Three Feathers Tobacco Company
reviews and complaints

12/9/10 UPDATE:

Dear fellow sufferers!

QUESTION #1: WHAT DO THE 2 FORMS FROM HOUSER (that we need to fill out) SAY, &/or WHAT INFO DO THOSE FORMS ASK FOR?

I ask because I want to be ready in advance (& see below why I don't have the forms yet!) :-/

---------------

QUESTION #2: DID ANYONE's BANK STMT actually show CHECK CARE as the entity who withdrew your money?

I ask because in the further-above 11/23/10 email from ThreeFeathersTobacco, Craig Chiavetta said we need to send to Houser our bank stmt that shows CHECK CARE. (But my June bank stmt shows BIG BUFFALO, not CHECK CARE).

I am wondering if this matters? (I dont want any grief from Houser due to not correct info! See next paragraph!)

------------------

DITZ BRAINED GOVT EMPLOYEES!

On Monday 12/6/10 @12:45pm, Houser's secretary left a voice message on my ph saying their forms for me were returned to them as Undeliverable!  (That's because they put the WRONG HOUSE # in the address!  She said they wrote to xx, xxx Road -- WHICH I NEVER SAID, as the correct house # is xx, xxx Road!  Grrr.  I called them back at 1:01pm same day, was given to same lady's voicemail by a switchboard operator, & raised a little cain repeating the correct address TWO MORE TIMES.  Then pushed buttons for ext.226 where there was a male's voice voicemail re the whole cig fiasco, & I left another message at THAT ext.226 as well, repeating the correct address TWICE again!  Hang up.  Total time of call to both extensions/voicemails:  7:21 minutes.)

Since I had left my original voicemail request on HOUSER's direct phone number, ext.244, on Wed. 11/24/10@5:08am (morning I first rec'd the ThreeFeathers email from the night before dated 11/23/10@10 pm), where I also had repeated the xx, xxx house # & street address TWICE, there is no excuse that they screwed up the address!  (It would not surprise me if Houser himself did it wrong on purpose, since it was HIS direct ext.244 where I left my original request for the forms.)  Either way, they caused a DELAY of 13 WASTED DAYS through Mon. 12/6/10 when they left msg for me & I called them back only to get more voicemails where I did leave 2 more msgs repeating the correct xx, xxx address FOUR TIMES, making SIX TIMES TOTAL I have given the ditz-brained govt my CORRECT xx, xxx address.

Through Wed. 12/8/10 no forms from Houser arrived via USMail.  Maybe, hopefully, by Thurs. or Fri. 12/9-10/10, ESPECIALLY because the deadline is NEXT Fri. 12/17/10!

CIG REFUND

Wed. 11/24/10 @ 5:47am EDT

UPDATE, PEOPLE!  I GOT EMAIL LAST NIGHT FROM ThreeFeathers, the first news from them in months... Here is the email...

(...)
From: "Threefeatherstobacco.com"
Date: November 23, 2010 10:50:54 PM EST
To: (Me)
Subject: Important Message Regarding CheckCare Refunds

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING REFUNDS FOR ORDERS PLACED IN JUNE 2010**
 
Dear Valued Customers,

This email is for those customers who have placed an order back in June, but have not received their refund due to the investigation by the Assistant US Attorney William Houser.

If you are not one of those customers you may disregard this email. 

As you know, the Assistant US Attorney William Houser has had your funds frozen in CheckCare’s bank account which has made us unable issue refunds to our customers who are owed their money.  

However, we do now have good news, we have just been informed that the US Attorney’s Office is now ready to release our customers funds.  

Although the funds will be released the money will not be released to us.  In order to get a refund for your order, you, the customer,  must submit a request to the US Attorney’s Office.

THIS IS A TIME SENSITIVE ISSUE, THIS PROCESS MUST BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 17, 2010 OR YOUR FUNDS WILL BE FORFIETED TO THE US ATTORNEY

Please follow the below instructions carefully;

You must first contact the US Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania; you may call, fax or write the office.

US Attorney’s Office,  
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Attention:  William S Houser
PO Box 11754
228 Walnut St. Suite 217
Harrisburg, PA [protected]
Phone:  [protected]
Fax:  [protected]

You will then receive two forms of verification.

Once you receive the two forms you will need to return them along with 3 other pieces of information;
- A copy of your order receipt
- The amount of the payment
- A copy of your bank account statement showing the withdrawal by CheckCare

Again this is a time sensitive issue, this process must be completed by December 17, 2010 or you will not be able to get a refund, please act quickly.

We do know that this whole situation has been a frustrating one for all of our customers that were involved.  

We are sorry that it took so long for Mr. Houser to be willing to release your funds.  

We do understand that at this point and time with the economy being the way it is, even the smallest amount of money is substantial and many of you placed large orders which we were unable to fill due to the investigation.

