Espresso Italia & Palm Beach Specialty Coffee Rip-Off! Dishonest Dealings! Misrepresentations! Outright Lies! Boynton Beach, Florida

for those of you that might like to contact good 'ol Shadd, here's a link:

http://shaddvickery.com/Home_Page.html

I would like to share with everyone, my experience as a distributor with Palm Beach Specialty Coffee. Hopefully readers will learn a lesson from my sad experience doing business with them.
Here are the things I was told when I first considered doing business with them:

1. Craig Schmoll, one of the marketing managers of the company told me when I spoke to him that they have hundreds of distributors in the USA.

2. He told me that their company will place the Model Itala Coffee Machines for you in your area and that they will only place these machines in places where they are certain will sell on average 20 to 25 capsules a day. Schmoll tells me that this is the AVERAGE their distributors sell.

3. Schmoll tells me that their machines are sturdy, reliable and heavy duty and their distributors have not had problems with the machines for years.

4. Machines have a one year warranty. You can send the machine to them for repair if it does not work.

5. You will be in business for yourself but not by yourself, Palm Beach Specialty Coffee will always be there to help and guide you.

How have the promises panned out ?

Here's my experience.... I started out with $20,000 which gave me 5 machines, 20 cases of coffee capsules, and a trainer who came with me to place the machines in locations they believe will provide me with the volume of sales they promised.

Palm Beach Specialty Coffee called up 30 possible locations for visitation and placement.
My profit calculations based on the 20 to 25 capsules sales average they promised indicate that I would make my initial investment back in about 18 months.

Craig Schmoll advised me to charge a mark up of $50.00 per box ( 100 capsules ) which they tell me is reasonable for my area.
 
It took close to a month to place these 5 machines. They were placed in 4 eateries and one deli ( their estimate was it would only take 5 days ).

Most locations we visited complained about the steep price of each capsule (0.80/capsule), that is why it took us over a month to place all 5 machines.

RESULT AFTER 6 MONTHS OF OPERATION:

1. The BEST location I get could sell on average, 5 to 7 capsules a day ( I asked them to promote the coffee, they did try ).

The rest of them sell on average 1-3 capsules a day. The Deli where they placed one of the machines could not even finish one box after 6 months !!

2. The machines started to get into trouble after 6 months. The handles that held the mechanical jaws that held the capsules were easily broken. I sometimes get calls from my best customer a few weeks apart telling me the machine isn't brewing cappuccino.

When I called Craig Schmoll up for support, I only get an answering machine and it would take him over a week to respond after I leave my message.

He would apologize by telling me that he had a health condition ( I would expect a competent business to at least have someone take his place when he is away ).

To fix a non-working machine, I would have to ship it back to Florida AT MY EXPENSE to have it fixed !!

This means that I don't do any business while waiting for the round trip.

I was fortunate to find out that there was a local affiliate of COMOBAR in my area where I can drive an hour to have the machine fixed.

The technician told me that the parts were no good and the machine was not assembled in Italy but in China. I had to pay a stiff amount to have the parts replaced and fixed.

3. When I needed new capsules to distribute, Schmoll would tell me to call COMOBAR directly and NOT Palm Beach Specialty Coffee.

So, the original complaint was right.... WHY BOTHER DEALING WITH Palm Beach Specialty Coffee when your supplier is going to be COMOBAR?

I have been doing this distribution business for 2 years and am closing down my business for good because the machines in each location are having problems and fixing them is going to cost lots of money.

I planned to be a coffee distributor, I ended up not only distributing coffee but having to worry about fixing their UNRELIABLE machines and earning the ire of some of the locations
using the machines.

I expected the machines to work well for years. It took only a few months to realize that these machines were LEMONS.

I have not recovered even a quarter of my initial investment in this distribution business. This is a sad experience I am sharing with everyone who reads this.

In the meantime, the last time I asked for support ( Craig Schmoll was not responding, so I went directly to the president of Palm Beach Specialty, Joseph Kelly ), I received an e-mail informing me that Palm Beach Specialty Coffee was NO LONGER IN BUSINESS.

A call to COMOBAR at this number : 1-888-922-0876 confirmed this. Palm Beach Specialty Coffee CLOSED DOWN.

In retrospect, I should have been very suspicious at the dubious profitablity of their business model by taking to as many of their so called distributors around the country.

When I asked Craig Schmoll to provide me with the names of at least 10 satisfied distributors in the USA, he balked and told me he could not do that because most of them were busy people. I insisted and he finally gave me the name of only one. I spoke to that one distributor in the Georgia/Alabama area and she seemed satisfied. However, having hundreds of distributors and being able to only show ONE satisfied partner and balking at giving out the names of others should have been a signal that something was not right with the business model.

 I am slowly winding down my business and have 3 of the 5 UNWORKABLE machines in my garage.
I plan to junk them as soon as my other two locations wind down due to broken machines.

I HOPE READERS LEARN A LESSON FROM MY EXPERIENCE.

This memo is to correct Charles from South Florida regarding his implication that Palm Beach Specialty Coffee llc and Espresso Italia are one and the same. Palm Beach Specialty Coffee is owned by Joseph Kelly and his wife Anne. This can be verified by going to the state of Florida web site floridabiz.gov and typing in the company name. All the records from the date of incorporation in 2002 up to the present are available. This May we will be celebrating our sixth anniversary in business. We are members of the Better Business Bureau, Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce,Specialty Coffee Association and the National Bar and Restaurant association. Please review the company web site at palmbeachcoffee.com
By researching again floridabiz.gov for Espresso Italia Marketing, inc you will discover it was owned by Shadd Vickery and Patrick Albright. You will also verify they are no longer in business.
Hopefully this will clear up the misunderstanding's a few people have regarding the sucessful track record of Palm Beach Specialty Coffee.
Joseph Kelly
Co-Owner
561.881.0803

I'm also one of the many distributors that have been victimized by Espresso Italia's scam. They have committed lies, fraud. They seem to disappear off of the planet, and have only hired a secretary to answer the phone. I've called many many times, only to get "they're busy" "they're in a meetings". They are not doing anything for their distributors except running away from their promises. How can so many have fallen for their traps, but yet are not able to have our cases heard? If someone have an idea of starting a case, please let me know.

