Subject: Compact Connection Investigation
From: drrogu@erols.com
Date: 1998/04/02
Message-ID: <6g0e2k$vm2$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>
Newsgroups: rec.music.marketplace.misc
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Dear former CCI dealer,
My name is George Rogu, and I am a former dealer for Compact Connection,
Inc., the Irvine-based company which I'm sure you are, by now, all too
familiar with.
My partners and I were forced to take our website down last June because
of CCI's continued failure to deliver our customers' orders. After
seven months of assurances from Darrel Piercy, delivery times had not
improved, and because of this, we found that we could not even give our
Music Cards away. We have 4,500 of them collecting dust as I write
this.
Since July, we have been involved in a systematic effort to convince
federal and Orange County authorities to bring criminal proceedings
against Darrel Piercy and Compact Connection for having taken our
investment money and--in violation of their own dealer
contracts--refusing to give it back when they could not comply with its
provisions. We have evidence that CCI is continuing to solicit money
from new dealers even though their delivery times have not markedly
improved.
We have been in communication with the Orange County District Attorney's
Major Fraud Consumer Protection Unit in Santa Ana, and we've learned
that while CCI's activities can certainly be considered fraud, their
offices will initiate legal action against them only if we can present
evidence of "ongoing deceptive business practices." This is why we are
contacting you. We have already received statements from several former
dealers whose combined investments are well over $50,000.00, and we
would like to ask for yours as well.
If you are willing to take part in these efforts, please furnish a
statement containing the following information:
(1) How and when you became involved with CCI;
(2) The total amount of your investment;
(3) A brief history of what happened and the approximate dates that your
customers began complaining about non-delivery;
(4) A description of any attempts you made to get your money back from
CCI, and, if you were unsuccessful,
(5) A description of any payment promises Darrel might have made to you,
but not followed-through on.
It would also be useful to include a description of CCI's behavior after
you began asking for your money. (Did they dodge your phonecalls, have
you draft "agreement letters" providing for installment payments to you,
etc.)
We hope that you will add your name to the growing list of
complainants we've been assembling. The main reason CCI has been able
to continue doing business in this manner is that, until now, their
dealers have been isolated and unable to communicate with one another.
Thanks to the Internet, this is no longer the case. For months, Darrel
has continued to insist that my partners and I are the only disgruntled
dealers; that everyone else has waited out the difficult times with him,
and are now making money now that CCI is filling orders in a timely
manner. From what we've been able to find out, there is absolutely no
truth to this.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have, and I
hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
--George Rogu
(formerly of The Wax Cylinder Music Company)
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