Complaints

One November 3, 2005 I purchased a family pack of Nanomasks and filters from John Hart of Oregon Digital (john.writer@gmail.com) through his website at http://buynanomask.com. The website accepted payment by Palpay so I submitted a $125 payment with the understanding that the masks would ship in 6 to 8 weeks.

Transaction ID:
32R57226EU316674G

Sales Tax:
$0.00 USD

Total:
$125.00 USD

Item/Product Name:
Family Pack (QTY 1)

Item/Product Number:
9886544

Invoice ID:
9886544

Buyer:
Rick O'Kelley

Business Information

Business:
Oregon Digital

Contact E-Mail:
john.writer@gmail.com

December 21st I send Mr. Hart an email asking about this order because it had been almost 8 weeks and I hadn't received any information or the order. Mr Hart sent the following email:

The manufacturer of NanoMasks and NanoFilters, Emergency Filtration, continues to ship us less than our weekly purchase orders. For example, we order 8,000 NanoMasks and receive 640 per week. This makes it very difficult for us to catch up on backorders. However, all October orders have been shipped as of 12/19/05, and we're now moving into November orders, and if the manufacturer increases the present production volume, we should be able to ship all November orders just after Christmas. You can keep up-to-date on shipping news by visiting our website at http://www.buynanomask.com. If you choose not to wait, you may also request a refund by typing "REFUND" in the subject header and the details of your transaction in the body of the email.

Thanks for your patience,
John Hart
Oregon Digital

I decided to give Mr. Hart some additional time to fill my order and had actually forgotten about it until February 4, 2006 when I sent a second email asking about why my order had not been sent. I received the following email:

Your order has not shipped. Please go to http://www.buynanomask.com, under Navigate, you will see PayPal and Your Money. Click on this and you will be able to read the explanation.

This situation is most frustrating for you the customer, and for us, too. Just recently, there have been negotiations with PayPal that hopefully will lead to a resolution and a release of the funds in Oregon Digital's account. If this occurs soon, we will be free to REFUND or SHIP the orders, depending on the customer's choice. Please know that John is doing everything in his power to resolve this matter.

If you want a refund now: Send an email to PayPal at appeal@paypal.com to initiate the refund process.

Thank you for your continued patience,

Ruth
Customer Service
Oregon Digital

When I went to the website as instructed by the email I discovered that Mr. Hart claims he was innocently in trouble with Paypal and wasn't making shipments to those who paid by Paypal because Paypal had frozen his account and he could not gain access to the payments. http://www.buynanomask.com/paypal.php . Being a criminal investigator, this doesn't make sense to me. I submitted my payment to Oregon Digital in November 3, 2005 and any time after that Mr. Hart had access to that money. His website also states that he had been having Paypal issues since September so why was he still accepting Paypal payments through his website on November 3, 2005 when I placed my order? He made no mention in his December email to me about this issue so on February 6th I sent another email asking why I wasn't told in December about this issue. I got the following reply:

We wanted to try to resolve the issues with PayPal quickly and so not disrupt the ability to fulfill orders. Another huge problem has been that for over 3 months now, the manufacturer has never been able to send us enough inventory to fulfill these orders, even though they continually promised to do so. This action actually caused the problems to occur with PayPal. So now we cannot ship orders placed with PayPal because we do not have the funds to do so. And we are unable to refund PayPal customers quickly because we do not have control of those funds. It is an unfortunate place to be for all of us.

We apologize for the frustration this has caused. Please go to www.buynanomask.com, under Navigate, you will see PayPal and Your Money. Click on this and you will be able to read the explanation.

We are now receiving inventory on a regular basis and are able to fulfill new orders and will fulfill old orders (per customer request) when our funds are released from PayPal. Negotiations seem now to be headed for this resolution. Check the website for any updates.

Thank you,

John Hart
Oregon Digital

Here is what Paypal had to say on February 6th about my November 3rd transactions:

Dear Rick O'Kelley,

Hello my name is Bryan, I will be happy to assist you with your question regarding the missing payment.

Our records show that Oregon Digital received your payment on November 3, 2005. If they are not able to find it please adv them to contact us and we will be happy to show them where the payment is.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again.

