Compact Connection Scam
Dear Gennaro,
I do not know what kind of bussiness arangement there are between TSIG/ CCI/ DP Enterp or whatever name they choose to use this week. All that I know is that I was a dealer for a company called COMPACT CONNECTION, CCI which used to be called Bi-coastal AKA BCI. They change their names a awfull lot don't you think. And the president of the company is named Darrel Piercy. On this chat board and oin the CCI CEO interview it was given by Mr. Darrel Piercy, everywhere you go it;'s the same person. OK, I understood from the report that this TSIG company ( remember I do not know anything about them, nor am I making any negative statements about them) bought their intelectual assets. Now, what did they really buy? CCI has no inventory right or furniture or office space. I am certain that they did not pay Mr. Piercy $15,000,000 just so they may use this idea of getting a wholesale price through a music card. Mr. Piercy boasted in his interview that her has hundreds of dealers all over the world selling these music cards and through them he sells the CD's. This bussines was from what I understood from DArrel, was that the only was he could get these CD's at such a low price was to market through these cards, and he was not able to sell the cards directly or the CD's without a discount membership. In my book, the only assets that CCI has are all these dealers who sell the cards and bring customers to CCI. The catch is to become a dealer you needed to invest a large amount of money. That is where zMr. Piercy made millions of dollars and not from the sale of CD's. It was funny that the only CD's that were ever delivered to anyone (and that is not many) were those that cost less than $10.
Go ahead bash me and say what you please but I lived and continue to live the CCI nightmere as well as many others. I am content at this point with losing my money to Darrel, but it kills me inside that he continues to scam people out of their hard earned money and has not been sent to jail yet. Enough said I will enclose some former e-mails that we had with customers. I took out heir last names, you know why.
It may be long, but since I am a trial member, I have only three posts, and I have a few words to say to others on this board.
Good Night
Gicone
I ordered via credit card in the last days of August. I've called numerous times, only to be given the run-around. When I leave a message, my calls are rarely returned. Each time I've been able to call during business hours I'm told "Your order hasn't shipped yet. 1-2 weeks." It's been over 2 months. I absolutely fed up w/ CCI. After this much time has elapsed they could at least level w/ me! I think I've been more than fair with CCI as I am entitled by law to demand a refund ( if the order does not arrivew/in 30 days ) and have yet to do so. I think it's high-time they werehonest as to the status of said order. 'Nuff said...
---
Jonathan J******
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
@linex.com
n@mombbs.com
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Hi Robert:
Well, maybe that was too strong a message! I'm not that worried yet. But I seem to be stuck in a string of problems with retailers (wrong items shipped, problems made and not kept, etc.) and so maybe I'm oversensitive.
The woman I spoke to on the phone at Compact Connection said to expect my order in 2 weeks, so there's time yet.
Thanks
Tim *****
Cari wrote:
>
> You billed me on Dec. 9th and I haven't gotten a word from you.
Dear Cari,
I am confused about the charges you mention--we did not bill you at
all. All we did was send you a Music Card which we never charged you
for because our distributor, Compact Connection, was having difficulties filling orders due to an unprecedented volume of business.
Please understand that we are NOT Compact Connection. By leaving voice messages with their 1-800 number, you were not contacting us. Had you tried to contact us (at 718-961-1500) we would have gotten back to you immediately.
> Are you running some kind of scam? I've left voice mail. How
> do you bill someone when you haven't shipped anything? I want
> the charges removed from my account - better yet, I will call
> my Credit Card company and tell them to re-bill you since you
> can't respond to your customers.
Please try to explain what happened so that we can rectify the
situation; From what I'm able to infer, you placed an order with Compact Connection using a Music Card, were billed, but never received yourmerchandise. If you had e-mailed us with a description of your problem,we could have contacted them for you and expedited your order. Whattitles did you request? Are they on backorder?
> I'm going to tell all the> music news groups that you are a sham. You ought to be ashamed.> I will let everyone know about your so-called company.
>
> Your damn voice mail message is a lie also.
Cari, please understand that you never contacted us; we are the Wax
Cylinder Music Company--not Compact Connection. In the letter that
accompanied the Music Card we sent you, we indicated that if you had anyproblems with the ordering process, you should contact us so that wecould assist you. This is the first communication we've had from you since sending you the card at the end of November.
All we do is sell Music Cards; that is how we make our money. When we
discovered that Compact Connection was falling behind in their orders,
we immediately stopped billing for the cards. We never charged you the $5.00 for the Music Card.
If you were billed by CCI and never received your CDs, you should have
contacted us--we might have smoothed things over before they became such a problem.
We do regret that you were mistreated by our distributor, and we are
always willing to correct the problem to the customer's satisfaction.
If you can let us know how you wish to proceed, we will take care of it
for you.
Kind regards,
--Robert
Ok, I'm gonna start over...
You emailed me the Thank you for the music card order...
I called the 800-795-1578 number (as stated in the email)
and placed an order for four CD's.
I don't remember the lady saying this was Compact Connection.
