Business Support by Mittie Mittie Stephens Lewis Business Support by Mittie, Fraud, Misrepresentation, Lied, Broke Contract Internet

Kenneth Response: 11 Oct 2011

Dear Ms. Stephens-Lewis;
Still, you claim not to remember me.  Did you read the receipt from Business Support by Mittie I posted on Ripoff.com?  Any threat of legal action by you is empty because truth is never slander or libel.  I would be happy to send all of our archived communications, including telephone calls to any attorney of your choosing, either on a CD by mail, or by email as a Zip file.  Just ask.

Refund my money.  What can be simpler? 
Yours Sincerely


Mittie Stephens Response: 11 Oct 2011

First of all, I DON'T remember you. I really don't care if you believe me or not, it's the truth. You're talking about something that allegedly happened over 3 years ago.  Secondly, do you know that it is illegal to record phone conversations without making the other party aware that they are being recorded? You never told me and I'm sure that's reflected on the call. All of my contracts back then said no refunds after 48 hours unless I don't complete the project. Did you ask me to finish or did you fire me? If you fired me then no, you won't be given a refund. I had an attorney draw up that contract so sorry....it's firm. 

If I on the other hand I pulled out at no fault of yours then yes, you are entitled to a refund. The contract also states that I can request an extension is needed and if granted, the completion date is null and void. I had my contract set-up in such a way that people can't ask for a refund after I have already worked. My time is my time and I need to be paid for it. So what happened? 

Kenneth Response - 14 Oct 2011

Dear Ms. Stephens-Lewis;
You can bluff attorney all day long, but I wish you would really see one because your ignorance is nothing short of astounding.  Your argument about -recording telephone calls is illegal- is invalid because of the WAY you were recorded.  When you leave a message on an answering machine, you know you are being recorded, thus there is no requirement to tell anyone in advance.  You need a legal precedence?  In Georgia, The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Edwards v. Niagara Credit Solutions, the court admitted the recordings left on Mr. Edwards answering machine by Niagara Credit Solutions.  Mr. Edwards won his case. 

So what happened, you ask.  It is not obvious?  You stole $400.  You breached your own contract.  After enduring weeks of your excuses, and nothing coming from your contractual obligation, yes, I fired you.  I gave you every opportunity to do the job you were contracted for, and you not only failed, you refused to complete the job, even after I asked if you needed an extension in accordance with your contract.

Do not think, even for a second, you got away with $400.  It cost you, and will continue to cost you.  When you go to sleep at night, you will wonder how much money you could have made from customers unknown who turned away from you after reading reports from places like the Better Business Bureau, complaint sites, tweets, facebook, emails, and such.  You will wonder how things Could have been if you had not acted in such an unprofessional manner.

This will be my last communication with you.  IF you decide to search your records and verify my allegations are true and correct, you may use the original address in our communications from 2008 and 2009, and I will decide then if you are worth my time, but as it stands at this moment, you are beneath contempt, unworthy of further attention, although I will enjoy watching you languish in the Court of Public Opinion.

In as much as this situation is concerned, our business is concluded.
Yours sincerely

Dear Mittie,

I am not even going to go where you wish to drive me.

Just SEND the 20 books to me requiring a signature and you'll have your proof. I will gladly send you a written statement after I receive them. 

PO Box 47327
Oak Park, MI 48237-5027

Thank you!

Oh, State of Michigan Small Claims Court Case #10202607

Karen

Against my better judgment, I emailed Mittie Stephens-Lewis and her response is below.  As I expected, more empty threats of legal action; empty because truth is neither slander or libel. 

Poster Karen and her books were mentioned in the response, but there is something I do not understand.  Why did Mittie Stephens-Lewis not return the books if they were not selling, and why is she continuing to hold on to them?

Mittie Stephens-Lewis response:

Those links cannot be removed. You should check with those companies before ranting because they cannot be deleted once posted. It's too late...How do you expect someone to pay you if you ruin their name and prevent them from making a living? Jobs can Google my name and see that not just prospective clients so you mean to tell me I don't have a right to feed my children? Because you feel like you were stolen from, (which you weren't btw) you can ruin someone's chances of surviving and then expect them to give you money 2 years later? I could care less about it being up and honestly I don't remember you. IF you were wronged you need to decide how you want your revenge; in the form of slandering my name or getting your money back because you can't have both. If I do find your information and feel I owe you, I have a counter suit for all the slander that can't be removed, so really it would be a waste of time. Even if I paid you I can sue you and get it right back because that slander is there forever and my children will be affected by it. I spoke to a lawyer before I replied so I am sure. 

Post this email too for all I care since you have nothing better to do with your time. And I have no clue who AnnoyedIn Michigan is. Somebody did call me about the blogs they saw but said they didn't post a response. 