Additionally, the enactment of the PACT Act does not help our customers’ situation in any way as we are still unable to ship cigarettes through the USPS.  We know that for many of you this has been one way to save a lot of money on the native made cigarettes you love.

Although, we can no longer ship cigarettes through the USPS, we are able to ship cigars and pipe tobacco.

If you visit our site you will see a wide variety of cigars, they come 20 to a pack and 10 to a carton.  Even though these are not cigarettes many of our customers who used to order our cigarettes have switched to cigars as an alternative.

However, because of the investigation we are still unable to process Echecks so if you would like to try some cigars all orders must be mailed in along with a personal check or money order.

We hope that we will still be able to offer you low prices on a tobacco product you will come to love as you did the native cigarettes.

If you have any questions please feel free to email us.

Sincerely,
Craig Chiavetta
On Behalf of:
Big Buffalo SmokeShop
Big Buffalo Cigars
http://www.threefeatherstobacco.com
(...)

FYI:  The 717 area code # in the above email is not the same 570 area code # for Houser previously provided by others in this thread.

I had never bothered to call Houser in prior months because I figured why bother if no good would become of it in the end?

But now that there is some real news that refunds are indeed possible, I first called the 717 # from the email but no voicemail unless you know the exact extension you need. So I called the 570 # from this &/or other threads with ext 244 for Houser & left voice message requesting the 2 forms described in the above ThreeFeathers email.

HTH!

I also ordered cigarettes from ThreeFeathersTobacco.com in June and got the exact same response from them. Assets frozen...unable to process refunds. But I notice they are still in business and are associated with Big Buffalo Cigars. They must still be paying their bills and they are still accepting orders. Has anyone tried suing them?

TO EVERYONE AFFECTED BY THE "ECHECK" INVESTIGATION:

Please congregate here at the IRVING,  NY "TOPIX NEWS" Forum & please feel free to update this thread with any news, or add your thoughts, &/or copy/paste it into the Topix News for your own city or region or favorite forum.  More exposure the better!

HEADLINE: "ONLINE CIG ECHECK MONIES CONFISCATED BY FEDS":

Posted in the IRVING,  NY "TOPIX NEWS" Forum:

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/irving-ny/T7IFV3NVS5CRQ2UPB#lastPost

~~~~~~~~~

Fri. 7/9/10 @5:15om:

Links to all similar posts here at ComplaintBoards through this date:

June 2010:
Scroll Down Page 1 until you see the June 2010 comments:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Scam and cheating
Con't Page 2:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Scam and cheating

6/23/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — No product recieved

7/2/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Took my money and won't give it back

7/7/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Did Not Receive Merchandise

7/8/10:

7/8/10 Duplicate post:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Money was taken from my bank account but no items were ever sent.

7/9/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Didn't receive my order but cashed my check for $ 575. 00

All Results for this topic at ComplaintBoards:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/three-feathers-tobacco-a97967.html

There could be complaints & reports at other boards or forums &/or also many people who have not written about it publicly.

~~~~~~~~~

12/9/10 UPDATE:

Dear fellow sufferers!

QUESTION #1: WHAT DO THE 2 FORMS FROM HOUSER (that we need to fill out) SAY, &/or WHAT INFO DO THOSE FORMS ASK FOR?

I ask because I want to be ready in advance (& see below why I don't have the forms yet!) :-/

---------------

QUESTION #2: DID ANYONE's BANK STMT actually show CHECK CARE as the entity who withdrew your money?

I ask because in the further-above 11/23/10 email from ThreeFeathersTobacco, Craig Chiavetta said we need to send to Houser our bank stmt that shows CHECK CARE. (But my June bank stmt shows BIG BUFFALO, not CHECK CARE).

I am wondering if this matters? (I dont want any grief from Houser due to not correct info! See next paragraph!)

------------------

BEWARE OF DITZ BRAINED GOVT EMPLOYEES!

On Monday 12/6/10 @12:45pm, Houser's secretary left a voice message on my ph saying their forms for me were returned to them as Undeliverable!  (That's because they put the WRONG HOUSE # in the address!  She said they wrote to xx, xxx Road -- WHICH I NEVER SAID, as the correct house # is xx, xxx Road!  Grrr.  I called them back at 1:01pm same day, was given to same lady's voicemail by a switchboard operator, & raised a little cain repeating the correct address TWO MORE TIMES.  Then pushed buttons for ext.226 where there was a male's voice voicemail re the whole cig fiasco, & I left another message at THAT ext.226 as well, repeating the correct address TWICE again!  Hang up.  Total time of call to both extensions/voicemails:  7:21 minutes.)