She gave me the total charged to my Credit Card. To date I have
not received the CD's or a letter, or a phone call. So, I called
the 800 number (above) to find out what's going on. I keep getting
a recording saying there will be 24 hours customer service 'next
week' this recording has been running for about 6 weeks. Then it
tells you to leave voice mail. The mailbox is always full.
My credit card was billed for 43.96 in December.
I apologize for being so angry - but if you furnish the number
to call to order CD's you should take responsibility for the
orders that come from it. I followed your (Wax Cylinder) instructions
for placing the order - Pin Number, titles, artist name and labels.
Of course I am paying interest on this amount charged to my cc; and
can't seem to get any satisfaction.
This is what I had ordered -
All titles were by Michael Nesmith;
Nevada Fighter Pacific Arts
Michael Nesmith Complete Pacific Arts
Best of Michael Nesmith RCA
The Older Stuff Rhino
I just can't understand why I was billed before I was shipped. Yes,
you have not billed me $5.00 (yet) but I figured it was cause the
order hadn't been shipped. But it sounds like you know there is a
problem with the orders - so why didn't you contact any of the
customers? Is it that you know there is a distribution problem,
yet have no idea of the orders or the customers? This does not
sound like a respectable business. Do you only send out cards with
numbers (Z-00054) and that's all? Where does the responsibility lie?
The letter I got (with the card) offered 100% satisfaction. Now I
got the letter from Wax-Cylinder - not Compact Connection. So you
are who I am contacting. Your email does not say that the 800 number
is not Wax-Cylinder. I see this as fraud. What am I to think?
Cari *******s
Hi,
I was just wondering what was going on with this order. It's been since Dec.3rd that I placed the order. The titles were Glenn Branca Symphony No. 6, and Victor Wootan, A Show Of Hands. I'm certain both titles are in print.Why the hold-up?
Regards,
James *******
Dear Michel,
>
> I don't know what the $8.00 charge is (unless it is an adjustment from> Canadian/U.S. Dollars). Since you ordered 2 CDs (Paul McCartney and> Julian Lennon) your total should be $19.98 plus $5.00 Shipping (@ $2.50> per item), or $24.98 U.S.
>
> C.C.I. does not bill seperately for individual CDs. Can you let me know> the company name that appears next to EACH charge? If I hear from you
> today (Friday) I can probably have an answer for you by this evening.
>
> Regards,
> --Robert
Dear Robert,
The name that appears next to the prices are : The Compact Connection
Irvine. The first price that appears is 8$US and the other one is
21,98$US. Both have been charge january 7th.
I thank you for that information and hope to have some good news,
because I don't have receive it yet.
Michel *******
'day Robert,
On Dec 5th I placed an order for the following CDs:
[1] Compact Disc
Abbacadabra
Revival - Flight One
Almighty
[2] Compact Disc
ABBA
To All ABBA Fans
Polar
[3] Compact Disc
ABBA
ABBA - More Archives (pt.2)
Hova Disc / Zebra
[4] Compact Disc
Hazell Dean
The Winner Takes It All
Subway Sounds
[5] Compact Disc
Bjorn Again
Erasure-ish
M & G Records
On Jan 9th my VISA account was debited US$27.98 (by Compact Connection) and
so I assume that at least two of the CDs I ordered were despatched. As I
have yet to receive anything, could you please let me know the following:
[a] Which were the CDs that were despatched?
2 x ($9.99+$2.50) = $24.98 What is the other $3 for?
[c] Which of the other CDs are you unable to source?
I've just been offered a couple of these CDs from a local source, so if you
can fill me in on what you've already sent me, and what you'll be able to send
me, then I'll be in a better position to know what is left that I can go ahead
and buy locally.
Thanks in advance for your assistance.
Best regards,
Today, I received the receipt of my credit card band about my
charge account and I found three payments charged from your
distributor named "The Compact Connectiirvine" in CA but
I was so confused about the price.
In the mention on your homepage, it says that the each CD is
US$12.49(9.99+2.5) for the foreign plus some handling fee
about US$10.00. So the total price about my 16 CDs ordered
from you is about209.84 but they charged my card to a total
US$239.84 (43.96+64.00+131.88). It is strange and they charged
it on 6-Jan. 1997 but I have received none now.
Besides, you told me some of my orders have been backordered
but the money you have charged has been above the total price
for 16 CDs. I don't know if you will charge more abou the backorders.
Would you please tell me in details ? Thank you very much!!!
Sorry for bothering you again and again and would you please help
me to check!!
Sincerely,
Chen-Shiun
>What you are saying is an outright lie.
You don't know what you are talking about!! I spoke to Darrell Pearcy of
CCI on February 26 and he was going to "straighten it out and call me
back." He never did. I called again on March 4, asked for him and he was
"unavailable." I left a message and he never called me back. I called again
on March 5 and left a message. I called a second time on March 5 and left a
message. No one from CCI has called me back and it is now March 19. I have
no money and no CDs, and neither does my co-worker who also ordered 2 cds
in January.
You contacted the Wax Cylinder
>Music Company requesting a refund because selections you ordered were not
available.
