Complaint Review: Bob DesLauriers

I know this happened several years ago, but I see that Bob DesLauriers is still stealing from people, so I am posting my story.

On April 22, 2006 I contacted a Bob DesLauriers and Sue McMaster (husband and wife) to inquire about a business opportunity that they had offered on both www.franchisesolutions.com and their own website www.eurekabusiness.com. This opportunity was to build outdoor cedar wood furniture. The price for the business opportunity was between $5,000 and $10,000 dollars. During this initial phone conversation Mr. DesLauriers said that he had a new, very profitable opportunity for someone that was interested in supplying Adirondack chairs for a group of retired doctors and lawyers who were traveling around the US to the large motorcycle events, Sturgis, Bike Week, etc., selling chairs which were painted with Harley Davidson Motorcycle logos. According to Mr. DesLauriers this group was so successful that he desperately needed an additional production facility in the western US to keep up with their orders. They were regularly placing orders for $25,000 to $50,000 with Mr. DesLauriers.

In order to participate in this program I would need to purchase a business package from Mr. DesLauriers and Sue McMaster that he had priced at $43,350. In addition to the Harley Chairs orders I was also promised additional orders from Mr. DesLauriers existing and future customers and help in setup, training and marketing. Mr. DesLauriers claimed that he had four other people who were also interested in this same opportunity and in order to reserve the General CNC router table that he claimed to have in stock, ready to ship, I would need to send him $5,000 immediately so he could reserve it for me, which I did. This money was charged to my Visa card by Sue McMaster at Quest Communications. Because of these claims I purchased the more expensive package from Mr. DesLauriers and Sue McMaster, and on May 16, 2006 I wired an additional $35,000 to them and signed an "Independent CNC Agreement" to become authorized to manufacture the designs that they claimed to own.

This $40,000 purchase included equipment, supplies and training from Mr. DesLauriers and Sue McMaster. The main item supplied by them was a CNC router table manufactured by General CNC that he claimed was designed and manufactured specifically by Mr. DesLauriers for the manufacture of his cedar furniture. Mr. DesLauriers is the owner of General CNC. On the General CNC website there were claims that they provided over 2,000 machines to all type of business, and there was a picture of one of their tables. I was assured that this router table would be an "industrial quality machine" capable of running a full time production shop. He also claimed that I would have to spend 3 to 4 times the amount he was charging me to purchase a similar machine. He provided me with the specifications of the machine which all seemed to be as he had represented. The price of his General CNC machine was $39,700 with setup, training and delivery. Despite Mr. DesLauriers promises that he would ship the CNC table that he claimed to have in stock as soon as he received my $40,000 I did not receive the CNC table until June 2, 2006, two weeks later. The CNC table that I received was manufactured by a company called Practical CNC (which has since gone out of business).

The table I received does not meet most of the specifications that I was told by Mr. DesLauriers. Mr. DesLauriers claims to have a joint venture agreement with Practical CNC to produce his CNC tables. I contacted Practical CNC and they are not aware of any such agreement. I paid Mr. DesLauriers $39,700 for the same machine that Practical CNC sells for $16,000. Included in the agreement with Mr. DesLauriers are a one-year warranty and 90 days of phone support. The CNC machine does not work properly and despite numerous attempts to contact Mr. DesLauriers or Sue McMaster they refuse to return my calls, offer any support or help to rectify the problems. I cannot use the machine for more that 10-15 minutes before it overheats and shuts down. The only other items that were to be included in this purchase that I have received is a 3-ring binder with instructions on how to assemble the furniture and two CD-ROM's with some videos. Sue McMaster and Quest Communications shipped these items.

I have been informed by a Mr. Harry Wilk in Texas that the information contained in these items, and in fact all of the business opportunity that was being offered by Mr. DesLauriers and Sue McMaster is owned by Mr. Wilk. Mr. Wilk purchased Eureka Business several years ago from Mr. DesLauriers, which included all of the rights to the designs and ideas of the business opportunity. Mr. Wilk has since obtained a restraining order against Mr. DesLauriers to force him to quit his illegal activities. In addition to the $40,000 that I sent to Mr. DesLauriers and Sue McMaster I have spent approximately $20,000 more to obtain other necessary equipment, inventory, supplies, lease agreements, etc. Since Mr. DesLauriers has refused to ship the remaining items on the invoice I have had to purchase these items as well.

Needless to say I did not receive any orders from Mr. DesLauriers, but he did send me a copy of a lawsuit for that he filed against me and the company where I work for $1,000,000.00 in damages, which was also apparently fraudulent because I did not respond and have not heard anything more.

Mr. DesLauriers and Sue McMaster operate under multiple company names. Some of the ones I have learned of are: Eureka Business, Europa, US Cedar, General CNC, AutoCAM, Beautiful Backyards, 1168760 Alberta Ltd., and Quest Communications. The business name on the "Independent CNC Agreement" I signed is 1168760 Alberta Ltd. The business name on my invoice is from General CNC, the Visa card was processed by Quest Communications. Their website, before it was shut down by Mr. Wilk, had claims such as: "some participants announcing MILLION DOLLAR PLUS sales figures", "our programs are being recognized as the finest business opportunities in America", "USCedar establishes fifty million dollar inventory financing deal to assist new Specialty Wood Products Distributors in U.S. Markets", "Over 2,000 small businesses in America produce, distribute, and/or sell his designs in this decade". Mr. DesLauriers and Sue McMaster have also violated the United States Federal Trade Commission and the Utah State Franchise and Business Opportunity law by not registering with them and by not providing prospective buyers with the required information. In fact because of my testimony before the Utah State Department of Consumer Protection, Mr. DesLauriers was charged and fined for his illegal activities.

I know that I was foolish to trust this person, but I have a son who is handicapped and I thought that this would be a excellent opportunity for him to be able to work with his hands and keep busy, so I let my guard down. It seemed like a blessing to find something like this.

I had to borrow all of the money that Bob stole from me and it took over 5 years of working two and sometimes three extra jobs to pay back all that I owed. I had to sell off everything that I owned to be able to keep our home. These extra jobs kept me away from my wife and children because of working every day, night and weekend. We were unable to take any vacations or even participate in normal everyday activities that families do because of the financial bind and my time away from home. I contacted several lawyers who all said that suing him would be a waste of time because of the difficulties in collecting from someone so dishonest, and because he lives in Canada.

I know of at least three other people who have contacted me with similar stories of his fraud. I am afraid that without any punishment Mr. DesLauriers and Sue McMaster will continue to perpetrate this fraud or something similar on many more people.