On 7/7/04, I was shopping at a King Soopers store on 120th and Colorado Blvd.in Thornton, Co. As I was walking to my truck, two guys in a white Chevrolet Astro van (Frankie and Ryan) selling Millennium Theater System home theater speakers, approached me. They desperately wanted me to buy some speakers. I tried to walk away multiple times, but they kept luring me back. Our transaction lasted an hour.
I hesitantly purchased from these two guys (Ryan and Frankie) one MTS Cinema Series 2006P speaker system for a negotiated price of $300. I was told that I had three days to return the speakers for a full refund for any reason, and this statement was also made on the back of the receipt that I received, so I figured What could go wrong? They were laughing hysterically as they drove away, so I did some research following the transaction and quickly realized that everything was wrong!
I tried to call the business phone number and fax listed on the receipt. For both numbers, the phone rang about six times, and then went to voice mail that was generic in nature. Nothing in the recording identified the number as belonging to "Rocky Mountain Home Theater Distributors", which was the name of the company listed on my receipt. I left a message, but I received no reply. I had gotten Frankie's cell phone number during the transaction, but he declined my call every time I called, and he didn't return either of my two messages. I emailed the company using the address on their web page, but quickly received notification that the email address was bogus.
When I got off of work on 7/7/04 at 9:45 P.M., I attempted to find the location listed on my receipt as the address of "Rocky Mountain Home Theater Distributors" so that during their normal business hours, I would know where to go to return the speakers. The business name and address listed on the receipt was:
Rocky Mountain Home Theater Distributors
7450 W. 52nd Ave., #289
Arvada, CO 80002
I found a strip mall located at the address listed above, but didn't see #289. All storefronts at this location had units designated with letters, not with numbers.
I got home and performed a reverse address search on http://dexonline.com / for the business number listed on my receipt. I found the following company on the Qwest website: Rockymountain Home Theatre Distributors, noting the discrepancies between information on my receipt and Qwest, at the address of 6260 W 52 Av Arvada, CO 80002. I arrived at the location of 6260 W 52 Av on 7/8/04 at around 12:30 P.M. I saw unit #s on storefronts, but not #289 as listed on my receipt.
I asked a business owner at that same location if he knew from which unit Rockymountain Home Theatre Distributors was doing business. I was directed to unit #112. Nobody was present in unit #112, and the door was locked. No signage inside or outside of the unit identified the occupant's business name. I was told that employees worked at unit #112 between 7 A.M. And 9 A.M. They would load white vans with boxes and head out for the day. They would arrive back at unit #112 between 6 P.M. And 7 P.M., unload boxes from the vans and back into unit #112, and then leave for the day.
I went back to unit #112 on 7/9/04 at 6:45 A.M. I had to wait for about an hour and a half for the first employee to arrive, Frankie, one of the guys that sold me the speakers. He had a newspaper and he sat on the ground. I wanted to make sure that he was indeed one of the guys that sold to me the speakers, so I called him on his cell phone. He stood up, looked at his phone and declined my call. He had no idea that I was watching him from just a few yards away. He went back to reading his paper until others arrived, including three guys in a BMW. They all entered the office, took a few minutes to group (blast some music and chant). They then began loading four white Chevrolet Astro vans with boxes of speakers.
I walked into the office. One of the guys from the BMW was startled to see me and began stuttering, asking me what I needed and where I got the speakers. I handed him my receipt and told him that I was there to get a refund. He asked me if I had even tried them. He said that he couldn't believe that I was passing up such a once in a lifetime offer to own these amazing speakers at such a ridiculously low price. I told him Nope. I had found information on the web about their scam and wanted a refund.
He took my receipt and went through a door, closing it behind him. He came back about ten minutes later. He said that his drivers were independent contractors and that I would have to find them to get a refund. I told him that the driver/seller was there in the back office and that he had refused all of my calls. He suddenly got a worried look on his face, then he took out a wad of cash and peeled off $280, citing that he would keep $20 for restocking fees. The receipt said that I was entitled to all of my money back as long as I returned the merchandise was in the same condition as when purchased, and within three days of purchase. I argued for a few minutes, but then took the $280 cash, feeling pretty lucky.
If their speakers are worth so much, then why are they selling them out of the back of a van? They have no literature showing why their speakers are superior to other speakers. They just say it and you are just supposed to accept it. They give out mostly false information about the company so that buyers won't be able to find them and get a refund. Their vans don't advertise the products. Their office doesn't advertise the products. Yet they seem so proud of these speakers. There are dozens of web pages dedicated to spreading the word to the public about this scam. They all have testimony about the poor quality of the speakers and the tactics used to sell them.
Shame on me for falling for this scam, but at least my internet skills, detective work and determination got me my money back, minus $20 restocking fee and fuel used to drive to find their office. I feel sorry for those that have lost money this way, and will continue to lose money this way. This documentation is my part to spread the word about this scam, and show how victims might follow these steps to find the actual business address and get that refund.
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