On March 12, I placed an on-line order for a product (? The at home professional sealer kit? For bath tubs and such) after seeing it advertised on TV. It was ostensibly sold by Pro Seal which the web site (www.asseenontvnetwork.com) said was located at 6 Commercial St., Hicksville, NY 11801. The product is no longer being sold from this domain.
On March 18, a charge in the amount of $27.90 for the order appeared on my MasterCard statement.
On May 3, after what I thought was a reasonable wait, I called Pro Seal to check the status of my order and was told to wait a week. On June 6 — after waiting over a month — I again called to check the status of my order; Stephanie told me the package had been sent on March 14. She apologized and said she would send a replacement, and that I should allow 7-14 days for delivery
On June 21 — after two weeks had passed — I called Pro Seal once more and requested a refund. Joe said it would take 20 days for the refund to appear on my credit card. I affirmed that I wanted a refund. After the 20 days had passed with no refund appearing on my MasterCard, I called Pro Seal yet again (on July 12) to get its mailing address.
On July 13, I sent Pro Seal a letter requesting an immediate refund and stating that if I had not received a refund by July 28 I would file a small claims suit to recover actual and incidental damages. I received no response to my letter and no refund.
On August 11 I filed the small claims complaint, which was set for trial on August 28th. As I expected, no representative from Pro Seal appeared for the trial and I obtained a default judgment against it.
I could have saved myself the cost of the lawsuit and the time I spent on it if I'd done a bit more research. While I couldn't find Pro Seal on the New York BBB web site, I did find The Hyaid Group listed at Pro Seal's supposed address. It had a lot of complaints against it, especially for delivery and refund issues. (http://www.newyork. BBB.org/reports/businessreports. Aspx? Id=19360&pid=44&page=0&FindStr=the hyaid group&SearchBy=company&Address=&City=&Phone1=&Phone2=&Phone3=&MembersOnly=False).
In addition, fifteen others have complained here about this version of Pro Seal. More research shows that this product (if such a product indeed exists) is being sold through a number of different distributors throughout the country. Here are a few more web sites where it's being sold:
Permission Interactive, Inc.'s at https://secure. Sanopi.net/asotvb/order.Asp? Id=5033&did=694
Seen on TV Boutique's at http://seenontvboutique.com/products.Asp? Id=5033
TV Product Direct.com's at http://www.tvproductdirect.com/products.Asp? Id=5033
TV Products Direct.com's at http://www.tvproductsdirect.com/products.Asp? Id=5033
I Saw It on TV.com's at http://www.i-saw-it-on-tv.com/products.Asp? Id=5033&did=319
As Seen On TV Discount's at http://www.asseenontvdiscounts.net/products.Asp? Id=5033
All of these appear to use the same product ID and same server (sanopi.net), even though some are disguised through other domain names. Some claim to belong to the BBB's Reliability Program.
Coincidentally, the customer service contact phone number for a number of them (800-716-9658) is identical to the one I called about my order. (Although the product could be ordered through www.asseenontvnetwork.com as late as Monday, August 28th, it's no longer listed there.) I don't know if the customer service personnel one reaches via that number are physically located in Hicksville, but there is some connection between at least a few of these entities.
If those who have complained are representative, the person or company behind this scam is making a lot of money by betting that customers who've been ripped off won't pursue a remedy because they've only lost $27.90. But many small amounts taken over many months add up to a lot of money.
I doubt I'll ever get reimbursed for this product (which never arrived) or for my court costs. But I hope the NY Attorney General (to whom I'm sending this report) will investigate what seems to be a scam and will shut it down.
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