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The sales person lied to me and made false promises to get me to make a purchase. When I told him I cannot afford it, he said he would help me by sending me referrals for my business, which was a total lie. I'm now out $5, 000 for cosmetis that I do not need. I didn't end get a list of prices or descriptions of the products, he just put a bunch of products on the counter and gave me one bulk price. These people are dishonest, unethical, pushy, and they prey on innocent people.
When I asked for a refund I was told that refunds are not the store policy. The sales person, who claimed he was the Owner of Orogold, said he could offer this for me because he was the Owner. He actually was not the owner, just a pushy sales person. The manager apologized for the sales pwrson'sbehavior and said they could offer me a store credit, but could not offer me the refund. I am now filing a law suite and ha ve filed complaints about this company in hopes that no one else falls for their shady sales tactics.
I just received a letter from the Tennessee Department of Consumer Protection (under the Department of Commerce & Insurance) that this agency will mediate my dispute with Aurarius/Gold Elements. I will be assigned a Consumer Protection Specialist who will try to work out a solution that addresses the concerns of both the company and me, the consumer. I just prepared a packet (38+ pages in all) of all emails, posts, and letters that have been sent/received. Finally, I am somewhat hopeful that justice will prevail and I will receive what is legally due to me.
The Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs (under the Department of Commerce and Insurance) was unable to connect with the owner/president of Gold Elements in Nashville, TN. No one at the business address was willing to talk with the department's agent. This agent, Assaf Amar, owns six stores/kiosks in the Opry Mills Shopping Center, and now can be directly addressed (I hope), as I have supplied his name and that of his lawyer to the state agency. If I don't hear something by the middle of April, I'll file an alias warrant on him (I have his home address, too) and take a trip to Nashville for an appearance in small claims court this summer.
After I returned the products that I asked NOT be shipped to me, the store refused the return shipment. Eventually, FedEx returned the package to me. I held it for about ten days, and then I decided to send it to the store again. Once more, the store staff refused the shipment, and it was returned to me yesterday by FedEx. What a stupid, silly game the store has decided to play! I plan to ship the box in about ten days to the lawyer who is representing the store manager and tell him that he can keep it on behalf of his client. For the record, I requested that this shipment not be made within twenty-four hours of being in the store, and I have full records of all emails between Misha Katz (store rep) and me. Likewise, I have a record of all the calls I tried to make to the store. I am fully confident that I will win my case against this store (and perhaps one day, the company) in small claims court, as I have a 38-page document that includes all correspondence and a detailed account of the fraudulent misrepresentation the salesclerk used to get me to purchase a contract that I cannot use in my home state.
Yes, these are the exact conculsions and legal advise I was given. I know we have a recourse and I hope more people get inovled. That is the key. There are no doubts that misleading, misrepresentation and false statement was provided. In fact the case history is evident in this site and BBB. I think we all should have rights to get our money back, and change the way they do business. What they do, they hope they get a way with it, and most people fight a little or make a few calls and give up and that is what they want. We need to stand together and fight them and they need to be out of bad-faith and shoddy business or close them down. How many people need to be harmed year after year. Complaining is just one step. Fight their corporate and the indiviual offices. They do this all over US. Your conculsions are correct and under goverment agencies, there are other rules that apply besides the contract (sales reciept) viloations. There has to be a case study on here or else where that a class-action can be filled.
I discovered on pissedconsumer.com that the Better Business Bureau of South Carolina (Columbia, I believe) is quite interested in going after these businesses. Personally, I am ready to stand before a judge in Nashville, TN, to win my small claims case against Gold Elements as soon as I can get the warrant served in California. I am also prepared to go after the corporate group. According to Tennessee laws, I have two years to file a case against a business in that state. My paperwork is already on file (I have a docket number), and I am highly motivated to bring down every one of these companies. They are cheats and liars and need to be stopped.
Did you file a complaint against Oro Gold with the Hawaii Department of Consumer Protection?
I will respond on this later. I had legal advice and had researched the case from the consumer rights standpoint. Make no mistake, we have rights. Yes, full MB is what it should been.
I also did extensive research before I filed a small claims case in the Nashville General Sessions Court. According to the legal basis for a charge of fraudulent misrepresentation, we should all be able to sue on that basis. These are the elements that must be satisfied in such a case, and they are not difficult to prove, given the incredibly duplicitous sales tactics used by all these "Dead Sea" cosmetics companies:
A representation was made (in contract law, a representation is any action or conduct that can be turned into a statement of fact).
The representation was false.
The representation, when made, was either known to be false or made recklessly without knowledge of its truth.
The representation was made with the intention that the other party rely on it.
The other party did, in fact, rely on the representation.
The other party suffered damages as a result of relying on the representation.
