fort turner is a scam

You need to contact the post office, this sounds like mail fraud, which is a much bigger deal than people think.
 
totallynotalion said:
After reading fort turner's BBB page it seems that the only way to get an order completed is to file a complaint with the BBB.
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Unfortunately, the BBB can't do a thing to help. It's merely a self reporting database of transactions. Kind of like a corporate feedback score card, and that is about it. There are some other organizations that have a miserable record at their local BBB (thebladeshop.com is one as an example). Charge you for items, don't deliver, don't reply to email, don't answer phone calls, etc. Best thing to do when these things happen is contact the issuing bank and file fraud charges. You pay for an item and when the promised delivery date comes and goes with not so much as a response, then it's time for the bank to handle things.
 
There are better ways to handle this. You know who he is and where he lives. Call the local police in his town and explain the problem to them. A visit from the police should shake him up.
Contact the tax agency in the state he lives in. He has a tax ID number? He is collecting sales taxes, is he reporting and passing those taxes on as required? A visit from the IRS can be a lot more scary than the police.
 
Ladams19, you're in the same state!! California. Dana Turner, 14930 Salmon Rd Hornbrook, CA 96044-9752

Call the cops.
Sue in Small Claims Court.
Did he promise deliver by US Mail? If so, at least try the Postal Inspectors. He has a pattern and practice of fraud.

I'd make the creep my hobby.

As for BBB:

82 complaints closed with BBB in last 3 years | 39 closed in last 12 months
Complaint Type Total Closed Complaints
Advertising/Sales Issues 4
Billing/Collection Issues 1
Delivery Issues 71

NOT BBB accredited.

BBB Report:
August 01, 2014 Fort Turner Axed by Complaints
West Sacramento, Calif. - When you’re looking for a unique, custom-made product you’re likely to resort to the internet, but who can you trust with your purchase?

When consumers were looking for hand-forged metal work they stumbled upon Fort Turner, a business out of Siskiyou County, Calif., selling tomahawks, sheaths and throwing knives. But the ‘F’ rated business currently has 33 complaints and has left several consumers out of some hundred dollars or more after they failed to make deliveries months and years after orders were placed.

Generally, complainants describe ordering product through the business website and expecting an eight week delivery. For most, eight weeks came and went, and still no product. Many complain of difficulty getting a response from the business, and when they did, the owner often cited broken machinery or an overwhelming amount of orders as the reason for delay. Some report that they did in fact receive the product but long after orders were placed - some as long as a year.

A customer who purchased a tomahawk to be awarded to a soldier at a military reunion remains unsatisfied while waiting five months with no product and now wanting a refund. Despite many promises by Fort Turner, the business failed to deliver in time for the event. The organizer was forced to pay another vendor for a tomahawk, but luckily received it in just eight days. At last report, the customer claimed the business ignored his request for a refund.

BBB contacted the business owner, Dana Turner, concerned about the pattern of failing to deliver or delivering within his stated time frame, and that the business may be in violation of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Mail Order Rule. According to the FTC Rule, if a business cannot deliver products within the given time frame they must inform the consumer of the delay and provide them with the opportunity of choosing to cancel their order. The business must also provide the consumer with an updated date of delivery, or otherwise deliver within 30 days. Mr. Turner informed us that his website states deliveries would take “at least” eight weeks but our review of the website on July 29th, 2014 states that due to order volume, delivery is “about” eight weeks.

- See more at: http://www.bbb.org/sacramento/news-...ness-axed-by-complaints/#sthash.odPKhpJv.dpuf
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Arathol said:
There are better ways to handle this. You know who he is and where he lives. Call the local police in his town and explain the problem to them. A visit from the police should shake him up.
Contact the tax agency in the state he lives in. He has a tax ID number? He is collecting sales taxes, is he reporting and passing those taxes on as required? A visit from the IRS can be a lot more scary than the police.
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It would be the California Sales and Use Tax Department, but good point, Arathol ! With a California seller and buyer, there had to be sales tax due.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Ladams19, you're in the same state!! California. Dana Turner, 14930 Salmon Rd Hornbrook, CA 96044-9752

Call the cops.
Sue in Small Claims Court.
Did he promise deliver by US Mail? If so, at least try the Postal Inspectors. He has a pattern and practice of fraud.

I'd make the creep my hobby.

As for BBB:

82 complaints closed with BBB in last 3 years | 39 closed in last 12 months
Complaint Type Total Closed Complaints
Advertising/Sales Issues 4
Billing/Collection Issues 1
Delivery Issues 71

NOT BBB accredited.

BBB Report:
Click to expand...
Thank you for this information. Yes, I am about to make this guy my hobby. I am making sure I put my "Please check with BBB" on every post of Fort Turner I can find. At the least I can do is inform others about his business before they spend their money. Maybe a hit in his wallet will wake him up.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Buy an inexpensive recorder. He has no expectation of privacy as regards the other party to a telephone conversation.
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You have to check your state laws. Some allow recording of a telephonic conversation as long as one party is aware of the recording. Others require both ends to know that a recording is being made. That's why so many large corporation customer service lines announce up front that the conversation may be recorded for "training or other customer service issues" so that they are legal regardless of where the caller is calling from.

edit--- just checked - California is one of those "two-party consent" states Texas and Ohio are "one-party consent" states.

http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/recording-phone-calls-and-conversations has a lot of info about the process and requirements.
 
