Complaint Review: Mark Friedman Law

I research our first email exchange after the problem arose. It was dated feb 7, 2012 (6 weeks ago):

Hi Mark,
 
We were notified this morning that you have filed a chargeback with your bank concerned your purchase with us on order number xxxxx on November 23rd for the 1.2 gallon Ultrasonic humidifier.  You have asked your bank to reverse the charge of $60.84 made to us in connection with this order.  
 
Please contact us immediately in regards to this matter. 
 
Thank you
Dennis Jackson

I, as a consumer and not as a lawyer representing a law firm, wrote in response on THE SAME DAY:

Thank you for contacting me and clarifying the product ordered. there were several fraudulent charges on my credit card and your company was not identifiable at the time so it fell in with the others as fraudulent. Let this email serve to confirm that your charge of $60.84 was legitimate and that you be reissued a charge in your favor.
 
Best,
Mark

Consumers, do i come off dodging my responsibilities from a mistake discovered while being a victim of credit card fraud? Consumers, would you ever want to help someone who purposely wants to injure your reputation? Do you ever want to be in a relationship where mistakes are never forgiven or understood? Consumers, I ask you, have you ever been harassed with unwarranted emails, phone calls and smear campaigns by any person or entity after you are helping them remedy the problem?

If your answer is no to all my questions, then you are well adjusted centered consumers like me. There is no room in this world for people who lack an understanding that life is far from perfect, business deals are far from perfect, and sometimes things happen not the way we planned. 

This opinionated vendor's continued harassment is from his continued lack of knowledge of the facts and lack of understanding of the proactive nature of my resolving his problem. He will see that the VISA company replenishes his account within the 45 day window. Its unfortunate that some people choose to allocate much of their time to angry vindictive behavior where poor judgment results in grounds for lawsuit.

First, I want to say that yes, I am Dennis Jackson, as if that really matters.  Nothing said in my complaint was an attack on this guys business.

Let's see...how can I put this simply?  Put yourself in our shoes.
 
1. You sell something to me, I use a credit card to pay.
2. 2 months later, you find out the money I paid you has been taken back. (regardless of the reason)
3. You contact me, and I send you an email telling you yes, I made the charge, And I tell you I will call   my bank to fix.
4. 7 weeks later, you find out my bank never gave you the money back, and I did not call them.
5.  I tell you again, I called my bank again, and you will have your money in 48 hours.
6. 7 days later,  you call me because you still do not have your money.
7. Now I tell you, sorry, but that was wrong.  The bank says it will take 45 days to get you your money.

Would you be a little upset?  Wouldn't most of you take care of this immediately?  All of our customers in the past have done exactly that.  Settle up with the person who was wronged.  Then take it up with your bank.

Now, we understand that his credit card was breached.  That does not mean that you tell your bank to chargeback everything!  Our credit card charges are not nondescript.  The charge shows our company name and our phone number on your statement.  But, did we even receive a call?  Not once has this man contacted us first in this issue,  Not once have we received even an apology, which really isn't what we want anyway.  We want payment for the merchandise this customer has had since November 23rd, last year!

We were charged a $20 service charge by his credit card company for processing the chargeback (taking our money away from us).  Yes, he is responsible for that service fee that he caused us.  No different than if you bounce a check.  The merchant has a right to pass the bank fee on to you for causing the problem. 

Now, this being said, if the man just does the right thing, and settle the total amount due us, or have his bank contact us either by phone or in writing, we would certainly be the first ones to come back here and say thank you.  We appreciate your efforts.

VISA takes up to 45 days to process a reverse chargeback back to a vendor. Mine was initiated on March 12, 2012. The original customer service representative said it should post between 2-3 business days, but he erred in his knowledge of how the card company operates. The Department of Security Services will memorialize in writing our conversation and a copy will be sent to you by email.

