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Review 9/17/2009
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This company is a scam operation. After more than 2 months of dealing with Kevin Edwards (Internet Sales Manager) and Kimberly Tyler (Location Placement Manager), I can safely say 1st Class Placement Service provided no service WHATSOEVER, reneged on ALL agreements and did not refund my money after numerous promises to do so. My hunch is that this is nothing more than a front for these two to take money and provide nothing of value. Though Kevin referred to "the owner" and mentioned an accountant and a call center, I don't even think there are any other employees!
I should have been more wary when their prices were half that of any other "professional vending machine locator". Another indication that they were not a legitimate business was that no one ever answered the phone. After leaving a voicemail, Kevin would return my call from a "private" number.
Finally, the largest issue, the one that sealed my decision, was their "leads". I hired them to find locations for 4 machines. A mere two days after our agreement was executed, I was told they had the leads. All I needed to do was go their website and click on the PayPal button. In my mind, a huge red flag was raised when I called Kevin and told him I preferred to pay with my credit card. He called back a few minutes later and told me that they "were having trouble processing it". The only other form of payment they would accept was PayPal. It is not a coincidence that PayPal, who DO have a system in place to handle disputes, do not arbitrate service agreements such as ours.
Even after I explicitly defined, several times, the area of town I was interested in servicing, 5 miles in any direction from my house (100 square miles), every lead was outside that area. These are the results from the 5 leads that were allegedly obtained specifically for me, in just 2 days.
1) The Arbour Apartments - contact person emphatically said that she had not spoken to anyone from 1st Class in at least 6 months, maybe longer. She said that if she HAD spoken with someone, she would have remembered as much.
2) Girls Day Out Spa - out of business, original contact number changed and the new number was disconnected. Is it just a coincidence that they changed their number and then went out of business only two days after Kim got the lead for me? Also, this business was 30 miles away!
3) North American Transmission - contact said he already had two machines in his business, had no need for more and didn't recall speaking with Kim or anyone else from the company. When I asked him specifically if he had spoken to anyone from 1st Class within the last two weeks, he said definitely not. This business was 14 miles away.
4) Pine Castle Auto body - contact said, for certain, that he had not talked to anyone from 1st Class in the last two weeks, much less in the last few MONTHS! They were 18 miles away.
5) Dona Auto Repair - contact said "no need for a machine, no traffic, no employees". When pressed for details, he said he was positive that he hadn't spoken with anyone about ANY vending machines in a long time! This business was 25 miles away in another city.
After expressing my suspicions and the evidence I uncovered, Kevin spent nearly 2 hours on the phone convincing me that they were legitimate. He said he had other people he knew and would put them on my account. What business outsources the very service that they claim to provide? He said he wanted another 30 days to work on my account. Stating that I would receive a refund if 1st Class could not fulfill their obligation, he has since stopped returning calls and emails. Also, their website has shutdown.
DO NOT TRUST THIS "BUSINESS". Caveat emptor.
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