Complaint Review: American Entertainment Distributors - Hollywood Florida

Hi --

I paid $38,000 back on April 17, 2004 for a Reillo machine. I live in a small town about 65 miles from Las Vegas and wanted the machine to be located in my town. I was informed that all of the locations on my wishlist rejected having my machine so AED said that an apartment complex in Las Vegas would be the place my machine would be located.

I was against this, but AED assured me that, if it didn't go with that location I would get a bad rep and it would be very difficult to find any location to place MY machine.

My husband checked out the location -- 350 units with an additional 250 being built. The machine would be located in the clubhouse where there is also a "theater" so people can watch the movies on a "big screen".

So, we ok'd the location with AED. Our sales rep, Winston Augustine assured us at the middle of June that the machine would be arriving in a couple of weeks. (The purchase order did say 60 BUSINESS days from date of payment.) So, we waited.

After not hearing anything by the middle of July, I sent a certified letter addressed to Mr. Augustine stating that I wanted to cancel my order per the terms of the P.O. which stated I may do so in writing after 60 business days if they (AED) had not delivered the machine.

That letter was returned "Unable to deliver as addressed." So, I took Mr. Augustine's name off the envelope, printed up another copy of the letter and sent it off certified, again.

On August 3, 2004 at 2:04 pm PDT I recieved a call from Florida. I let it go to my voice mail. It was from a Mr. Ed Farlow, head of customer service at AED. He stated that my machine would be clearing customs that following Friday and (since there had been a delay) the manufacturer of the machine would like to include 25 free DVDs for my machine and AED would match that -- so I would get 50 free DVDs.

I found the timing suspicious, so I checked the USPS website and entered the tracking number for my certified letter. "Your item was delivered on August 03, 2004 at 12:41 pm (I am assuming EDT) in Hollywood, FL 33020." So this "offer" was made 4 hours after receiving my cancellation letter!!!

I decided to not return the phone call and let the cancellation letter stand. The green card confirmation was signed by a H. Powell.

After a month of hearing nothing I decided to call and find out the status of my refund (this was 9/2). I talked to the receptionist -- Heather Powell (the H. Powell who signed for the letter). She told me that yes, the letter was received and is being processed. It was forwarded to Ed Farlow. But, I couldn't talk to anyone in Customer Service at the time because they were all evacuating because of hurricane Frances.

So, on 9/10 I called back, Heather sent me to Ed Farlow's extention and all I got was his voice mail, I left a message. I received no call back.

On 9/13, I tried again. This time I talked to Mr. Farlow!!! He said that the legal department would be sending release forms to us and it could take as much as 60 business days for them to handle this. I asked if I could talk to anyone in the Legal Department and he said "no".

I talked to the attorney handling my Personal Injury case from the auto accident I was in last January. He liked the letter I sent, but said that I should add a "demand paragraph". This paragraph should state a deadline date and time for refund via Fedex and if that deadline isn't met, that "we will consider this an act of bad faith and will initiate a legal action against your company for engaging in unprofessional and unethical business practices".

I received the green card (signature illegible) dated 9/30.

The deadline has passed and I talked with my attorney. Unfortunately, he only handles personal injury cases and is in the process of getting me a referal to a contract lawyer. But now, after reading that many others are in the same boat, I know a contract lawyer is useless.

WHAT CAN WE DO????

The $38,000 was my inheritance from my father's passing last year. I figured that the income from this machine could sustain my family now that I am disabled from my accident. I am now in jeopardy of losing my house because of the loss of this money and any interest I could have received if I had invested it. I thought this was a good business opportunity back in April.

Is a class action lawsuit possible? If so, how do we do it? HELP!!!

D'Elaine

Pahrump, Nevada
U.S.A.