First, let me say that the individual who wrote this libel assault on my character is Dennis Jackson, an online vendor who sells things from Kentucky and who has never met me, has never done legal work with me, and has no basis in fact (his opinion only) for what he says. I take ethics and the law very seriously. I was #2 in ethics at my law school and I treat my clients and third parties with dignity and professionalism.

The "person" that wrote this libelous material is a disgruntled vendor of personal products (nothing to do with my legal practice) with mismanaged anger issues. Vendor, Dennis Johnson, owns Electronics Showplace.com on the internet. I found him by using a search for humidifiers on-line late last year, 2011. I bought his humidifier for $60.84 because it was the best searched price and I have not had any problems with the humidifier (see dennis, i am giving you credit).

My problem was identity theft that had occurred on both of my credit cards in the same period of time as his purchase. My knowledge of the credit card fraud purchases were sent to me in writing by the card company, VISA and Mastercard, about 3 weeks after the fraud was first discovered. That takes us into Christmas recess with my family. When I came home to review the fraudulent charges on December's statement, all charges during a specific period of purchases were flagged and denied payment, including my disgruntled vendor's non-descript charge. As i had purchased a humidifier and not a stereo system, I did not equate electronic showrooms with the humidifier, and therefore, like the card company, thought a fraudulent charge had resulted with electronic purchases as well.

I was notified by email and telephone by Dennis by January, 2012, that his charge of $60.84 was reversed and therefore were out this money. I had written an email to Dennis of Electronic Showplace apologizing for the reversal, and that his charge was caught up with other, illegal charges, and for him to take my letter of acceptance of charge and present it to the powers that be as admission that his charge was legitimate.

Weeks later, I get a call and email from Dennis that it has not been accepted and my credit card will not credit him with the $60.84 (he states that i owe him a $20 service charge on top of the purchase!).  Shortly thereafter, in february, my wife was rushed twice (over 10 day period) to the hospital in the middle of the night because her appendix ruptured and later an infection from the surgery (she has since recovered, thanks). I spent most of february, 2012, caring for her and nothing more. However, when she recovered and I got back to business at hand and at the end of February, spoke with representatives at VISA explaining the on-going problem and demanding resolution. VISA assured me by recorded telephone that they will take care of the matter and credit Dennis' business. Simultaneously, I wrote dennis by email and explained to him that he should notify me by Monday (yesterday) if this is still an open matter. Dennis calls me on Monday and verbally assaults me over the telephone and with emails, making me feel like I am coordinating a mass effort to conspire against him with VISA, all for $60 lousy dollars!

His emails became so inflammatory and enraged last week and yesterday, that I finally told him that he is not professional and I will consider returning a perfectly good humidifier to him and contact the bbb if he continues to talk/write with me without respect and professionalism. 

Of course, now he has taken an unnecessary turn for the worse. I feel like he has nothing else to do but to imploy destructive behavior in an attempt to  collect a debt. Not once did i say I didn't owe him $60.84 and not once did I tell him I wasn't interested in getting his payment. He insults my character and dignity  like he knows me and he has worked with me ! He commits libel and defamation. Shame on you Dennis Jackson for being an angry, disgruntled vendor and resorting to shameful, immature tactics like this. 

Even after this post, i wrote to dennis by email:

Posting false facts to invoke harm is called defamation and is actionable here in new york. being that i am an attorney, i have little hesitation to go after you for this. However, I understand that you are feeling "ripped off." 
 
This is what i would like for us to do: As we discussed yesterday, I will talk with the credit card company again and if they cannot help accommodate our issue, I will instruct a second card company to handle the original charge. You will agree to retract any negative commentary from the internet within 24 hours once payment of $60.84 is paid.
 
I am trying to rise above the harassment and insensitivity you place on my hands. I was a victim of credit card fraud late last year and it doesn't compute with you that we are attempting to rectify a legitimate charge with a bureaucracy of red tape in VISA.
 
Please let me know we are on the same page, and then I will make another call to correct this problem.