We have no experience in the world of autographs; my husband wanted to get a gift for a friend who is a Sinatra fan.
Mistake #1 is that I only Googled the name of the company and didn't include the words "ripoff" "scam" or "fraud" when I did so, so we proceeded with ordering from autographsamerica.com
We ordered a signed Frank Sinatra album and asked for the optional frame and installation for $55.00 plus $7.00 handling and shipping.
The item arrived yesterday in a very sturdy box with foam piping taped to the exterior of the box. There was no damage to the box at all.
We pulled the frame out and started to remove the cardboard caps that were on all the corners of the frame. These pieces of cardboard had been stapled directly to the frame and when we pulled off the first one, the corner broke apart and a chip about the size of a nickel fell off. As I moved these broken corners together, the opposite corner came apart.
I decided to contact the company immediately, so I called at about 5pm and spoke to Rachel. She immediately asked me if I had purchased the shipping insurance. Mistake #2: To my chagrin, I had not noticed that option in the drop down menu for shipping, so no, I had not insured the item. She told me to email Brian at [email protected].
I did, and I stated the fact that I thought the staples had caused the frame to break, and that I had not purchased insurance, but could something please be worked out, a return, replacement, refund, repair, anything. I received a reply within minutes from Michale Rigore (never heard from anyone named Brian), stating that, as I had not insured the item, there was nothing the company could do for me.
I would have let it go at this point, but he made another statement that started this whole ball rolling: "The broken pieces had nothing to do with the staples from the packaging. Staples simply do not cause chunks of metal to break apart." This made my ears perk up.
The frame is cheap plastic. When I responded with this fact, he stated in his reply that he could clearly see the damage was done by the post office, and that the staples were not put in by his company, but by the framers, and he then stated that the frame was wood, not plastic. He reiterated that he would do nothing for me.
In the meantime, I found the complaint against this company on your website and decided to add mine to the fray.
When I responded to the next email, I was angry. I pointed out again that the frame was plastic and that I didn't appreciate his admonishments and his lying or accusing me of lying. I said that I wished I had checked out usacomplaints.com site before I had ordered from his company, because now I have what I could be a worthless album and a cheap broken plastic frame and I'm out $247.00. I then said that I sure hoped bad reviews all over the web were worth $247.00 to his company, as I would be reporting them to your site as well as others.
He then threatened me with litigation, and said that I will be party to the lawsuit he has against your site if I posted comments against his company.
I said that I would report that he claimed that his company sold me a metal or wooden frame when they actually sold me a broken plastic frame, and he responded by telling me that as soon as I do, I'll be part of the action, and then said "good luck, you're going to need it".
My response to him then should be redacted, but I can't take it back now...
I said that I would go ahead with reporting his company and that I will be willing to submit this item to authorities if requested for authentication.
Then I called him an (alleged) asshole and said I hope he goes to jail (mistake #3).
I am willing to forward the emails.
Sorry for the length of this complaint.
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