Lensor,
Your are correct. We all need to stand together and file a class action if they do not refund our money. I just got after an 2.5 months a lousy sad offer which I countered. If they do not accept my offer, I promised them and others here to make it right, we all (who have been a victim) and yes a victim of fraud, misleading, misrepresentation, and lies and sandbagged, no matter where we are and which OROGOLD store, there is a corporation and we need to file a class-action lawsuit. There are plenty of cases and all have the same MO. They want to drag this nonsense so people give up, most of us are busy and will do very little. BBB is a waste of time, they are useless and it is too bad, because they can make a difference but they have limited options what they can do. However, you would think, if a business has so many filled compliant against them, even they are not a business trade police and only review and cherry pick what goes on their website, you would think, they would actually do more. However, there are many more agencies that are interested to investigate fraud and bad business practices no matter which state and there are of course all social media platforms and legal way to do this. Class-action law suit agains the CORP is what is needed and then individual stores. The CROP office hides behind the fact, that each store is independent, nonsense, and that does not excuse their shoddy business.
If eveyone here in the complaint board and other places who have been a victim of this company and their stores no matter what their name is, I am sure there are a lawyer and lawfirm who can get all of our facts and issues we had and get our money back and then some. But we need to join forces, and bring all the goverment agencies who can see these people for what they are and make sure they do not harm anyone ever. We all have individual lawyers, and can file and I got one too who belives we were harmed and saw the reports and the facts and what is best we all file a class-action as it is not just about individual anymore, it is about all of us.
The stories here are amazing and how this company is still in US of A can do this fraud and so far, gets away. It is time for all to do something and get our of your seat and not just file, but fight. Who wants Justice, is there a firm that can help many of us who have been harmed and expose this company for what they are, enough is enough, we have rights too.
Did you go to court before getting an offer? How were you able to get Oro Gold to concede even a tiny refund? I do plan to serve the agent in California within the next ten days or so, but I would be happy to settle for a full refund now.
Thank you for sharing, I understand you had to do what you needed. I am very surprised at the way this business operates and is allowed to operate the way they are and yes I agree with you, they are running it as scam like operation. Nevertheless, under US laws they cannot get away with it. The reason partky I think it is, most folks try to negotiate with them direct and they love that as you and 100s if not 1000s consumers had been a victim of their business had been complaining of their business and pushy and shady business practices, plus tricky unreal refund policies that in my case we learned after the fact and weeks later and not before the purchase. They will delay and sandbag and in some cases try to bully the customers.
Many give up or just won't file the proper reports and etc and this company loves that. They hope for that and push for that. Well sometimes they will deal with people like me and many others who understand and knows the laws if doing business and consumer rights and will fight them to the end and will sue the [censored] out of them if needed and expose them all over for our rights and for all others who can't fight for themselves . I will not let them get away with my money, my rights and will not accept scam like business. They want to play games and lie and act like tugs, then they will be very unhappy with the legal and governmental and social media s.storm that will be showering on their business. I have been speaking with others and there are many who feel this way and still fighting for their situation. Orogold is on the wrong, they need to stop doing unethical business rest assured we will pervile, the truth and justice always does at the end. It is up to them how they will play this but I will get my full refund and I got all the time to do so. Best everyone here fight to the end and report these scam artists and put them in their proper place. Maybe only then they can run a respectable, honest and upfront business. I have nothing against them doing honest business and provide a true service and real products and make money, only issue is the way they scam people and bully customers and their salespersons or their managers try to deceive honest consumers. I wish u fought more but I understand because u felt alone but you were not. Anyway, good luck and bust thing to do is not ever do business with them and pass the word because until they don't change their business model and practice, they are threat to consumers who like us, never knew what hit us.
I am in the process of initiating legal action against this company. So far, I have filed a complaint with the FTC and with the BBB. Did you do more than this? If so, please advise. I am ready to go to battle in the courts, if necessary. This company needs to be shut down if it doesn't change its business model.
I never filed with the FTC. I filed with the BBB but I let them know that I accepted their 50% refund. When I filed with the BBB it seemed like they already knew this company (probably because of other complaints) and they directed me to the BBB office that is handling complaints for this company.
Thanks for the update! How long did it take to get the 50% refund? I am ready to file for a full refund in small claims court, but I want to see how Gold Elements handles the BBB contact first. I have also reported this store to the Simon Property Management Group, as it operates in a Simon Mall (Opry Mills, Nashville, TN)>
Join me let's get them exposed and get our money back
Expose them to all social media, your state consumer protection agency, your local TV network, national media, and we need to file a report with their corporate office, even they say each store is independent, BS, if they use the corporate logo, it doesn't matter, the corporation has responsibility too. So a report of consumer complaint to department of corporation, so they can take look into their shoddy practices and we all need to file a class action lawsuit against them at corporate level. Exposing them to the court of public social media is best.
