Elite Designs - Expresscents - Designerscents - Country Kitchen Candles Scamming, deceiving, misleading, totally fraudulent and lying company in their advertising and promises to their distributors RIPOFF North Providence Rhode Island

I have also been a victim of this unethical company. My story is also on this web site along with several others.

I too want a complete refund and will not go away until I get some satisfaction. I have all the merchandise that was sent to me and since I was told there was no selling involved I have no way to get rid of this merchandise. I was upfront with the company when I said I couldn't do the selling and wanted to use a locator, which they were happy to recommend.

With 500 successful distributors, it doesn't make any sense to put off the "few" that want refunds. What reputable company would do this? I'm no genius but it is pretty obvious that Designer Scents works closely with the locators they recommend. That's how they get out of their money back guarantee.

I have worked too hard for my money & I too want my hard earned money back!

Dave, in Bethlehem has expressed my thoughts very well. Everything he says, ditto for me. Thanks, neighbor.

I have tried to go to the web site www.r-complaints to see what others are saying but have not had any luck. If someone would put the complete web address in here, I would appreciate it.

You will not stop hearing from me by whatever means it takes to communicate and hopefully at the same time inform others of this horrible experience. I too tried your customer service route for help in dealing with the locator. I was simply told to call Jimmy Sanders myself. Well, I am here to inform you I wasn't allowed to speak with Mr.Sanders personally. I wonder why your website for ExpresScents never got the page up for distributors to communicate with one another..bad idea I imagine. Also another pathetic statement in my literature I received was that a customer service rep would be in touch with new ideas and things of that nature. I am sure nothing could be further from the truth. 99% of the time when I called your company I was wasn't able to speak with Mitch. There was always a lady that took the call, couldn't handle my questions and never got back to me. There was no way possible for me to apply for a refund because of the JS Company and lack of accounts. I personally sent out 60 attractive mailers to businesses because I was desparate and had no further help from the JS Company. I did not receive one response. I have tried securing locations on my own but to absolutely no avail. I want a refund and will not stop communicating this to you.

Mr. Antonelli,

I am still waiting for your "business like" response from your company in regards to how we (distributors) are suppose to succeed when your company provided locators have done squat for us and provided me zero accounts? You've known about all the problems and lack of profitable accounts we are having with the jokers you recommended. Why has there been no follow up from your company providing distributors with new, reliable locators in our areas? Your company is suppose to be there to help us with any problems we are running into but I don't see it. Your helping us by having your customer service manager change his email address and not notify us of this change so we cannot contact him.
How does this lack of support from your company helping us? helping your company grow? I have also been unable to obtain any info from the RIAG office that leads me to believe you have been handling all these distributor complaints in a business like manner. Just save me and yourself more aggravation by refunding me my money immediately. You can rest assure you will not stop hearing from me until you have reached some type of financial resolution with me!

Mr. Antonelli,

I am still waiting for your "business like" response from your company in regards to how we (distributors) are suppose to succeed when your company provided locators have done squat for us and provided me zero accounts? You've known about all the problems and lack of profitable accounts we are having with the jokers you recommended. Why has there been no follow up from your company providing distributors with new, reliable locators in our areas? Your company is suppose to be there to help us with any problems we are running into but I don't see it. Your helping us by having your customer service manager change his email address and not notify us of this change so we cannot contact him.
How does this lack of support from your company helping us? helping your company grow? I have also been unable to obtain any info from the RIAG office that leads me to believe you have been handling all these distributor complaints in a business like manner. Just save me and yourself more aggravation by refunding me my money immediately. You can rest assure you will not stop hearing from me until you have reached some type of financial resolution with me!

Mr. Antonelli,

I am still waiting for your "business like" response from your company in regards to how we (distributors) are suppose to succeed when your company provided locators have done squat for us and provided me zero accounts? You've known about all the problems and lack of profitable accounts we are having with the jokers you recommended. Why has there been no follow up from your company providing distributors with new, reliable locators in our areas? Your company is suppose to be there to help us with any problems we are running into but I don't see it. Your helping us by having your customer service manager change his email address and not notify us of this change so we cannot contact him.
How does this lack of support from your company helping us? helping your company grow? I have also been unable to obtain any info from the RIAG office that leads me to believe you have been handling all these distributor complaints in a business like manner. Just save me and yourself more aggravation by refunding me my money immediately. You can rest assure you will not stop hearing from me until you have reached some type of financial resolution with me!

