Three Feathers Tobacco Company review: Scam and cheating 90

TO EVERYONE AFFECTED BY THE "ECHECK" INVESTIGATION:

Please congregate here at the IRVING NY TOPIX NEWS Forum & please feel free to update this thread with any news, or add your thoughts, &/or copy/paste it into the Topix News for your own city or region or favorite forum.  More exposure the better!

ONLINE CIG ECHECK MONIES CONFISCATED BY FEDS:
Posted in the Irving NY Forum:
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/irving-ny/T7IFV3NVS5CRQ2UPB#lastPost

~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry Still _Hopeful I did not save it and it was off the top of my head so it would not be the same. Basically I said that people should not blame three feathers it is definetly not thier fault and I recommend everyone call Houser because you would not believe the government could just take your money like they are doing. This guy is going to stop smokers single- handedly. He doesn't seem to believe in OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE

Thank you, Tileman100, for the harrowing & heart-rending update. The USA becomes darker & darker by the day!

This story needs to break out of the complaint boards & into some alternative news blogs & forums which are crawled by google. They are the only type of news sources that would even care.

I have taken pertinent quotes from all these complaint boards & put them in one thread at the Irving, NY "Topix News" forums here:

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/irving-ny/T7IFV3NVS5CRQ2UPB

I do not live in that area but since that is where ThreeFeathersTobacco, InternetSmokes, & TCL Enterprises are located, I figured that was a good place to start. Or maybe I should re-post it at the Scranton, PA Topix News Forums, the city where Houser is! :)

(Good aspect of Topix is no hassle, no registration required.)

Three feathers is one of the 141 mentioned but still are not filling orders.

Thanks minismom for that update!

So much for using TOPIX NEWS FORUMS to spread the word:
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/irving-ny/T7IFV3NVS5CRQ2UPB

There were a TOTAL of 17 QUOTED COMMENTS THERE when I last visited the TOPIX thread last night, Sat. 7/10/10.

Tonight 7/11/10 I refresh the page & now there are only 3 comments!

That is 14 comments MISSING!

Not only are 14 comments missing, but the ORIGINAL POST IS ALSO MISSING! Which had links to all the Complaint Board pages so people could see the complaints themselves.

Does Topix not allow links in posts & comments?

Very very strange!

You'll see whoever hijacked the TOPIX thread & deleted the original post & 14 of the 17 comments, only left in Comments #3, 11, 12; meaning they deleted #1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17!

Go see for yourself!
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/irving-ny/T7IFV3NVS5CRQ2UPB

This crazy case gets more weird by the day.

~~~~~~~~~~

I should have taken screenshots of the Topix site last night!

So I re-posted all the Complaint Board links at Topix (but no way I'm re-doing all the individual quotes, which took a few hours Friday night 7/9/10).

Then I took a screenshot of the posted links. Let's see if they disappear a 2nd time.

Even tho this email is dated 7/9/10, it only just now arrived, 7/12/10... (?) It is a different seller that I never did order from because they had upped their June PACT cut-off date so I missed their deadline & ended up at ThreeFeathersTobacco instead.

Anyway, some people may be able to order from these guys... here is their email received today 7/12/10:

(...)
From: "AllOfOurButts"
Date: July 9, 2010 11:25:01 PM EDT
Subject: AllOfOurButts Newsletter
Reply-To: cs@Allofourbutts.com

Newsletter July 2010

Dear valued Customer:

We are sending you this email to notify you that, at this time, we
can place orders for existing customers that have ordered with us
in the past 6 months. We have recieved a temporary stay with the
PACT act until July 30th. There are certain restrictions that apply, so please contact us with your orders, and a friendly phone rep will fill you in on the details.

Thank you for your support during this difficult time.

Sincerely,
Allofourbutts.com
Toll free number: [protected].
(...)

