A Message From Aero Leather USA

[Harry Gooch]

I've been trying to think of a way to make this all more clear. Maybe this will help. Officers frequently bring cases like this to me for possible indictment. Like here, the victims are usually very upset and are burning up the officers' phones trying to get the suspect charged. I try to listen to each case objectively as I can but at the end of each officer's presentation, I always ask them to tell me how his case is different from the hundreds of contract breach cases filed in District 3-B every year. I expain that in those cases, victims have also been left holding the bag for big bucks. And in those cases the business owner has probably been doing some borderline shady things trying to save his business. And in those cases, the suspect, ashamed and frustrated with his failure, has stopped returning phone calls and has maybe even disappeard. If the officer can clearly articulate something that shows that the suspect was...on purpose and by design...trying to rip people off, then to the Grand Jury the case goes. But if the officer can show nothing more than another poor dork floundering around, trying and failing to save his business, then the victims....mad though they may be...get to find their relief in civil court.

AF

And regarding Mark's silence, it seems quite likely that he has had legal advice to say nothing.

 

[derleicaman]

Good news to report! I have received my full refund from paypal yesterday. I filed my claim and dispute on March 27. My payment to Mark was within the 45 day period for buyer protection, so I knew it was just a matter of time to get a refund. Some interesting details from the email from paypal: Mark never responded to my dispute and there were insufficient funds in his paypal account for the refund. No surprises there, I guess.
Good luck everyone with your disputes. Anyone else get their refund yet?

 

[jimmer_5]

Congratulations! This is great news, and it answers one question that I have been curious about - Paypal refunded your money, even though Mark did not have sufficient funds in his Paypal account to cover it.

That adds a little hope for everyone involved. I'm really hoping that we'll continue to hear more people's success stories as time goes on.

 

[ButteMT61]

Congratulations! This is great news, and it answers one question that I have been curious about - Paypal refunded your money, even though Mark did not have sufficient funds in his Paypal account to cover it.That adds a little hope for everyone involved. I'm really hoping that we'll continue to hear more people's success stories as time goes on.

If Paypal required the other entity to have money to cover the losses, I'd wager a HUGE % of claims would never get paid. Thank goodness that's not how it works!

 

[cloudylemonade]

Paypal have the money to refund regardless of whether Mark does!

Had an interesting email from another customer today, who were refunded by American Express....

"After further research it turns out that (in the USA) Paypal has to accept valid (like "not delivered") chargebacks from the Credit Card companies - the CC terms supersede those of Paypal. Paypal cannot then take the money from any other source of the purchaser; they are stuck trying to recover the monies from the seller. If the payment to Paypal had been originally from a bank account, they only give "best efforts" to recover money from the seller, but no guarantees.

Paypal and Ebay became very cooperative after Amex charged them back. Ebay even sent me an email taking credit for the action!"

 

[ButteMT61]

Well Holly, nothing about these entities surprises me. They make billions off of OUR money. They get bailed out by the US gov't. And then they fight when we need help. I wish I could take them completely out of my life - we've gone down to one CC for when you have to have one. But banks need to get torn up like AT&T and others have - although AT&T is probably bigger now that it ever was.

 

[gruvi]

And regarding Mark's silence, it seems quite likely that he has had legal advice to say nothing.

From the looks of it, the guy is done. Legal advice? By whom, Lenny "The Screw" Esquire?? Face it, the guy scrammed with a lot of cash that wasnt worth hiding with. What is he going to do once its dried up and he needs money again?

 

[jimmer_5]

If Paypal required the other entity to have money to cover the losses, I'd wager a HUGE % of claims would never get paid. Thank goodness that's not how it works!

Maybe I am mistaken, but I thought it used tl work that way. In any case
I am just glad people are getting covered. It shouldn't new such an ordeal to get it done, but there have been some promising developments.

 

[Grayland]

I filed my claim on 3/29 and just heard that I was getting my money back in full. The money isn't there yet as they say it could take up to 5 days to credit the account. I'm very excited, as you can imagine. Now I get to go spend it again!

**Actually, I just checked PayPal and the money is already refunded. I'm kind of impressed.

 

[ButteMT61]

I filed my claim on 3/29 and just heard that I was getting my money back in full. The money isn't there yet as they say it could take up to 5 days to credit the account. I'm very excited, as you can imagine. Now I get to go spend it again!

Wow, nice to see all the good news coming in guys! I sure hope the next order works out for all of you - assuming that's the plan.

 

[Michael.K]

I have read the forums for some time, but never registered. But due to the circumstances, I registered last night. I wish that I had more good news, but I am one of the unlucky people that were strung along for almost 10 months by Mark. So far, paypal and ebay have been of no help and act like this is the first issue that they have had with him. My credit card company has been very slow moving.

