I tried to do my homework, and made inquiries of the Oregon Attorney General and Better Business Bureaus before purchasing 6 'Mrs. Field’s Cookie Vending Machines' from Bruce Evans of Portland Oregon, who at the time was using the company name Success System as the only authorized Sales Rep for these machines.
I made the mistake of wiring the funds to Mr. Evans. The fact that he didn’t accept credit cards and wanted full payment before I received the machines should have been my signal to walk away.
After the funds were wired, Mr. Evans put me in touch with Nolan Dobson of Pro Plastics, the manufacturer, because of shipping delays. After getting Mr. Dobson’s name and doing some more homework, I discovered that someone had previously filed a complaint against him and his company with the Utah Better Business Bureau.
After I finally received the machines, I discovered that very vital information about these machines had not been disclosed to me. Disposable plastic clamshells unique to the machine are necessary for the machine to dispense cookies or anything else. Each cookie has to be manually inserted into one of these disposable clamshells before being loaded into the machine.
This is a very time consuming task that adds considerable expense. If this vital information had been disclosed I would not have purchased the machines. Deceptively selling the machines without this information is the only way that these machines can possibly be sold.
After discovering this, I received verbal and written assurances from Bruce Evans that Mrs. Fields cookies will be supplied to me by him, already loaded into the clamshells and ready to sell.
However, he did not respond to my phone calls indicating that I was ready to place my order for a steady supply of the product. He ignored my request for a written and detailed Purchase Order showing his commitment to provide me the cookies loaded into the clamshells on a regular basis.
As for Nolan Dobson, all my communication with him has been verbal. After I got the machines and came to the realization that I had been deceived by Mr. Evans, Mr. Dobson acted surprised. But I have spoken to another unfortunate gentleman from New York who previous to me had the same experience as I did with these machines and individuals, so I know that Mr. Dobson is well aware of and a party to the deceptive advertising done by Mr. Evans.
Mr. Dobson told me he could sell me the clamshells, but not with the cookies stuffed into them. He said he may be able to help me find a source for the cookies. So when I finally gave up on Mr. Evans coming through for me, I left a message on Mr. Dobson’s machine, and also emailed him, asking for a Purchase Order for a steady supply of the clamshells, and also for help to find cookies.
I also asked that he provide a written statement showing that he will no longer approve Bruce Evans as authorized distributor of the machines due to his deceptive advertising. Mr. Dobson did not respond.
So that’s when I filed a complaint with several consumer agencies, and resigned myself to losing the money rather than spending thousands more to sue from across the country.
After posting this complaint, suddenly the next day, Mr. Dobson was able to call me back, to threaten suing me for that posting. He has not posted a refute on [redacted], and I haven’t heard from him since. As for the possibility of Mr. Dobson winning a lawsuit against me, my lawyer says that the truth is always the best defense.
Without a reliable and steady supply of the disposable plastic clamshells, the vending machines are inoperable, and so therefore I have fraudulently been sold worthless vending machines. Likewise, I can not in all honesty re-sell these machines to anyone else, because I have no trustworthy source for the necessary plastic clamshells.
In the process of resolving these issues, I discovered the additional deception that Bruce Evans and these vending machines are not approved by the Mrs. Fields Brands company. I was told by Mr. Dobson that if I tried to order Mrs. Fields cookies myself, my order would be denied by any Mrs. Fields wholesale distributor if I disclose that I will be selling them by vending machine.
I contacted the Mrs. Fields company regarding this situation, and within a week, Mr. Evans’ website that I had originally responded to, with the Mrs. Fields logo plastered all over it, was taken down. The other cheated gentleman that I had spoken with had responded to a newspaper classified ad that also featured the Mrs. Field’s Cookies brand.
So buyer beware! Don’t do business with Bruce Evans and any business name he may be using right now. And don’t buy these vending machines unless you want to spend hours each week loading them with product. If you want a photo of the machines, email me, and I’ll forward it to you.
I was deceived by these individuals that I gave close to $8K to. I will not be able to get that money back without risking thousands more for a cross-country lawsuit. So I’d like to at least try to warn others about these machines and the individuals I dealt with.
I will continue to post this experience on as many scam and fraud platforms as I can find, until I receive a full refund from Bruce Evans and Nolan Dobson. I will be happy to return the useless machines to receive the refund, if they pay for their return shipping in advance.
Summary: Deceptive advertising by Nolan Dobson, Pro Plastics 1005 N 1500 W, Orem, UT 84057, and Bruce Evans, Success System, 380 SW 5th St. #144, Madras, OR 97741 .
Business email addresses: proplastics AT yahoo.com & info AT successsystem.net
I was also a victim of the cookie vending machine scam.
In April 2004, I bought 21 cookie vending machines from UAC(Gaylen Tirrell) owner. When I received them, over half them started breaking apart. The machines were made of cheap plastic that was super glued together. The brackets on the lids would breakoff and the seams of the base would crack open as well as other parts would break as wells. I was also never told about the clam shells. Nolan Dobsen (Proplastics) was the manufacturer. I filed a lawsuit with him. I lost because I was told I had to suit UAC, Gaylen Tirrell not the Proplastics because I purchased it directly through Gaylen. Mr Dobsen also sold me substandard cookies that went stale quickly. I filed a lawsuit against Gaylen Tirrell. I won the first lawsuit but he appealed and I lost because I was told that I could not file a lawsuit against him personally, I would have to file against UAC. UAC is no longer a company and Gaylen Tirrell has since died. Nolan Dobsen knows exactly what he is doing. He is scamming good and decent hard working people. He should be in jail. I have lost over 15,000.00. I feel like such a fool. Nolan is long overdue and what goes around comes around. Keep me informed on the latest information on him. Let me know what I can do to help.
By simply reading the posted words I can see how there would be upset. However, how is the manufacturer of the item at fault when he was simply hired to do a job. Certainly the deception was from the seller. Why try to shoot the messenger? It seems the anger should be directed more narrowly.
I agree with Confused. This complaint goes too far. I understand the person being upset with the vendor, but the plastics manufacturer was just hired to produce the plastic parts for the vendor. Of course he doesn't have a source for Mrs Field's cookies - he probably received a drawing or purchase order for parts of a certain material, shape and size. Get Serious ...