I am quite happy to join you. Currently, I am in the process of filing a small claims case against the store in Nashville. My report to the Better Business Bureau of Nashville was refuted by the company, and my story is no longer available for people to read on that site. As I mentioned in another post on this website today, my suit in the Nashville General Sessions Court is pending, as the staff in the store refused the service of the warrant by the Sheriff's Department. It was returned to the court marked as "person not in residence here." The name on the warrant was a misspelling of the manager's name-- either I heard incorrectly on the phone and recorded it improperly or the clerk who gave it to me did not know the correct name. Interestingly, even though the warrant was returned unserved and therefore my case is not on the court docket for the day I requested, I did get a letter from a lawyer representing Amar Assaf, the manager of the store/ "president of Gold Elements." (The warrant had noted "Assis Amar" as the manager, allowing this person to dodge service. It also kept him from having an actual court date, although his lawyer mentioned that he and his client would see me in court on November 8, 2018. I called the court and confirmed that I will not have an actual court appearance scheduled until I file an alias warrant.) Whatever the case, I intend now to have the warrant served instead on the "agent for service of process" on record with Opry Mills (Aviv Aizenman, 85 White Birch Court, Roseville, CA--name and address supplied by mall management) and the parent company, Premier Cosmetics. As you noted, this store uses the Gold Elements logo and sells those products for the parent company, which also has these product lines: Gratiae Organics, Obey Your Body, Grande Nationals, Swisa Beauty, and Premier Dead Sea. Thus, the corporation is liable for the shady practices being used to dupe customers like me at any of their stores or kiosks. I have raged about Gold Elements on social media and have been accused of borderline harassment (what irony!). As I said, I am glad to join you in your efforts to stop these stores from taking financial advantage of unsuspecting and too trusting customers. Have you used Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms? If so, what response(s) have you gotten?
Although Oro Gold is not listed as a sister company to the one I am suing (Gold Elements), the two companies employ identical tactics to defraud consumers of their hard-earned money. We all need to stand together and fight these scam artists. I have a 38-page PDF that includes all the letters, emails, and messages I sent and received relative to my issue with Gold Elements. I know that I have enough to prove fraudulent misrepresentation in court, despite what the store's lawyer asserted, and I am more than ready to take on these shysters.
Have you filled a BBB or DOC report and followed with legal? This company is out of control. The are very unethical. We all need to stand up and do the right thing and do not fall for their scam like bussiness. The stories are so unreal and how far they go to make a sale. The laws are clear, we have a legal and consumer protection against false advertising, omission during sales and false statement and promises during sales. It appears most here have been a vicitm of this. We all need to protect our rights as a consumer.
I did file a complaint with the BBB. The manager then gave me a 50% refund so I agreed to accept that and walk away. I will never recommend this company or their products. I agree it is a scam, they are unethical and should be closed down. I would have fought for a full refund but I had to do what was easier for me at the moment.
I just filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at this address: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/?utm_source=takeaction#crnt&panel1-1
Perhaps if many of us do this, we can get this company out of malls and other shopping areas. I was scammed out of just over $3600, and I want it back! I also wrote to the Simon Property Management Group at this address to file a complaint against the store in their Nashville, TN, location: https://www.simon.com/contact
If you purchased products from a Gold Elements store in a Simon mall, I urge you to do the same.
I am going to file a complaint with every source and you are correct, we need to file a complaint with all government agencies to ensure these thieves do not harm people. How can this be happening and as many people been severely affected and harmed by these scam artists and frauds like business, they are still in business. I agree with you, let us start a class action against them and not only have these people out of the malls but out of the country. Many of them are Israeli citizens who are here on a work permit and the others are trained scam artists. People should know what they are about. I say enough is enough. We have rights and they are done harming people, people need to stand United and fight back. Let us get our refunds and let's take them to court and including federal court for their sneaky, unethical business practices and lies about what they sell, their refund policy and misleading statements. You all been hurt by these people. I hope everyone who has complained about them, stand up and fight. Together we will win. This is America still, right? Tell me what you wish to do, I am out 4000, I don't have the product, was sent back and Hawaii store in Honolulu is the scam and they are full of lies, misrepresentation and fraud. They are done taking advantage of people with they shoddy people and products. They are in my world now, they are not giving orders anymore, they are taking them, people please stand up and fight. Do not let these [censored] steal from you, their policies are sham, their MO is to lie and take your money, lie and hide behind their stupid no refund policy. These guys are full of you know what, expose them, file your complaints and let's us stop these thieves.