~~~~~~~~~

PS: The complaint links reposted last night 7/11/10 at Topix have disappeared for the 2nd time as of 7/12/10 @ 1:40pm.

~~~~~~~~~

Links re-posted to Topix Irving NY for the 3rd time... Merely documenting that fact here in case they/Topix removes them again...

(...)
LINKS for 3rd TIME | 16 min ago | Reply

These links were Originally posted as part of the opening post for this Topix thread on Fri. 7/9/10 night. Then someone (Topix?) mysteriously deleted the opening post & many comments (see above).

Any half-brained reporter knows you are supposed to always back up your statements with Facts & Proof. Hence, the links of first person testimonies are provided for that very reason.

DOES TOPIX PREFER INNUENDO vs FACTS & PROOF? I AM ASKING TOPIX TO LEAVE A POST IN THIS THREAD & TELL US WHY YOU KEEP DELETING THE LINKS?

Links are being re-posted for the 3rd time 7/12/10 @2:07pm to all EVIDENCE of feds confiscating cig online echeck $$$:

June 2010:
Scroll Down Page 1 until you see the June 2010 comments:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/thr...
Con't Page 2:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/thr...

6/23/10:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/no-...

7/2/10:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/thr...

7/7/10:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/did...

7/8/10:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/smo...
7/8/10 Duplicate post:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/mon...

7/9/10:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/did...

All Results for this topic at ComplaintBoards:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/thre...

There could be complaints & reports at other boards or forums &/or also many people who have not written about it publicly.

~~~~~~~~~
(...)

END QUOTE/POST at Topix.

And one last re-posting of links for a 4th time at Topix, but this time I used words for the links vs actual click-thru links in case Topix has a problem with hyperlinks?
Merely documenting it here, "for the record":

http://m.topix.com/forum/city/irving-ny/T7IFV3NVS5CRQ2UPB

(...)
LINKS for 4th TIME | 1 min ago
These links were Originally posted as part of the opening post for this Topix thread on Fri. 7/9/10 night. Then someone (Topix?) mysteriously deleted the opening post & many comments (see above).

Any half-brained reporter knows you are supposed to always back up your statements with Facts & Proof. Hence, the links of first person testimonies are provided for that very reason.

DOES TOPIX PREFER INNUENDO vs FACTS & PROOF? I AM ASKING TOPIX TO LEAVE A POST IN THIS THREAD & TELL US WHY YOU KEEP DELETING THE LINKS?

Links are being re-posted for the 4th time 7/12/10 @2:24pm to all EVIDENCE of feds confiscating cig online echeck $$$:

June 2010:
Scroll Down Page 1 until you see the June 2010 comments:
www dot complaintsboard dot com
Complaint #142514
Continues on pages 2-3

6/23/10:
www dot complaintsboard dot com
Complaint #350214

7/2/10:
www dot complaintsboard dot com
Complaint #353060

7/7/10:
www dot complaintsboard dot com
Complaint #354322

7/8/10:
www dot complaintsboard dot com
Complaint #354700

7/8/10 Duplicate post:
www dot complaintsboard dot com
Complaint #354689

7/9/10:
www dot complaintsboard dot com
Complaint #354814

Or do a search at www dot ComplaintBoards dot com for ThreeFeathersTobacco &/or InternetSmokes

