Salisbury Sales, Inc Won't Refund Customer and Writes Bad Checks Natick Massachusetts

My negative experience with Salisbury Sales is in regard to them not fulfilling the order because they could not meet the deadline and the fact that I would never receive the refund that they promised me. I am in California. Salisbury Sales is in Massachusetts.
 
I have kept excellent records of all of my emails and phone calls. I had met all deadlines for payment, artwork, artwork approval, etc and none of my actions would have impeded on their abilities to meet deadlines. CEO David M. never disputed the fact that he owes me a refund. He has said multiple times that he would send a refund. He only sent bad checks. 
 
In November 2017, I was contacted by Salisbury Sales Inc via a general marketing email from a customer service rep. I responded by asking if they would be able to produce custom wristbands for my upcoming event. I had found the ones I liked from another vendor and asked if they could make the same ones, and I gave them the due date of Jan 26th, 2018. They said they could meet the deadline and I paid $1000 because they required the money upfront. They informed me that the product would be made overseas. These wristbands would be used for credentials for every ticket holder at my event so it was very important that I had them in time.
 
After payment was made and art was approved, I asked again if they are sure they could meet the deadline and the customer service rep (D.H.) assured me that it would not be a problem. Closer to the due date, I started getting emails from her asking questions such as where the venue was for my event, what hotel I was staying in, etc because they were cutting it so close they may have to have the wristbands sent to the venue instead of my business. I gave her the info, and again, she assured me that it will be no problem. After getting more worried, I asked if I should make a backup plan in case these don’t come through. She didn’t respond. 
 
On January 22nd, I received the dreaded email saying they would not be able to make the due date because of it being close to Chinese New Year, overseas manufacturing problems, shipping times, etc. Even though I was devastated, I let them know that I understood that stuff like this happens but I would need a refund. I had little time to find another vendor to make custom wristbands in time. Luckily, I did but they were not the style I originally wanted and I paid a rush fee. 
 
I requested a refund from Salisbury Sales on Jan 23rd, 2018. And again on Jan 24, Jan 27, Feb 12, and Mar 5. I finally got an email from CEO David M. who seemed apologetic for not meeting the deadline and said he would send a refund check but his "system was down" at the moment. On April 3rd, I asked for an update and he said that the check had already been sent. But I did not receive it so he said he would overnight another check. On April 11, I asked for an update. He said he was out of town but would get an update to me soon. I’d also point out that I did attempt to dispute the charge with my bank but it was past the deadline to do so. If I was to get my money back, it would have to be from the company directly or through the court system.
 
I had also made several phone calls to David during this time. His tone of voice sounds brash, but he said all the right things: “We want to make this right” “You’ve waited long enough” “I don’t keep the money I didn’t earn” "You've been through enough and so have I". He made it very difficult for me to get any words into the conversation because of his aggressive tone. But every time I finished a phone call with him, I truly felt that I would be getting a refund. At one point, he even said if the check doesn’t arrive, he would deliver it to my door himself. In California. 
 
In early May, I actually received a check and a few days later, I’d seen that it bounced because he put a stop payment on the check. I called him and he denied putting a stop payment on the check. He said he would open an investigation with his bank. My bank’s manager said there is no doubt that there was a stop payment on the check. A few days later, CEO David M. said he had sent another check with a tracking number. I never received a tracking number. He later said it went via USPS first class mail (which meant: no tracking number). 
 
A couple weeks later, I called to find out the status of the refund and he said he didn’t understand why I never received it and that if I did not receive a check by the following week, he would fire his Accounts Payable employee. I let him know that was not necessary, of course. A week later, I let him know that I still had not received a check but this time, I copied my original sales rep on the email, which he did not seem to like. I did not see a problem with it since my emails were regarding the order she worked on but he asked me to "leave her out of this" and reminded me that he will "make this right". 
 
He said another check went out. It did not arrive so I offered to have a friend of mine who lives near his business to go pick one up for me. He let me know that I should not threaten him again and that “he doesn’t need people showing up” at his business. My email did not include (and never has) any threats. I simply said a friend could swing by and retrieve it for me. 
 
Between May and July, this pattern of communication continues. His system was down many times, he was “on the road” or his AP employee was out of the office. For 4th of July, he said their office was closed the entire week. By late July, I still had not been refunded, so I ask that he send a money order or cashiers check, overnight, with tracking because I was leaving on a business trip and needed the check as soon as possible. Or, for him to pay online using Western Union, and I gave him a link. He refused to pay online and said he sent another business check, using FedEx ground. It arrived while I was on my trip but I had my neighbor grab it for me. 
 
When I got the package, I was half-expecting it to be empty. Instead, I found a business check that was poorly written. It was missing the date on the check, my business name was incomplete, and he didn’t write the actual dollar amount (he wrote the amount in words, but not numbers). I showed the check to my bank manager who said that since he wrote the words out for the dollar amount, it should be ok. On his advice, I deposited the check and hoped for the best (assuming David M. wasn't expecting the check to even be accepted). The check bounced because the account had insufficient funds.
 
By now, I am very frustrated. On Aug 3rd, I let CEO David M. know that the check did not clear and that I would re-deposit it on Aug 9th - all he needs to do it make sure enough money is in the account. I also sent him an invoice via PayPal that he could easily pay online. I let him know that if I did not get my refund by August 9th, I would have to look into other options and that I would be sharing my experience publicly. Not only did he not pay the invoice online, he did not respond to any of my emails. So, I re-deposited the check and it bounced. But this time it bounced because he CLOSED HIS BANK ACCOUNT. I am out a total of $1036, including the bank fees.
 
Even though this entire process was incredibly frustrating, I never showed any aggression or threats in any of my communication with CEO David M. I was never informed of any wrongdoing on my part that would cause the order to not be completed in time. They assured me during the entire process that there would be no problems with meeting the deadline, until the last minute -  4 days before the deadline they said they could not fulfill the order at all.
 
Bottom line, they acknowledge that they owe me a refund. CEO David M. has shown that he does not stand by his word and essentially steals money from his customers. He purposefully writes bad checks. Salisbury Sales is a crooked business. And I will not hesitate to let everyone know.