On the contrary, I was told by Mr. Pearcy of CCI on February 26 that they
were "being held for payment" in spite of the fact that I had my cancelled
check in front of me. No one ever said they were not available! Why are
they "not available?" I could have ordered them directly from Stephen
Halpern on the web myself and feel sure I'd have them by now. I know the
run-around when I see it.
It was forwarded to CCI who will send you the money. I do not
>believe that no one is returning your calls. Since the selections that you
hadordered were not available,you had the opt5ions to choose
>something else but you wanted your money back. This was honored.
No this wasn't honored...I don't have my money back. WHEN will I get my
money? How much longer am I supposed to wait? These vague promises just
don't cut it!
If there are anymore problems please contact Customer Service at
1800-795-1578 or
>1-800356-1694.
The Customer Service number is where I have left my many messages and NO
ONE HAS CALLED ME BACK!
Both CCI and its dealers whom Wax Cylinder is one of them
>are respectable companies. That is why we have telephone numbers and
>names for contacts that you may reach before defaming people on usnet.
Look up the definition of defamation. I merely reported the facts as they
are. They have had my money for two and a half months and I and my
co-worker still have no CDS. CCI doesn't return my phone calls. Those are
the FACTS.
Names for contacts? The only reason I have the names I have are that I
asked for names. I didn't see any contact names on Wax Cylinder's home page.
>>We have thousands of satisfied customers.
Who are they ? I'd like to talk to a few.
>Linda I will personally contact CCI on Thursaday to see if your refund
was mailed out yet.
And who are you? What is your interest in all of this? Are you the owner of
Wax Cylinder? Where are you located? Give me your phone number and I will
call you to discuss it.
. My check is
dated January 3. That's over 2 and a half months!
>Since we are a reputable dealer of a real company I am also posting this
to the newsgroup from which it had originated. We are not afraid.
That's fine that you're not afraid. I'm not afraid either. I will gladly
post a retraction IF AND WHEN I get my CDS or a refund. However, I will
continue to periodically post THE FACTS to warn others, if I don't. I also
will be contacting some consumer protection agencies in the near future if
I don't get the CDs or a refund.
>L wrote:
>>
>> I sent a check for 2 CDs back in January to Wax Cylinder Music
>> (http://www.waxcylinder.com). I still have not received the CDs, but my
>> check cleared the bank in January. Compact Connection is supposedly the
>> distributor for Wax Cylinder. They won't return my phone calls asking
>> what happened to the cds. I have asked for my money back, but seriously
>> doubt that I will get it. Wax Cylinder's home page is now gone. The
>> owner of Wax Cylinder is Robert. The owner of Compact
>> Connection, Inc. is Darrell Pearcy. I would advise everyone to stay away
>> from them.
I placed an order from CCI through your website on March 20, 1997. As of
this date, I have yet to receive my order. I called CCI on 5/12/97 to
check on the status of my order, and they said they would put a rush
order on it, and that I should receive it in 2-3 weeks. Keep in mind
that this was already 8 weeks after I originally placed my order. I
cannot think of any valid reason as to why it should take this long to
ship CDs from ANYWHERE! Your web site says it should take 3-4 weeks, and
yet this is going on 9 weeks with no resolve in sight. If I do not
receive my CDs by 5/26, I WILL be filing a complaint with the Better
Business Bureau. However, if I do not receive a response to this email
within a couple of days, I will file that complaint sooner.
--
Mark
I still have not received my CDs. It has been five months. Should I expect I still have not received my CDs. It has been five months. Should I expect
them?
Warmly, Barry
Wax Cylinder
2601 Main Street, Number 270
Irvine, CA 92614
Attention: Robert
Dear Sir:
SUBJECT: FAILURE TO SHIP MERCHANDISE
On March 21, 1997, I sent Wax Cylinder my check number 4243 for $10.99. The
check was for a Def Leppard CD, First Strike. The check cleared my bank five
days later. Seventy-eight days have past since I placed my order with Dawn at
3:50 PM Eastern Time. In those seventy-eight days, I have not received my CD
or any notification of when it will be shipped. If Wax Cylinder is not going
to ship the CD, please refund my money. My customer number is Z-00520.
It is unfortunate that my first order with Wax Cylinder was handled so poorly.
I would not recommend Wax Cylinder to any of my Internet friends. I will
also not place another order until this issue is resolved.
Please mail the refund or the CD to:
Michele
Please call me at (***) 917-*** and provide the status of my order or the
date Wax Cylinder will mail my refund check.
You can also contact me via email, at
I need your reply before June 13, 1997.
Sincerely,
Michele *******
MRI
I just wanted to let you know that I finally got tired of waiting for my
order from you and your partners at CCI. I waited over four and a half
months for my CD's and realized that they were never coming.
I also wanted to let you know that I will continue to advise all those I
encounter either in person or through newsgroups on the internet what a
bogus operation your two companies are operating. I am also very happy
to be furnishing information to a major nationally published magazine
that is doing an article on internet scams. There is no doubt that this
is what you are running here.
Also, please be advised that if I do not receive the refund on my charge
card for the merchandise I never received I will be looking into filing
mail fraud charges.
It is organizations like yours that are a disgrace to the business
community.
Eric ******
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