Reading these reports is really sad. I was duped by them when they were selling under the Espresso Express name just a few short years ago. I see the name Jim Humphrey in this thread. He was the schill. He was suppossedly a successful distributor, and told us he was making well over 6 figures a year. He conducted our training class, and was specifically asked if he had any ties to the company other than that of a distributor. He said his only reason for conducting the training was that they gave him a discount on the coffee for doing so. I now know that he was part of the scam and that everything he said was a lie.
As an Espresso Express distributor, we were sold Comobar machines that dispensed "concentrated" liquid coffee. We were told that this method was far superior to the pod machines that some restaurants used. Now I see that they've switched tactics and sell "pod" type machines. Where is the support for the hundreds of Espresso Express distributors? Thes thieves took millions of dollars from distributors that can't get product for their machines now even if they wanted it. The only reason these distributors aren't on this thread screaming about being ripped off is that they gave up long ago.
I could go on at length about the $16,000 I lost, along with $450 for syrup, over $600 for bogus "appointments", and the $600 I paid my attorney for setting up our business as a corporation and drawing up the restaurant agreements which we never got to use becaus none of them were willing to try the stupid "liquid concentrated coffee" concept we were trying to pawn off at the time, but it would read just like all the other complaints already registered here.
I hope those of you that are pursuing legal action are successful. I only wish someone could go after Jim Humphrey as well as Patrick Albright and Shadd Vickery. He was as instrumental as Patrick in misleading, lying, and ripping off the distributors.
It's amazing that they could conduct this scam on so many people over such a prolonged period of time. How many of the hundreds of distributors they set up ever reordered coffee? It's obvious that they made their money from selling the distributorships, not actual product.
I feel fortunate in that at least I didn't mortgage my house or tap into a retirement fund for the money I lost. I feel terribly sorry for those that were truly put in financial peril by these jerks. If I thought I wouldn't be throwing good money after bad, I'd have my attorney hassle these guys just for fun. My ordeal is almost 4 years old, and I'd almost forgotten about it until I found this site.
I didn't even know that Espresso Express had morphed into EI until I found this site a few weeks ago. If you're an EI distributor, don't think these guys won't shut down the "pod" concept just like they did the "liquid concentrate" concept and leave you hanging. They'll just find another machine, another coffee concept, and a new set of chumps to rip off.
Best of luck in shutting them down. Has anyone considered a class action suit? I have an attorney who may be willing to work this on consignment, but it's a long shot. I imagine there is no way to recover anything from the Espresso Express days. They probably covered themselves legally when they conerted to Espresso Italia.
Best of luck to you all. I hope you're able to hurt these vultures financially and recover some of your losses.
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