contract or
agreement, work performed without authorization, or invalid contract.
Resolved - The company resolved the complaint issues.
Product Issues - Claim alleging a product does not meet the
expectations of the complainant, including defective merchandise.
No Response--Company failed to respond to the BBB or to the consumer
to resolve the issues.
Note, however, that the rating is based on only a single unresolved
complaint, out of a total of only two complaints on file at BBB. This
does not strike me as excessive (or even that unusual), especially for
a business that's been around for a fair number of years. Still, you
may want to ask the company directly about the reason for their BBB
rating.
Lastly, a variety of credit reports are commercially available on
Peggy Lutz Plus Inc from Dun and Bradstreet:
http://smallbusiness.dnb.com/company-information.asp?prodid=0&catalog=Home&GUID=7A3E6F48-D51A-4FB4-AE14-5BF0F6E35617
PEGGY LUTZ PLUS INC
Reports range in price from $9.99 to over $100, depending on the level
of detail desired. You can see sample reports at the D&B site.
I trust this is the information you need. However if there's anything
else I can do for you, just let me know by posting a Request for
Clarification.
All the best,
pafalafa-ga |
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