Sunday, March 23, 2014

MR. AZ AG: IT'S ASS KICKEN' TIME!


FYI

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anglen, Robert  
Date: Sun, Sep 28, 2014 at 9:40 AM
Subject: Story on camelback consign
To: Glenn Michaels



Story is in today's paper. Your blog is mentioned prominently in the story. Thanks for all of your help. Here is a link:


http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/consumer/call-12-for-action/2014/09/28/missing-painting-returned-owner/16373445/

You want my trust? My vote? 

How 'bout having your office actually respond to citizens' damn complaints?



Published on 3/27/14
Updated 4/6/14

For more details, see the blog posts listed at the bottom of the page.

Shoot! Exactly what does it take to get your office to pay attention to a business predator located under six miles from your office?

I made my initial complaint against Camelback Consign & Design on 10/17/13. I provided a copy of my contract and additional documentation.

I subsequently provided additional information on at least two occasions, by mail.

I received an initial notification of your outreach effort to the predatory business, dated 11/12/13.

The letter said, "We are in the process of contacting the company to request a response. When we receive the response, we will send a copy of it to you."

I forwarded a status inquiry letter on 2/19/14.  I provided information that showed other folks were having issues similar to my own with the same firm. I even shared a screen shot of the BBB Business Review showing that the firm had recently earned a BBB rating of F on a scale of A+ to F. The BBB Review noted, "Business has failed to resolve underlying cause(s) of a pattern of complaints."

Result? I received a duplicate of the original notification of contact, dated 3/20/14. Son of a gun!




Does the Office of the Attorney General of Arizona really need more  than 18 weeks to elicit an initial response from a company located, per MapQuest, 5.84 miles away? Has no one in your office heard of the telephone or email? 

Or is  the Attorney General's reputation as a consumer advocate and law enforcement agency so bad that predatory businesses in your own backyard can ignore it with impunity? That's some damn management style, tell you what!

Or is it the case that the management of your office is so incredibly weak that staff can get away with mailing the same old form letter to taxpaying citizens with real issues and concerns, again and again...well, every four months? To this question, the answer is quite obviously and definitively: YES.

At a minimum, I must conclude that your office just doesn’t give a damn about this citizen… or the other folks who have reported complaints about the same predator.

Look, I know you're not paid what you're worth. $90,000.00 is not an appropriate salary for a man of your standing, experience, responsibility and credentials. It's not! 

A quick calculation suggests that your 2013 budget of $102,000,000, divided by the 900 employees you manage (per azcentral.com), can't go very far. If my math is right, that amounts to an average annual salary of only $11,333.33... with nothing left over for postage and form letters.   

Perhaps if you encouraged your staff to go paperless, and call or email the firms and folks you're now sending form letters to, you could save money and time, increase the odds of getting a response and do a little more good, too! It's just a suggestion. 

On the other hand, spending  a little more on ass-kicken' and less on web site re-design might do a world of good for all of us. Come on, Mr. Horne, how many folks have to suffer before your staff puts a little elbow grease into the legal fisticuffs?   



Arizona and its citizens surly deserve more care and protection than this.

I have enclosed copies of my original complaint, your office’s initial and subsequent responses (duplicate copies of the same form letter), copies of complaints from the website of the BBB and others from Yelp, Yahoo and Google Reviews. The latter includes a copy of the BBB Business Review for Camelback Consign & Design.

I can report that I've had multiple conversations with and promises of resolution by Michael Burns since I first complained. Most recently…

  •      On February 8, 2014, he and I sat down to look at the numbers. I agreed to accept $3,724.93, later the same day for items sold on my behalf as of October 9th, when our contract concluded.
  •       We agreed that I was due 65% of $19,710.00 ($12,811.50) at which we valued the items the disposition of which Camelback Consign & Design could not account for, less documented expenses for repair of specific items. Mike agreed to pay me this sum on February 10, 2013.
  •       We agreed that he would either return two items previously reported sold but for which I was not paid in full – in the same condition as they were received, plus crating and moving expenses – or pay me 65% of the value ($7900) less monies already received ($900) of those two items on February 14th.
  •       Total value of promised payments: $21,036.43.
  •       I actually wrote up a corresponding contract, at the request of Mike Burns, and delivered it later the same day.

Result: No payment. At all. Didn’t happen. And this was the second time I fell for this gambit.

I dare say that you have received multiple complaints about Michael Burns of Camelback Consign & Design. Exactly how much money must consumers report losing before your office will act? How many checks must bounce?

A quick inquiry on your part to Chase Bank about the number of checks bounced by Camelback Consign & Design ought to be easy to do and eye-opening, too.


Sincerely yours, 


Glenn S. Michaels

AKA one more very unhappy victim of a predatory business operating in plain sight just 5.84 miles from your offices.

VIEW THE CORRESPONDENCE TO AND FROM THE AG'S OFFICE:


Published on 3/27/14
Updated 4/6/14

For all of the juicy details the BBB has to offer, use this link.

DON'T KID YOURSELF. 
Mike Burns wasn't born yesterday. He wasn't born on the Fourth of July, either. NOPE. Mike Burns was born on 9/11 in 1952. 
He was destined. 
Don't forget to tip a hat to Ms. Indispensable, Vera Manuz, either. Where would Mike be without her?


I don't know if the truth will set you free. But fuss loud enough with a big 'nough bunch a friends and I swear folks 'll do near anything to get you to shut up. Fast as they can. 

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