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Sorry to hear that Marc,
You had said all along you had your doubts about one of the dealers.
That is just SLIMY. This isn't the first horror story I've heard about this dealer.
Time we all speak with our wallets, or lack thereof!
You had said all along you had your doubts about one of the dealers.
That is just SLIMY. This isn't the first horror story I've heard about this dealer.
Time we all speak with our wallets, or lack thereof!
"Freedom of expression is important, but I have learned that people want to know how much you care before they care how much you know."
The only time a bass player gets noticed is when he stops playing.
The only time a bass player gets noticed is when he stops playing.
The card I used is no longer valid. I cancelled it back in December right after paying off the balance. So I don't know if I was screwed as well. What ever the case, that can't be legal - what they have done so far to Marc and Dave. CME essentially took out an interest free loan for around 10K. How far would I have to dig to find enough similar stories from other CME "customers" to assemble a class action suit, I wonder.
Isn't there some way that RIC can "ride to the rescue" in the assertion of fraud on the part of an otherwise-authorized RIC dealer? Surely this breaks some part of the RIC contract with its dealers. We have seen how uncompromising John Hall can be with US dealers who sell new stock to Europeans. Why can he not be as equally uncompromising to penalize authorized dealers who screw their customers, riding as the white knight to the rescue of minimum standards of business ethics? This practice that CME is following, in hopes that none of the affected screwed-over customers will ever take them to court (where they would win against CME IMHO) will severely impact the ability of RIC to sell through authorized dealers if those dealers are regularly defrauding customers who prepaid RIC purchases, only to have CME breach their civil contract of sale for its own convenience and convert the contracted property of the prepaid customer to their own uses, utilizing the specie of the retail customer in a manner intended to defraud them 
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and sit in with the band whenever you can, to keep your chops up!
The sheer fact that it happened to four different, unrelated people is enough to give any one of you - having the corroborated affadavit of the other three - a valid pattern of deceit in any civil court in Illinois. Your credit card statement is receipt enough, coupled with the fact that the item you ordered increased significantly in resale value between the time you "paid in full upfront" for it and the time they were due to deliver to you. They are not legally allowed to convert YOUR gain to their own coffers by using your money, on which you paid CC interest all this time. It invokes the Statutes of Frauds in Illinois, overriding torts, as it does 48 other states, and gives any one of you leverage to pay your local family lawyer $50 to make a series of hard-nose telephone calls to them, threatening to sue for actual losses (the difference in value of what they sell your basses for minus what you paid for them at retail) plus the cost of their use of your funds over time, plus court and attorney fees (all mere thousands so far) plus a whopping punitive damages claim that can easily run into the tens of thousands or more to "slap their wrists" - and expect to win. Most importantly, they will believe you will win.
I am not a lawyer, and none of the aforegoing is or should be construed as legal advice. BUT, I have corporate attorneys under retainer who tell me this stuff consistently and repeatedly, and I am just passing on my layman's opinions about what they reliably tell me for cases similar to this in my own business. YMMV. OK, end disclaimers.....
You need to get these bast%@ds! It costs little to get a hard-nose litigation attorney to make severe phone calls and letters. You may be surprised at what you get in consideration from CME if you rise above the masses and actually make them feel that you are gonna take them to court. They are used to timid retail customers not ever getting mad and calling them on their fraud in a meaningful way, and they will roll over and pay you out if they think you really will cause them lawsuit hurt, cuz they KNOW they are in the wrong. They just make a calculated guess that the average customer won't do anything about it - which is exactly what most timid folks wind up doing - nothing....
I am not a lawyer, and none of the aforegoing is or should be construed as legal advice. BUT, I have corporate attorneys under retainer who tell me this stuff consistently and repeatedly, and I am just passing on my layman's opinions about what they reliably tell me for cases similar to this in my own business. YMMV. OK, end disclaimers.....
You need to get these bast%@ds! It costs little to get a hard-nose litigation attorney to make severe phone calls and letters. You may be surprised at what you get in consideration from CME if you rise above the masses and actually make them feel that you are gonna take them to court. They are used to timid retail customers not ever getting mad and calling them on their fraud in a meaningful way, and they will roll over and pay you out if they think you really will cause them lawsuit hurt, cuz they KNOW they are in the wrong. They just make a calculated guess that the average customer won't do anything about it - which is exactly what most timid folks wind up doing - nothing....
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and sit in with the band whenever you can, to keep your chops up!
Maybe their eBay auctions might get "run-up" with the high bidders refusing to pay at the end? Almost a dose of their own medicine?
'59 425, '59 335, '60 335, '60 360, '60 335F, '60 345F, '64 RM 1999, '65 RM 1998, '65 360-12, '66 335, '67 450-12, '72 4001 '72 4001, '75 4000, '75 4000CS, '00 700S, '01 700C, '01 700S-12, '01 730S-FH, '06 660 DCM
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rickaddict
- Senior Member
- Posts: 6163
- Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 7:46 am
Uh oh! Just tuning in to the thread before I go to bed. For what its worth, I called my credit card guys after Marc sent me an email. As of 10:30pm on Sat I didn't have a refund. My credit card number has changed since I bought the bass from CME on it back in Sep, so I don't know if an attempt by the CME to refund would have made it to my new card yet or not.
Yes, this sucks. I've felt a little uneasy ever since last Sep when I bought mine from CME and then came to the forum later to find that three others also did. But CME assured me that they wouldn't have sold 4 unless they had 4 to sell and that they got the other 2 from another dealer.
Dumb mistake? Fraud?
I think if Ted and I get ours, then it could have been a dumb mistake; if not then it is fraud.
But if I get mine, it still doesn't sit quite right.
Yes, this sucks. I've felt a little uneasy ever since last Sep when I bought mine from CME and then came to the forum later to find that three others also did. But CME assured me that they wouldn't have sold 4 unless they had 4 to sell and that they got the other 2 from another dealer.
Dumb mistake? Fraud?
I think if Ted and I get ours, then it could have been a dumb mistake; if not then it is fraud.
But if I get mine, it still doesn't sit quite right.
Play what you love, love what you play!
Definitely call "whoever" Monday morning. And it doesn't cost you a dime to call the cops and the state's attorneys, Consumer Fraud Division. They will take it over for free for you if they agree it is fraud, and prosecute 
No civil case costs for you, because fraud is criminal. All four or more reporting the same thing at the same time makes the authorities sit up and take notice....
No civil case costs for you, because fraud is criminal. All four or more reporting the same thing at the same time makes the authorities sit up and take notice....Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and sit in with the band whenever you can, to keep your chops up!