Since I had left my original voicemail request on HOUSER's direct phone number, ext.244, on Wed. 11/24/10@5:08am (morning I first rec'd the ThreeFeathers email from the night before dated 11/23/10@10 pm), where I also had repeated the xx, xxx house # & street address TWICE, there is no excuse that they screwed up the address!  (It would not surprise me if Houser himself did it wrong on purpose, since it was HIS direct ext.244 where I left my original request for the forms.)  Either way, they caused a DELAY of 13 WASTED DAYS through Mon. 12/6/10 when they left msg for me & I called them back only to get more voicemails where I did leave 2 more msgs repeating the correct xx, xxx address FOUR TIMES, making SIX TIMES TOTAL I have given the ditz-brained govt my CORRECT xx, xxx address.

Through Wed. 12/8/10 no forms from Houser arrived via USMail.  Maybe, hopefully, by Thurs. or Fri. 12/9-10/10, ESPECIALLY because the deadline is NEXT Fri. 12/17/10!

CIG REFUND

Wed. 11/24/10 @ 5:47am EDT

UPDATE, PEOPLE!  I GOT EMAIL LAST NIGHT FROM ThreeFeathers, the first news from them in months... Here is the email...

(...)
From: "Threefeatherstobacco.com"
Date: November 23, 2010 10:50:54 PM EST
To: (Me)
Subject: Important Message Regarding CheckCare Refunds

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING REFUNDS FOR ORDERS PLACED IN JUNE 2010**
 
Dear Valued Customers,

This email is for those customers who have placed an order back in June, but have not received their refund due to the investigation by the Assistant US Attorney William Houser.

If you are not one of those customers you may disregard this email. 

As you know, the Assistant US Attorney William Houser has had your funds frozen in CheckCare’s bank account which has made us unable issue refunds to our customers who are owed their money.  

However, we do now have good news, we have just been informed that the US Attorney’s Office is now ready to release our customers funds.  

Although the funds will be released the money will not be released to us.  In order to get a refund for your order, you, the customer,  must submit a request to the US Attorney’s Office.

THIS IS A TIME SENSITIVE ISSUE, THIS PROCESS MUST BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 17, 2010 OR YOUR FUNDS WILL BE FORFIETED TO THE US ATTORNEY

Please follow the below instructions carefully;

You must first contact the US Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania; you may call, fax or write the office.

US Attorney’s Office,  
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Attention:  William S Houser
PO Box 11754
228 Walnut St. Suite 217
Harrisburg, PA [protected]
Phone:  [protected]
Fax:  [protected]

You will then receive two forms of verification.

Once you receive the two forms you will need to return them along with 3 other pieces of information;
- A copy of your order receipt
- The amount of the payment
- A copy of your bank account statement showing the withdrawal by CheckCare

Again this is a time sensitive issue, this process must be completed by December 17, 2010 or you will not be able to get a refund, please act quickly.

We do know that this whole situation has been a frustrating one for all of our customers that were involved.  

We are sorry that it took so long for Mr. Houser to be willing to release your funds.  

We do understand that at this point and time with the economy being the way it is, even the smallest amount of money is substantial and many of you placed large orders which we were unable to fill due to the investigation.

Additionally, the enactment of the PACT Act does not help our customers’ situation in any way as we are still unable to ship cigarettes through the USPS.  We know that for many of you this has been one way to save a lot of money on the native made cigarettes you love.

Although, we can no longer ship cigarettes through the USPS, we are able to ship cigars and pipe tobacco.

If you visit our site you will see a wide variety of cigars, they come 20 to a pack and 10 to a carton.  Even though these are not cigarettes many of our customers who used to order our cigarettes have switched to cigars as an alternative.

However, because of the investigation we are still unable to process Echecks so if you would like to try some cigars all orders must be mailed in along with a personal check or money order.

We hope that we will still be able to offer you low prices on a tobacco product you will come to love as you did the native cigarettes.

If you have any questions please feel free to email us.

Sincerely,
Craig Chiavetta
On Behalf of:
Big Buffalo SmokeShop
Big Buffalo Cigars
http://www.threefeatherstobacco.com
(...)

FYI:  The 717 area code # in the above email is not the same 570 area code # for Houser previously provided by others in this thread.

I had never bothered to call Houser in prior months because I figured why bother if no good would become of it in the end?

But now that there is some real news that refunds are indeed possible, I first called the 717 # from the email but no voicemail unless you know the exact extension you need. So I called the 570 # from this $/or other threads with ext 244 for Houser & left voice message requesting the 2 forms described in the above ThreeFeathers email.

HTH!

Ok, I’m a retired cop living on my police disability pension, so these funds are invaluable to me. I have also been caught up in this foreclosure mess w/a landlord who wasn’t forwarding my rent pymts to the bank, so I’m sleeping on a hard tile floor in a hostile environment. Am also recently dealing w/additional health diagnosis of leukemia, which I found out abt. 2 wks after the wife of 15 yrs left. I don’t have the energy or the disposition to fool around w/this idiot atty any longer. I have left message after message & NADA from his ofc. So I did my own investigation & seems like this is 1Yank that likes publicity, he was recently involved in prosecuting 2 judges & getting them some jail time. So no matter how many messages we leave, we will probably never hear from this guy. It’s time to fight fire with fire! Because I want my smokes, my monies, or his A _ _, take your pick.