There could be complaints & reports at other boards or forums &/or also many people who have not written about it publicly.

~~~~~~~~~
(...)

END OF QUOTE/Post at Topix.

Question: Has anyone considered contacting their own state's Attorney General & asking him/her to find out from Houser (US atty) what's the deal stealing consumers echeck$$?

Of course I do not necessarily trust any of them, too bad/due to condition of the country & politicians as a whole, but if your state has a state atty general who still respects the Constitution, they might at least look into it.

Link - for the record - if anyone wants to contact CHECK CARE, the echeck company who "lost" all customers' $$ to the feds:

http://www.checkcare.com/company/email.php

I just finally listened to the famous "recording" re the confiscated echeck funds at the US Atty Office/Houser #[protected]. It said it was an investigation by the FDA (Food & Drug Admin.) into some company in KENTUCKY.

What does KENTUCKY have to do with ThreeFeathersTobacco in IRVING NY?

Is the FDA investigation rather re the CHECK CARE company? (which DOES have offices in KENTUCKY but NOT NY?):
http://www.checkcare.com/franchise/
(...)
Office Locator
To locate a CheckCare office near you, simply click on the state name below.

If you have an NSF check please contact the CheckCare office closest to you.

ALABAMA |
ARIZONA |
CALIFORNIA |
COLORADO
FLORIDA |
GEORGIA |
ILLINOIS |
INDIANA |
KANSAS |
KENTUCKY
LOUISIANA |
MARYLAND |
MICHIGAN |
MINNESOTA |
MISSOURI
NORTH CAROLINA |
OHIO |
OKLAHOMA |
PENNSYLVANIA
SOUTH CAROLINA |
TENNESSEE |
TEXAS |
VIRGINIA
(...)
~~~~~~~~~

i ordered cigarettes today through seneca smokeshop. they were the only one i could find that would sell to new customers. i sent a money order to make sure houser didn't get ahold of it. i asked them if they were affected by the echeck investigation and they told me that they had switched to another service other than checkcare two weks ago. this is THE smokeshop that initiated the lawsuit against the government, so they must have a lot of capital behind them or run thier business very well. they told me it would be two weeks if i went with an echeck or one week with a mailed in money order. i thought of calling the attorney general in my state, but i am concerned about being targeted for state taxes and our attorney general seems to only be concerned about his political future. i am waiting for a return phone call from my US senator. he has been helpful in the past so i am hopeful he can find out what is really going on.

Hi Tileman100, thanks for your updates. That is a very informative post in several respects. I'm glad you asked them re the echeck fiasco. I wonder why, though, that they just happened to switch companies right at the same time the others were being ripped off? (2 weeks ago). I wonder if they got wind somehow that something was going to go down, or if they felt CheckCare was a shady or lousy service?

Also glad to know they were first re lawsuit!

And I hear you re state AG's. Same thing crossed my mind.

Please let us know what your Senator says when you hear something. Thanks!

(I wrote CheckCare from their online contact form & asked if they were the Kentucky crooks, since ThreeFeathers was in NY & not KY. I also asked for their atty to contact me because there is scant details for the customers whose $$$ they "lost." not that it will do any good!)

OK people -- those with any $$ to spare -- sounds like a safe bet to flock to Seneca Smokeshop while there is still time.
And a wise idea to use money order! (Why take a chance? The FDA & Houser may decide to pounce on whatever other echeck company the cig sellers switch to.)

~~~~~~~~~

Brief confirmation that, yes, the KY company the FDA is investigating (per Houser recording) is CheckCare, per this latest from ThreeFeathersTobacco received 7/13/10:

Quote:
(...)
CheckCare, which is our Echeck processing company, is located in KY.  CheckCare is the company they are referring to in KY.
(...)
End Quote.

Another victim has chimed in (ID: TiredOfGov) over here:
Three Feathers Tobacco — Took my money and won't give it back

~~~~~~~~

Since smokers are the politically-INcorrect "dogs" of society these days, I can't find anyone who gives a flip about our plight.

~~~~~

On another note, I gave up trying to make the Topix Forum thread work, re this subject, as the comments & links I posted there kept disappearing:
ONLINE CIG ECHECK MONIES CONFISCATED BY FEDS:
Posted in the Irving NY TOPIX NEWS Forum:
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/irving-ny/T7IFV3NVS5CRQ2UPB

At least here at Complaint Boards all posts & links do show up!