Sincerely,

Bryan

PayPal Resolution Services

PayPal, an eBay Company

I place this information to make others aware of this man's business practices. I followed the rules and paid Mr. Hart for the masks using the method he provided. I waited the six to eight weeks and more and not one single time did Oregon Digital or John Hart contact me and make me aware of any delays or problems. It is now February 25, 2006 and Hart nor Oregon Digital have provided me with a refund or my order and I suspect they never will. If Mr. Hart has a beef with Paypal that is between him and the agent that he used to collect his money. I don't have the money, it is not in my account, it is in his account as I am sure he will find out when the IRS takes a look at this.

I have filed a complaint with the Oregon Attorney General Hardy Meyers and I would encourage others who have had a like experience to do the same. Government reacts to the volume of complains they receive. You can file your complain on line at:

Please setup a buyer's claim for Rick O'Kelley, for $125. He claims to have made a purchase on or about November 3, 2005.

Note to Mr. Kelley: You must also take action to file a buyer's claim with PayPal. We can't help you unless you take some steps on your own. We simply don't have access to your funds. Our entire account has been frozen by PayPal. That's why you never received a package. You filed a claim with the Oregon DOJ, but they can't help you, nor can I, unless you file a claim with PayPal.

--
Thank you,
John Hart, owner

Update - March 21, 2006 - Email I received from another person who saw this complaint page and didn't receive his order (name has been withheld):

Rick's comment - John Hart broke the cardinal rule of business. He failed to keep his customers informed, and I suspect that is what led to the original complaint that Hart claims someone made to Paypal which resulted in the freezing of his Paypal account. Based upon Hart's latest email to me yesterday it seems clear that Hart isn't working with Paypal to get his account unfrozen and complete the shipment of those orders, rather he is working to get Paypal to refund money so he doesn't have to fulfill orders at the $125 price. Also notice that in Hart's reply to my December 21st email he said "However, all October orders have been shipped as of 12/19/05" yet this person who has emailed me today says in his email that he placed his Paypal order in October so did Hart lie in his December email to me when he said all October orders had been shipped? If he didn't lie then why didn't this person who place their order in October received it? Why would they be "going through the same pain"? I originally thought that John Writer aka John Hart was just a poor business man but it now appears that may not be the case.

Now you will find some sympathy for Hart and Oregon Digital which I find misguided because the burden to run a business in a professional manner, keep his customers informed, and work quickly to resolve issues is upon the business owner and not the bank or business who job is to move money from the customer to the business. To blame Paypal is in my opinion wrong especially in light of the written emails vs. what was posted on Oregon Digital's website indicates deception. If Oregon Digital was having problems with Paypal in September, why was it still accepting Paypal payments in November? And why the email claiming that all of October's shipments had been made when there are others who claim they placed their orders in Octobers but hadn't receive those orders?

Update - March 31, 2006 - I received by US Mail a refund check from John F Hart DBA Oregon Digital Video in the amount of $125.00. I find it odd that he didn't send the product that I ordered and he was obligated to do since he is still in the business and claims he is doing same day shipping on that product. I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that he is now selling the family pack I ordered on his website http://buynanomask.com for $169.00 and claiming he can ship the same day. In most states going from $125 to $169 in such a short time and refusing to fill legal orders placed before the price increase at the lower price is a crime called price gouging.

Update - April 3, 2006 - I took my refund check to the bank and it was refused. The amount was not written out on the check so the check was not a proper negotiable instrument. At the recommendation of the bank, I marked the check VOID and returned it by US Mail to Oregon Digital Video and requested a new correctly formed check to be issued. I am beginning to see how Oregon Digital could have gotten into trouble with Paypal. Failing to pay attention to business can get one in trouble.

If you have had a similar experience with John F Hart DBA Oregon Digital and are interested in joining a civil class action lawsuit please contact me at nanomaskscam@okelley.org. If you have had a like experience with Oregon Digital but are not interested in a civil class action I encourage you to file a consumer complaint with the Oregon Attorney General at http://www.doj.state.or.us/finfraud/engexplanation.shtml.

If you are looking for nanomasks at a reasonable price, I purchased mine at http://www.worldpoint-ecc.com. A 5 mask with 90 nanofilters was $109.95 plus shipping. I ordered my masks on on March 31 and received them on April 4th.

Transaction ID:		32R57226EU316674G
Sales Tax:		$0.00 USD
Total:		$125.00 USD
Item/Product Name:		Family Pack (QTY 1)
Item/Product Number:		9886544
Invoice ID:		9886544
Buyer:		Rick O'Kelley