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dedad1

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? New Jersey

I own a restaurant, i have been using an email advertising service for nearly a year that claimed they had a LOT more emails then they really do. To say i'm upset is an understatement as i have spent thousands with them.

Now i know they are located in my state, i can prove they do not have anywhere near the amount of subscribers they claim and when i originally made the deal with them i asked them via email how many subscribers they had and they responded with a number (i still have that email).

I want to know what i can do about this legally as they have ignored all my requests for a refund.
In other words what criminal charges could they face and what can i do to them in civil court.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I want to know what i can do about this legally as they have ignored all my requests for a refund.
In other words what criminal charges could they face and what can i do to them in civil court.
You can discontinue using them as an advertising vendor...
 

Curt581

Senior Member
In other words what criminal charges could they face
I suspect none whatsoever. What you describe is not theft.

BTW, email advertising is known as "spam". It's surprisingly unwelcome to the recipient.

what can i do to them in civil court.
You can sue them. Expect to spend bucket loads of money on attorney fees, and to have the case take years to settle.
 

dedad1

Junior Member
I suspect none whatsoever. What you describe is not theft.
You are telling me thats not even a crime what they did?

If i call up the New York Times and ask to advertise with them then ask them how many subscribers they have and they tell me a number 5x the actual its legal? Isn't this at least false advertising or some kind of scam that has a statute?
 

outonbail

Senior Member
Well the OP certainly made my day with this post!

I'm glad to hear that any company who spends their marketing funds on spam and fills everyone's in box with a bunch of unsolicited crap, lost money by doing so!

I hope this happens to every business on the entire planet who advertises in this way. Maybe then some of this spamming will stop.

As far as the Emails this company did saturate the Internet with on your behalf, I think you should know that 99% of the people who receive this junk mail, simply delete them without ever even opening them. I know I do.
However, every once in a while I will accidentally open one and if I recognize the company who had their crap sent to me in this manner, I make it a point to avoid spending my money in their establishment from then on...

Anyway, thank you for brightening up my day! Thousands you say? :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
 

dedad1

Junior Member
This was not supposed to be a spam list, the service provider owned a restaurant review website which serviced my state. The subscribers were supposed to be double opt-in members of that website and have signed up to receive updates on good deals at local restaurants, it wasn't supposed to be random people. Point was his website had far less members then he claimed.
 

dedad1

Junior Member
Sue the bad person.

See what happens.
ok that kinda costs a lot of time and money, i would rather just threaten them into giving me a refund which is why i am asking what criminal charges they could face so i have something to threaten with...if that doesn't work i'll go and sue offcourse
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
...i would rather just threaten them into giving me a refund...
Perhaps you can tell them that if you don't get a refund you'll hold your breath and die - then it will be their fault!
Or, you could tell them that your going to hum John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt over and over until they pay you...
 

outonbail

Senior Member
Tell them you have a copy of their customer base and that you are going to spill the beans if they don't give you some STFU money. Now this may be viewed as blackmail, coercion and borderline extortion, so you should know that going in.

Another option:
Since you're in New jersey, you must have at least one guy named "Guido" living close by. Every Guido I've ever met had a very persuasive way about them when it came to collecting money. Unfortunately, every Guido I have ever known, has also had several arrests for racketeering and you could end up going there yourself with Guido's help. So you need to know that as well.

One last question, how do you know, or how can you legally prove that this company doesn't have, or has never had the spam contacts, member roster or lists of clients they have claimed?
 

dedad1

Junior Member
Tell them you have a copy of their customer base and that you are going to spill the beans if they don't give you some STFU money. Now this may be viewed as blackmail, coercion and borderline extortion, so you should know that going in.

Another option:
Since you're in New jersey, you must have at least one guy named "Guido" living close by. Every Guido I've ever met had a very persuasive way about them when it came to collecting money. Unfortunately, every Guido I have ever known, has also had several arrests for racketeering and you could end up going there yourself with Guido's help. So you need to know that as well.

One last question, how do you know, or how can you legally prove that this company doesn't have, or has never had the spam contacts, member roster or lists of clients they have claimed?
good idea on the stfu money but back to my original question what is the criminal charge here there's gotta be one i mean its fraud in one way or another

guidos are pussys whether they juice or not, this is something you learn pretty quick if you are around them enough

i know that because they allowed my friend (another restaurant owner) access to their list because he was skeptical (they didn't know we knew each other) they didn't give him the fake numbers though but he got to see what they had and told me (he kept a screen shot of their email list server showing the true numbers)
 

outonbail

Senior Member
In order to give you anything close to accurate advice, we would have to review all the facts involved, beginning with the contract you signed with this company. If you feel you've been defrauded, then bring all your paperwork to a local attorney and see what he/she has to say.
But there's far too much going on for anyone to be able to advise you without knowing all the facts.

BTW, what county/town are you in? I was born and raised in Washington Township in Bergen County, but left for Ca. in '75
 

dedad1

Junior Member
In order to give you anything close to accurate advice, we would have to review all the facts involved, beginning with the contract you signed with this company. If you feel you've been defrauded, then bring all your paperwork to a local attorney and see what he/she has to say.
But there's far too much going on for anyone to be able to advise you without knowing all the facts.

BTW, what county/town are you in? I was born and raised in Washington Township in Bergen County, but left for Ca. in '75
ok thats the 1 thing i forgot to mention and yes it was stupid of me and i've learned my lesson now but i never signed a contract
all i have is my email to the company requesting a price quote and email list size and their email response with false info
is that enough to build any kind of case? i mean i can show they lied to me thats about it...
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
Buyer beware. If you found out afterwards through legal means you could have found out before through legal means and therefore you didn't exercise due diligence before sending them money.
 

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