Piedmont Investigations & Tom Caune Breaking licensing laws; ripping off and extorting "subcontractors" who really should be employees; endangering clients' legal cases, and more Charlotte North Carolina

In reading the below article I noticed it mentioned the name of my company as being involved in this issue. The incorrect name of the company that was involved was not used. I own Piedmont Investigations and I am not involved in this dispute. If the author of the article would correct the name of the company to the full correct name it would be appreciated.

Jim Kendrick
Piedmont Investigations
P. O. Box box 4251
Eden, NC 27289-4251
O-3336-627-8908
F-336-627-5756
www.piedmontinvestigations. com

I made the original post, and made an error in the name. It seems that there are two similarly named firms. One is PIEDMONT INVESTIGATIONS. That is run by Jim Kendrick, a very competent, ethical, nice guy, so far as I have seen.

PIEDMONT PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS, run by Tom Caune, is the firm that is falsely advertising that they are nationwide, endangering cases, not paying their subcontractors, and so forth.

In fact I learned that Caune called Kendrick back when Caune was getting started, and told him that it was too bad that Kendrick had taken that name, as he, Caune, wanted to use it. Kendrick had already been in business under that name for several years, and has a good reputation with it. After learning that Kendrick planned to keep the name, Caune went ahead and used it anyway, hence my, and apparently others' confusion.

Fortunately for Jim Kendrick, he is involved primarily in criminal defense, while Tom Caune does a lot of domestic surveillances and the like, so they don't share a clientele as a rule.

Being unaware of the conflicting names, I used Mr. Kendrick's company name in my post about Tom Caune's company. I apologize to Mr. Kendrick.

I am the owner of Piedmont Private Investigations.

The author of this report, “Vicki” is Vicki of Siedow and Associates Investigations in California.

The claims that Vicki has posted are fraudulent, misleading, false, unsubstantiated and down right lies!

My firm has hired 1000's of subcontractors over the last 10 years. We have refused in writing to pay 4 of those subcontractors. I would request that any subcontractor that has not been paid for their work to contact me DIRECTLY! I will look into it personally!

I would like to address the claims by Vicki and also her follow up.

Allegation # 1

Vicki claims that I am advertising in states that I am not licensed in violation of state law.

Response:

I advertise on Google. I regionalize my advertisement in NC and SC, however I have no control over Google showing my ads when someone googles private investigator in a state other than NC or SC. I challenge you.. Google Private Investigator, you will get agencies from all over the country pop up that are not licensed in all states.

I have NEVER advertised in print in any state that I am not licensed to do so.

Allegation #2

Vicki claims that I have a contract riffled with loopholes so that we don't have to pay subcontractors.

Response:

This almost doesn't deserve a response. I remind you that my subcontractor's are FULLY licensed private investigators who gather evidence and information mostly for court proceedings. Is Ms. Siedow saying that these investigators can't read a contract written in plain English? No one has EVER done any work for us without a signed contract! Therefore EACH investigator got a copy and signed it. Surely they would be able to determine if it is “RIFFLED” with loopholes. If they can't I wouldn't want them working on my case!

Allegation # 3

Vicki claims we “FORCE” subcontractors to act like employees.

Response

This one also doesn't deserve a response, but here it is. I am not sure how we would “FORCE” a subcontractor to act like an employee. Do we ask subcontractors who have contact with our clients to act like representatives of our company? YES we do. They are working for us on our case. This is not unusual! The cable companies do it, the phone companies do it, construction companies do it, and everyone does it. When they come to your house to install your cable and they are subcontractor, do they say I am XYZ Company subcontracting for ABC Cable Company? NO! Use some common sense please!

Allegation #4

Vicki says we “ROPE” in subcontractors with this has to be done right away, etc. etc. etc.

Response

Everything we do is last minute.. We are Private Investigators. The client wants it last minute. The contracts spell out the payment terms, rules, etc. Why do we need to go over them again with the subcontractor? We assume that our subcontractors are intelligent investigators and can read. We don't try to trick them! They do the work, turn in their reports, video, invoice, etc. and we pay them. They do something to violate our contract we don't pay them! Remember there have only been 4 Private Investigators in 10 YEARS that we have refused to pay. 4 out of 1000's. That is less than 1%.

Allegation #5

Vicki alleges that we offer “HUSH” money. And that we threaten to sue even when there are documented facts!

Response

Of course we threaten to sue you if you publish false statements.

We will also show that Vicki's report is fraudulent and false. We will also show that Vicki has relied on second hand information and downright lied in this report. Not just because we said so, but with “FACTUAL” evidence.

Here are some rebuttals to Vicki's Allegations

Rebuttal # 1

Private Investigators all over the US subcontract work in states where they are not licensed to conduct investigations. INCLUDING Vicki Siedow.

Check out her website here: www.siedow.lawandorder.com

This is a direct quote from her home page:

“Siedow & Associates Investigations is a licensed California private investigative service provider operating in the greater Los Angeles area, but with an extensive network of contacts and resources around the globe. All our services are tailored to meet your specific needs and are backed by the expertise of an international support network of legal and investigative professionals.”

