AAA Eastern Connection Rips off Military Member
Lynn
Submitted this review about
A Eastern Connection
Review made Live: 2/17/2009 1:42:00 PM
UPDATE: These crooks have been served with a Order to cease business and are now using the name A-Blue Knight Auto Carrier Inc. BEWARE Please read all of this because it will inform you of what you need to do to get your money back!
A Blue Knight Auto Carrier Inc is an old name that they used to defraud people prior to their use of AAA Eastern Connection.
John & Maggie, the law is on to you brother, your veil of deception is thinner than you think and just like all scum, you will have your day. Sometimes it takes a week, sometimes a month and sometimes a year, rest assured that I see iron bars in your future.
What a nightmare! What ever you do do not use these people! My nightmare started two weeks ago with these New York style wanna be bullies! My son who is stationed in San Diego wanted to have his car shipped out to his base, We sought several million quotes and being he was in the military cost was a huge consideration. I never once thought to check references as we used a reliable service to get bids. They sure were quick to take the money from his account (all 860.00) via check by phone, and now I know why they no longer honor credit cards, no potential for chargebacks!!! We sent back all the info on a Monday and were told that they would have a truck for pick up on Wednesday, I should hear from the driver anywhere from 24 to 6 hours in advance. Wednesday came and no word so I called, they were rude as all hell, I mean why not they have my money, they now are able to treat me anyway they want. They then moved the pick up back to Friday, Friday came and went so I called again, they then said that the pick up would be over the weekend. The weekend came and went with no word, I called on Monday and was then told that the truck was in Mich and pick up would again be on Wednesday, When I hadn't heard anything I called and then talked to Juan he stated that the truck was not in Michigan over the weekend but had been in Dayton Ohio, he said that the truck was on it's way to Boyne City in northern Mich and then had three pick ups, in Saginaw, Waterford and then mine. Wednesday came and went with no word, Thursday came and went with no word so I called again and was told that that Juan had gone home for the day. Today is Friday, when I got up this morning I started looking on the net using their company name and Good Lord there are about a million complaints against these guys!
Over three hundred with the BBB, a ton more with this site and everywhere inbetween, I knew we were screwed! All of the complaints cited rude customer service and failures to pick up or to deliver cars and most of all failures to refund peoples money! They have left cars in parking lots, called old women assholes and tons more of nasty business practices.
I cannot allow for this to happen, Military is pretty low and 860.00 is a lot to loose and then to have to pay all over to have it picked up for real!
I called again today telling them that I would be willing to pay more to have the car picked up but would only authorize the additional payment when the car was on the truck, they said they would have someone get back with me, no one ever did. I called back this afternoon (notice I do all the calling) and asked Juan about where the driver was now, all of a sudden the driver wasn't picking up his phone so we are back at square one again. Yet one more excuse! I asked about the extra payment and didn't get a response. I have had enough by this point and told Juan that I knew I wasn't going to have my car picked up, he asked what I meant, I then proceeded to tell him about all the complaints on the net and the Hall of Same report I saw on Fox News in NY about their company. I told him that all I really wanted was to get my kids car to him in San Diego, I didn't want to have to contact the Attorney General in NY, Juan stopped talking and all of a sudden there was a new voice on the phone, it was John who I had spoke with once before, John was as nasty as can be telling me to do what I had to and that he didn't care about my order, like that was any kind of news flash to me! I told him I wanted to cancel my order and I will eat the 250.00 fee for the cancelation. I asked when my refund would be processed and he responded within two weeks, it only took them a minute to take the cash and I know for a fact it only takes a minute to reverse. I made sure that I was very concise with John who claims that he was not the owner but from what was said on the news report is, that I was not screwing around with his silly ass, I would allow him the two weeks to process the refund and one weeks mailing time for the balance of 610.00, if a check was not at my door by the 24th of October, I was filing a complaint with The Attorney General (the complaint forms are on the Attorney Generals Website and downloadable, Mine is filled out and ready to be mailed! I also advised him that I wouldn't be stopping there, I would contact the Internet Federal Fraud Division and the BBB, and as the topper on all of that frosting, I explained to Dear Old John, that my brother in law is a federal Prosecutor for the State of NY and I will most certainly forward all of my info to him. I asked him at the very end of our conversation how it felt to rip off a Military member?