~~~~~

I also wrote CheckCare the other day using their online contact form & here is their reply, FWIW:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jennifer Ulam
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:10:18 -0400
Subject: RE: Checkcare.com website contact form submission
To: (me)

Dear (me),

The Federal Government seized the bank account containing tobacco
transactions on June the 22, 2010. We no longer have access or control
of the bank account or the funds in the bank account. If you have any
questions please contact:

William S. Houser
Assistant US Attorney
Office of the United States Attorney
309 Federal Building
Scranton, PA 18503
[protected]

The US Attorney's office has control of this account and would be the
ones responsible for releasing or issuing refunds for the money they
seized.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience I know this has caused you
and every customer making purchases through merchants who were
processing transactions through CheckCare at the time the account was
seized.

Please contact Mr. Houser's office in regards to your refund.

Thank you.

Regards,

Jennifer Ulam
National Account Representative
Technical Support
[protected] ext. 229
[protected] FAX
jennifer.ulam@checkcare.com

Visit us at www.checkcare.com

-----Original Message-----
From: www@checkcare.com [mailto:www@checkcare.com]
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 6:53 PM
To: info
Subject: Checkcare.com website contact form submission

The checkcare.com website contact form has been submited to. The
following data was included:
(...)
snipped by me/my info

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

What we need to know is this:

There are Rumors of some "hearing" taking place in 60 days:

Where?

When?

Who (Plaintiff) vs. Who (Defendant)?

Case #?

What courtroom?

Which courthouse?

What is Judge's name?

If we had the Judge's name, we could bombard him/her with letters or faxes.

~~~~~~~~~

Hi Still_Hopeful, I was wondering how you found out it was Checkcare. I still have not heard from my senator or his people. Very unusual for him. I am going to try an e-mail to him next. As far as Topix goes, some people can't handle the truth.

Hi Tileman, I really dont know for sure ... I was just trying to make sense of these bits of info:

1. Houser recorded message says FDA was investigating a company IN KENTUCKY. (The recording did NOT say, "investigating company(ies) in NEW YORK.")

2. Indian smoke shops are in NY, not KY.

3. So I was curious, who is in KY?

4. I figured maybe CheckCare was in KY, so I checked their site & yes, they do have a KY operation (plus many other states, EXCLUDING NY.)

5. So I emailed ThreeFeathers & CheckCare & got those still-not-very-informative replies from them, posted earlier.

Bottom Line: Not much help, lol. I was simply curious why Houser msg says Kentucky vs New York. Evidently all our $$ to NY smoke shops went thru Kentucky CheckCare office & that's where FDA/Houser grabbed it from.

~~~~~~~~~

As for your senator, well, it was those crooks who passed PACT in the first place so they may not be sympathetic, depending if yours voted yea or nay for PACT.

Back when I first heard about PACT, I had emailed senator to say VOTE NO. He emailed a reply saying it was to protect the kids, yadda yadda BS. So I have not emailed them re these siezed (seized?) funds fiasco.

The congressman in my former town was pretty good. He voted no to a lot of these Nanny State type laws. But I dont live in his district now.

Find out at this link if your congressman was one of the mere 25 who voted NO to PACT:

Quote from:
http://www.prossmoker.net/2010/03/pact-act-approved-by-congress.html
(...)
The PACT Act was passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 17. (2010)
 
**Votes were: 
**387 Yea,  
**25 Nay,  
**and 18 Not Voting. 

**Here is the roll call for the votes: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2010-124

**ALL your senators voted Yes on this bill.
 
**387 of your Representatives voted Yes. 

Remember their names. When these people come up for re-election, EGG THEIR CAMPAIGN POSTERS!
(...)

Maybe we should contact Governors of our states as well as the Kentucky Governor in whose state our $$$ was hijacked.

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

PS: I take back what I said re my former town congressman! I see he voted YES to PACT!

HERE ARE THE ONLY 25 CONGRESSMEN WHO VOTED NO TO PACT... If you live near any of these guys, maybe they would help re hijacked cig funds...