I say we call for an all out assault on the ofc of houser and make this uncomfortable for him. Between Sep 27th-30th set your alarms/reminders/whatever & call as many times EACH day as you possibly can. [protected] JAM THOSE LINES! To the pt they can’t get a call from the hooker saying she can’t meet after wk. Next get the fax number and fax once a day (EVERY DAY-not just the dates listed here. There are free computer programs out there that will allow you to fax from your computer, e-fax is one), every day until resolved. I would appreciate a notice of how many are committed to this act of civil protest. If anyone has the time, pls try to contact others listed in these “complaint” forums to let them know abt this positive act of rebellion. And please everyone remember we are in the right, so please be polite. Ask “may you please be forwarded to the recorded message abt the smokes?”, and say thank you every time you call. There is no reason for us to stoop to their level. No cussing, yelling, or raised voices of any kind during this protest, please.

I wanted to file theft charges against everyone in that ofc because my order was never shipped, & because my deal has always been; you ship my smokes, then you take my money. Since my smokes were NEVER shipped, then my there WAS NO TRANSACTION that my funds were involved in, as I suspect is the case w/most of you. So lets’ turn this little legal game on his tail & go after houser for RICO statutes. It IS an organized effort on the part of an individual or group to commit the crime of theft, it doesn’t matter that it happens to be our gov’t lying or stealing—no transaction occurred & it’s not like they haven’t committed an illegal act before. Just look at the executive order instituting the Patriot Act. When it is the most unpatriotic thing I have seen in my generation, & has been struck down by the Supreme court 3 times, but it’s still on the books isn’t it?. Heck, it might not stick, but @ least it would get some attn. Got to find another “hungry” opportunistic politico (someone fighting for re-election is best) in my state or another, who is willing to take this thieving gov’t on, and assert State’s rights & enforce our constitutional rights. I even called houser’s & asked for JUST the names of everyone that worked in that ofc for this purpose & they (public employees) refused, like they were part of some clandestine group that is untouchable. The only way to combat a runaway gov’t is to use their own stupidity, and illegal laws against them. I’m still searching for that politically connected person that will help jerk a knot in this guy’s tail for all of us. I need everyone who has a stake in this to send me their contact info, when the order was placed, how much money it was, how many cartons or whatever it was for, and anything else we can use to file these charges against houser (& of course everyone who works in his ofc will be listed as conspirators).

PLS. Don’t blame the smoke shops. They are primarily owned by Native Americans and despite what some may think, they are not all wealthy from casino gambling operations. The average income and health on ANY reservation in this country is less than that of almost every UNDER-developed nation we currently do business with, and send millions of relief aid to. They, & I spoke w/ someone high enough to know, are fearful of saying anything one way or another abt the situation, houser, or what we should do, what they can, or can’t do. As you might imagine the U.S. gov’t doesn’t have the best track record w/them. Not only did it try to commit genocide for generations w/no one crying out against it, they also have signed treaties from the get go, that NOT ONE has been “completely” honored since their inception. So why should they trust them on this? They truly feel for their customers, some they have had for many years, but are scared to say, or do anything, because they don’t know what the gov’t might do in retaliation. Even our new “red leader” made promises along the campaign trail to them that he seems to be having brain farts abt now…similar to the “where’s my birth certificate” one & “we will let the American people read a bill for 5 days before acting on it”. BS!

No, I’m not against our gov’t. I’m against ANY gov’t that IS circumventing the Constitution of the U.S. to suit their own purposes. And if you are using “wishful thinking” in hopes of getting your funds back….dream on. How do you think they are going to pay for this largest ever in history military industrial complex budget they passed of $663.8 billion (When the budget was signed into law on October 28, 2009, the final size of the Department of Defense's budget was $680 billion, $16 billion more than President Obama had requested, according to Wikipedia)? It is only through an organized effort that anyone will be able to take these jerks on and get some type of answer or satisfaction. I mean just listen to the words of the recording, where they tell you that if the court rules against them and the funds are to be returned, “WE” will have to supply “our” info to them, and file a claim for it in court to prove it’s ours. They are so smart that they can conduct an extensive investigation into some type of corruption in a financial matter, but they can’t recall who the money actually belongs to originally? Now do you trust that? How are we supposed to trust someone who took our monies illegally, because we were all committing a LEGAL ACT, with no intentions of anything illegal, and yet because none of us got our products-there was in all fact no transaction between us and any of the companies involved, but they still STOLE our funds anyways, and yet at the end of it all can’t recall who they stole from? Not a good sign.