Do you have any prove that Palm Beach specialty coffee is operated by the same people that ran EI? I was a distributor of PBSC in 2004. I sold my business because I don't see the business going as well as I had hope. However, PBSC had delivered everything they said they would do for me. They secured so many appointments for free for me, and many of them were actually very good.



However, the business model was flaw from the beginning since non of the location will sell as many coffee for you to give you a good ROI and the cost of the machine/coffee are so high that you need to charge very high price for one coffee casule, as a result many locations complained about my price. I am so glad that I sold it at a good price.



I will not recommend this business to anyone, but PBSC is a good company except that they are selling a bad business. Don't make this baseless accusation unless you have solid evidence.

Many of you have come to know me... Directly after I received a call from Mr. Ashcroft this morning I began posting this report.



I was just contacted by Bob Ashcroft, an ex-senior manager of Expresso Express and EI. He advised me the following:



Shaad and Patrick were getting out of the business and he wanted to know if I would be interested in assisting him to take over the company. We could make a ton of money! They plan to call the new company 'Crazy Cafee' or something to that effect.



I asked if he was buying it and he said he was and was also looking for investors... He said he was taking the company over for them, Shaad and Patrick regardless. This makes no sense to me.



I told him I wanted nothing to do with Shaad or Patrick and that a tremendous number of people had gotten together. I also told them the Justice Dept. was involved or getting involved. He said he called the Justice Dept. and they aren't doing a thing.



This in my opinion is a tactic and a PROBE as they are truly scared and well they should be. I also put the call on speaker so that I could have a witnesses... (FYI - So you know Shaad!)



I find this quite comical as Bob, you dumb a*s, your a witness too! You directly told me how you could not beleive how they ripped people off and you spoke to the FTC in Miami when they let you go.



For EI ---> Keep digg'n that hole boys... You'll be in China before you know it!

Charles,



What does this posting mean? It does not make sense to me and it seems like the email addresses are being generated from some external source to this page. We are all very frusterated by the experience that we have had w/ Espresso Italia and feel your anger.



I am simply asking if you posted this and what does it mean, because your prior posts have been excellent and very coherent and to the point. Please respond on this so we know if another is posting in your name.

((REDACTED for INVESTIGATION))

Charles, There are a couple of reasons I do not want to be the one to post these guy's home addresses; #1 I'm local and own a business locally. I would be easy for these guys to reach and I don't have a dog in this fight. And #2 I know out of the 1000's of distributors and ex employees, there are at least one or two loonies who might show up at these guys homes to wreak havoc or worse. I don't want to be the one that pointed them in the right direction. The information is public information and is available at the Palm Beach County Government website which can be easily found in a Google search. The Appraiser site, known as PAPA is within the county website and is very easy to search. The Editor of Rip Off Report works very hard to help keep posters anonymous and I appreciate that, but there may come a time when he cannot and I don't wish to be the poster boy for someone's lawsuit.

Why not post the home addresses and phone numbers of Shadd Vickery and Patrick Albright?



Posting the info would allow distributors and

ex-employees to write and phone them directly.



They should not be able to leave their mis-deeds at the office!



We don't leave our debts and our financial losses caused by their misrepresentations, lies, incompetence and arrogance at the office.

Just as a matter of record, both of the officers listed in the above report are living the high and good life, one in a 3/4 million dollar waterfront home he built 2 years ago in Boynton Beach and the other in a home on Hypoluxo Island he paid over a half million for 2 or 3 years ago. It gives you and idea of where your money went and all of the employees who were not paid can at least drive by and see what their lost wages procured for the owners. There home addresses for these 2 gentlemen are available via the Palm Beach County government website by going throught it to the property appraisers public access site.

Just as a matter of record, both of the officers listed in the above report are living the high and good life, one in a 3/4 million dollar waterfront home he built 2 years ago in Boynton Beach and the other in a home on Hypoluxo Island he paid over a half million for 2 or 3 years ago. It gives you and idea of where your money went and all of the employees who were not paid can at least drive by and see what their lost wages procured for the owners. There home addresses for these 2 gentlemen are available via the Palm Beach County government website by going throught it to the property appraisers public access site.

Just as a matter of record, both of the officers listed in the above report are living the high and good life, one in a 3/4 million dollar waterfront home he built 2 years ago in Boynton Beach and the other in a home on Hypoluxo Island he paid over a half million for 2 or 3 years ago. It gives you and idea of where your money went and all of the employees who were not paid can at least drive by and see what their lost wages procured for the owners. There home addresses for these 2 gentlemen are available via the Palm Beach County government website by going throught it to the property appraisers public access site.

Just as a matter of record, both of the officers listed in the above report are living the high and good life, one in a 3/4 million dollar waterfront home he built 2 years ago in Boynton Beach and the other in a home on Hypoluxo Island he paid over a half million for 2 or 3 years ago. It gives you and idea of where your money went and all of the employees who were not paid can at least drive by and see what their lost wages procured for the owners. There home addresses for these 2 gentlemen are available via the Palm Beach County government website by going throught it to the property appraisers public access site.