I faxed over my request to cancel and again noted all of the aforementioned things, I reminded John in that fax that unlike his company I keep my promises and intend to do just that if I do not recieve a timely refund.
The ball is now in Johns court.
These people are con artists and low classed pieces of crap, never never do business with anyone who won't take a credit card, they are afraid of charge backs and there most certianly is a reason why, dirty rotten customer service and wallet snatchers is all that you can expect from A Eastern Connection.
They have just met their match, sometime you have to sink to their level to make sure that they understand you and should I not get my son's refund, rest assured I will turn every stone I can find to bury their asses in paper work from every Federal Agency that handles these kinds of complaints!
Laura, John and Juan, I hope that you are reading this, if my refund is not forthcomming all hell will be!
I have re-entered this review so that I could add the following events;
After getting a call from Maggie, gregs wife (he uses the code name John on the phone) They told me that they were going to refund the balance but demanded I take down my posting from this site, no way in hell. I did however tell her I would as soon as the check cleared but that wasn't good enough as they wanted it done the minute I got the check, I soon got an email telling me that unless I removed the posting I could chase them for the money. It was at that point I was done playing first grader games.
I called my bank and thank God a new statement had come from my son's credit union, that is when it all added up, I saw the date on the debit from his account and it was the day following my first contact with A Eastern Connection and they very same day that they mailed the contracts to me.
I called the credit union and explained to them what had happened, they explained to me that A Eastern Connection had broke Federal Law by pulling the money before they recieved the signed contract, by law this is CONSIDERED CHECK FRAUD, something I am betting these crooks never counted on. The credit union asked me to file a police report and I did that evening, I came home completed the forms and faxed it all over to them the following day. I had also been told by the credit union it would be best in a case like this to close the account and re-open a new one so that is what we did as soon as the reversal hit his bank.
I recieved a notice from the post office had a certified letter from A Eastern Connection, I went there and refused the letter which may have contained a partial check (don't know never even saw the envelope).
Here are some things you can do if you have been ripped off by this or any other company;
Contact your bank, this company has a long record of submitting the ACH Debit / check by phone within seconds of hanging up the phone. They will then mail the contracts the following day via USPS. The contracts are not valid until the date that they are signed; this includes the authorization for ACH Debit. Be certain to explain to your bank that this is an unauthorized ACH transaction and check fraud because they took the money before you signed the authorization. Your bank can reverse the charges but it may not stop there, your bank may require that you file a police report with your local Municipality. This company has been know to recharge your account under different names making it look as if they have only committed a” type o” in processing or they may try to process the charge again under a different merchant number. You can put into place a block against these names and their variations such as An Eastern Connection, Eastern Connection, A Eastern Connection, A Blue Knight, An Blue Knight, Blue Knight but if they get one or more charges through you will have to re-file the complaint form again and again each time, you can also block the amount but the best method is to close the account and re-open a new one that they cannot touch.
Contact USPS via this link http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/mailfraudcomplaint.aspx
Because they intend to defraud you and they mail the contracts and the authorization via the United States Post Office it constitutes Mail Fraud.
Contact The Federal Trade Commission via this link www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ftc
They collect and govern financial scammer complaints and head up investigations. They take standard complaints and they also have a link for members of the United States Armed Forces who have been defrauded in such transactions.
Contact The Office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, you can Google the title if this link does not get you there. They have a complaint form you can down load and print, fax or mail.
Send all copies of your paperwork including bank statements showing the date the money was withdrawn as well as copies of your signed contracts. The web address is www.oag.state.ny.gov
Contact the Federal Internet Fraud Division, they have an online form you can complete, the web address is http://complaint.ic3.gov
Contact the BBB so that you have a complaint on file with them as well, they will not be of legal help but your complaint will be registered.
Do not fall prey to verbal threats of lawsuits for slander, liable, they use this as a means of intimidation and just bank on the fact that you will leave your money behind. Don’t be a victim!
This information is supplied to you free of charge and available on public, state and federal websites, in no way is this intended to be legal advice and is not to be taken as such. Each case may have it's own merits that may or may not apply to what you are able to do and who you are able to file with. This serves as an effective starting point to regain your hard earned money should any company defraud you by the aforementioned means.
