Complaint Review: Pets Warehouse - Copiague New York

I found out about the Novak lawsuit shortly after placing my order with Pets' Warehouse. I wish that I had checked it out first. I've been shopping online for 5 years and this is the first (and only) time I have ever had a problem. I now make sure I check out any merchant before ordering from them. I've given up on ever getting this situation resolved and now view it as a lesson learned. Thank you Offy for the additional information. Jess

There is a considerable amount of information on the Internet regarding the lawsuits filed by Robert Novak allegedly d/b/a Petswarehouse.com. There are also a couple of "Cease & Desist" letters sent by Robert Novak included at ChillingEffects.org to thekrib.com and Kloognome.com: http://www.chillingeffects.org/protest/notice.cgi?NoticeID=230 This page contains links to media stories, the BBB report, the dockets to the lawsuits and the consumer comment posts that started this mess: http://petsforum.com/psw The Long Island Better Business Bureau wasn't immune from being named as a potential Novak target. The following is excerpted from the Long Island Business News article written by Ken Schachter: "Novak, meanwhile, said he has further legal targets. One is the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York. The BBB gives Pets Warehouse an "unsatisfactory rating," the organization's lowest." The story is at: http://www.libn.com/Column_details.cfm?ID=1249 Although some defendants settled in Novak 1, CV-01-3566, there are many other active defendants in these lawsuits. See also the MSNBC article by Lisa Napoli and the Salon.com article by Katherine Mieszkowski. Google,Overture & Kanoodle and others were put on the legal docket when Novak filed suit in Federal Court against them and others. That lawsuit (Novak 4), CV 02-5164, is also documented at http://petsforum.com/psw. Recently, in Novak 3, filed in Alabama State Court, the Judge awarded the Plaintiff John Benn a $50,000 plus court costs in a default judgment against Defendant Robert Novak. As a result of that default judgment and a Court Order, there is currently a Sheriff's Sale announcement indicating that the domain name of petswarehouse.com is to be sold on June 9, 2003. See http://www.petswarehouse.com. The other cases are still active: CV 01-3566, CV 02-2978 and CV 02-5164; Federal Court - Eastern District of New York. (Legal Documents relating to those proceedings are included as links to the lawsuit docket numbers.) Regards,

I received a reply from the Long Island BBB today. It states, "On two occasions, we have contacted Pets Warehouse on your behalf and have not received a response. Through mediation, the Bureau strives to find a fair and amicable solution to disputes that occur between the customer and business. However, instances do exist where the Bureau is unable to bring about a satisfactory resolution of a complaint. Because mediation is a voluntary procedure, the BBB cannot compel the business to respond to a complaint. In those instances where our presentation are ignored, they become important since they form a part of the company's file and are referenced when providing prepurchase information to consumers." They then provided me with the address and phone number for the California Attorney General's office in case I needed further assistance. The CAG doesn't handle individual complaints regarding a business so it seems rather pointless to have included the info. Bah!