Complaint Review: TOBI USA LLC

Tobi, Tobi, Tobi-Tobi-Tobi!

What's to become of organizations such as yours that operate in a shameful manner through betraying the trust of the unwary customers that invest in your interests? This letter addresses serious concerns that I have with your business practices and demands the widest dissemination in the event that other customers have encountered a similar situation.

Allow me to introduce myself: I am a Published Writer; West Point Graduate; Retired and Disabled Veteran with over 25 years of military service; former president of a Chamber of Commerce in Seattle, Washington; former Community Involvement Program Coordinator for the Washington Corrections Center and a Certified Public Chronicler, representing Mrs. R. Lee and myself in recovering a portable travel steamer that was offered through your infomercial and through direct conversations with your telephone representatives. I pray that you will seriously consider the content of this letter, as it is tempered with the hope that your organization will step up to the plate and do the harder right with respect to assisting our recovery from your shameful practice of using time to hinder delivery of the steamer that we were informed would be shipped with the Tobi system that we paid in full through a money order. To date we have dealt with numerous representatives; placed on hold; cut off and passed from representative to representative; thoroughly lied to and denied an acceptable remedy to the situation. I further note that I have constantly informed your representatives of my intent not to pay Tobi an additional penny to correct your error; therefore, I am including a Timeline, detailing the contacts that I have made with your agents. Some times may appear sketchy. Charge it to the fact that earlier I trusted your organization to promptly and professionally handle this matter before it began to s****.> As of my last conversation with Tobi, this matter has not been satisfied. I welcome the opportunity to speak with the Tobi management on the contents of this letter. To this end: I submit the following timeline:

TIMELINE

06/08/08
Completed letter of shameful operations and forwarded to TOBI.

05/20/08
Received check #23379, dated 05/01/08 but postmarked 05/18/08 for $13.95-Invoice #RF4288707; Comment 4288707; Pay to order of R. Lee. It tends to disturb me to think what would have happened to the check that
was postmarked on 05/18/08 but written on 05/01/08. I would love to hear Tobi's explanation of the 17 day difference, as Tobi informed me that the money order that we had sent for the system had just been taken off of a hold status even weeks after the system's delivery period. The time of delivery prompted my excessive communications with Tobi USA and its many representatives. I further question the rationale for putting a money order on hold. It would appear to me that money orders are as sure as cash and should not be handled as a check?

05/15/08
Contacted TOBI and spoke with Jeffrey on TOBI missing May 6, 2008 delivery deadline and after responding to his request for info, I explained that I received confirmation that the steamer would arrive by 05/06/08 and that a supervisor had indicated that the proposed TOBI check would be cancelled, as it did not make sense to send a check that would be returned directly to TOBI. Jeffrey placed me on hold to talk with his supervisor that he indicated was busy with another customer for approximately 2 minutes. As I was using a cell phone, I requested a call back that never occurred.

Contacted TOBI regarding earlier conversation with Jeffery and spoke to Devin, who requested similar information as Jeffrey and the other representatives that I have talked to in the past regarding this case. Devin confirmed that a check was sent on 05/01/08 that R. Lee and I would process and return to cover the cost of shipping and handling for the portable steamer. Once again, I stated that a Tobi supervisor indicated that Tobi would retain the check and send the steamer to arrive no later than 05/06/08.

After requesting a stop on the check and explaining that someone could easily place a stop on the check, to include the owner, Devin onfidently stated that not even the owner could stop the check that we had not received at this late of a date.

Devin further challenged me for a confirmation number on the supervisor's promise to cancel the check and send the steamer by 05/06/08. I could not produce the confirmation # and asked Devin of specific dates that I had contacted Tobi to aid in certifying the accuracy of my statements.

He validated that I had contacted Tobi on 04/16/08 but did not elaborate on details or earlier contacts made. I am now sorting through old notes to give Tobi information that could have easily been received from their calls which may be recorded for quality assurance purposes. I find Tobi to be rather selective in information provided. As I did not feel that Tobi has been straightforward in its business dealings, I informed Devin that I would be sending a letter to Tobi, the BBB and the Federal Government in the event that others have also been taken advantage of by Tobi and other organizations that participate in such fraudulent practices. I feel that I am in a tug-of-war with a giant organization that possesses sufficient funds to produce numerous infomercials, yet this organization seems determined to pass the problems of its inconsistencies on to its customers.

As I refuse to give any ground in paying out any additional funds to settle this on-going struggle, I did not desire the added cost of returning a supposed refund check to Tobi which the company should have maintained by just forwarding the item in question. My conviction in this matter now persuades me to pay for:

Stamps 7 x (.42) = 2.94
Envelopes 7 x (.07) = .49
Paper 28 x (.040) = 1.12
Ink 28 x (.090) = 2.52
Cell Time 75 x (.25) = 18.25
Typing 2 x (12) = 24.00
Headache = Priceless

Total: $49.32

It becomes evident that the Tobi organization's actions have cost far more than the price of simply sending the steamer in the first place. There is an overwhelming principal that necessitates investing additional time, monies and resources to highlight the fact that organizations, such as Tobi, shamefully cheats customers out of promised goods and services. This one act multiplied deserves congressional scrutiny.

04/16/08
Called Tobi regarding non-delivery of portable travel steamer and my frustrations that the steamer did not arrive with the initial delivery. Initially talked with telephone representative Dan at 4:15 pm and informed him that I had earlier relayed my plight to Mark and Brad and that I would prefer to talk with either of these individuals, as they were involved in earlier conversations. Dan indicated that there was no one by the name of Brad in his area. I then requested a supervisor, who was not available. Therefore, I left contact information for Dan to have the supervisor return my call. This did not occur and I later made an additional call to TOBI. I was astonished that the telephone representatives would suggest my taking advantage of a special offer, knowing that my satisfaction with the company had already diminished to a point of irreparable damage.

I talked and explained the situation to a telephone representative, Roger, who transferred me to Ricky on the 4th Floor. Ricky, who placed me on hold to discuss the issue with a supervisor. I was immediately disconnected and connected with a different person upon redialing the company. I did eventually contact with a supervisor, who indicated the steamer's arrival within 7-14 business days (NLT 05/06/08).

Prior to this incident I was placed on hold and cut-off on several occasions, leading me to believe that this is a shameful practice of Tobi to stall for time rather than complete promised transactions. I also informed Tobi supervisors that it was not my intent to be married to the Tobi organization. Yet, each time that I spoke with a representative to this point, each offered me the opportunity to take advantage of some new special offer after apologizing for the on-going matter. I turned each additional offer down, rationalizing that I was not satisfied with the current situation.

As indicated earlier, this letter is intended to raise awareness to an issue that, if allowed to persist, could result in many people being taken advantage of. My unfortunate experience with Tobi and its agents is potentially the tip of an ugly iceberg, one that continues to repeat itself throughout the service industry. It would be nice for the Tobi company to place a stop on the check sent and then send the promised travel steamer. It would also be nice for Tobi to reimburse me the costs associated with preparing this document and sending it off to the addressees and additional copies. Current Tobi infomercials state that one must be within the first 500 callers to receive the free travel steamer. My mother and I thought that we had taken prudent steps towards clarifying the terms for the shipping and handling of the offer, especially in light that we were utilizing a money order. We were painfully mistaken, as the Tobi organization, like many others, has created a situation that has resulted in a long term relationship. It is our intent that this relationship will end with the submission of this letter.

Edward
San Antonio, Texas
U.S.A.