I am really happy for all the distributors that are doing fantastic. I have serious doubts there are as many as you state after corresponding with so many distributors from the complaint website. I have over 1,000 candles some of which are severely defective. I have as many useless charms and necklaces of which many are also defective. I have written you several times and have never received any type of response from you. In an attempt to make the candles more attractive I tried purchasing additional wrapping and ribbon and have rewrapped dozens of candles. They stain each other and there is no way those useless wires keep the charms and necklaces in place. It is extremely labor intensive. I have lowered the prices considerably but to no avail. Jimmy Sanders the owner of the JS Company that is recommended in my literature from you has made off with an additional $3,000 of my money and I have nothing to show for it. I also tried writing him in an attempt to resolve some issues (like not having any locations) and was treated with unbelievable rudeness. I have no locations, -0- zip, none. I can't afford to ship my candles back to you and seeing them stacked up every day in my garage is more than I can take. The stress of this whole ordeal has taken a toll on my health. Your information in the literature is more than just misleading. The profits are grossly overstated and there are hidden costs involved as well. There were no decent locations waiting to have a displayed installed. That in itself is a lie. You can't imagine the dumps and dives I went to in good faith to try and set up a display. I have also filed a complaint with the RIAG and keep in contact with them. You and your company have really caused me tremendous emotional and financial hardship. I have been dealing with all of this by myself since the end of February. Why don't you do the decent thing and refund our money to us.

Seriously, Mr. Antonelli, what are you talking about? Why are you so reluctant to take care of these problems if so many are doing well?

Your excuse for poorly wording the web site and the sales booklet you send out with the sample candle is not acceptable. We are just supposed to accept your explanation and let it go? You state you are a honest business and professional, so with the money and number of people you deal with how can you "unintentionaly" place such things on a web site? How can you depict sales, consignment percentages, freight, candle quality, burn times, locator names, etc.-all things that are grossly misleading and conviently leave out all the important stuff-like true freight costs?


I called one of the locators you listed same day I sent you money-June 2. I received my candles on June 18-I did not even get a call from the locator assigned to me until the first part of July, then she did not start working on my locations until July 7th. I had one location on July 12. One and six days left to get 19 more! As of the end of August I had three locations and one pulled out within a week.

The real kicker is that 106 10" pie boxes were damaged by the freight company. I called, faxed and called again about the damaged boxes the same day I received the candles-June 18. It took several phone calls and 7 weeks to get the boxes in! Good thing I did not have 20 locations, isn't it? I could not have set them up anyway. When I talked to M.C. he said he would have to work on getting them to me. They didn't just have them laying around. Never said anything about the problems it would cause with the "guarantee."

I thought between my work and the locator I would have all my locations up and running quickly. I ordered again on June 29th, didn't receive the candles until July 23. You didn't ship until July 16th-so much for the three day shipping statement. I could not have received them in time to set up to qualify for the "guarantee."

I think the defective candles problems are much more prevelant than admitted. Seems strange all of us that have had to hold on to the candles for months are having the same problems. I called and faxed about the problems only to be told to ship them back and you would replace them. Your lack of response and information tells me you knew about these problems, but if the candles move fast enough, the consumer gets stuck with them-not the distribtors.

The candle defects are sever, not minimal. The oil is separating from the wax-or so it seems, since the inside of the boxes are oily and the stuff dripping from the small ones is oily. First it was only the peach ones, then I pulled cherry, blueberry and pumpkin. The apple candles are not dripping or showing the same white ring on the crust where the filling ends-BUT-there are white spots developing, just like the peach started out doing.

The weight of the candles varies significantly with the peach and apple. I weighed several-and still have them if needed-6" apple candles. The weight ranges from 5.3 ounces to 9 ounces. When I asked about that, I was told that's just the way they are because they are hand made! Well, the description in the book tells us how precise and how wonderful the ingredients are-how can they vary by 40%? The same with the peach.


