Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 3, 2012 at 6:30am

Chuck's story is unfortunately common. Some dealers have told me that when they consign they don't ship until they are paid. And I've heard collectors tell me before they were told that the best way to get paid was to consign more.

So I believe Chuck, but what surprises me is he wasn't notified of the bankruptcy.

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 3, 2012 at 1:34pm

seems to be happening alot... just look at ARA.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 3, 2012 at 2:57pm

True

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Permalink Reply by Sidney Fields on March 3, 2012 at 1:00pm

Mike...as you'll recall this thread began because you mentioned American Memorabilia and I inquired about why you used them.  

You may also recall that I mentioned that I personally know someone who had this type of experience with AM.  Chuck is that guy. I've seen the papers and communications.  You're free to doubt him.  But I can tell you that what he has stated is completely true.

One more point.  And I certainly mean no disrespect here....I'm just making a point.  You seem to think that he must have a police report otherwise his claim is suspect.  Fair enough.  

With what agency he should seek (or should have sought) to file the report?  His local police? What would they do about it?  They have no jurisdiction.                     

The Las Vegas PD?  What will they do? They'd likely tell him, sorry but this is a civil matter (having been involved in many such cases at some level I can tell you that that is exactly what police generally do).  Let's suppose the Las Vegas PD actually was interested.  A detective would go over to AM and say, "We have this complaint from out of state" etc.  The response might be, "We're working with our client, officer."  Then what?

You see the problems, I'm sure.  This is simply not the kind of case police get involved in.  And we've seen multiple people on this board express consternation over that point recently.  

So, one possibility is a civil lawsuit.  As you know, that is time consuming and costly.  Very often more costly than the value a issue.

Speaking generally now and not about AM or this particular case, these are big reasons why we've seen so many people getting ripped off and scammers flourishing in the autograph world.  Thank heaven for Steve and his courageous stand against ripoffs, scams and frauds.  This board is here to get the facts out.

I don't know whether other online complaints against AM are true.  I do know that the facts asserted often dovetail with the facts in Chuck's case.  And again, I've seen his "paper" trail.  He is being totally truthful.  (By the way, although I've seen no such evidence in your case, I completely believe what you've said about your personal experiences with the company).

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 3, 2012 at 1:47pm

even in pace having trouble finding the bankruptcy filing as reported by the Chicago Sun_times;

it would be good if we could locate it as it would be very obvious why the troubles if; filed for bankruptcy May 31 in Nevada, declaring almost $3.2 million in liabilities on assets of only $493,537. The list of creditors runs about 50 pages.

as that would be indicative of a serious cash flow and I wonder what "assets" imply.

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 4, 2012 at 12:53am

too bad you hadn't yet read that ACE (autograph certification experts) authentications & COAs have been placed on the banned list on EBAY. 

But it is indicative of the saying, "doesn't have to be authentic - just certified"

It appears Justin priddy is still at it having run GAI into the gutter as brandon noted several times.

If nothing else, I'd agree - at least file a complaint.  Since Chuck's not from vegas, even with grand larceny, it's slim they would be able to do anything as any court proceedings would require him to fly out there, presuming he is not from the area.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 4, 2012 at 9:25am

Justin Priddy didn't run GAI into the gutter alone. Baker okayed the infamous big, bad sports deal, and GA doesn't seem much if any better than GAI.

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 4, 2012 at 10:33am

if that is factual then there are gonna be alot of upset people on EBAY as GA has replaced GAI as a "qualified" authenticator to use.

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 5, 2012 at 2:49am

If you stay at it long enough you usually find the desired information.   A Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition was filed on 5/31/2011 by Kieta Kieta aka Mary Kieta  FDBA American Memorabilia, Inc. 6515 Natural Glass Las Vegas, NV.  Case 11-18538-bam.    It estimates their creditors between 300 - 999 and assets between $300k-$500k and liabilities between 1 to 10 Million.

It also lists the attorney filing the bankruptcy as; Lawrence D. Rouse, Esq. #004369 Lawrence D Rouse, LTD. 523 S Eighth St Las Vegas, NV 89101 Email: rouselaw@aol.com 702-387-1800 Fax: 702-387-4521.

so if you have consignments there or have not been paid you might want to contact this lawyer immediately.

Below is also another report from someone who wasn't paid who, if they responded, might be on the unsecured debtor's list.   Hopefully, everyone knows the difference between secured and unsecured.

American Memorabilia   on Yelp report by one scammed

6/14/2011 First to Review

I had consigned merchandise to American Memorabilia (AM). I was not paid when my items sold. It was necessary to obtain a judgement against AM, which I did and again the judgement went unpaid. I recieved in the mail a notice from the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Nevada, Case No. 11-18538-bam that AM has filed Chapter 7. Take this as a warning. I would be happy to share this document with anyone. Leave your email in a comment and I will PDF it. I can not state strongly enough that AM is a business to be very wary of.

 

If anyone would like a copy of the petition pm with your full name and email address and I'll email you a pdf file.  Thanks Steph & Chicago Sun-Times and I wish AML had picked the story up earlier.  Thanks Sidney for mentioning it as it certainly has merit.

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Permalink Reply by Sidney Fields on March 5, 2012 at 3:47am

Thanks, DB.  Nice work.

If possible, it may be useful to post the filing (or a link to it) here. This is a Chapter 7 liquidation...not a Chapter 11 reorganization.

I wouldn't be too tough on Steve for not getting the story earlier.  After all, AM seems to have kept this quiet.  Even creditors and respected people on this board who do business with them apparently didn't know about it.

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Permalink Reply by DB on March 5, 2012 at 5:14am

Cyrkin get's no mercy lol!  It's over 100+ pages and one can always go to the US Bankruptcy filing for .08/page or just send a PM as instructed above for a free copy. 

If it stays the course then that's how I would interpret it and the likelihood of unsecured creditors receiving anything is slim especially with this financial schedule reported as part of the bankruptcy;  Must love that Unsecured are treated as non-priority claims.

 

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Permalink Reply by Sidney Fields on March 5, 2012 at 5:23am

The schedule is interesting...given the relatively small number of creditors.

Wonder how many unsecureds have not even been noticed.

I'm interested in seeing the filing.

PArdon my ignorance...but what's a "PM"?

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