GovTrack: House Vote On Passage: S. 1147: PACT Act:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2010-124&sort=vote

Vote District Representative
Nay OK-2 Boren, Dan [D]
Nay GA-10 Broun, Paul [R]
Nay CA-48 Campbell, John [R]
Nay TX-31 Carter, John [R]
Nay WA-6 Dicks, Norman [D]
Nay TN-2 Duncan, John [R]
Nay IN-8 Ellsworth, Brad [D]
Nay AZ-6 Flake, Jeff [R]
Nay NJ-5 Garrett, Scott [R]
Nay IL-11 Halvorson, Deborah [D]
Nay SD-0 Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie [D]
Nay GA-1 Kingston, Jack [R]
Nay WY-0 Lummis, Cynthia [R]
Nay CA-4 McClintock, Tom [R]
Nay CA-42 Miller, Gary [R]
Nay FL-1 Miller, Jeff [R]
Nay TX-14 Paul, Ronald [R]
Nay WI-6 Petri, Thomas [R]
Nay CA-46 Rohrabacher, Dana [R]
Nay FL-16 Rooney, Thomas [R]
Nay WI-5 Sensenbrenner, F. [R]
Nay AZ-3 Shadegg, John [R]
Nay GA-3 Westmoreland, Lynn [R]
Nay KY-1 Whitfield, Edward [R]
Nay AK-0 Young, Donald [R]

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

No wonder NY smoke shops got skewed... Not one single NY congressman nor NY senator voted NO to PACT.

~~~~~~~~~

As for the State of Kentucky where our $$ was hijacked from, the ONLY congressman who voted NO to PACT in KENTUCKY was:

Nay KY-1 Whitfield, Edward [R]
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400431
His website: http://whitfield.house.gov/

~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

Well never mind contacting Whitfield unless you live in his district...

Contact Form | Congressman Ed Whitfield, Representing the 1st District of Kentucky:
https://whitfieldforms.house.gov/contact-form.shtml
(...)
I am very interested in hearing your views on issues of importance to you. Due to the large volume of U.S. Mail, email and faxes I receive, I am only able to accept messages from residents of the 1st Congressional District of Kentucky. Congressional courtesy dictates that Representatives be given the opportunity to assist their own constituents. If you are a resident of another district, I encourage you to contact your Representative in Congress by clicking the following link to the Write Your Representative Service.
(...)

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY, STEVE BESHEAR:
http://governor.ky.gov/

Kentucky: Governor's Office of Constituent Services - Welcome:
http://www.constituentservices.ky.gov/
(...)
Message from the Governor

Welcome to the Governor’s Office for Constituent Services.

At time, and for various reasons, Kentuckians experience predicaments where State Government can be of assistance. If this applies to you, we are available.

Our Constituent Services team is composed of case workers quite familiar with specific areas of your State Government. These are fine individuals dedicated to your best interest.

Quite often a problem can be eliminated rather quickly. Please understand that other circumstances might require longer periods for resolution. And occasionally, the issue is beyond our authority.

Nevertheless, we want to do everything appropriate in generating the help you merit. 

You can contact my assistants through this Web site, or by calling [protected], ext. 332.

Sincerely,
Steven L. Beshear

(...)

~~~~~~~~~~

Kentucky: The Governor of the Commonwealth - Contact Gov. Beshear:
http://governor.ky.gov/contact/contact.htm
(...)
Contact Governor Steve Beshear
Mailing Address
700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 100
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Phone/Fax
Main Line: [protected]
Fax: [protected]
TDD: [protected] (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf)

Contact the Governor Online
Use the following form to send a message to Governor Steve Beshear. Please include your name, address, e-mail address, and phone number so that the Governor may respond to your comments or questions.

"*" denotes a required field.

* First Name
* Last Name
* Address
  Address Line 2
* City
* State
* Zip
Example: 40769
* Phone
Example: [protected]
* Email
* Subject
* Comments
(...)

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

The other person we all should write is Ron Paul, lol, former Pres candidate 2008, & current congressman in Texas, who voted No to PACT.

He is on TV all the time these days. If he would just mention this CheckCare cig fiasco in any interview (especially that Native American Indian sellers were probably the target), the media would be all over it.