IF you have so many happy distributors, why can we not get names of those we can actually visit? The FTC says any time an income amount is stated, ten references are to be listed that one can actually visit and talk to. The three you gave me are the same three the others talked to. I have called each of them several times again and have NEVER received a call back. M.C. says he can't give out names without written permission, so with all the great distributors you have, why will none give you permission?

The "manual" and verbal instruction was to stay away from large chain businesses and to set up locations indicated in the manual. When I spoke to Cracker Barrel here, they were not interested unless I could handle 500 stores and they wanted to purchase direct from the manufacturer-so how is this working for the other distributor? Or, are you in direct competition with your distributors?

Your excuse for poorly wording the web site and the sales booklet you send out with the sample candle is not acceptable. We are just supposed to accept your explanation and let it go? You state you are professional, a business that ahs been around along time, so with the money and number of people you deal with how can you "unintentionaly" state grossly misleading information on sales, consignment percentages, freight, territory, candle quality, burn times, locator names, etc.-and conviently leave out all the important true information that would allow people to make a good business decision?

I have around 875 candles I can do nothing with. I cannot ship them back because the freight cost using the same company you did will be around $1000. And I have been told they will be refused-as happened with another distributor. I have no reason to believe the next batch will hold up any better either. I cannot, in good conscious, sell them directly-I cannot pass such a product on to unsuspecting people buying for gifts.

As far as the Attorney General's office, I received an email stating you were to handle each complaint on its' merits. You wrote me a short letter stating your attorney looked over the contract and it would stand as would the "guarantee." No offers, answers or questions concerning the problems. Just hiding behind the contract and a guarantee. Apparently my case merits were zero.

A good, ethical, professional business would stand behind their sales and statements. We have not made up these complaints-don't you think we all would have rather had the business be successful? We did not buy into this to have it fail. Many of us used savings, retirement money or borrowed against a house, or put this on a credit card. You act like you are the only one that counts-the only one being "victimised"!!

I want my money back, Mr. Antonelli, for the entire initial investment plus the second order I was stupid enough to request-less my small sales amount. I want the freight costs back as well. I would think this is a reasonable demand given the situation.

Mr Antonelli,

What you have failed to realize is many of us are not "sales people" and have other full time jobs and depended SOLELY on your recommended locator companies to place our product. When they failed that pretty much meant our attempt to be successful at this distributorship was doomed.

Many of us do not have the sales skills and or time to got out and get our own accounts. Our whole decision to buy into this was we would use your provided locator to place the product in profitable accounts and we would just have to replenish their inventory every two weeks.

In addition to your recommended locators failing in did not help to have your customer service manager (Mitch Centraccio), who was suppose to be there to help us, telling us to stop complaining and go and sell the candles ourselves. SInce you realized the locators you recommended have failed why haven't we received updated information from your company regarding successful locators in our area (if there are any) that can help us out?

If in fact, you have 500 successful distributors working for you, it should be no problem to refund the so called "few" disgruntled distributors our money and re-sell our territories. Afterall, wouldn't that benefit your company to have distributors in our territories selling your product so your company can grow and be more profitable?

My name is Anthony Antonelli and I am the President of Country Kitchen Candles, Inc. I an writing to respond to complaints that have been posted on the internet about our company.

It is true that some complaints have been made about our company to the Attorney General of Rhode Island and the Better Business Bureau. We are dealing with the Attorney General's office to resolve all complaints made by our distributors. While we have received more than 20 complaints from distributors, we have more than 500 satisfied distributors who are successfully marketing our products nationwide.

Some of our distributors have even secured locations in national chains, including Cracker Barrel restaurants and Walgreens drug stores, and their businesses are growing. Many of our distributors have reordered several times and on the whole, the pie candles are selling very well.

Last year we had some problems with unreliable independent locator services that we had recommended. We no longer recommend those locator services. We provide a training manual that helps distributors find their own locations, and we recommend independent locator services who we have found through experience to be reliable. Most of the distributor complaints involved the independent locator services.

We also had some complaints concerning the issue of "protected territory". Our policy is to assign no more than one distributor per 100,000 population in a geographic area. That policy has always been stated in the information provided to prospective distributors. While the term "protected territory" may have been a poor choice of words, our intention has always been to make sure that our distributors are protected by not overselling any territory. That is still our policy.