It’s time to play ball with the big boys, on their field. First of all, we must see how effective we can be on the phone and fax dates, and I will keep looking for a politician with the balls to go after this overzealous idiot houser. If I see no effect, or hear of no effect, from the phone calls, I can tell you now I am not wasting my time searching out a politician to get everyone’s funds back. I will just fight this A _ _ on my own. Empathy is why we are under the current laws we are under now. Everyone wants to complain, but no one wants to do anything. Well, boys and girls, it’s your money, you decide how badly you want it back……

Reg

TO EVERYONE AFFECTED BY THE "ECHECK" INVESTIGATION:

Please congregate here at the IRVING NY TOPIX NEWS Forum & please feel free to update this thread with any news, or add your thoughts, &/or copy/paste it into the Topix News for your own city or region or favorite forum.  More exposure the better!

ONLINE CIG ECHECK MONIES CONFISCATED BY FEDS:
Posted in the Irving NY TOPIX NEWS Forum:
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/irving-ny/T7IFV3NVS5CRQ2UPB#lastPost

~~~~~~~~~

Fri. 7/9/10 @5:15om:

Links to all similar posts here at ComplaintBoards through this date:

June 2010:
Scroll Down Page 1 until you see the June 2010 comments:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Scam and cheating
Con't Page 2:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Scam and cheating

6/23/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — No product recieved

7/2/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Took my money and won't give it back

7/7/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Did Not Receive Merchandise

7/8/10:

7/8/10 Duplicate post:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Money was taken from my bank account but no items were ever sent.

7/9/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Didn't receive my order but cashed my check for $ 575. 00

All Results for this topic at ComplaintBoards:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/three-feathers-tobacco-a97967.html

There could be complaints & reports at other boards or forums &/or also many people who have not written about it publicly.

~~~~~~~~~

Smokin'Joes advised me that the Check Care computers were down.Upon calling Check Care, I was directed to call the US Attorney's Office for the Middle Dist. of PA (570_348_2800 ex.244). Learned that Gov. has frozen bank accounts for at least 60 days. Confused by all of this. Am sure a lot of customers are in the same boat as we are.

the merchant has 30 days to get the cigarettes to you...

I received a letter from Holder's office a couple of weeks stating basically that it was determined that I was entitled to the return of my money, but it would take "some time".
Its been more than a yr. I wonder if the Government will be sending me interest on the funds they've been holding all this time. Yeah, right.

The problem is not Three Feathers! The problem was created when President Obama signed the PACT Act, prohibiting mailing cigarettes (cigars excluded!) via USPS! Three Feathers (www.threefeathers.com, aka: internetsmokes.com) notified their customers and placed info on their public website that the last day orders could be submitted was 6/21/2010 to comply with sending out orders prior to the date in early July; when the new PACT Act law went into effect.
The U.S. Dept of Justice had easy access to the info for the last day orders could be placed; so froze Three Feather's incoming orders funds on 6/22/2010; when the account was filled with funds for "last minute" products' orders to be legally shipped via USPS. To the best of my knowledge, the excuse used by the Justice Dept to seize funds was that orders were being placed by minors: and/or cigarettes were being purchased for illegal resale.
All Three Feathers customers will remember having to submit a copy of your valid photo legal ID showing your name, DOB (Age 21 or Older), and correct address prior to placing your first order for tobacco with Three Feathers. Also, every time you submitted an order after your ID was on file with Three Feathers, you had to verify your age and that your purchase was for personal use only!
To the best of my knowledge, ordering tobacco products via Seneca Indians' online tobacco stores has always had tighter controls than walking into most retail stores to purchase tobacco.
The PACT Act was "secretly" rushed thru Congress without the knowledge of the Seneca's online tobacco store owners and/or the American public. Craig Chiavatta with ThreeFeathers sent email notices to all customers available via email; when he and other Seneca online tobacco store owners learned the PACT Act was on President Obama's desk. I did call the President's listed White House phone number requesting his Veto of the PACT Act.
From my personal research, the primary supporters of the PACT Act were/are the major cigarette corporations and national convenience store owners. I believe everyone should contact their U.S. congressional representatives (both Senators and House of Representatives Congress persons) requesting the PACT Act law be repealed. President Obama signed the PACT Act into law on 3/31/2010. If you would like to read more about the actual PACT Act, please visit:
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_SN_1147.html#toc1
As for funds frozen by U.S. Dept. of Justice, there was a brief time window to complete and submit the forms to apply for a refund via the U.S. Dept. of Justice. Three Feathers promptly made this info available to their customers; whose orders funds were frozen/seized by the U.S. Dept. of Justice. The forms had to be requested from the Justice Dept; which included a release form for the Justice Dept. to investigate your bank account(s). There was a very brief time window to return signed documents to the Justice Dept. in Pennsylvania. On 7/14/2011, the U.S. Dept of Justice sent letters to persons who returned the documents circa December 2010; regarding the status of your refund. I do not know if refunds are actually being issued yet.

