:: Captain's Personal Blog ::

Stardate: Thursday, May 01, 2003

Unobtainium Ltd. is a SHAM

Here is a mini-timeline of my recent dealings with UNOBTAINIUM LTD.

On MARCH 3, 2003, I e-mailed Rick Cigel, owner of Unobtainium Ltd, and faxed him a copy of a letter requesting a refund on my order. As that it had been about a year and a half since I had placed my order, my request was simple. I had not received a complete and intact ship and was asking for a return on my money until such time as they were ready to ship. My feeling was that I could do other things with that money (including collecting interest and paying bills) and that I would be more than happy to reinvest with them when they were ready to ship.

After not hearing from them for a few days, I called their office in California. I spoke to a gentleman named BARRY who took down my information and said that he would set up a refund for me. One week later, no refund appeared on my credit card. I called my credit card company and was told that I should wait until the end of the month to get the refund, but that they could do nothing since it had been more than three months since my purchase.

At the end of the month, still no refund, and calls to Unobtainium went unanswered. Finally, midway through the month of April, Unobtainium Ltd.'s website went down, and was replaced with an announcement that they had gone out of business. Then, last week, the website returned with the following message:

"Dear Customers:
It is with great regret that we must inform you that Unobtainium Ltd., a California corporation, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 7, 2003. There were several factors that the company simply was unable to overcome.
Many of you will receive formal notice in the mail shortly. Any issues regarding purchases and products must be handled in accordance with the federal bankruptcy laws. Some of the Enterprise customers will be receiving refunds and that process has been initiated.
We thank you for your business and your interest in our products. We planned to bring you the finest replicas of movie and television props, and we regret that the circumstances thwarted our plans.
Sincerely,
Unobtainium Ltd. "

Now I can't say that I believe that I am one of the people to whom they will be sending the refund, although I do feel worthy. The best advice I can think of, if you are in this position, is to find an attorney and get advice from them.

:: J 9:12 AM [+] ::
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