Concerning defective candles, when a company ships literally thousands of cases of any product, there are likely to be some defective products. The company's policy is to replace any defective products at no cost to the distributor, and we sell only the best quality candles made in the USA.

Country Kitchen Candles, Inc., is not a "scam" or "fraud" as some disgruntled distributors have claimed. We are a legitimate company with a successful business that will be here for many years to come. If you have any doubts, I invite you to contact Myriam Chicon at the Department of the Attorney General of Rhode Island, [DELETED]. She will verify that this company is a legitimate business that addresses complaints in a responsible and businesslike way.

Sincerely,

Anthony Antonelli, President
County Kitchen Candles, Inc.
[DELETED]

My experience with Mr. Antonelli & ExpresScents has be devasating for me, financially and emotionally. Shari and Dave are without a doubt completely accurate in their statements regarding the business tactics of your company. I have been dealing with the exact same circumstances. To make matters even more unbearable I used a locator company recommended in the ExpresScents distributor brochure. Anger has not been misdirected Mr. Antonelli as you suggested in your rebuttal to Shari. You must be in denial. We as victims know exactly why we are angry. All you needed to do was to pay a visit to the complaint website everyone has been telling you about and spend an hour or so perusing the comments about your company and its many little divisions. There is so much more I could write but others have already communicated what it has been like being a distributor in a "protected" territory for your company.

Everything Shari,Dave and Rick wrote is correct. I also am having territory issues. I was told I would have the whole county, and THEN I discovered someone else selling in my territory. I called the company and spoke with Mitch. It wasn't until then that I was told about 1 distributor for every 10,000 people. Why are we not told that upfront?

I too lost money to a locator who was promoted by the company. The company did nothing, I was told to go out and sell them myself, because it is so easy. It is very had to sell a product you do no believe in. My small pies while hanging on the racks all melt and drip down onto the boxes of the large pies, especiall the peach pies.Yes they are in air conditioned stores. They also burn very poorly, leaving alot of wasted wax.

There are many problems with this company. They just want to get your money then they don't care about the distributors.

Everything Shari and Dave wrote is correct. If you want to see more comments go to
WWW.r-complaints.com.(If you have about 3 hours to read.) I have been waiting over 3 weeks for Antonelli to call me back like he promised. I was told I was not getting a refund of any kind. So Antonelli, since this is probably the only way I can communicate with you, why don't you return my call and explain why you offer some a refund and not others. Also you said the locators are not yours, then why do you advertise them in your brochure? As for the territory issue. Why did I have to fill out a sheet with the territories that I wanted and was told that I was the only distributor allowed to sell in my area? What you put out in your information packet and what really happens are two different things. Antonelli and his employees are very rude and unprofessional. I told his employee "Mitch" that my locator took my money and ran. I was told I had two options, Sell the candles myself or sit there and cry about it. BEWARE!!!!!!!!

I would just like to take this time to back up and support the comments made by Shari from New York regarding your company. (too many names to list...the company name seems to change daily) I am also a distributor of your candle products and one of the many you have enticed to join based on printed material received from your company. I have copies of papers, that came directly from the Expresscents manual you sent me, referring to "larger protected territory" and "Defined and Protected territory" So please stop denying you didn't offer protected territories when it is plastered all over YOUR paperwork. I will gladly fax you a copy but I'm sure you already posses these documents.

Secondly, you make mention of several settlement offers you have made to Shari to compensate her for any problems she has experienced. How much were those settlement ofers worth? I'm can probably make a safe assumption they were no where worth equalling the amount of her orignal investment made in your company....correct? If you were in her shoes would you have accepted it? Why don't you make make settlement offers to ALL your disgruntled distributors? There seems to be an awful lot of us out there. Make good with us and you can have our permission to go ahead and re-sell our territories to make your money back. I'm sure everyone would agree to that.

In closing, if anyone is considering purchasing a distributorship from one of Mr. Antonelli's several companies I would be glad to send you a copy of my paperwork, that I mentioned above, so you can decide for yourself who to believe in this matter. Trust me...Shari is just one of MANY distributors who are unhappy with this company.

