Here in US there's small claims court. If not paid, Court Marshall seizes property to your benefit.
If you paid with credit card, chances are you can get refund as well.
If you paid with credit card, chances are you can get refund as well.
DAVID J SCHULTE THE UPGRADE COMPANY FRAUD AND SCAM-REAL ESOTERIC STORY.
Hi fellows Audiophiles,
Its the first time i am writing in Gon , sadly its on annoying matter not strictly
audio.
I live in Israel, and made contact with David Schulte from the so called "
UPGRADECOMPANY" ( UGC). What a mistake...
That's how the story goes, i will try to be short and if anyone thinks he can
help me with that crook schulte, it will help and be appreciated. I can back up
my story with the numerous email writings with the UGC, and your forgiveness if
my descriptions are somehow tend to be emotionally, it's just that for the last
18 years of trading in the web never have i faced that kind of attitude and Costumer
Service ,Especially from the brand
called USA.
But let's start... 12 weeks ago, more or less, about month before New
Year's Eve or Christmas.
I own a set up of lowther dx4 Hedlund horns, bottlehead paraglow amp passive
pre , audiopro sub and deltec dpa dac + esoteric p700 transport. The
esoteric had problems, and my tech guy suspected it's the KSS151A rare laser
unit that is faulty (btw, in the end it was the DSP). I tried to find new laser
unit, and while searching the web I remembered that the UGC is dealing with
Esoteric brands and thought they might have a lead. I emailed UGC and Mr.
Schulte was prompted to answer saying he is not selling spare parts, but, has a
client in Mexico that want to sell his P-70 transport that was upgraded by him
for 2750$ + 380$ posting.. I really love that transport and thought to myself
" that's a deal I am willing to stretch too"
btw, I almost thought buying Esoteric K-01 or Krell 505evo I liked
but Schulte dismissed them , saying the P70 upgraded by him is the best.
"What will happened if the laser unit of the P70 will fail" i asked ,
" I have a lead on them from Japan brand new OEM ,400$ each and you are
safe" he replied with a wink and a smile.. "Let's go" I said!
I ordered 3 laser units (2 as spare and 1 to be sold as replacement to the
esoteric P700 I wanted to sell in order to sponsor part of that setup upgrade).
Schulte saied he will be ordering the laser units once I pay for them, and that
is client will release the P-70 transport in about month after the holydays. I
thought to myself, why waiting to the laser units, who knows how long will the
supplier have them, schulte rushed me to buy them and so i paid him 1250$ in
advance... wait a minute, you probably ask your selfs, "how did you made
the transfer , PayPal or..." you guess right, money transfer. If it was PayPal
payment things where smoother AND easier.
That's why I call him a scammer. I
wanted to PayPal him, he refused. I told him I will pay the extra fees, he
refused. I suspected nothing, after all reading is website give you confidence,
buying from a North American dealer give you confidence, what a fool I was. I
agreed to transfer the money.
Time passed, i emailed the guy Schulte several times just to know if there is progress,
every time Schulte gives me confidence that the deal is done. Another week, and
another... another email sent by me , and reply by David Schulte " it’s
a matter of about 3 weeks until the arrival...my client is getting the new gear
i sent him, once he is satisfied he will send the P70"...oops, could it be
that's not a done deal? " i emailed the UGC Schulte asking
could it be that the client will not sell? " he is selling" reassured
me David , and to built up my confidence he added " he wants to sell the
matching D70 do you want it? " . Let's start with the P70 I replied. How
right was I, and did not know it then...
Days passed, I had a guy wanted to buy my dac and transport, we agreed on a
price and scheduled a pickup for the next day. In the evening i emailed the Schulte
asking him what's going on from the last email. This is what he wrote:
" The P70 owner has not decided to sell iit yet.He was 90% sure but
has since decided to keep both his P70 and D70 SE's and purchase our SE
upgraded Emotiva ERC-3 CD player with our Bybee and Audio Magic fuse options. He
reports that right out of the bodies not far off from the P70/D70 setup and is
getting closer with burn in. He's going to setup a second system. Why
don't you save money and buy an Emotiva ERC-3 CD player as it truly is as good
on ewe upgrade it and put the (3) $135ea Audio Magic Premier fuses in it.
I replied amazed:
Whatttt??? I purchased the laser units on the basis of buying the
transport...I thought its s done deal..!
SCHULTE REPLIED:
Eran I just found out yesterday.
I'm happy to send you the laser that is supposed to be new and refund balance
less airmail cost to ship it. I was not aware the P70 had issues apparently
from a power surge while the client had it
On Jan 25, 2016, at 12:29 AM, eran and Dikla <[email protected]> wrote:
?
בתאריך 24 בינו׳ 2016 23:30, "eran and Dikla" <[email protected]> כתב:
hi,You should have mentioned thees issues earlier - once you
knew about them.I wanted P70 since it's the only transport to suite my
Lowther demanding drivers. sorry, but i buy only what i know. i was suppused to
be inform that the laser units cannot be oredered - beside one.if i wasnt
emailing you today , when did you planed to inform me that the deal cannot take
place?
You probably understand that i am not happy with the situation ( saying the
least)If you want to sell me only the laser ASSUMING ITS NEW IN BOX
, deduct posting + 400$ and refund the rest its ok.If you dont want to
sell the laser pick up and refund all my payment , its ok also. Lets stay in a
client - seller situation where you can still offer in the future P70
might it come. I did my part bypaying in advance , i trust your good
reputation to do likewise.
