World Wide Source, Ameri-Source WorldWide Source, Ameri-Source, Ameri-Globe ripoff business from hell Plattsburgh NY, Champlain NY, Miami FL New York, Florida, Canada

Dear Elizabeth,

If a company is located in Massachussetts you can send a "Thirty Day Letter" which gives the business thirty days in which to prove the legitimacy of their claim and makes it illegal for them to contact you other than for that specific purpose. I'm sure you are covered by similar protection by New York law, though I don't know the statute. The following is the letter we sent by registered mail to Mr. Haligua (president of a similar company that was pestering us) at the Massachussetts address since we did not have the "real" Montreal address. The phony "second notices" have stopped and we have not heard from this company by phone for almost four months. We also enclosed a copy of the Vermont settlement with World Wide Source "as a courtesy." Our letter follows:

++++++++++++++++++++++++

George Haligua, President 03/13/03
I.T. Data Direct, Inc.
400 W. Cummings Pk., Ste. 1575
Woburn, MA 01801

Dear Mr.Haligua:

I am writing to you under the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 93A, Section 9, the Consumer Protection Act. I am writing to request relief as outlined in that statute.
On or about February 19,2003, the following occurred:

A representative of your company called and asked if I wanted to renew a directory listing. Since we had no information on your company in our database, and had no record of any transactions, I was puzzled. Your representative claimed I had an account balance of $399.95 and that our company was signed up for two more years of this recurring charge. The representative graciously offered to cancel everything if we ordered some CD from you for $149.00 plus $15.00 shipping and handling.

We have had problems with a company called World Wide Source out of Montreal Canada who uses the same line (and the same amount: $399.95). The Attorney General of Vermont has barred them from using their Vermont P.O. box and they paid a substantial settlement. Missouri has a case pending with them.

I believe this type of coercive telemarketing and reduction of nonexistent charges is declared unlawful by Section 2 of Chapter 93A, which declares unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce unlawful. Our company is listed in legitimate directories with whom we have signed contracts and receive regular printed statements.

This letter serves as my request for the following relief: In the absence of a signed contract for your product or services, please consider account#NNNNN closed and cancel invoice #NNNNN-N. Any items you ship will be refused/returned with your shipper (you also failed to provide notice of the legally mandated right to cancel). You will place our company on your do not call list and shall not contact us again by phone, fax, courier, electronic mail or in person. You have thirty days to provide written evidence that there was indeed a signed contract and any other communication shall be considered harassment and shall be reported to the authorities for prosecution under applicable Virginia, Massachussetts and Federal Statutes and U.S. Postal regulations for mail fraud.

Sincerely,

Dear Elizabeth,

If a company is located in Massachussetts you can send a "Thirty Day Letter" which gives the business thirty days in which to prove the legitimacy of their claim and makes it illegal for them to contact you other than for that specific purpose. I'm sure you are covered by similar protection by New York law, though I don't know the statute. The following is the letter we sent by registered mail to Mr. Haligua (president of a similar company that was pestering us) at the Massachussetts address since we did not have the "real" Montreal address. The phony "second notices" have stopped and we have not heard from this company by phone for almost four months. We also enclosed a copy of the Vermont settlement with World Wide Source "as a courtesy." Our letter follows:

++++++++++++++++++++++++

George Haligua, President 03/13/03
I.T. Data Direct, Inc.
400 W. Cummings Pk., Ste. 1575
Woburn, MA 01801

Dear Mr.Haligua:

I am writing to you under the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 93A, Section 9, the Consumer Protection Act. I am writing to request relief as outlined in that statute.
On or about February 19,2003, the following occurred:

A representative of your company called and asked if I wanted to renew a directory listing. Since we had no information on your company in our database, and had no record of any transactions, I was puzzled. Your representative claimed I had an account balance of $399.95 and that our company was signed up for two more years of this recurring charge. The representative graciously offered to cancel everything if we ordered some CD from you for $149.00 plus $15.00 shipping and handling.

We have had problems with a company called World Wide Source out of Montreal Canada who uses the same line (and the same amount: $399.95). The Attorney General of Vermont has barred them from using their Vermont P.O. box and they paid a substantial settlement. Missouri has a case pending with them.

I believe this type of coercive telemarketing and reduction of nonexistent charges is declared unlawful by Section 2 of Chapter 93A, which declares unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce unlawful. Our company is listed in legitimate directories with whom we have signed contracts and receive regular printed statements.

This letter serves as my request for the following relief: In the absence of a signed contract for your product or services, please consider account#NNNNN closed and cancel invoice #NNNNN-N. Any items you ship will be refused/returned with your shipper (you also failed to provide notice of the legally mandated right to cancel). You will place our company on your do not call list and shall not contact us again by phone, fax, courier, electronic mail or in person. You have thirty days to provide written evidence that there was indeed a signed contract and any other communication shall be considered harassment and shall be reported to the authorities for prosecution under applicable Virginia, Massachussetts and Federal Statutes and U.S. Postal regulations for mail fraud.

Sincerely,

To Robert from Virginia,

Thanks so much for your suggestions to contact the NY Atty General for both World-Wide & Pavlos. Yes, I agree, this is more of a nuisance than a monetary threat, since they are fraudulent.

I have a very thick file on the correspondence that I have to these related companies, along with copies of the BBB complaints that I have filed - but the file only grows bigger with each year. I actually filed a complaint with the Attorney General in New York just yesterday, and am hoping this will get them off my back for awhile.

Just to let you know, I also have one of those letters signed from "Management", where they denied all of my allegations and promised to remove me from their call list. When I spoke to one of the so-called "managers" yesterday, he told me our account has a note to remove us from their call list, but that we owe the "second year" installment for a directory that we purchased - which is complete bullcrap. Unfreakinbelievable.

In any case, thanks for the help.....and please keep me posted if they continue to call your company.

Dear Elizabeth,

They ARE pests, arent they.

Have you reported them to the New York Attorney General?
That seems to have kept them from bugging us (for a while, anyway). Here is who to contact:

Michelle Breault
State of New York
Office of the Attorney General
Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection
70 Clinton St.
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
Phone: 518-562-3282
Fax: 518-562-3294

And file a complaint against:

Pavlos Angelatos
W.W.S. Source Mondiale de Publications, Inc.
2015 Drummond Avenue, Suite #800
Montreal, Quebec H36 1W7 Canada
Phone: 866-442-5922

(that is their corporate address. They actually call you from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and the Plattsburgh, NY address is just a mail drop).

We filed a complaint against World Wide Source in March (they really ticked me off by invading an otherwise lovely day at the office with their usual garbage on the phone, then sending out a bogus invoice to add injury to insult). I included a copy of the Vermont Attorney Generals press release about their settlement with World Wide Source, which is posted here on the Rip Off Report.

They stopped sending the bogus invoices, and sent a ridiculous letter to Ms. Breault saying that they would remove me from any future solicitations but asserting that I was wrong about everything I said about the company. They even said they had billed me in April of the first year they bothered me when I received my first bill from them in June! I had the dated invoice so go figure! The letter included numerous misspellings (they even bungled my name once) and was signed Management.

Come to think of it, if that letter was the best I could do then Id be ashamed to put my name on it too.

Elizabeth, these people operate in clear violation of the law. You do not have to pay them, but it takes playing a little hardball to get rid of them. Reporting them to the Attorney General and the Postal Authorities for mail fraud should be enough to get rid of them for a while at least. Let them know you are reporting them. Include a copy of the Vermont settlement in every correspondence to them. Send it to the Montreal address. I wish you every success in getting rid of the parasites!