Audiofile, Worldwide Audio, Paul Hughes rip people off with 'extra speakers in shipment' scam Sacramento, Placerville, El Dorado California
A few days ago, September 9th, I was in a grocery store parking lot in Placerville, California. Two white guys pulled up in a blue mid-90s Ford Expedition and motioned for me to come close. A tall, goofy looking, and unkempt white guy who called himself Paul Hughes popped the trunk, inside which were several packaged tower speakers. Paul said he works at Worldwide Audio in Sacramento, and that someone had screwed up at the wherehouse and sent them 4 too many speakers.
I was then flashed a catalog that listed the speakers (Audiofile 583lr) at 1500 a piece. With that in mind, and after a good 20 minutes of sweet talking, I agreed to pay 400 for two. This appeared to be a good deal at the time, as he was asking for 600+. And of course, I had in the back of my head the whole time that I'd never heard of Audiofile anything, much less a high quality speaker.
I ended up buying them anyway. By the time i got home a few minutes later, skepticism overtook me and I tried in desperation to find the Audiofile manufacturer's website. No site exists, but I was able to find this site amongst others describing ripoffs that went down in the same way mine did.
Please contact me if you can help me nail this guy. He followed me into Wells Fargo, which means he's on camera. I had him write his phone numbers down (they're probably fake) so I have a piece of paper with his prints. I also have an actual speaker that he touched, as well as the packaging. It'd be pretty straight-forward if I had the right help.
Sucker
El Dorado, California
U.S.A.
*EDitor's Comment: Rip-off Report confirms contact info salesman misrepresentation ripoff
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Nick
Sac,California,
United States Minor Outlying Islands
I went to highschool with one of those guys
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, January 27, 2006
Hey, I know one of the guys who does it because he ripped me off for 4 hundred bucks. The only reason why i gave him any mind at all was because i knew him from high school. He went to Christian Brothers and his name is Benjamin Alvarez, he graduated class of '02. I've been trying to find him for a while now. Additionally i have heard that someone else has a similar scam, their office is located at 3301 sunrise blvd ste. C Rancho Cordova 95742, their phone number is 3089328, i'm not sure if they are connected but it seems that way.
John
Sacramento,California,
U.S.A.
Ford Expedition I have their LICENSE plate number
#3Consumer Comment
Sat, October 11, 2003
Hi, I know exactly how everybody who has been ripped off by these two bums feel. I felt like crap. I felt so freaking bad that I went out looking for them around ATM machines. And guess what, I found them two hours after I bought two pairs of Audiofile 583LR speakers with the same exact story that you all have. Their car, Ford Expedition, light blue; California LICENSE plate number 4YZU889. Two bums, one white male and one hispanic male. If anybody knows a way to bust these people, please post a message.
As far as i know, it's possible to make a report to small court. If anybody around the Sacramento area wants to do so, please post a message as well.