Best,Eran
2016-01-24 23:12 GMT+02:00 Upgrade Company LLC <[email protected]>:
We were
only able to get 1 laser which could be resold so basically you already paid
for a new EMOTIVA ERC-3 with all options including shipping to you.
Out of the boxing kills stock P70/D70 in every area. Once burned in it sounds
better then even upgraded P70/D70.
Part of the reason the seller backed out us because the power switch is stuck
on and one of the digital outputs quit working. P70's are getting old
I'm happy to send you the laser that is supposed to be new and refund balance
less airmail cost to ship it. I was not aware the P70 had issues apparently
from a power surge while the client had it.
Do you think he refund me? think again. I phoned him, he tried to push
the Emotiva, I POLITLY SAIED NO CAUSE ITS THE ESOTERIC I WANT and paied in
advance for.
He said ok , in the coming days i will transfer the money back ( i told him
that only if he knew, like he promised, that the laser is BNIB to send it, he
said the ebay guy says its new...EBay??? I thought you said Japan OEM....never
mind just refund please!)
he says he tried to refund but it came back... than i offered him to PayPal me
and i will suffer the fees, refused, than he said I have to buy something from
him(!!??) and if I will not like it he will refund. In time of despair ,I even offered
him to either to keep 10% randsom to himself or to purchase with my money which he holds hostage a n esoteric P30 offered in eBay and to
upgrade it at his facilities - he said ok for the P30 , but wanted me to pay for the
transport and leaving the 1250$ at his possession!! You understand? He wanted
me to trust him and spent another 1500$ to send the P30 to his place. The man
is mad. But wait it does not end here, I just attach the last email from
the guy. Where my point about him being a racist (against Jews), scammer and a
fraud (planned it all from the beginning that's why he did not want to use PayPal) are summed up. No
need to add another word , and i quote:
"You are nuts NOT to trust us we are A+ BBB rated and do a to of business we don't need you business!
I'm growing tired of your rudeness and Jewing us down on the price. I'm
done.
You buy the unit and get it here. Your $1250 is not enough to cover the
SE upgrade at $799 GREATLY reduced pricing plus Shipping @ $500 due to high
weight and large size. P70 always costs roughly $500 to Europe etc as it
is way too big and heavy for post office. The post office figures
"dimensional weight" which is length + girth in inches x 2 plus the
weight which has to be below 166 unfortunately any way you add it up the
transport is too big and heavy for postal mail."
DO YOU GET IT?? CAUSE I AM NOT. IN MY WORST DREAMS I DID NOT THINK THING
LIKE THAT WILL HAPPEND IN THE USA.
Showing 8 responses by czarivey
Well, Obviously weather Markwilder is or isn’t David Schulte, weather or not one of us watches much of Judge Judy, here’s simple procedures: Eran, as an international plaintiff, I’ll advise you to hire an attorney who will take the case and on your behalf bring it to the small claims court. You will have to inquire total amount of loss + court fees and + attorney fees which is legal in United States. Fortunately the court is located in adjacent town of Petoskey MI where there’s a large Jewish community. I’m sure you can find there an attorney via internet who will take your matter to the court against The Upgrade Company. Unfortunately, I’m not anywhere from Michigan so can’t recommend you finding the best matched attorney. You will have to contact Michigan Bar Association www.michbar.org that will recommend you an attorney. Obviously you should start conversation with attorney first and see if you feel comfortable to be represented by attorney you choose (my 2cents) and if not move on to the next one. Chances you can find Hebrew speaking one also there. I’ve been in number of small claims courts as both defendant and plaintiff and can help you if you will have any further questions. |
jimcrane, Retired or not retired, attorney or not, but I've stood in small claims against attorney and won by providing not only sufficient proof and evidence, but detailed research of the problem i faced and made attorney or 'representative' look like unprepared student with red face shamed on the exam. Spoken and delivered truth to the judge with foreign accent and not in Jewish community(which I actually belong to), but among the bunch of rednecks and WASPs. Yeah, the retired politically correct attorney will never reveal you these details but they're VERY important! There are also factors on who's the judge and what kind of community surrounds the local small claims court or courthouse. Who will they favor? what are the chances they favor plaintiff or defendant?... Therefore I mapped if there are any Jewish communities near the court house and there is big one. markwilder, Usually respectful dealers, manufacturers and service providers reveal their own company here on audiogon without any secrets so figure out, your words might not be true aren't they? Just refund the money and void court and attorney fees. How about that? |
Dealers, company associates or companies before posting on Audiogon must identify and disclose their identity. There were no disclosure or identity of new member markwilder who uses conspiracy not to reveal his commercial association with the Upgrade Company. It identifies dishonest conduct and should be viewed as absolutely useless. |
What's done is done. Not sure about Spring Harbor Michigan where The Upgrade Company is located local laws, but in my county I often saw small claims are represented by someone. I would highly-highly doubt that local small claims court would require personal appearance of plaintiff and defender. The courts of small towns have reception answering phones available and lots of information could be taken from there on how is the best to proceed. If the bed to worst you'll have to be present, than you're eligible to claim TOTAL expenses + amount you've lost and Spring Harbor is almost at the Canadian boarder on the Michigan lake. It's great to be there in the summer when everything is burning hot and there is pretty much nice and cool. |