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Thanks for all of your help. It seems I am not the only one. Being I ordered this for a Christmas Present in 2013, I tend to think about it during this time of the year. So I have explored several avenues with him. Hopefully one yields fruit. I have a feeling though, other that something court ordered, he is not going to do anything. I am sending out notes to everyone I can find close to him. Maybe one will get a hit. Lets see.
 
RevDevil said:
Unfortunately, the BBB can't do a thing to help. It's merely a self reporting database of transactions. Kind of like a corporate feedback score card, and that is about it. There are some other organizations that have a miserable record at their local BBB (thebladeshop.com is one as an example). Charge you for items, don't deliver, don't reply to email, don't answer phone calls, etc. Best thing to do when these things happen is contact the issuing bank and file fraud charges. You pay for an item and when the promised delivery date comes and goes with not so much as a response, then it's time for the bank to handle things.
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Bolded for truth - you're absolutely correct. I made that comment based on the resolved complaints, it seems that getting contacted by the BBB motivated him to get some things done but....

Thomas Linton said:
As for BBB:

82 complaints closed with BBB in last 3 years | 39 closed in last 12 months
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....there are still 43 unresolved complaints, so obviously relying on a BBB complaint is not the best solution. Also worth noting that there are 61 complaints that were never addressed. If I was one who didn't have an order filled I would definitely want my money back as I would be concerned over a rushed product that doesn't meet the standard of quality that attracted me to the item in the first place. It would be pretty awful to wait all this time to get a shoddy product and then try and deal with returning the item.

Taking the legal route is definitely the best action to get closure.
 
totallynotalion said:
Bolded for truth - you're absolutely correct. I made that comment based on the resolved complaints, it seems that getting contacted by the BBB motivated him to get some things done but....



....there are still 43 unresolved complaints, so obviously relying on a BBB complaint is not the best solution. Also worth noting that there are 61 complaints that were never addressed. If I was one who didn't have an order filled I would definitely want my money back as I would be concerned over a rushed product that doesn't meet the standard of quality that attracted me to the item in the first place. It would be pretty awful to wait all this time to get a shoddy product and then try and deal with returning the item.

Taking the legal route is definitely the best action to get closure.
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I just filed my 3rd on him. At the very least it will flood the internet and someone searching will see them. Also sent a PM to his wife on Facebook. :)
 
katanas said:
zzyzzogeton: so, what if someone from California records someone from Ohio or visa-versa :confused:?
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California regards it's statute as controlling over the law of the other state and federal law. The details of applicability and the possible conflict with federal law have not been worked out yet, so its a risk to record without notice.
 
Thomas Linton: thank you for your post; it led me to some interesting research on the subject.:thumbup:
 
Thomas Linton said:
It would be the California Sales and Use Tax Department, but good point, Arathol ! With a California seller and buyer, there had to be sales tax due.
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The agency that deals with sales taxes is called the California Board of Equalization.

Definitely worth contacting if there's been shenanigans going on with intrastate sales.

There's at least one custom knife maker I know of that's had funds impounded by the board of Eq. They don't mess around.
 
I talked to the owner of Fort Turner a few months ago because I bought a Rangers Tomahawk off the exchange and wanted a shealth for it. He called me to ask if I had ordered a hawk also because he sometimes over looks it. He was very nice to me. He said he got sick and was out of work for a while and that he tried to shut the business down but so many people have ordered that he couldn't. He is also an one man show. Sorry to hear that everyone isn't getting their hawk. Just looked at my email, I ordered on October 6, 2015 and the shealth shipped on the 16th.
 
HousiN said:
I talked to the owner of Fort Turner a few months ago because I bought a Rangers Tomahawk off the exchange and wanted a shealth for it. He called me to ask if I had ordered a hawk also because he sometimes over looks it. He was very nice to me. He said he got sick and was out of work for a while and that he tried to shut the business down but so many people have ordered that he couldn't. He is also an one man show. Sorry to hear that everyone isn't getting their hawk. Just looked at my email, I ordered on October 6, 2015 and the shealth shipped on the 16th.
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He can stop taking orders and money from people any time he chooses. What he was really saying is that he's spent all the money thats been sent so far and he needs more orders to fulfill his obligations, a classic example of what happens when hobbyists try to monetize their hobby. He's robbing Peter and Paul to pay himself. The exact opposite of how a small business should be run.
 
katanas said:
zzyzzogeton: so, what if someone from California records someone from Ohio or visa-versa :confused:?
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Katanas - what Thomas said. Glad he got an answer to you before I got back online.

California likes to think that their laws preempt everyone else's. Sorry, Charlie. Not gonna fly.

I know it's a gray area from some aspects or a B&W one from others.

If someone in California records someone in a 1 party consent state, they are not breaking Texas or Ohio law. They ARE breaking California law. As a California resident, they could be prosecuted in California for breaking California law.

I'm in Texas. Texas allows 1 party consent. If I need to record something, and the other party is in California, I'm gonna record it. If I have to sue someone, I'm not gonna gives a rat's behind about California's law because I will go through Texas lawyers who will get any legal work needed in California courts accomplished by California lawyers. It is not my responsibility to follow California law while in Texas. Any evidence obtained by LEGAL means in Texas is legally obtained information.

If I were to move to California (the chance of which happening is way less than the chance of Hell freezing over), then I would be expected and obligated to follow California law. If California wants to chase my tail down in Texas when I comply with Texas law, good luck to them. They want me arrested and extradited for following Texas law and breaking California law? Good luck with that in a Texas court. :D

If someone in California doesn't want someone in Texas recording them without their knowledge, well then, the Californian in question should not dick with someone in Texas.
 
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