I also have Karen's books in storage and I will take pics and send them to her. I haven't received a summons for court; only a email about appearing on Judge Judy which is only her attempt at selling that God-awful book that no one wants. I never returned the books because after she said a court date was set, I waited on my paperwork which was never received...and I have NOT moved. I will not return books and then should there really be a court-date, I can't prove I already gave them to her. I'm not that stupid. So if anything, she ruined her chances of getting the books back on her own. She'll get them back when we actually go to court. And I read what she wrote; I offered to meet her at a gas station and SHE refused because she thinks that she's some kind of queen. I never came to her to pick up the books...she showed up at my house unannounced and waited in my parking lot until my husband went outside and got them. She came to every event where I attempted to sell them, they never sold. How on earth would I sell them now? No one wanted them even when I had a RIGHT to sell them. Trust me, I'll gain nothing by keeping and trying to sell her books. Then she said she didn't meet me because of my behavior? what behavior? Another LIE and EXCUSES. This is sadly the only way she can get her books sold. 

Be careful who you partner up with. If I'm such a horrible person, why are you and Karen the only ones posting on DIFFERENT sites. You tried to mention the complaints on different sites but you failed to mention that they were all by you, Karen, and one of her allies. For every person posting something negative I have 5 people who can post something positive. That's business....McDonalds gets complaints too but it doesn't man they are all true. I will look through my emails and try to remember but if it's been two years, it's going to take a while. 

I would give you my personal email but I don't want it posted on the internet so I'll reply when I check this account which isn't often.

'Karen, there are several inaccuracies in your claims. Since you filed a case in small claims why are you here? Didn't the court respond in your favor since you said she missed not one, but three court dates? Why don't you try to recover the judgement you received?"

Dear Person,
The court did not rule in my favor because the process server could not locate Mittie and because she was a no show for the 4 times I attended. They marked the case as a "no progress" and closed it. She's goood! Practiced.

"Rip-Off report does not allow you to remove these comments so if anything all you have done is make yourself look bad. There is no complaint in the BBB database against her because I checked. This is a waste of your time and in the end anything that is done to you with ill intentions will be handled accordingly. You spending your days and nights on an internet campaign to ruin her reputation isn't going to help."

I did complain to the BBB and they sent me a link. I have no idea why you were unable to find it. I am not trying to ruin an already negative reputation. I am merely telling the truth.

"I also checked the PUBLIC  Facebook account that she said she left a message on and she clearly stated "I am not trying to keep anyone's books. If you email your name and number to me I will gladly meet up with anyone whose books I have in my possession" Didn't you say she attempted to meet you at a gas station? Why did she have to meet you at an event or book signing? If your books were so important to you, why didn't you just meet her there? You never mentioned why that meeting
never took place."

I did try to meet with her through a message on Facebook. She got the message and said we could meet that Saturday after asking me if I could come to Hazel Park. She never got back to me with an address after I wrote to remind her that I needed her to give it to me. (I have copies of the messages on Facebook you are referring to. I guess you just happened to be able to access them. You must be really close to her or are her.) When someone behaves that way and then suddenly asks you to meet them at a gas station...please! I got the 20 books to her and it was her responsibility to get them back to me.

"I scrolled down further and read " I am going out of business because I was robbed of my laptop, cell phone and flash drive when my home was broken into. I do not have anyone's phone number any longer, please contact me."

Which appeared months later. I contacted her as soon as I  saw the message. And that is not the story a reliable source told me. Again, I did contact her. I also asked her why she did not contact me personally after I was unable to get a response on Facebook. She has my email address and phone number. They are the same one inside the books..

"I have had the pleasure of speaking with Ms. Stephens after directing her to this site and she stated that she isn't worried about it simply because she knows the truth. Any books that she has are in a storage unit in Madison Heights waiting for the owners to call her and claim them, but no one has. She has not received a summons for court and when she called the court, they did not have a record of this case on file.
Could you be bluffing? She then ended the conversation after saying "Nobody wants those books whether I have a right to sell them or not. I don't want them in my house collecting dust so I put them in storage until people decide to act like adults and contact me directly instead of tying to ruin my name on the internet"

Since you are such a sleuth - you may look up the Small Claims complaint. It's public record now. That's how it was found by Judge Judy's producer. He approached me. Why did Mittie pass up an all expense paid trip to LA where she could clear her name on TV? That's the question you should be asking.

Please tell your buddy to send my books to me COD.


"Again, before you associate her with a company that you have never done business with please make sure they are connected the way you claim publicly."

Smile.

"Kenneth, I asked about you as well and she said that she doesn't remember you but if you would send her your information she would try to take care of your situation as well."

She "doesn't remember" Kenneth? Wow!


"The good thing about these "complaint boards" is that people being victimized can share their story and possibly prevent it from happening to someone else. The bad part is, they don't fact check and verify information before allowing people to post and innocent people often get hurt."

