Complaint Review: Inventors' Publishing & Research (IP & R Amazing Innovations Absolutely New...) - San Francisco California

Although AbsolutelyNew disagreed with my earlier posts; we were able to work out our differences. I am now satisfied with AbsolutelyNew's resolution of my invention project so that I would retract my earlier posts if this site allowed me to do so.

Hi my name is Steve,

This company screwed me and many others.  I am tired of writing complaints on line but am instead offering my phone number for you to call if you would like to ask any questions. 818-445-1746.
If you are considering a contract with them or are already being screwed by them I can point you in the right direction to get the information you need before making your decision as to how you will proceed.

Filed against : 
AbsolutelyNew, Inc.
650 Townsend St Ste 475 
San Francisco CA 94103-6225

Complaint Description:
We are requesting a full refund of our contract "fees". This request is based on the fact that Absolutely New has breached our contract. Specifically, Absolutely New has failed to comply with our agreement with regard to the following sections of our contract: 1) Absolutely New breached our contract according to the Marketing Agreement signed and dated November 30, 2010. Section 3 (sub-section 3.2 titled Installment Terms) is an agreement that requires my partner and I to execute a separate agreement allowing ANI to automatically withdraw the payment on the specified due date from a credit card or checking account over which the client has control ANI did not offer or require us to sign a separate agreement to pay our fees. 2) "Schedule 1 - Services" (Item #4): We were not given a virtual model within 45 days. We have not been given a virtual model as of the end of the contract. Not making the model available, as part of the package that was sent to the potential acquirers was seriously detrimental to the success of acquiring a licensing agreement. This is a direct material breach of contract. Our concept sheet was not completed until mid February 2011 this is a breach of the contract limitations. Our assigned Product Manager Christina Lett left the employment of Absolutely New, and delayed the final concept sheet. While Christina was our lead contact she ignored several calls, messages, and requests. In addition, Absolutely New made errors by disregarding changes to the concept sheet that we put in writing. ANI simply overlooked our editing changes; this further delayed the project. Serena Soo took over as our lead contact. We asked her to make changes to the concept sheet and we received resistance. We brought this to the attention of ANIs legal counsel, and we were given an emphatic apology for their oversight and mistakes. 3) "Schedule 1 - Services" (Item #5, #6, #7): In this schedule it states, "...ANI shall perform the following Marketing Tasks beginning forty five (45) days after the Effective Date... We were told several times by Absolutely New that they would be attending "...several trade shows on our behalf... and would specifically represent our invention at these shows. As of this day, we have received no written reports that confirm our invention was represented at ANY trade show. The only confirmation that Absolutely New has attended any trade show on our behalf are verbal comments from Absolutely New staff stating they represented our product at one trade show; the "PGA trade show". We explained to ANI during several phone conversations, and in face-to-face meetings that the "PGA" trade show was not an appropriate venue for our invention. ANI agreed, and said that they would be attending several other trade shows on our behalf, however this has not occurred. In your email today you cited two additional breaches that we did not note in previous emails. The first quarterly report we received was in May - this delivery was untimely, and is a breach of our contract. At your own admission, we have not received the second quarterly report as of the drafting of this email. This is an additional breach of contract. Our contract ended June 1, 2011, therefore; ANI breached our contract by not supplying our report.

Your Desired Resolution:
We feel the breaches of contract noted above are sufficient to warrant a refund of our fees. We are open to any meaningful discussion that will enable us to reach a reasonable and fair resolution to this matter. 

I have received another response from IP&R to my complaint with the Better Business Bureau in San Francisco. More lies from IP&R and sadly, they even prove it in these responses. I am hoping that the BBB of San Francisco will hold IP& R accountable for what they've done to me - but with all the complaints against IP&R, I think they are sneaky enough to once again slip under the radar. IP&R cannot, and have not (wisely) substantiated their claims/lies in their previous responses to me. It is very clear that IP&R will NOT live up to their claims and I am taking the time here to prevent you, the reader, from having to suffer what I've suffered at the hands of IP&R. Please, please, PLEASE don't do what I've done by signing an agreement with IP&R and/or paying them money! If you're an inventor, I trust that you can invent a way to prevent the loss of your money to the likes of those at IP&R, Amazing Innovations, Absolutely New, etc. For more of the names of this "same" company go to http://www.inventored.org/caution/ip&r/ and see for yourself. I almost contacted another one of names until I noticed the address was the same as IP&R's. Just steer clear. Hopefully, you get caught in the trap I did. Here are just some of the examples of what I have been dealing with; IP&R claimed in their response dated November 30, 2007, that the graphics (used to make a marketing sheet to present to potential buyers) were, "...completed in time to send to any manufacturers who might have been interested...". Although I did not receive the proof of this marketing sheet, until mid January 2007, and my approval was required before any presentation was to be made, my invention was presented before December 30th to potential manufacturers/acquirers who rejected whatever it was that they were presented with. Now this marketing sheet was, per our contract, to be delivered to me for my approval before Dec. 30, 2006, but wasn't delivered to me until January 19th, 2007. ( I rejected it then - they used all MY graphics - except a picture of a dog, and listed features that my invention didn't have! - Why pay for that?!) IP&R claimed that I had not sent the graphics necessary for this marketing sheet until January 5, 2006, ( I emailed the graphics which they used on November 15, 2006 - and yes I have proof) and they said the marketing sheet was done "a week later". Yet remember that they said that the graphics "were completed in time to send to any manufacturers" which was in December 2006. I could go on for pages, and yes, I can prove all my claims, but please just don't do what I've done. I wish I had taken the time to research IP&R better than I did before I signed with them. Well, if you're reading this and you still sign with IP&R, you're REALLY going to need some prayer! Got it? Good