ecophoto
11-22-2001, 07:08 PM
Good day...
I am writing to you for help in my dealings with a Hilo merchant who
accepted an order and cashed my check in September and for some reason
refuses to ship my merchandise or even answer or return my calls anymore.
In September of this year I visited Hal Brauner of Brauner Molding and
Woodwork (at 336 E Pulai Street in Hilo, 808.959.0013) and ordered $500.00
(roughly 150 board feet at the agreed upon price) of premium Hawaiian
hardwoods to be shipped to my shop in Seattle.
Over 10 calls and almost 3 months he has variously insisted that he was
going to ship the wood the next day or he had shipped it the previous day. I
have even had my Brother in Law visit him last month only to be rudely
brushed off and told it was shipped the week before. Matson shipping, who
has bent over backwards to assist me in this, has no record of him shipping
ANYTHING to the mainland.
I have repeatedly asked him for a faxed copy of the shipping invoice and
have been told that his fax machine was broken. Tonight he once again
changed his story and told me that he had shipped it yesterday (Saturday Nov
17th) but refused to give me a shipping or manifest number and hung up on me
when I insisted that he either return my money or provide me with proof that
he had shipped my merchandise.
I am at my wits end. Though I live in Seattle I am a landowner in Hilo and
in Eva Beach, I married a local girl from Oahu and though dozens of business
dealings with Island merchants I have never been treated like this.
His last words to me were "tough luck, go ahead and call the police and see
what good that does you". This idea that fraud and theft are acceptable when
the customer is a mainlander is probably not something that you, as the
Chamber and representative of Hawaiian Business, would like to see get
around.
I hesitate to think how many other mainlanders he has ripped off during his
years in business. He needs to be put on notice and made to realize that
there are penalties for breaking a business contract, even when dealing with
"mainlanders". I have been patient with him and his excuses but I am now
feeling defrauded and will do anything in my power to make him realize that
he cannot treat customers like this just because we are in the mainland and
can't confront him directly.
I don't know what, if any, kind of pressure you can bring to bear on him to
immediately return my money or produce this phantom shipping
invoice/manifest (Matson has no record of him ever shipping anything as he
claims) but I would appreciate anything you could do. I will be contacting
the Office of Consumer Protection, the Media, the Police and your version of
a county prosecutor ( I now view this as theft and fraud) in my efforts to
recover either the merchandise or my money.
Thank you,
Ric Kasnoff
3802 21st Ave SW
Seattle, Wa 98106
206.915.3041 (fon)
206.938.9253 (fax)
Email: ric@ecophoto.com
Copies of this letter are also being sent to:
Office of Consumer Protection/Hilo Office
The Hilo Police Department
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The Honolulu Star Bulletin
West Hawaii Today
I am writing to you for help in my dealings with a Hilo merchant who
accepted an order and cashed my check in September and for some reason
refuses to ship my merchandise or even answer or return my calls anymore.
In September of this year I visited Hal Brauner of Brauner Molding and
Woodwork (at 336 E Pulai Street in Hilo, 808.959.0013) and ordered $500.00
(roughly 150 board feet at the agreed upon price) of premium Hawaiian
hardwoods to be shipped to my shop in Seattle.
Over 10 calls and almost 3 months he has variously insisted that he was
going to ship the wood the next day or he had shipped it the previous day. I
have even had my Brother in Law visit him last month only to be rudely
brushed off and told it was shipped the week before. Matson shipping, who
has bent over backwards to assist me in this, has no record of him shipping
ANYTHING to the mainland.
I have repeatedly asked him for a faxed copy of the shipping invoice and
have been told that his fax machine was broken. Tonight he once again
changed his story and told me that he had shipped it yesterday (Saturday Nov
17th) but refused to give me a shipping or manifest number and hung up on me
when I insisted that he either return my money or provide me with proof that
he had shipped my merchandise.
I am at my wits end. Though I live in Seattle I am a landowner in Hilo and
in Eva Beach, I married a local girl from Oahu and though dozens of business
dealings with Island merchants I have never been treated like this.
His last words to me were "tough luck, go ahead and call the police and see
what good that does you". This idea that fraud and theft are acceptable when
the customer is a mainlander is probably not something that you, as the
Chamber and representative of Hawaiian Business, would like to see get
around.
I hesitate to think how many other mainlanders he has ripped off during his
years in business. He needs to be put on notice and made to realize that
there are penalties for breaking a business contract, even when dealing with
"mainlanders". I have been patient with him and his excuses but I am now
feeling defrauded and will do anything in my power to make him realize that
he cannot treat customers like this just because we are in the mainland and
can't confront him directly.
I don't know what, if any, kind of pressure you can bring to bear on him to
immediately return my money or produce this phantom shipping
invoice/manifest (Matson has no record of him ever shipping anything as he
claims) but I would appreciate anything you could do. I will be contacting
the Office of Consumer Protection, the Media, the Police and your version of
a county prosecutor ( I now view this as theft and fraud) in my efforts to
recover either the merchandise or my money.
Thank you,
Ric Kasnoff
3802 21st Ave SW
Seattle, Wa 98106
206.915.3041 (fon)
206.938.9253 (fax)
Email: ric@ecophoto.com
Copies of this letter are also being sent to:
Office of Consumer Protection/Hilo Office
The Hilo Police Department
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The Honolulu Star Bulletin
West Hawaii Today