My story is similar to the other complaint filed, but I actually had my article published.
Same situation.
Don Chase and 2 employees came in to my business - he walked in saying how great of a story and photos this would be. I am choosing to leave the names of the employees out because just like the other victim, after some research, I discovered that the employees were kept in the dark about what was going on, from the information I gathered, publishing dates, distribution etc. Were given to employees to give out as "set in stone" and those dates changed constantly by the publishers, Don and Marsha Chase. Employees were lied to just as much as the victims. Not wanting to cause innocent employees in all of this harm, I am choosing to leave their names out.
He told me that he only wanted one type of business in the area in the magazine and he didn't want to chase down another xxx type of business, so the price he offered to sell me kept dropping until I agreed and he wanted payment right then and there because he said he had to pay photographers and professional writers. The contract said no refunds, but also said the magazine would be out within 120 days.
I figured it was too good of a deal to pass up. I was promised a large layout article 2-3 pages. And was showed a similar layout from another business in an old magazine. Telling me that I would make a great story. And he would like to interview people.
I received a questionaire fairly quickly from one of the employees, and I turned it back in quick, it said I only had 10 days because of deadlines, or I would be moved to another issue.
When I received my proof back, it was a very short article. I emailed the office about the length, to which I received a nasty reply from Marsha Chase, publisher (which seems to be a trend) about how the amount I paid wasn't for a "spread" it was for a small advertorial. And that if we wanted pictures, we would have to provide them and that I was lucky that they even wrote it. I mean seriously. I was shown a 3-4 page article about this business called Dee something or other and that was what I was going to get. Don Chase waved his arms around talking about how he could do all these pictures, talk about the neat history of my business, and what I got was 150 words. I was swindled. What Don Chase promised was not what was delivered. I chalked this up to lesson learned and waited for my stack of magazines to be delivered to me.
I waited, and I waited, and waited some more. Calls to the office were not returned, emails were not returned. I emailed one of the employees (the one who emailed me the questionaire) and I was responded to immediately. I was told they would check on publication dates and get back to me ASAP. And they did, within 48 hours, I received a response that the magazine was pushed and would be coming out within the next month.
The next month arrived, still no magazine. I called again, no response, emailed home office in Kalispell - no response, and finally called Don Chase's cell phone which was on his card. And I was yelled at because of the economy, it would come out when they could "get it out".
The next month, a young girl came into my business and handed me a single magazine. Not a stack. Just one. I looked outside and saw Don Chase in his car waiting for her. He didn't even have the decency to come in and look me in the face. He sent some teenager in. Obviously, I am not going to yell at a young girl. She looked about 13.
I called the employee and they were shocked I only got one. Are you sure you only got one?"yep, I can count".. The employee said they would get back to me asap.
An hour later the employee called back and apologized and said they would personally deliver magazines to me. And 3 days later the employee made good on their promise.
I called around to other businesses in the magazine and discovered the same thing. Some of them got a stack. The others got one. And the ones that got one. A young girl came and and put it on the counter and walked out. The ones that got a stack, I asked who delivered and it was the employee who brought me a stack after i complained.
I then pulled out my list of where they said they would distribute. And not one business knew what I was talking about. One major hotel said that they gave Don Chase several thousand dollars worth of trade and he didn't even come close to giving them what he promised. I also called several people on the list of "clients" that he gave me when he sold me. Each one of them had the same story. Promised them X only got this. Paid him and never heard form them again, rude treatment, only got one magazine, never saw it in places where he said it would be. I even called some of the people he said "loved the magazine" and they acted like they had no idea what I was talking about.
I called Don Chase and he yelled at me to look at my contract. He never said I would get xxx copies, or where they would be. So he hides behind a contract that is as vague as he is.
I won't get a refund, because I did get the article. But they did not deliver as promised, they didn't deliver where they said they would, they didn't deliver as many as they said they would. Calls to their office go unanswered, and research on their address shows that they operate out of a storage facility.
They are a true ripoff.
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