I was wondering if anyone has received their money from the thieving state of Pennsylvania yet. I also returned the proper paperwork that they sent me and STILL no return of my money. $700 is nothing to sneeze at. Is this how politicians keep making their HUGE salaries...by stealing from citizens?

I along with all of you have been waiting for my refund for months. In my opinion this was not the fault of Big Buffalo! The US Attorney has no business seizing this money. We were told it was due to the possibility of minors purchasing cigarettes online. Big Buffalo requires a drivers license and you certify that you are indeed over 18.
It is unbelieveable to me that they can even do this, of course you can consult an attorney at of course a cost that most of us can not afford, they even included that little tidbit in one of their form letters. They received our info on 12-9-10 via certified mail and still NO RETURN OF OUR MONEY!

Does anyone remember people that got arrested and fined for downloading music online?

I really would like to get my money back, but I don't want to set myself up to have to court, possible jail and fines and pay tax and penalties for years of purchasing cigarettes online.

For me it wasn't the tax, there is no store or anything around that carries the Native brand, it is preference. American Spirit is bought out and I don't believe is "natural" and completely additive free. Since losing access to Native, I now have smokers cough and congestion again (but that could also be brought on from the intense geo engineering aeriol spraying aka chemtrails going on more and more in the area), that went away when I switched to Native 3 years ago.
Just like food and anything else, limited choices and all are poisoned...

I have not spoken to an atty about any of this, however I did send in all my information. One thing that was fishy was at the end of the letter it said it may take a very very long time to receive the funds. So we'll see. I really doubt its a set up, there would be no way they could prosecute all of us. And if they did, I would be willing to think that it would make national news and an atty would pick up the case pro bono because of all the recognition it would bring. I'm sure were all fine legally, however, getting our funds back, may take years.

I don't trust the government to give me healthy food, water, and air, why would I assume they are just going to hand over my money for trying to obtain cigarettes without paying my state tax, even ignorantly...
Providing them with access to your bank account and information, admitting to trying to purchase cigarettes online, and providing evidence that it was for cigarettes and not something else.
Perhaps threefeathers wouldn't give them our info and so this is their way to get us red handed...

I am a little skeptical about all this returning the funds to those that intended to purchase cigarettes without paying our state tax, after all in the Jenkins Act, if you drive and purchase cigarettes out of state and come back and don't pay state tax, it is contraband cigarettes.
I am leary of giving such private information such as my bank account information.
The verification form it states: "I also state that I attempted to make an on-line purchase of cigarettes...: by signing this you admit to the purchase, ignorance isn't excusable by law...

Is this an entrapment like the sting operations telling people to come some where to pick up something won or something and arrest them for warrants?

Has anyone spoken to an atty?

12/9/10 UPDATE:

Dear fellow sufferers!

QUESTION #1: WHAT DO THE 2 FORMS FROM HOUSER (that we need to fill out) SAY, &/or WHAT INFO DO THOSE FORMS ASK FOR?

I ask because I want to be ready in advance (& see below why I don't have the forms yet!) :-/

---------------

QUESTION #2: DID ANYONE's BANK STMT actually show CHECK CARE as the entity who withdrew your money?

I ask because in the further-above 11/23/10 email from ThreeFeathersTobacco, Craig Chiavetta said we need to send to Houser our bank stmt that shows CHECK CARE. (But my June bank stmt shows BIG BUFFALO, not CHECK CARE).

I am wondering if this matters? (I dont want any grief from Houser due to not correct info! See next paragraph!)

------------------

DITZ BRAINED GOVT EMPLOYEES!

On Monday 12/6/10 @12:45pm, Houser's secretary left a voice message on my ph saying their forms for me were returned to them as Undeliverable!  (That's because they put the WRONG HOUSE # in the address!  She said they wrote to xx, xxx Road -- WHICH I NEVER SAID, as the correct house # is xx, xxx Road!  Grrr.  I called them back at 1:01pm same day, was given to same lady's voicemail by a switchboard operator, & raised a little cain repeating the correct address TWO MORE TIMES.  Then pushed buttons for ext.226 where there was a male's voice voicemail re the whole cig fiasco, & I left another message at THAT ext.226 as well, repeating the correct address TWICE again!  Hang up.  Total time of call to both extensions/voicemails:  7:21 minutes.)

Since I had left my original voicemail request on HOUSER's direct phone number, ext.244, on Wed. 11/24/10@5:08am (morning I first rec'd the ThreeFeathers email from the night before dated 11/23/10@10 pm), where I also had repeated the xx, xxx house # & street address TWICE, there is no excuse that they screwed up the address!  (It would not surprise me if Houser himself did it wrong on purpose, since it was HIS direct ext.244 where I left my original request for the forms.)  Either way, they caused a DELAY of 13 WASTED DAYS through Mon. 12/6/10 when they left msg for me & I called them back only to get more voicemails where I did leave 2 more msgs repeating the correct xx, xxx address FOUR TIMES, making SIX TIMES TOTAL I have given the ditz-brained govt my CORRECT xx, xxx address.

