I finally got my copy of the letter posted by "ehseu". It included the amount that they belive that I am owed. Well, it is off by as little as $232.55 and as much as $446.10 - in their favor, of course. Fortunately, we have moved to GL Scrip (and hope we continue having the same success we have been having with them.)
I went to the article about Robert Coyle and it brings back bad memories of when NSC collapsed shortly after that article was written, despite the mention of moving into a new building and having a large number of employees. We were caught in that collapse as well and never recovered the monies we were owed. We turned to SA and they seemed to be our saving grace by filling our backorders that we lost with NSC promptly (of course we paid again for those) and we were able to calm our families. However, what SA is doing now is criminal, they continue to take our money knowing they cannot fill the orders and are hurting so many little guys that cannot refund their families. I hope everyone is patient and follows through with the time it takes to file the fraud complaints. The saddest part is that my board has elected to not continue with ANY scrip program. That is a great loss to our fundraising. But understandable. Even though other companies seem to be great now, the question remains... is this the pattern for these scrip companies...two to three years of great service then bam!
Today, I went to the BBB-California website, and it indicates that Scrip Advantage’s membership was terminated yesterday (November 10, 2005) for failure to resolve customer problems. See www.fresno.bbb.org/commonreport.html?compid=20000973
Judging by the complaints, this company is experiencing some major operational and potentially financial problems. I am trying to spread the word.
I have asked the director of our school, who is the signer on the checking account that Scrip Advantage debits by EFT (or ACH, I am not certain), to instruct the bank not to honor transactions from Scrip Advantage until further notice. See if the bank can prevent money from being withdrawn from your account by Scrip Advantage but permit them to deposit refunds into your account. I don't know if this is possible--you may only be able to block all transactions. Other schools may want to take similar action. Follow-up with a letter sent certified mail with return receipt to your customer service representative notifying him or her that you are revoking Scrip Advantage's ability to access your checking account until customer service issues are resolved and all backorders have been shipped.
BBB is a business-service. It's not a governmental agency. They really have no enforcement powers.
If you suspect fraud -- that's criminal and the proper reports would be to police or local DA.
My suspicion is less fraud and more business struggles, though I don't know. Back-orders, delays, can't reach customer service -- all very bad signs, especially entering the busiest scrip time of the year. If they can't fill orders in September and october, November will be no fun.
We're still trying to learn more. Right now we're learning as much here on the boards as from anywhere else.
I talked to one of the mothers at our school who is a lawyer. She actually recommends talking to your county's DA office, your state's attorney general's office as well as the Fresno DA and California AG. She says that we have to prove fraud - I think people ordering now and SA knowing that they may not fill orders is fraud. We may also use another lawyer parent to write a letter of demand.
From Chicagoland - We are a scout group who have been caught in the SA rip off. A big thank you to everyone who has been posting updates. I was able to get through to SA on Wed. but was told I could not trade my backorders. I could only create a new order and be charged for it. I knew this wasn't right but I didn't want to risk losing more money so I opted for the "credit" instead. I won't hold my breath. Please keep up the updates!