Vicki says this in her About Us Section when talking about expanding:

"At the same time we expanded our resources throughout the country and the world."

She also says this in her About US Section:

"Whatever you need, wherever you need it, we'll get it done with your best interests in mind."

Vicki then says again later in her report that we are falsely advertising that we are a nationwide firm.

Vicki's OWN website she says we can do “WHATEVER YOU NEED, WHEREEVER YOU NEED IT”! Is Ms. Siedow licensed in every state in the country??? Per her website she is only licensed in the state of California. Does she travel all over the world and conduct investigations in states and countries that she is NOT licensed to so??? NO! She subcontracts it out to investigators that are licensed in the state where the work is to be done. I GUESS she is endangering her clients and breaking the law too!

I have taken screen shots of Vicki's website in case she tries to take it down.

Rebuttal # 2

Vicki claims to be the “Swiss Army Knife” of legal support and emphasizes her research ability.

Vicki has so much evidence and documentation of all these alleged wrong doings of my company, but she can't even get the name of the company right. She names an entirely different company, Piedmont Investigations.

Vicki makes another verifiable LIE!

She states that she has learned that I called Jim Kendrick the owner of Piedmont Investigations when I was getting started and told him that I wanted to use the name Piedmont Investigations and that he had been in business several years with a good reputation. She then states that I just went ahead and used it anyway, hence her confusion.

I just think Vicki is CONFUSED PERIOD! That conversation NEVER took place. Jim Kendrick can verify that the conversation NEVER took place! In fact, I was licensed in January 1999 and Mr.Kendrick was licensed in June 2000. I had been in business for 18 months before Mr. Kendrick was ever even licensed in the state of NC. Apparently Vicki's “Swiss Army Knife” is not very SHARP! It is public information with the state licensing board.

It also is clearly shown on my website in the about us section that my firm was founded in 1999. Mr. Kendrick's website shows on his home page that his firm was formed in June 2000. AGAIN this can be verified by the NC State Licensing board. So where did Vicki get this information??? She made it up!

Why would I call Mr. Kendrick 18 months before he started his business to ask about my company name??? I don't even know Mr. Kendrick.

IN OTHER WORDS VICKI SIEDOW IS A PROVEN LIAR!

Rebuttal #3

Vicki has claimed that I am a part of the International Private Investigators Union (IPIU) and suggest for you to google IPIU and Fraud.

The truth is that I have NEVER been a member of that of organization. I know nothing about that organization. I am NOT an owner in that organization and I am in no way affiliated with that organization.

I have googled IPIU and Fraud, my name and the IPIU, IPIU, and several other variations and can find no results that show I am member of in anyway affiliated with this organization. The only thing that comes up that associates me with the IPIU is Vicki's ripoff report where SHE states I am affiliated with the organization.

Once AGAIN.. Vicki has lied. It's amazing to me that someone that is a “Swiss Army Knife” doesn't even know how to use google!

Conclusion:

It is clear that Vicki has an Axe to grind. She will say ANYTHING and is making this up! The facts are clear. I have given you the consumer, vendor and subcontractor the way to verify my responses.

Vicki has NEVER been employed by my firm. She has NEVER been owed any money by firm. You have to ask yourself, WHY is she involved in this???

She claims that she is acting as a collection agency for her friends??? Is her firm licensed to do debt collections in the state of NC? We all know the answer to that! We will be using her post to report her to her state licensing board and also to the NC Department of Insurance for attempting to collect without a license through threats and intimidation.

The truth is that Vicki is in violation of the Law! By her own admission she is attempting to collect a debt when she is NOT licensed to do so!

If I am endangering clients, Vicki is doing the same thing along with 1000's of other Private Investigators who subcontract work everyday in the US. Vicki knows this. It's not a secret in our industry. She belonged to many investigative groups where subcontract jobs are posted daily all over the US!

The fact is that Vicki was removed from most of those groups because of her harassment of members that she dislikes.

Vicki, by her own false statements on this ripoff report and countless mistakes has shown that she has little to NO Investigative ability.

I wonder… If she will LIE here to get what she wants.. Would she lie in court too??

I would recommend that you NOT use Vicki to perform investigations for you!

SHE SIMPLY CAN NOT BE TRUSTED!

Tom Caune, President
Piedmont Private Investigations, Inc.

The North Carolina Association of Private Investigators (NCAPI) recently conducted an inquiry into the allegations against Tom Caune and Piedmont Investigations. After reviewing all the evidence, the Board denied Caune membership, based solely on his conduct. Caune declined to appeal the decision.

It is telling that an association of professional investigators reached this conclusion. NCAPI is an honorable association whose members are bound by a code of ethics, available on their site. http://www.ncapi.org/jm/

Unbelievable that no one has stopped this man and his company, but I understand that's going to change.  This new ripoff report (link below) shows a continued pattern of identical behavior.  In fact I've compiled a list of MANY people who have either not been paid, were underpaid, paid very late and only after considerable effort and in some cases threats.  they have all gone through just what this new poster describes.  Only 4 people weren't paid, Tom?  Well, we know you must be math-challenged, judging by the way you handle your money.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/private-investigators/piedmont-private-inv/piedmont-private-investigation-4137a.htm