My story reflects that of others. I ordered with Mark on June 9th of last year. We discussed options and sizing. Finally I decided and he "submitted" the order. I checked in on the progress of the jacket about once a month for the first three months. After the initial three month window past, I starting emailing and calling Mark about my order frequently. He would come up with one reason or another that the factory was behind or sizing had to be confirmed. In February, he was going to look in depth why Aero Scotland was taking so long. Well, I found out why, he never submitted an order for me. In my case this was not a miss communication with the factory. He really was just stringing me along. I feel like a fool for letting it go as long as I did. I was diligent in watching his feedback on ebay and here on the forums, but should have listened to my gut feeling that something was really wrong long before I did. So there are more of us out here. I would imagine many like myself feel very foolish for trusting him. Thus are reluctant to come forward.

 

[Otter]

Keep at ebay / paypall and your credit card company. At least take comfort you are not alone.

 

[Peacoat]

Welcome to the forum, Michael. Sorry it is under these circumstances, however. The Otter is right, keep after ebay and paypal; perserverence is the only way to go with these companies. And let us know how it turns out. PC.

 

[pattonfan]

Michael, most have had success with their credit card companies and/or banks. Persistance pays off. Make sure your bank gets any correspondence between Mark and you. Also, get Holly to e-mail confirmation that your order was never received. Ultimately, the burden of proof is on PayPal. They have to get proof of delivery out of Mark, and we know that they aren't going to. However you get your refund, it's all coming out of PayPal's pocketbook. Explain to the agent you're dealing with that the order was custom and at times taking up to a year for some people. Give them a link to this thread. Build your case, think like a
Lawyer and DO NOT GIVE UP!

 

[Jack Burton]

I did not use ebay or paypal. I just used my credit card and had Mark process it. As far as he told me, he was using a paypal service to process verbal credit card transactions.

After filing a dispute with my card company, they were quick to give me a "conditional" refund. They also asked for more documentation which I supplied as best I could (emails). It's not like I had a receipt or even a written delivery date. So I dunno how "conditional" this refund is until they finish their investigation.

I've also alerted the Columbia PD and filed a complaint with: http://www.scconsumer.gov/complaint_services.htm

$850 may not seem like a lot to some people but it's more than a week's wages for most people.

 

[Jeff M]

Just read through a bit of this thread.
Holy cow.
Hope it works out for everybody.

 

[ButteMT61]

Just read through a bit of this thread. Holy cow. Hope it works out for everybody.

Jeff - just checking, you know it's April 2012 right? lolJK. I thought you knew about this!

 

[jimmer_5]

I have read the forums for some time, but never registered. But due to the circumstances, I registered last night. I wish that I had more good news, but I am one of the unlucky people that were strung along for almost 10 months by Mark. So far, paypal and ebay have been of no help and act like this is the first issue that they have had with him. My credit card company has been very slow moving.

My story reflects that of others. I ordered with Mark on June 9th of last year. We discussed options and sizing. Finally I decided and he "submitted" the order. I checked in on the progress of the jacket about once a month for the first three months. After the initial three month window past, I starting emailing and calling Mark about my order frequently. He would come up with one reason or another that the factory was behind or sizing had to be confirmed. In February, he was going to look in depth why Aero Scotland was taking so long. Well, I found out why, he never submitted an order for me. In my case this was not a miss communication with the factory. He really was just stringing me along. I feel like a fool for letting it go as long as I did. I was diligent in watching his feedback on ebay and here on the forums, but should have listened to my gut feeling that something was really wrong long before I did. So there are more of us out here. I would imagine many like myself feel very foolish for trusting him. Thus are reluctant to come forward.

Michael - Don't give up. I paid through Paypal 2 years ago and was able to get a refund through Paypal. It takes polite persistence, and being armed with the right information. I have detailed some of this in one of my posts a few pages back. I will be happy to help if I can.

Right now, if you paid through Paypal by a linked Credit card, you will likely have the best luck with your credit card company. Keep us posted, and let me know if I can help. Once you something like 15 posts in the forum, you can send and receive private messages, which will make it easier to help you out. Good luck.

- Jim

 

[kyboots]

Jim Cramer on CNBC " Mad Money" has been pushing and promoting Paypal all week as the up and coming competition to Visa and Mastercard. He talks about how this is the replacement being used by the younger generation and even bringing out Ebay because of the Paypal division. Well now I believe we will see how good Paypal really is! What type of company we can deal with and trust for the future. Where is Paypal going to be with this problem they now have? --John

 

[Jeff M]

Jeff - just checking, you know it's April 2012 right? lolJK. I thought you knew about this!

Read Marks original post when he first put it up.
Avoided it since then.
I received my first Aero thru Mark some years back without problems. This seems to be prior to the way things turned. I was also in communication with Amanda about the order...and a subsequent one...at the same time. Not sure if that had anything to do with things going smoothly.
Ever since then, I've gone directly through Aero Scotland. Figured it was best to communicate directly with the company making my jacket rather than an intermediary.
Couldn't help but come across some references here and at the VLF in other threads about folks having difficulties with refunds/jackets. Thought it was just a few cases and it was due things crossing in the mail/getting organized. Popped in on this thread and ....whoa!