Thursday, December 26, 2013

Beware of AutographsNetwork.com - Autograph seller - Forgerers and Fraudulent Business Practices

On 11/16/13 I purchased two Dr. Hook autographed LP's online from AutographsNetwork.com for approximately $33.00.  A couple days later, they charged my credit card again $7.50 without my permission.  They did not discard my credit card information as any reputable company would do.  I argued with Christopher Fra****in about it, but he said it was in their User Agreement that they charge a handling fee after the initial charge.  I dropped it at that point.  A few days ago, I was looking for more autographed items by Dr. Hook, as I love them, and the same exact item I bought with the same exact Certificate of Authenticity number was available still for purchase on their web-site.  I contacted Christopher F*****in by email again and he said that it was not available, that it was just my computer's memory allowing me to pull up the autographed album again.  I told them that was not the case and that I could actually purchase the item again all the way through paying for it (which of course I did not do) and he insisted that I was mistaken.  Additionally, on their web-site was an autographed copy of The Beatles, "The White Album" supposedly signed by all 4 Beatles for $142.  There has only been 1 or 2 known copies of that album ever in existence signed by all 4 Beatles and that went for somewhere around $20,000.  So, I knew this company was fraudulent at that point and that most likely my purchases were forgeries.  At that point, I started doing some research on the company and found countless complaints about them.  Even the Better Business Bureau has them rated as "F" and has said that the company has been repeatedly asked to stop using the "BBB" logo and the company has refused to respond to their requests.  Apparently the company used to be known as AutographsAmerica.com and they got so many complaints, they changed their name to AutographsNetwork.com.  Also, the owner of the company has changed his name repeatedly.  Suggested aliases are Christopher Fr***lin, Brian Bu**el, Brian *eil B**ns, Michael Ro**ore and probably many more.  He also has an ex-employee who has filed complaints against Mr. Bu**el and completely turned on him testifying to Mr. Bu***el's illegal activities.  I suspect all of this names are aliases that are fake except Brian Bu**el, which I believe to be his legal name, though I cannot prove so.  Mr. B**kel appears to have at least 43 known cases on file against him as well.  Upon gaining all of this knowledge, I emailed Mr. Fra***in/Bu**el and told him of my suspicions that the items I purchased were forgeries and that he was operating a fraudulent business.  He told me that if I attempted to get my money back (which I later told him I was not going to do because I loved Dr. Hook and would have paid the price I paid for fake signatures anyway) that he would charge me $500 for his trouble and report to the credit bureaus until I paid the $500.00.  This was yesterday.  When I woke up today, I had an email from my credit card company that a large transaction had been charged and went online to find out that AutographsNetwork charged my card for $500.00, obviously without my authorization.  Also, I did not attempt to get my money back from them, so they charged my card without cause or authorization.  That is stealing.  They refunded the $500 afterwards, but that is still fraud.  I want this man who thinks the law doesn't apply to him to be shut down and to be stopped before he ruins my good credit because he is angry with me for fighting back.  I filed a police report today with my local police department and will keep attempting to do whatever I can to keep this man from perpetrating fraud against any more innocent people like me.  He is a forgerer and a criminal and should be put in jail. That is why I am making this complaint.  Not to recover $33.00.  FYI, today I lodged complaints with my local police department, the FBI, the Attorney General in the state of Washington and the Consumer Protection Agency in the state of Washington.  I hope all others that have been injured by this horrible person and horrible company in any way, will follow suit and make your complaints so that eventually he will be caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent the law allows.

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