I was an avid customer of Beachbody.com and P90X products. This past year alone my company spent more than $2000 with them. A few months back I had an employee of mine list one of our P90X programs on eBay because it was no longer needed. The listing was quickly canceled so I tried contacting the email address provided by eBay for Product Partners, LLC to find out why.
After several attempts and receiving no response at all I finally just gave up. Well, a few months after this happened with eBay and Product Partners I received an email from a firm known as Johnson & Pham, LLP located in Woodland Hills, CA. The email is accusing me of selling COUNTERFEIT P90x products!! Of course this email went to my trash email folder and rightfully so because that's exactly what it was is TRASH!!!
So I delete the message along with all the other trash email. A couple weeks go by and I receive a letter delivered by the USPS from....Johnson & Pham again!!! In this letter they are again accusing me of buying, selling and trafficking COUNTERFEIT GOODS!! Also, they are demanding I send them $893.16 or potentially face civil action!! Of course I did not respond and will not respond and WELCOME CIVIL ACTION!! These guys are nuts and I cannot believe a company like Product Partners, LLC (Beachbody.com & P90x) would allow such a firm of idiots represent them.
As mentioned earlier I WAS a very good customer of Beachbody.com. Spending over $2000 with them last year alone with intentions to spend more this year. I purchased their equipment, DVD programs, supplements, etc., etc., etc. But because of their representation by Johnson & Pham and their demand of $893.16 for a crime I never committed they have now lost a valuable customer. And they have no chance at all of ever seeing $893.16 from me!! It's a bunch of garbage and a scam headed by Johnson & Pham.
After a little research I found out this is happening to just about everyone who is listing a P90X product on eBay. Granted, some, or even a lot might indeed be counterfeit. But if Johnson & Pham are truely interested in protecting their clients they should actually do their job and not take the easy road. They just can't go accusing current satisfied customers of Product Partners, LLC of a crime they never committed and sending out these very unprofessional demand letters to them. I mean really, who in their right mind gives and merrit to a company sending something like this through email?? They are on the same level of a low-life collections agency. Instead of being lazy (or it's probably because they are so small), they should gather some form of additional evidence to make sure they are not pissing off someone who will spend more money with Product Partners, LLC in the near future than the small amount they are demanding.
A post I found on a thread located at AVVO.com. One by Christopher Johnson from Johnson & Pham LLP and another from a person making a pretty good point:::::
anonymous
USA#2General Comment
Fri, July 30, 2010
I can not believe an attorney for the company posted the following;
" If you think your counterfeiting activities are too small to be noticed, think again."
So again they say the item is counterfeit.
Defamationalso called calumny, vilification, slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. It is usually, but not always,[1] a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).
ImPumpedAndWillNowBeatYourAss
United States of America#3Consumer Comment
Fri, April 09, 2010
I too received the extortion letter from Joker and Scam
with the same price everyone is getting told to pay by tricking them.
I put up the 4 DVD's unopened in shrinkwrap ...on ebay that I got from Beach Body.
Not counterfeits.
It was immediately taken off.
The letter accuses me of selling counterfeit goods.
I have never sold or possessed any counterfeit stuff let alone sold it.
They must be criminals because they don't know the law.
The 2nd page that asks all kinds of stupid questions at the top
says "Under Penalty Of Perjury". HAHAHA. Stupid.
I never took any oath so I can't commit perjury on a dumb form.
Look up perjury in your "funkin wagnalls". You have to be under oath
to commit perjury.
I can't wait for them to try to litigate. I will be on the news
because I am so pumped from (can I even say the name p@90)
PEE EX NINETEEN that I will jump over the table and just grind on
them. Then I can blame it on the program.
Nah, but anyone in my sitch would win anyhow. I suggest go to
send a turd or send a fish and send them a nice present.
I sure wish I lived right next door to them. Nobody would ever get these letters
AGAIN. This ruined my weekend. I hope I can get over how mad this made me.
I need a Shaman to exorcise the Amazon River demons that came in that letter that
hopped into my head.
karlis0831
United States of America#4Consumer Suggestion
Fri, March 26, 2010
Hi,
I myself, listed my p90x dvd set on ebay and it was removed (back in September 09). The dvd's were never sold. Six months later, I received an email demand letter from Johnson & Pham, who are reportedly representing the manufacturer of p90x. They claim that you are pirating and violating their intellectual copyrights. They are sending the letters out to everyone who has, or had, a listing on Ebay. This will be followed by an actual letter (in the mail).
The demand amount will be for 893.16, and they will claim that they may sue you for further damages. If you search on Google, you will find many stories that are similar.
Ignore the letters. It is not legal until you are physically served. They will not waste the time in litigation unless they feel it is worth their time financially. Plus the suit must be filed in the state where the "crime" was commited (where you live, listed the auction).
I have sought advice from my uncle who is a CA defense attorney. PLEASE everyone who has received these letters, file a complaint with your state's Attorney General, the FTC (federal trade comission), and the California Bar of Law. I already have and if enough noise is made, action will hopefully take place. I do not know if what this law firm is doing is illegal, but it is unethical. Do not let them intimidate you into paying!!!