Print the value of index0
RAM Theater Servcies RAM Marketing, RAM 3 Seed Media, Misappropriation of printing, postage and delivery funds. Late or no mailings. Ft Myers, FL Fort Myers, Florida
RAM Theater Services, headed up by Shaun Boylan, placed an ad for a competent graphic designer with 15 or more years of experience on job finding sites and craigslist in areas around the country. People skills a bonus.
After losing work in 2008, I answered the ad thinking how great it was to find someone interested in a designer with experience. I did my research and background check to see if everything was legitimate. Nothing seemed out of place. There were publishers that were happy. He was willing to meet face to face. He was informative but not pushy. And finally, the amount of money promised was not at all out of line.
So after a couple meeting cancellations, his team came to Tampa to meet 5 local designers, myself included. In an all day seminar he shared with us his job offering, to all of us, of becoming a designer and publisher of a local coupon magazine specific to each of our neighborhoods. We were all about the same age. We were all financially looking for a job that we could make a decent living and we were all in either foreclosure of homes or in serious financial situations. To hit even harder we were all a little older than the typical company wants to employ.
He emphasized the Hollywood movie industry's participations as his defining point of distinction from other coupon magazines. We saw samples of other area produced magazines. I spoke with a couple of the publishers to get feedback. The financial aspect were in line. All seemed like a good opportunity to get back on my feet.
He explained that each publisher would cover specific categories that were proven in other markets to reap rewards for the businesses, the neighborhood consumer and the publisher. This was the first time in a while that I had come across a business that was based on everyone benefiting. It could have been.
My 25 + years of experience were now going to come into play. I knew a lot of people in my neighborhood and they were willing to give me money in return for an ad design placed in a very nicely produced coupon magazine with the plus of the Hollywood Motion Picture industry touting new releases. In all it got businesses excited. My first 2 publications printed and delivered as planned. One was late but it was well received once it got into the community. My community.
The biggest issue- the Holiday issue was going to be great. All businesses are likely to advertise around the holidays. And they did. My book looked great. I sent in my money as outlined in the original agreement and I thought I was on my way.
But the holidays came and went and my book did not deliver. I screened calls from some angry businesses and in some cases friends. I repeated the delay information to them that Shaun had been spoon feeding to me... that they would be late but would be delivered.
He explained problems that made no sense and clients did not care about.
Once it became apparent that the magazine with expiration dates on the coupons were no longer valid, Shaun and I agreed, along with my clients, that the next publication would be delivered and the monies from the previous magazine would be used. I would changed the dates and resend my art files for the next publication. It did not come.
I emailed him, (since he was no longer was accepting my calls or responding to my emails as he had so punctually done before), that he had taken money from me and my community and had been given money specifically for postal delivery. I had 7 days left before the coupons once again expired. He had everyone's money and all I had to show for my effort was a bad reputation. He delivered the magazine with 4 days to redeem. Not the 60 days that everyone had paid for but they did not go to my mailing list. Businesses were now even more upset.I had been taken. I am more than disappointed in a promise made and not kept and that my clients now see me as that same type of person as Shaun.
I had been speaking with other publishers to find out I was not the only one. I do not know at this point just how many people have lost money and valuable reputations because of this man. I know that he has been sued by a previous printer and they continue to pursue him for monies owed.
I now know the money I paid RAM and its owner, Shaun Boylan, were held onto or spent for personal use. The $5290 I paid was designated for the printing of the magazines, postage to the USPS and delivery on the magazines to my neighborhood. It appears as RAM Marketing/RAM Theater Services has duped everyone involved.
Michael J. Boylan, aka Shaun, was arrested for forgery and counterfeiting on 6/7/12. He continues to recruit innocent people like myself, to publish magazines that are paid for in advance with certified checks or cashiers checks, yet they receive them very late, or not at all.