As a physician, Ron Paul would not like smoking, I'm sure, but as a strict defender of the Constitution & individual rights, he would not denounce people for smoking.

Just reading the title of his bills -- almost all of which contain the word FREEDOM-- is a real hoot:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billsearch.xpd?sponsor=400311

Ron's congress website:
http://www.house.gov/paul/

Congressman Ron Paul - Contact Congressman Paul:
http://www.house.gov/paul/contact.shtml
(...)
Your privacy matters to us, so all fields are optional. However, all bold fields must be completed by constituents who wish to receive a response.
(...)
Generally, we are not able to respond to e-mail from outside the 14th Congressional District, but do still very much welcome your comments and suggestions. 
(...)

~~~~~~~~~

In other words, you can still write Ron Paul about this cig $$$ ripoff by Houser & FDA PRIOR TO PACT ACT going into effect. You can even write to him anonymously. Not being in his district means you may not get a personal reply, but at least he will be made aware of this situation. Ask hom to mention it on TV & bring media awareness to the situation. Just an idea!

~~~~~~~~~

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400311
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~

Bravo Still_Hopeful, you certainly have done your homework. I called my senator again today and after being put on hold for an extended period of time I was told that I would have to put it in writing. I guess they think I have ESP. I asked why I wasn't told this before or why no one bothered to call me to tell me that. No answer to that one. I sometimes forget that we smokers are sub-human and do not deserve to be treated as real people. The one thing that my senator probably doesn't know, is that we do vote! I certainly will not be voting for him again. I think it is rather strange that if a person is addicted to alcohol, they have a disease, and can get all kinds of assistance and never really stop the use of alcohol, but if someone is addicted to cigarettes, and can't quit, they just don't have any will power, and should be shunned by society, not helped.