Mr. Antonelli's rebuttal is so inaccurate that again, I feel it is necessary to respond to his comments. As far as resolving my complaint, yes I did refuse a small and insufficient settlement as it was nothing compared to the amount that I had paid for this distributorship. Next, if he had offered to pay for a locator service when the locator that they referred us to had disappeared, I would have been thrilled. However, it was only 2-3 months later and after involving the BBB and the Attorney General's Office, that I received this small offer.

At this point I had already discovered many of the other dissatisfied distributors and all of the lies regarding the cost of shipment of the product, other distributors that were also verbally promised that they would be the only distributors in their counties, that the candles really weren't supposed to be burned but were merely for decorative purposes (the brochure says the large candles burn 75-80 hours). How is one supposed to sell a candle that isn't supposed to be burned??? Several other distributors have told me that they were told this as well, that of course would be after the fact of purchasing the distributorship.

Next, I don't know where he gets this information that I call the Attorney General's Office on a daily basis. That is completely inaccurate! There are many weeks where we have no communication whatsoever. Perhaps he is confused by the fact that there are several other distributors also checking in with the RIAG's office. Occasionaly, if I haven't received an update as to what is happening regarding this investigation, I do check back about every 2-3 weeks with their office. I think it is necessary to point out that there are about 25 other distributors that I know of, that have also filed complaints with the Attorney General's Office.

And again yes, the locators may be independent from the candle company, however, their advertising boldly, blatantly and deceptively states that THEY (the candle company), provide high volume retail locations for their distributors. I have all the information in print to back up this claim! Yes the locator does have a separate agreement and gets paid separately, but you do advertise that you provide these high volume retail locations for the distributors. And you repeatedly refer us to these locator services knowing that other distributors before us have had serious problems with them in the past!

Furthermore, I have never, ever vowed to take this company down. Again, Mr. Antonelli is obviously confusing me with somebody else. (I would like to see anything that says that with my name on it!), nor have I ever threatened to put you out of business. That is a blatant lie. I know there are others who may have said that as I've heard many such comnments over the last several months from other distributors.

And lastly, I must address this false assumption issue regarding protected and exclusive territory, as it is completely absurd! I can refer Mr. Antonelli and the Attorney General's Office to many distributors who were verbly assured and promised that they would be the only distributor in their county. Yes, their brochure says that they can sell to 1 in 100,000 population, however, we were all promised differently in verbal terms which obviously we've learned the hard way, means nothing when there is a written agreement involved. However, that does not change the fact that we were promised one thing and later told it was not the way it worked.

My name is Anthony Antonelli. I am the President of Country Kitchen Candles,Inc.,and affiliated companies. I am writing in response to the complaint posted by Shari Tenzer-Urtz on September 23, 2004.

Anyone reading her complaint should be aware that my company has made every effort to resolve her complaint. I personally met with representatives of the Better Business Bureau in Rhode Island and tried to resolve this matter in a teleconference with Shari Tenzer-Urtz. I also met with an Assistant Attorney General of Rhode Island concerning this complaint. Shari Tenzer-Urtz declined settlement offers that were approved by both the BBB and the Attorney General's office and vowed to "take this company down." She has become so emotionally involved in this matter that she calls the Attorney General's office nearly every day. Her misdirected anger is not warranted by anything my company has done.

Certain statements in her complaint are false, misleading and defamatory. The company never promised to find retail locations for her; we provided names of independent locator services. She employed an independent locator service to find locations to sell candles and she was dissatisfied with the locator service. Even though our company is not responsible for the locator service, I offered in this case to pay her the amount she paid to the locator to settle this, and she refused, again vowing to "put us out of business." Further settlement offers were also declined by her.

We have never guaranteed a "protected territory." Our promise, which is expressed clearly to every distributor, is to sell no more than one distributorship per 100,000 population in a given metropolitan or geographic area. Shari Tenzer-Urtz may have made false assumptions, but we have never made any false or fraudulent statements concerning "protected territory."

I don't know why Shari Tenzer-Urtz has misdirected her anger at my company. This individual has a very cynical attitude and will never be satisfied. I made every reasonable effort to settle her complaint. If you have any further questions about this matter, please feel free to contact me or the Office of the Attorney General of Rhode Island and ask for Myriam Chicon.

Sincerely,

Anthony Antonelli
President
Country Kitchen Candles
17 Thelma Ave
North Providence, RI 02904
401-270-5535