Through Wed. 12/8/10 no forms from Houser arrived via USMail.  Maybe, hopefully, by Thurs. or Fri. 12/9-10/10, ESPECIALLY because the deadline is NEXT Fri. 12/17/10!

I also received the email from Three Feathers & the letter from Houser. Am sending everything back to US Attorney's office tomorrow by Certified Mail. Suggest everyone else send it Certified Mail so you have a record that they received it. Would be nice to have our money back before Christmas.
Thanks to the person who provided the info. on the Jenkins Act. Sounds like 3 Feathers was remiss in providing required paper work to the Government, for which we all have been penalized. Hopefully, this nightmare is coming to an end.

12/9/10 UPDATE:

Dear fellow sufferers!

QUESTION #1: WHAT DO THE 2 FORMS FROM HOUSER (that we need to fill out) SAY, &/or WHAT INFO DO THOSE FORMS ASK FOR?

I ask because I want to be ready in advance (& see below why I don't have the forms yet!) :-/

---------------

QUESTION #2: DID ANYONE's BANK STMT actually show CHECK CARE as the entity who withdrew your money?

I ask because in the further-above 11/23/10 email from ThreeFeathersTobacco, Craig Chiavetta said we need to send to Houser our bank stmt that shows CHECK CARE. (But my June bank stmt shows BIG BUFFALO, not CHECK CARE).

I am wondering if this matters? (I dont want any grief from Houser due to not correct info! See next paragraph!)

------------------

BEWARE OF DITZ BRAINED GOVT EMPLOYEES!

On Monday 12/6/10 @12:45pm, Houser's secretary left a voice message on my ph saying their forms for me were returned to them as Undeliverable!  (That's because they put the WRONG HOUSE # in the address!  She said they wrote to xx, xxx Road -- WHICH I NEVER SAID, as the correct house # is xx, xxx Road!  Grrr.  I called them back at 1:01pm same day, was given to same lady's voicemail by a switchboard operator, & raised a little cain repeating the correct address TWO MORE TIMES.  Then pushed buttons for ext.226 where there was a male's voice voicemail re the whole cig fiasco, & I left another message at THAT ext.226 as well, repeating the correct address TWICE again!  Hang up.  Total time of call to both extensions/voicemails:  7:21 minutes.)

Since I had left my original voicemail request on HOUSER's direct phone number, ext.244, on Wed. 11/24/10@5:08am (morning I first rec'd the ThreeFeathers email from the night before dated 11/23/10@10 pm), where I also had repeated the xx, xxx house # & street address TWICE, there is no excuse that they screwed up the address!  (It would not surprise me if Houser himself did it wrong on purpose, since it was HIS direct ext.244 where I left my original request for the forms.)  Either way, they caused a DELAY of 13 WASTED DAYS through Mon. 12/6/10 when they left msg for me & I called them back only to get more voicemails where I did leave 2 more msgs repeating the correct xx, xxx address FOUR TIMES, making SIX TIMES TOTAL I have given the ditz-brained govt my CORRECT xx, xxx address.

Through Wed. 12/8/10 no forms from Houser arrived via USMail.  Maybe, hopefully, by Thurs. or Fri. 12/9-10/10, ESPECIALLY because the deadline is NEXT Fri. 12/17/10!

CIG REFUND

Wed. 11/24/10 @ 5:47am EDT

UPDATE, PEOPLE!  I GOT EMAIL LAST NIGHT FROM ThreeFeathers, the first news from them in months... Here is the email...

(...)
From: "Threefeatherstobacco.com"
Date: November 23, 2010 10:50:54 PM EST
To: (Me)
Subject: Important Message Regarding CheckCare Refunds

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING REFUNDS FOR ORDERS PLACED IN JUNE 2010**
 
Dear Valued Customers,

This email is for those customers who have placed an order back in June, but have not received their refund due to the investigation by the Assistant US Attorney William Houser.

If you are not one of those customers you may disregard this email. 

As you know, the Assistant US Attorney William Houser has had your funds frozen in CheckCare’s bank account which has made us unable issue refunds to our customers who are owed their money.  

However, we do now have good news, we have just been informed that the US Attorney’s Office is now ready to release our customers funds.  

Although the funds will be released the money will not be released to us.  In order to get a refund for your order, you, the customer,  must submit a request to the US Attorney’s Office.

THIS IS A TIME SENSITIVE ISSUE, THIS PROCESS MUST BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 17, 2010 OR YOUR FUNDS WILL BE FORFIETED TO THE US ATTORNEY

Please follow the below instructions carefully;

You must first contact the US Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania; you may call, fax or write the office.

US Attorney’s Office,  
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Attention:  William S Houser
PO Box 11754
228 Walnut St. Suite 217
Harrisburg, PA [protected]
Phone:  [protected]
Fax:  [protected]

You will then receive two forms of verification.

