dma@athena.mit.edu (Donny (Chung) Ma) (06/02/91)
WARNING I would like to warn Windows 3.0 and MAC users who are looking for accounting software to be wary of any dealings with Absolute Solutions, Inc. (ASI), located in Oceanside, California. ASI makes accounting software based on the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. I filed suit against ASI for dishonest practice. On April 4 1991, a judgment was made, for me, and against ASI. The dishoest practice they were charged with was: to make written and spoken money-back guarantees and not honor them. In my case, an ASI salesperson assured me that I could use his company's product, "Computerized Classical Accounting" (without a time limitation) and return it, if I'm not satisfied, for a full refund. After using their product for three weeks, I decided to not keep it and wanted to return it. ASI refused to accept the return and refused to issue me a refund. Even after the judgment against them, they do not want to reconcile the situation. For reference, the court case is Cambridge, Massachusetts District Court docket# S.C. 573/91. ASI and its president, Richard Shaw may be held in contempt of court (a hearing for this is scheduled for June 20). Please forward this information to other Accountants or other business professionals looking for or dealing with accounting software, as it would serve them well to be aware of this situation. I would also like to ask any knowledgeable people on this network for advice on how I might be able to force/persuade ASI to make good on their guarantee to me. Some advice I've received and am considering: (1) Transfer my Small Claims suit to the San Diego, CA court that would have jurisdiction over Oceanside, in order to get a judgment there and be able to directly execute a collection order out there. (2) Continue to refuse to pay my AMEX bill (the product was purchased on AMEX back in October 1990 -- I have disputed this charge with AMEX, but they don't seem willing to act on my behalf and force ASI to reverse the charge). Further, an attorney advised me that I have protection under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, in that it would be "unfair" for AMEX to continue to bill me when they know full well that ASI has acted dishonestly and it is therefore not my responsibility to pay a charge from ASI. (3) Hire a Private Investigator or Collection Agency or lawyer to go after ASI's assets and forcefully obtain the funds, using my Court Judgment as authority. My consideration is that (1) is possible, but most probably require me to appear in court in California, making the costs overwhelm the possible gain. (2) seems feasible for now, and is my best hope, but is risky, since AMEX may decide to use legal means to force me to pay the bill. (3) is another case of costs outweighing the possible gain, and the odds of it working are uncertain. Are there any other approaches I may consider? Does anyone know about what Federal laws may apply in situation (2) that would protect me as a consumer? I wish I had purchased it on my Bank One Visa Card, because their customer service is excellent, and there were two other times in the past where they acted on my behalf to force charge reversals from fraudulent, or otherwise "bad" charges. Thanks for any information/suggestions you may have!
bob@MorningStar.Com (Bob Sutterfield) (06/03/91)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,comp.windows.news,comp.windows.misc From: dma@athena.mit.edu (Donny (Chung) Ma) Subject: Warning - dishonest company Message-ID: <1991Jun1.233725.16207@athena.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 1 Jun 91 23:37:25 GMT While I can see how this may be of concern to users of window systems in general (it affects both MS-Windows and Mac users, though the Mac groups were left off the crosspost list), what relevance does it have to users of the NeWS window system? Please aim your crossposts carefully!