Good thread going here re more victims a la InternetSmokes.com:
Internetsmokes.com — No product - no refund

~~~~~~~~~

FYI: I could not access ANY Complaints Board links/pages for 2 days (from my smartphone). I tried 5 different browsers numerous times, & got the same error msg: SERVER CANNOT BE FOUND.

That began early Thursday 7/15 thru Saturday afternoon 7/17/10 when the sites' pages finally worked again. I was beginning to wonder if Houser had shut down Complaints Board, lol. Glad it is all back to normal!

Sorry about the hassle with your senator, Tileman. If you didnt print a letter yet, you can zap one online from the official Senate site... http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

1/3 of the Senate is up for re-election in 2011, 2013, 2015. The goal of many is to vote out All Incumbents, no matter who...
KickThemAllOut.com

I actually contacted Randy Neugebaur which is my Rep here in Texas as well as contacted Ron Paul. This is just absurd the way the Gov can just waltz in and take what they want when they want...Where I come from that is called theft! God help America!

To: Still_Hopeful and all concerned

I called the "Big Buffalo Lady" today and you are right...she is a "Very" nice lady
and seems to be very caring and sincere. She and her husband (owners of threefeathers
tobacco.com.) have really been through hell over this William Houser with his seizing
of the customer's order funds from Checkcare services. She doesn't know any more than
we do about what is going on but she did say that it all will be over soon. She advised me
to file a complaint with my bank to reverse the transaction back to my account from Checkcare. Since the e-check is frozen...doubt if it can be done. Maybe William Houser,
is waiting until the PACT extension to the end of July is done. It is not clear what will
happen as far as the legal aspect of the passing of the PACT in the first place.

To all concerned: I feel that this nice lady I spoke with (her name is Crystal), surely is
no crook and she hasn't "stolen" our money. She and her husband (William) have done a
lot of hurting over this whole thing just like we all have while thinking we were scammed.
They are concerned about all of us who also have to play the waiting game and it should all
come to a head at the end of this month. After we all get our money refunded to us, these 2 shop owners will continue to hurt financially for a long time because of this Fed fiasco.

Here is the response I received via e-mail today 7/21/10 from Checkcare. We should ALL
call William Houser and demand "It's my money and I want it NOW!". Most of you think
there are only about 100 of us out here...not so...was informed by Big Buffalo, there
are 1000 of us worried people out here! If I hear or read anything further I will post it here.

Re: email received from Checkcare on 7/21/10

Please direct your attorney to Mr. Houser’s office and he can also explain to you why he had our processing account seized.

Thanks!

Jennifer Ulam

National Account Representative

Technical Support

[protected] ext. 229

[protected] FAX

jennifer.ulam@checkcare.com

Still_Hopeful,
I left you a personal message in your message box here on this site.
It was meant to convey my gratitude for all the support and work
you have contributed to this group (including me) of worried people
whose money is being tied up by the Fed's stupidity. You helped
many of us breath a bit easier through these past weeks. I, personally
don't know what I would have done without you! Thank you dear girl!

My boyfriend wanted to order this and I warned him about all these so called " free offers...just pay shipping " only to have them keep charging your card. I told him to use his PRE PAID VISA card, and ONLY put the total amount for shipping on it, nothing more. That way, they CAN'T take any more money out, and you have just beaten them at their own game ! Do this for pretty much anything you order, if you aren't sure and READ THE FINE PRINT ALWAYS !

CIG REFUND

Wed. 11/24/10 @ 5:47am EDT

UPDATE, PEOPLE!  I GOT EMAIL LAST NIGHT FROM ThreeFeathers, the first news from them in months... Here is the email...

(...)
From: "Threefeatherstobacco.com"
Date: November 23, 2010 10:50:54 PM EST
To: (Me)
Subject: Important Message Regarding CheckCare Refunds

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING REFUNDS FOR ORDERS PLACED IN JUNE 2010**
 
Dear Valued Customers,

This email is for those customers who have placed an order back in June, but have not received their refund due to the investigation by the Assistant US Attorney William Houser.

If you are not one of those customers you may disregard this email. 

As you know, the Assistant US Attorney William Houser has had your funds frozen in CheckCare’s bank account which has made us unable issue refunds to our customers who are owed their money.  

However, we do now have good news, we have just been informed that the US Attorney’s Office is now ready to release our customers funds.  

Although the funds will be released the money will not be released to us.  In order to get a refund for your order, you, the customer,  must submit a request to the US Attorney’s Office.

THIS IS A TIME SENSITIVE ISSUE, THIS PROCESS MUST BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 17, 2010 OR YOUR FUNDS WILL BE FORFIETED TO THE US ATTORNEY

Please follow the below instructions carefully;

You must first contact the US Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania; you may call, fax or write the office.

US Attorney’s Office,  
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Attention:  William S Houser
PO Box 11754
228 Walnut St. Suite 217
