Contemporary Lifestyles Inc. - Royal Prestige- Hy Cite Corporation ripoff and deceitful sales tactics, they will lie and lure you in BEWARE Phoenix Arizona
First, we receive a call and were told they got our names from a drawing at a bridal fair and that we won a price and 100 rolls of film with a camera, so we both took off work early to check it out knowing we had to go to a 45+ minute seminar about their products.
My Fiance and I went to their presentation and thought we could afford their outstanding pots & pans. After listing to their information and finding out the outrageous prices we started to leave. They then stopped us and said wait, you sat here this long, sit down and lets make a deal.
We sat down and told them that we could not afford it. After listing to our sales guy, and someone else who had been listening at the time that we didn't know about they said they would work us a deal, and throw in a special trip on top of our all inclusive trip they would give us to a 4 star resort if we bought that night.
I then said agian, i can not afford 80.00 per month and that we would really have to think about the offer they had. THe sales guy Kirk Hoffmann then said its only a special for that night only. That they would be doing things illegal if they offered this special any other night or to any other group, and has us sign a paper saying that they told us that, and that no one else would be getting this special, its a one time promotional sale.
They said if we signed the paperwork showing we are interested that night, that they would hold the contract for 3 days, the time period you have to cancel your order and still be able to get the special deals. So we signed a credit application, and Wrote in the credit app "NOT FOR CREDIT PURPOSES" so they promised they would not run our credit. We then filled out the other sheet that showed what items we would get if we went through with the order and signed it saying that those were the items they promised us if we confirmed the order.
We finally were able to leave about 10pm that night, 4 hours after first getting there.
The very next day I arrived at work to find out a group of people were being laid off from work, and that I now had no job. Well I called home and said, honey, I have our decision, we can not afford those pots and pans/china for sure now....
So immediately that day, which was a Friday (the very next day, I tried to call and cancel but no one answered so I drafted a cancellation letter and faxed it over at 10am, and left a voicemail also. It was not a holiday, so I figured they would be open like their answering system said they were.
On Monday (finally and how convenient for them) I received a call from their office manager Michelle who stated that we could not cancel and that they had already placed the order for us... WHAT I SAID!!!... Why did you place the order, Well the order had already been placed michelle said, and if we had called and spoke to someone then the order could have been canceled. But I did call and faxed a letter the very next day, on friday morning and no one ever called us back.
I told Michelle that we could not afford the pots and pans and I had called but no one answered. She stated she would see what could be done and get back to us.
In the following weeks the pots and pans arrived, with a bill of over 2500.00 and I called them again. They now were going to charge us a Storage fee if we tried to return them!!!
They are stating they cannot sell the pots and pans to anyone else because they were ordered for us - even though they are not personalized or used. So many months later we are still fighting to not have to pay for pots and pans we cannot afford, even though we canceled well before 3 days passed.
Also, the 3 day cancellation turns out michelle said that is only for outside orders, because we went in to view their products, it was null and void and did not apply to our situation. And it seems like they lie about not offering this promotion to anyone else, as we have talked to various people, and read other rip off reports for the same d**n thing!
Time Line:
2/26/2004 - Went in to claim our price - eventually got ripped off
2/27/2004 - immediately contacted contemporary lifestyles at 10Am when i found out about my job to tell them we did not want the order
3/01/2004 - Michelle called us back finally around 4pm, and said the order was already placed friday, we can not cancel, we can maybe pay a loss fee of around 1000.00 to return the items
03/05/2004 - Called Michelle back again and asked if she found anything else our for us, she said oh no sorry, i haven't had time. Told her I would contact my attorney I had, and that the attorney wasn't costing me any money at all (great ppl attorney! www.something4all.com) She then hung up and I hadn't heard back from here.
5/20/2004 in the mean time, getting no answers on their phone line, and found out they moved offices, the finally had a lady call us today, to collect on money owed to them. Told this lady the story, she then said well you must pay, ill have michelle call you. She then called back and said michelle wont call, but said you must pay otherwise..... otherwise what i said.... no answer..
Currently working with my attorney, and the BBB to put this company down and out for good. I hope they do not rip anyone else off.
Tim
North Phoenix, Arizona
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Royal Prestige
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Michael
Scottsdale,Arizona,
U.S.A.
BEWARE - DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS DECEITFUL COMPANY!!!