Once you receive the two forms you will need to return them along with 3 other pieces of information;
- A copy of your order receipt
- The amount of the payment
- A copy of your bank account statement showing the withdrawal by CheckCare

Again this is a time sensitive issue, this process must be completed by December 17, 2010 or you will not be able to get a refund, please act quickly.

We do know that this whole situation has been a frustrating one for all of our customers that were involved.  

We are sorry that it took so long for Mr. Houser to be willing to release your funds.  

We do understand that at this point and time with the economy being the way it is, even the smallest amount of money is substantial and many of you placed large orders which we were unable to fill due to the investigation.

Additionally, the enactment of the PACT Act does not help our customers’ situation in any way as we are still unable to ship cigarettes through the USPS.  We know that for many of you this has been one way to save a lot of money on the native made cigarettes you love.

Although, we can no longer ship cigarettes through the USPS, we are able to ship cigars and pipe tobacco.

If you visit our site you will see a wide variety of cigars, they come 20 to a pack and 10 to a carton.  Even though these are not cigarettes many of our customers who used to order our cigarettes have switched to cigars as an alternative.

However, because of the investigation we are still unable to process Echecks so if you would like to try some cigars all orders must be mailed in along with a personal check or money order.

We hope that we will still be able to offer you low prices on a tobacco product you will come to love as you did the native cigarettes.

If you have any questions please feel free to email us.

Sincerely,
Craig Chiavetta
On Behalf of:
Big Buffalo SmokeShop
Big Buffalo Cigars
http://www.threefeatherstobacco.com
(...)

FYI:  The 717 area code # in the above email is not the same 570 area code # for Houser previously provided by others in this thread.

I had never bothered to call Houser in prior months because I figured why bother if no good would become of it in the end?

But now that there is some real news that refunds are indeed possible, I first called the 717 # from the email but no voicemail unless you know the exact extension you need. So I called the 570 # from this & other threads with ext 244 for Houser & left voice message requesting the 2 forms described in the above ThreeFeathers email.

HTH!

TO EVERYONE AFFECTED BY THE "ECHECK" INVESTIGATION:

Please congregate here at the IRVING NY TOPIX NEWS Forum & please feel free to update this thread with any news, or add your thoughts, &/or copy/paste it into the Topix News for your own city or region or favorite forum.  More exposure the better!

ONLINE CIG ECHECK MONIES CONFISCATED BY FEDS:
Posted in the Irving NY TOPIX NEWS Forum:
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/irving-ny/T7IFV3NVS5CRQ2UPB#lastPost

~~~~~~~~~

Fri. 7/9/10 @5:15om:

Links to all similar posts here at ComplaintBoards:

June 2010:
Scroll Down Page 1 until you see the June 2010 comments:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Scam and cheating
Con't Page 2:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Scam and cheating

6/23/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — No product recieved

7/2/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Took my money and won't give it back

7/7/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Did Not Receive Merchandise

7/8/10:

7/8/10 Duplicate post:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Money was taken from my bank account but no items were ever sent.

7/9/10:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Didn't receive my order but cashed my check for $ 575. 00

All Results for this topic at ComplaintBoards:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/three-feathers-tobacco-a97967.html

There could be complaints & reports at other boards or forums &/or also many people who have not written about it publicly.

~~~~~~~~~

Update re PACT & Senecas Wed. 7/7/10 PM:

NY judge extends hold on mail-order cigarette law - The Buffalo News:
http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/07/07/1106437/ny-judge-extends-hold-on-mail.html

Updated: July 07, 2010, 7:25 pm /
Published: July 07, 2010, 7:24 pm

U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara on Wednesday extended until July 30 a temporary restraining order that allows 141 members of the Seneca Free Trade Association and another Seneca businessman to continue to operate without having to comply with the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking - or PACT - Act. Seneca Indian Nation cigarette sellers remain free to fulfill orders by mail in New York while a federal judge in Buffalo considers whether a law banning the practice is constitutional.
(...)

7/7/10:  It's not their fault!  The feds who everyone wants to run & cry to,  are the very ones who have stolen your echeck monies (& mine) from Big Buffalo/ aka ThreeFeathersTobacco.com.  

Read everything I have written at these links (I was anxious at first,  too,  due to PACT deadline,  etc.),  but I have talked to Big Buffalo twice this week (they operate the ThreeFeathersTobacco.com biz) & none of this is their fault.  It is harrassment by the feds who confiscated all echeck $$.

Here are the links; Page 1,  scroll down to my posts (Still_Hopeful ID):
Three Feathers Tobacco — Scam and cheating

And I continued on Page 2:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Scam and cheating

Read it all clear to the end & you will see who you can call to reach Big Buffalo or your friendly fed agent/Asst US Atty.

HTH.

Who can we report them to so we can get our money back? Does anyone know?