The fact is, I should have vetted Business Support by Mittie (you) and not been naive enough to give my merchandize to someone I barely knew based on the more experienced authors I did know whose titles I read she was selling. She has done all of this to herself. Many in the literary community knew about this before I filed a claim.
~Karen

Mittie Stephens-Lewis does not remember me?  She is in damage control mode trying to gain respectability for  herself.  I have posted a receipt as part of this rebuttal.  Direct Mittie Stephens-Lewis to look at the receipt and ask if she remembers me now.

A Google search for Mittie Stephens-Lewis will reveal her activities for all to see.  To mention a few, complaints are posted on places like Scam Chasers, Scam Informer, ComplaintsBoard, Preditors and Editors (their spelling, not mine), and Myspace. 

As far as her statement ' . . . until people decide to act like adults and contact me directly instead of trying to ruin my name on the internet' is concerned, I have been trying for almost three years.  I received nothing but abuse, including a legal threat to stop harassing her.

As far as AnnoyedInMichigan comment is concerned '. . . if you would send her your information she would try to take care of your situation as well'; the operative word here is try, which I firmly believe she will not do.  Against my better judgment, I will try contacting her again, now that she appears interested in resurrecting her reputation.  I will post again with the results.

Karen, there are several inaccuracies in your claims. Since you filed a case in small claims why are you here? Didn't the court respond in your favor since you said she missed not one, but three court dates? Why don't you try to recover the judgement you received? 

Rip-Off report does not allow you to remove these comments so if anything all you have done is make yourself look bad. There is no complaint in the BBB database against her because I checked. This is a waste of your time and in the end anything that is done to you with ill intentions will be handled accordingly. You spending your days and nights on an internet campaign to ruin her reputation isn't going to help. 

I also checked the PUBLIC  Facebook account that she said she left a message on and she clearly stated "I am not trying to keep anyone's books. If you email your name and number to me I will gladly meet up with anyone whose books I have in my possession" Didn't you say she attempted to meet you at a gas station? Why did she have to meet you at an event or book signing? If your books were so important to you, why didn't you just meet her there? You never mentioned why that meeting never took place. 

I scrolled down further and read " I am going out of business because I was robbed of my laptop, cell phone and flash drive when my home was broken into. I do not have anyone's phone number any longer, please contact me." 

I have had the pleasure of speaking with Ms. Stephens after directing her to this site and she stated that she isn't worried about it simply because she knows the truth. Any books that she has are in a storage unit in Madison Heights waiting for the owners to call her and claim them, but no one has. She has not received a summons for court and when she called the court, they did not have a record of this case on file. Could you be bluffing? She then ended the conversation after saying "Nobody wants those books whether I have a right to sell them or not. I don't want them in my house collecting dust so I put them in storage until people decide to act like adults and contact me directly instead of tying to ruin my name on the internet" 

Again, before you associate her with a company that you have never done business with please make sure they are connected the way you claim publicly. 

Kenneth, I asked about you as well and she said that she doesn't remember you but if you would send her your information she would try to take care of your situation as well. 

The good thing about these "complaint boards" is that people being victimized can share their story and possibly prevent it from happening to someone else. The bad part is, they don't fact check and verify information before allowing people to post and innocent people often get hurt. 

Thanks for coming forward, Kenneth. I wish all of the others all over the country would do the same thing.

It's ridiculous how MSL has been able to get away with duping folk. It is amazing how people who do things like that have the nerve to regroup and do them again and again! I guess they rely on the uprightness of their prey. A really dangerous way to live because if it's done to the right person who has no problem with doing wrong back, there'll be hell to pay!

Response to October 10, 2011 Rebuttal to *Consumer Suggestion: "Think before you slander" Business by Mittie/PR Xperts.

How can Facts be slanderous in any way?  The facts have been presented in my report.  I have archived all telephone calls, emails, and the contract for anyone who wants to read them.  I invite any attorney for Mittie Stephens-Lewis to step forward and challenge my Ripoff Report, and any other efforts I have made, including my reports to the Better Business Bureaus in Atlanta, Georgia and Columbus, Ohio, and the Internet Crime Complaint Center who works in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Someone wrote "Think before you slander" in response to my latest post regarding Mittie Stephens Lewis today. I have filed written complaints regarding my stolen merchandize and have sent written messages to some people who are aware of the situation to let them know what happened when I tried to work with her.

I also sent a message to a person who seemed to be about to do business with her. All of these things were written. If they were not true it would be libel, not slander. I have the papers, emails and witnesses to prove that I am the one wronged and am out of approximately $400 which includes loss of property, court fees and time spent trying to retrieve my merchandize.

As Hamlet said: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." The same goes for bull feces.

I would be more than willing to update my report with the happy news that my books were returned to me in good condition, or that I was paid for them. However, since it's going on 2 years since my books were entrusted to Ms. Mittie, I don't think either will happen.