RAM Theater Services, it's owner Shaun Boylan, and his partner/employee John LeRe III, should be stopped from recruiting more people and prevented from scamming more people out of their hard earned money. My suggestion is to forget you ever considered working with the man, company or partners. No amount of money you are promised to earn is worth the years you spent building a reputation in your community.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Carol K
Mango,Florida,
Another Scammed Designer
#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, July 21, 2013
I was probably in the same Tampa meeting with the person that wrote this complaint against RAM/3Seed Media and Shaun Boylan. Every single word to the point sounds like my own story! I had no idea that all these people were getting ripped off. I was in the same boat...just lost our home because my husband got sick and my workload had slowed down. In my phone interview Shaun insisted that there would be no money required up front. Well, there wasn't any "up front", but we were told that in 12 days we needed to send in $479 to show "good faith" in continuing. He insisted if you sold just two ads, it would cover that fee, and that it was not refundable. So even if you decide after two or three weeks, that this is not going to work, you've lost $500 and can't even refund it to your customers, so it's either produce the book or look like a thief to your customers. I worked my tail off going door to door, and tho I sold many ads at discounts (because you have alot of companies that have been ripped off by ad people already) just to get them to try it out...I only came up with about $3000 of the $5000 needed to publish. I called Shaun and told him that I wouldn't make the cutoff timeline because I couldn't sell the remaining $2g to make it happen...that I would just refund the customers and work a deal out with the two customers that I couldn't immediately refund from the initial $479.
Well, Shaun must have called me 10 times that day, telling me to go out and GIVE THE ADS AWAY! That he spoke with his team and they agreed to let me go to publishing with the $3g I sold and I would just owe them the other $2g on my next run. So I did what he suggested, thinking they were decent people working with me and pushing me so hard to get this done. Never realizing that Shaun just wanted the $3g I had collected. I sent the money in via certified check, and spent the $25 to send it next day delivery. Well, I got a call the following day, Shaun BLASTED me for not putting the exact name on the check and he couldn't cash it. I think I had made it out to Ram/3Seed Media and it was supposed to be something slightly different, and since it was a certified check, they wouldn't cash it for him. Now he tells me I need to resend another check immediately, but he could not send me the other check back, he said he ripped it up!
I had to jump thru hoops at the bank in trying to get this resolved. Even the lady who helped me at the bank felt I was being scammed. But she helped me get another check cut and I spent another $25 to send it overnite.
Now he had his money and the ability to reach him by phone, email, etc. was becoming harder. I couldn't get any updates on the status of the magazine. I had customers calling and calling, saying that they lived in the zip code zone I chose and they didn't get anything in the mail. Finally he got back with me saying it was delayed, but would be going out soon. Another week and a half and I finally got him again, and he SWORE it was shipped via USPS and gave me some phony post office receipt. I called the post office that it had apprently shipped from and the postmaster said that a shipment of these magazines never came thru there, and they never printed that particular receipt! I asked if he was sure, and he told me that he would remember if 10,000 magazines arrived via shipper to ship. Well mysteriously about 500 magazines were shipped to me to hand out. The short end of the story is that is all I got for almost $3000! He had them print about 500 copies and that was it.
Needless to say, I almost got sued myself by several of the customers who were peeved off. This really did me in with my customers in that area, the word spread fast! I eventually had to move to another area and build up a new clientele doing design and signs only and here it is almost 3 years later and I'm still stuggling and rebuilding.
Stay away from these liars and thieves! My husband wanted to leave during the lunch break at the initial meeting, he felt a scam in his heart. Two people did leave and not return, we shouldv'e joined them. I'm glad to see that Shaun has been arrested. I hope that he gets everything that can possibly slam him. I hope he rots and has to beg for his next meal! What he has done to us designers is a disgrace. I know we can never recoup anything from him, but watching him get his just punishment is a good place to start!
Good luck in jail Shaun! It was good seeing your lying face in a red jumpsuit! Loved seeing the pissed look on your face, knowing you were finally caught! I got a good laugh and felt great.
Ames
Reston,Florida,
USA
Michael Boylan
#4General Comment
Sun, September 09, 2012
All Publishers at Capitol Color Mail knew that You Like Young Boy's and That is where the Money went.
And You Stole the Idea from a Company on the West Coast and they sued for 1 Million and won.
You took out a loan fron Quad for 5 million to get rid of the 2 VP's of the Company so You can Control
the money.....HMMMMMMM
Now You control the money and You see what happened.
Ames
Reston,Florida,
USA
Shaun Boylan
#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Fri, September 07, 2012
Shaun,do You still like little Boy's