Consumer Fraud Legal Questions

"I'm also a single mom trying to start my own company with not a lot of extra money to just throw away"....candidly - then you have no business in business. Running any type of of business is not a hobby nor a causal enterprise and if can't afford the risks due to your child - then you can't take the risks only expecting the positive results.  If your drop shipper is Chinese or offshore you are likely stuck and hoping they comply. In the future - part of running any business is the ability to plan for and account for losses or bad things that happen. Its a zero sum game where every dollar made by one is a dollar taken from another. ... Read More

There are two issues -- returning the car and returning the car fixed.  To get it back go there and demand it.  Bring proof you own it, and call the police if not given it.  To deal with not fixing the car and taking the money, you need to contact the insurance company, and ultimately sue.... Read More

You've been scammed by a scam artist!  Congratulations, you're a real New Yorker now. Here's what you do. After you win your chargeback complaint with your credit card company, ask them nicely to remove the charge. They will do it- like all of my credit card companies have removed a late charge here and there for me, many times, for no good reason, except that I asked nicely. You, however, will approach them with a good reason. They will do it. As far as going to court.... don't do it. While the credit card company will be happy to oblige a good customer and refund your $25 once you explain the situation, you will irritate the court to no end if you file a complaint for $25. There are certain types of cases where the courts routinely entertain small disputed sums, such as medical providers who sue insurance companies for shorting them on no-fault claims, but that's done as volume work. Do not take up the scant resources of the taxpayer-funded judicial system (and your time, which can certainly be put to other good uses) with your $25 claim. What you CAN do is the following. Write a nice letter to your local competitors and any restaurants that deliver, and maybe even the local services that let you order takeout from various places, and give them a heads-up about this scam-artist and her modus operandi. Tell them exactly what happened, and her name. You will have done a good deed for your local businesses, and they will be grateful to you. And send the scam-artist copies of your letters- make sure she knows exactly which restaurants got a heads-up about her. Then ask yourself, how long do you think it will take for anyone to deliver takeout food to her again, ever?  [Note: if you do the above, the scam artist will certainly call a lawyer screaming slander, but it is NOT slander, assuming everything you say in the letters is true, and you can prove it.]... Read More

The things you described are maintenance issues and not "bad loan" issues. If you have issues with what you signed or the terms being imposed, at this point, you will have to hire a lawyer at an hourly rate/retainer and plan on paying for several hours of legal work sorting out your issues at 300-400 dollars per hour. ... Read More

This is none of your business. She is the EX wife for a reason. Its impossible to tell what is REALLY going on in her relationship with someone else. If in you inject yourself into that situation you may as well hire a lawyer right now on retainer as thats the type of issue that blows up and gets out of control. ... Read More

You can report this to authorities, and see if there are other victims of a "romance confidence man". With the amounts at issue and the circumstaces, "gettin played by a playah" while you are cheating on husband  is not the same thing as getting defrauded, however so dont get your hopes up of ciminal prosecution. Its obvious there is much more to this tryst than exposed here and I would suggest that for $800.00 its simply not worth the expense and effort of a civil suit. ... Read More