Harrisburg, PA [protected]
Phone:  [protected]
Fax:  [protected]

You will then receive two forms of verification.

Once you receive the two forms you will need to return them along with 3 other pieces of information;
- A copy of your order receipt
- The amount of the payment
- A copy of your bank account statement showing the withdrawal by CheckCare

Again this is a time sensitive issue, this process must be completed by December 17, 2010 or you will not be able to get a refund, please act quickly.

We do know that this whole situation has been a frustrating one for all of our customers that were involved.  

We are sorry that it took so long for Mr. Houser to be willing to release your funds.  

We do understand that at this point and time with the economy being the way it is, even the smallest amount of money is substantial and many of you placed large orders which we were unable to fill due to the investigation.

Additionally, the enactment of the PACT Act does not help our customers’ situation in any way as we are still unable to ship cigarettes through the USPS.  We know that for many of you this has been one way to save a lot of money on the native made cigarettes you love.

Although, we can no longer ship cigarettes through the USPS, we are able to ship cigars and pipe tobacco.

If you visit our site you will see a wide variety of cigars, they come 20 to a pack and 10 to a carton.  Even though these are not cigarettes many of our customers who used to order our cigarettes have switched to cigars as an alternative.

However, because of the investigation we are still unable to process Echecks so if you would like to try some cigars all orders must be mailed in along with a personal check or money order.

We hope that we will still be able to offer you low prices on a tobacco product you will come to love as you did the native cigarettes.

If you have any questions please feel free to email us.

Sincerely,
Craig Chiavetta
On Behalf of:
Big Buffalo SmokeShop
Big Buffalo Cigars
http://www.threefeatherstobacco.com
(...)

The 717 area code # in the above email is not the same 570 area code # for Houser previously provided by others in this thread.

I had never bothered to call Houser in prior months because I figured why bother if no good would become of it in the end?

But now that there is some real news that refunds are indeed possible, I first called the 717 # from the email but no voicemail unless you know the exact extension you need. So I called the 570 # from this thread with ext 244 for Houser & left voice message requesting the 2 forms described in the above ThreeFeathers email.

What a royal pain all around & a rush job with expiration date of 12/17/10.

Dear Venus1604! A BELATED THANK YOU for your kind words! Glad all the info helped! I'm a research nut anyway so couldn't help myself from trying to find out everything I could. But I DID BURN OUT! I had spent 2 weeks straight day & night on this mess back in June-July, & once I felt I had learned/shared all I could, I bailed from these forums as everything else in real life was backed up to the hilt. (It's no better now! Always deadlines & pressure. Never seems to let up. Such is life! Boooo! :)

12/9/10 UPDATE:

Dear fellow sufferers!

QUESTION #1: WHAT DO THE 2 FORMS FROM HOUSER (that we need to fill out) SAY, &/or WHAT INFO DO THOSE FORMS ASK FOR?

I ask because I want to be ready in advance (& see below why I don't have the forms yet!) :-/

---------------

QUESTION #2: DID ANYONE's BANK STMT actually show CHECK CARE as the entity who withdrew your money?

I ask because in the further-above 11/23/10 email from ThreeFeathersTobacco, Craig Chiavetta said we need to send to Houser our bank stmt that shows CHECK CARE. (But my June bank stmt shows BIG BUFFALO, not CHECK CARE).

I am wondering if this matters? (I dont want any grief from Houser due to not correct info! See next paragraph!)

------------------

BEWARE OF DITZ BRAINED GOVT EMPLOYEES!

On Monday 12/6/10 @12:45pm, Houser's secretary left a voice message on my ph saying their forms for me were returned to them as Undeliverable!  (That's because they put the WRONG HOUSE # in the address!  She said they wrote to xx, xxx Road -- WHICH I NEVER SAID, as the correct house # is xx, xxx Road!  Grrr.  I called them back at 1:01pm same day, was given to same lady's voicemail by a switchboard operator, & raised a little cain repeating the correct address TWO MORE TIMES.  Then pushed buttons for ext.226 where there was a male's voice voicemail re the whole cig fiasco, & I left another message at THAT ext.226 as well, repeating the correct address TWICE again!  Hang up.  Total time of call to both extensions/voicemails:  7:21 minutes.)

Since I had left my original voicemail request on HOUSER's direct phone number, ext.244, on Wed. 11/24/10@5:08am (morning I first rec'd the ThreeFeathers email from the night before dated 11/23/10@10 pm), where I also had repeated the xx, xxx house # & street address TWICE, there is no excuse that they screwed up the address!  (It would not surprise me if Houser himself did it wrong on purpose, since it was HIS direct ext.244 where I left my original request for the forms.)  Either way, they caused a DELAY of 13 WASTED DAYS through Mon. 12/6/10 when they left msg for me & I called them back only to get more voicemails where I did leave 2 more msgs repeating the correct xx, xxx address FOUR TIMES, making SIX TIMES TOTAL I have given the ditz-brained govt my CORRECT xx, xxx address.

Through Wed. 12/8/10 no forms from Houser arrived via USMail.  Maybe, hopefully, by Thurs. or Fri. 12/9-10/10, ESPECIALLY because the deadline is NEXT Fri. 12/17/10!