Help please!...Our business has been conned!

MrJones1 · 11 July 2017 at 1:03PM

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

Have they explained why they don't have them?

The distribution company has failed to undertake the agreed work, which is to distribute the flyers on OP's behalf. OP has evidence of this. As there is a dispute, the distribution company will make it convenient for themselves and claim that they have distributed the flyers. This will be the obvious answer to why they don't have them.

paddyrg · 11 July 2017 at 3:03PM

Just a tip for the future - salt the list - have a couple of dozen addresses around the delivery area who will report back to you. Tell the distribution company that the list is salted and that you have an unknown (to them) number of addresses of friends and family in the area looking out for delivery... Helps them to stay honest

icecreamcastle · 11 July 2017 at 3:43PM

Yes, MrJones1 is correct. They claim they don't have the publications as they have 'delivered' them, although we know 100% they haven't delivered them to the locations they were instructed and paid to do.

Although their 'story' has changed repeatedly once it has been proven to be a lie, at times they have claimed our publication has been delivered to areas 10's of miles away from where it was instructed to. Even if this was true (which we are positive it isn't), the areas they claim are completely meaningless and worthless to our work.

angryparcel · 11 July 2017 at 4:31PM

you know these distribution companies employ students to deliver a lot of their publications and sometimes rather than deliver them they end up like this

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MrJones1 · 11 July 2017 at 6:59PM

icecreamcastle wrote: »

Yes, MrJones1 is correct. They claim they don't have the publications as they have 'delivered' them, although we know 100% they haven't delivered them to the locations they were instructed and paid to do.

Although their 'story' has changed repeatedly once it has been proven to be a lie, at times they have claimed our publication has been delivered to areas 10's of miles away from where it was instructed to. Even if this was true (which we are positive it isn't), the areas they claim are completely meaningless and worthless to our work.

If they change their story repeatedly, that's an indication that they are telling lies. I hope you have their different stories in writing. For example emails. Also their claims that the publications have been delivered to areas further away than the areas they were instructed to deliver to, speak against them. They confirm that they have breached the contract.

Guest101 · 12 July 2017 at 10:11AM

icecreamcastle wrote: »

Hello,

Thank you in advance for your time and any help - hopefully, this is the correct forum to post in.

We hired a distribution company to distribute our publication for the last 2 months. We have since discovered, they have not delivered any of them! We have ample of evidence in both the failure to do the work and the work they agreed to undertake.

Thankfully, we paid via PayPal and PayPal have been extremely helpful and it looks extremely promising we will receive the distribution costs back.

However, we are still around £8000 out of pocket due to our print costs (we haven't received our publications back) and we have also lost a lot of custom due to the failure to deliver.

My questions are:

1. Are our missing publications now classed as stolen items? They went straight from our printers to the distributor. We paid for and own the publication. In law, is this theft?

2. If yes, do we report this to the police or somebody else?

3. What is the best course of action to take or who do we contact in regards to attempting to recoup our print expenses and loss of earnings?

Thank you once again for your time and help. I've tried to keep this first post as brief as possible but can fill in more details if required.

This is definitely a civil matter. You would need to issue pre action letter and claim the money via the courts if they fail to pay

icecreamcastle · 13 July 2017 at 7:04PM

Thanks again for all your replies. Lol, Angryparcel. Thankfully those aren't our publications but it would have been better exposure than we and or clients have received.

MrJones1, yes, we have a lot of their lies in their emails. Some lies were told via the telephone but we have enough evidence via email to prove they are untrustworthy and stories constantly contradict themselves.

Many thanks Guest101, we will follow your advice.

angryparcel · 13 July 2017 at 7:28PM

icecreamcastle wrote: »

Lol, Angryparcel. Thankfully those aren't our publications but it would have been better exposure than we and or clients have received.

Yes along with a heavy fine for fly tipping as the company who these leaflets belonged too, which were all removed by the local authority

icecreamcastle · 11 September 2017 at 11:38AM

Hello All,

Just an update of the latest events.

Well, we managed to get our distribution costs back via PayPal. Four disputes were opened against the distribution company and the owner failed to respond to any of them! Without saying as much, the impression was PayPal had had dealings with him before as they assured us immediately we would receive our money back. I must say, PayPal were extremely good.

More and more companies are being scammed by this con man as more negative reviews are popping up online. The con man has changed the name of his distribution company many times and I would imagine he will change it again very soon!

Sadly, for us, he has destroyed our company. After all our blood, sweat and tears, we lost far to much business over the 2 months he failed to deliver to survive.

We have never received any money back regarding our loss of print costs (PayPal was purely the distribution costs) and, obviously, our loss of earnings and the fact our company has now had to close due to his con.

Please could somebody advise me what to do next? I can't afford a solicitor, so who can I contact for help? Is this a case for the small claims court? Should I start a new post in a different forum?

I'd really appreciate any help. Not only has this destroyed my livelihood and professional future but this has really affected me personally.

Thank you again for any replies.

Guest101 · 11 September 2017 at 12:40PM

icecreamcastle wrote: »

Hello All,

Just an update of the latest events.

Well, we managed to get our distribution costs back via PayPal. Four disputes were opened against the distribution company and the owner failed to respond to any of them! Without saying as much, the impression was PayPal had had dealings with him before as they assured us immediately we would receive our money back. I must say, PayPal were extremely good.

More and more companies are being scammed by this con man as more negative reviews are popping up online. The con man has changed the name of his distribution company many times and I would imagine he will change it again very soon!

Sadly, for us, he has destroyed our company. After all our blood, sweat and tears, we lost far to much business over the 2 months he failed to deliver to survive.

We have never received any money back regarding our loss of print costs (PayPal was purely the distribution costs) and, obviously, our loss of earnings and the fact our company has now had to close due to his con.

Please could somebody advise me what to do next? I can't afford a solicitor, so who can I contact for help? Is this a case for the small claims court? Should I start a new post in a different forum?

I'd really appreciate any help. Not only has this destroyed my livelihood and professional future but this has really affected me personally.

Thank you again for any replies.

You could try to reclaim the printing costs, but sadly everything else you aren't entitled to.

Help please!...Our business has been conned!

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