My story about this company is similar to the last report filed. The difference is, the sales person lied to me several times to make the sale.
The last report here about this company was filed 3 years ago, and I am very surprised that these guys are still in business. I am going to call Westfield Mall Horton Plaza, San Diego to discuss my story with them.
The salesman there sold me two of their Car Baby devices (phone reception over any FM radio) for 45 dollars. The guy said he was giving me a deal on two. He said they normally sell for 39 dollars each (Not one company sells the devices for this amount of the companies I researched), but he would sell me 2 for 45 dollars. They sell for less than 15 dollars on the internet each (feel free to research yourself and you will see). Being that this wasn't a big ticket item, I took his word for it. Although their prices are exhorbitantly high, the consumer obviously must be aware, and I take responsibilty for purchasing a product spontaneously. When I tried to return the items, I noticed the receipt said "All sales final" (Again, I take responsibility for buying spontaneously from a vendor). I felt quite naive, as I don't normally purchase anything spontaneously. The guy was certainly a "good" sales person, but I was upset that he lied serveral times to make the sale.
Here is a list of the lies he used to sell me the device:
1. He said that in the State of California, starting in July, 2007, the use of cell phones have been banned when driving unless used with some form of hands-free kit. I thought I had read that this law started in July, 2008, and my research after my purchase confirmed that I had been correct. He insisted that I was wrong, and said that the law started in July 2007.
2. He said that drivers who violate this law will face a $250 dollar fine. Again, this is not true. Drivers who violate the law will face a base fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense.
3. He gave me a card. On that card was an email address of
[email protected]I asked if he had a website so I could research the product, and buy it there if I was interested. He said "Yes, and we sell our products for more on our website, and I would have to pay for shipping if I purchased on their website". I asked him what his website was, and he said "www.uandmclassic.com" (his Yahoo name with a dot com at the end). Their website does not exist. He told me to call him if I had any problems with the devices I had purchased. I called the number on the card, and the number on the card is "out of service"
4. Printed on the receipt he gave me for the transaction reads "Coriollis" (not sure what that is) 51620 Paseo Del Morte, Carlsbad, CA 92008, and there is a phone number on the receipt. I called this number after I read the previous reporter's complaint. Being that the guy lied to me at the point of sale so many times, I wanted to see if these guys actually had a working phone number. A woman answered the phone, and said it was her private mobile phone number, and she had never heard of U and M Classic Products.
This type of behavior might be expected if a guy came up to me off of the street and offered me a watch for sale out of his pocket, but I assumed a company like Westfield would carefully screen vendors. Perhaps no one has ever notified Westfield about this company's unprofessional sales tactics. I plan to call Westfield tomorrow to notify them of my experience and file a complaint against this company.
Becareful
Los Angeles, California
U.S.A.