#5Consumer Comment
Fri, November 17, 2006
Let's see, how many things could I say about Contemporary Lifestyles. So, so, very many things. Have you seen Boiler Room? These guys are worse. You can buy a top of the line set of cookware at Williams-Sonoma for $500, but these pots and pans cost $2,800 before financing for 6 pots/pans and 3 lids. Each one that we had, the tops broke or the springs popped and they came off, needing to replace. Yes, I am sure someone from the company will pose as a "satisfied customer" and repudiate this, but the bottom line is that this cookware is crap and if anything should be sold at Walmart for $199 on a good day.
Why would a company need a 3-day right of recission on their contract? Because they know that they are in a racket and they can avoid contact for 3 days to lock their customers in.
Why would they charge a 24% APR? Beats me why anyone would pay that, but I would expect it is typically the less educated or those that don't know how to read contracts or don't read contracts, otherwise nobody would buy-off on this. The principal balance ends up going up over time, not down, this is a deceitful credit practice any way you cut it.
I doubt if any of the responses from "satisfied customers" were actually satisfied customers, more than likely they were from the company or friends, employees or investors of the company in continuing with their deceitful practices.
I will be contacting the state Attorney General's office to file a complaint today. I have gone through BBB which has many complaints on file already, I have contacted the company to make satisfactory arrangements and have now filed this complaint. The best I can think of is that the Attorney General's office can investigate and put these guys out of business so that another family is not hurt by them.
Regards
Evan
Fresno,California,
U.S.A.
Contemporary Lifestyles is no rip off.
#5REBUTTAL Individual responds
Tue, November 07, 2006
I too saw Contemporary Lifestyles at a home show and I signed up to win a free trip. I was then contacted by the company and told that I had won the trip. The only catch was I had to listen to their presentation about cookware. My girlfriend (now wife) and I went down to their offices and listened to the presentation. After being impressed by the products we decided to finance them. This was in 1996.
Soon afterwards we got married and we took our free trip to Hawaii. It was a nice hotel with great service. We have enjoyed our cookware for years. When something has broken, (2 handles and a valve) one phone call was all it took to get it replaced. Plus, they have never charged me for the replacement parts.
We love our cookware. We tell everyone about it. Even my parents and sister have bought sets. It really is fantastic.
As far as this claim goes, I think it's a shame. It's terrible that this person agreed to buy something they could not afford. If you sign an agreement to buy something, you have to honor that. If I can't afford something, I wait. Maybe this individual should have waited. As far as I am concerned, Contemporary Lifestyles has been nothing but fair and honest with us, and I would send anyone to see them. Plus, Kirk is a pretty good cook.
Susi
Mesa,Arizona,
U.S.A.
The "lady who called" on 5/20/04
#5UPDATE Employee
Tue, June 15, 2004
Tim states that a lady called on 5/20-that would be me. He says he told me the story and I stated "well you must pay" and that I further stated that I "would have Michelle call him back."
He later states that I called back, told him Michelle would not call him back and he needed to pay, and that he answered me saying "otherwise what?" He states that I did not answer that.
His comments are inaccurate and misleading.
What I advised him of when I called at 3:35 on 5/20/04, was that the contract he signed was non cancelable and stated such. Since he told me that he "wants to hear back from Michelle," I advised him I would check into it and either she or I would call him back.
I spoke with Michelle and reviewed the notes on the file which clearly indicated that the last thing Tim had advised Michelle of was that HE would "get with council and see what his options were and call HER back." So, I called Tim back. Contrary to his statement, he did NOT answer the phone and did NOT speak to me.
Rather, I left a message on Tim's machine stating that according to notes on the file, he had said he would get back to Michelle and that was why she had not yet called him. I further advised him that if this was a mistake he could call either Michelle or myself back. HE DID NOT CALL EITHER OF US.
I have very specific notes on the calls I make, including wording of the message left, time of day and in some cases a transcription of the actual conversation. At best Tim misunderstood or forgot, but his statements regarding his and my conversation are false, nonetheless.
James
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
I disagree
#5Consumer Comment
Sat, June 12, 2004
I was looking up info for another company and saw that there was a report for a company I bought products from 4 years ago. I went on to read these reports and was outraged. I have been a customers of theirs for 4 years and not a single problem has arose. I have had contact with this company doing business with them in that time frame as well because of the impeccable service and outstanding quality. I have had nothing but great service with them and my friends who have also purchased their products have nothing but happy things to say about them too. Just because people purchase something then later on decided to get out of it and relize they cannot does not give them the rigth to blame the company. They should read the paper work and relize what they are doing. My fiance at the time and I saw these product and feel in love with it from the start.