Complaint Review: Tristar Products Inc. - East Fairfield Nationwide

This is a follow up to an earlier complaint with Tristar over the Chinese Made "Montel Williams Healthmaster" blender.  I spent the last month (Aug 2011) fighting with them to get a refund after receiving a 3rd unit that failed within days with the same problem.

Normally I would be happy, but they are refusing to issue a credit to my current Visa, only to the original from a bank in NE Georgia that was seized and closed by the FDIC. Although I can provide detailed verification of current and previous addresses, and the original paper invoice, they claim "Banking Laws" won't allow them to change the credit card information. Even when I sent the unit back to them for the refund and have delivery confirmation receipts to prove it.

To shorten the story, the defective product was delivered back to them on 8/1/2011 and acknowledged by Tristar via email and UPS email and tracking/delivery confirmation. I refused to send it "Collect" to their PO box in another city.

Still no online status of the refund being issued, so I called them with a number I knew only Americans would answer (here it is if you want it: 973-287-5170 The toll free number rings in India somewhere at the village idiot's home) to inquire "Where's my money?"

They hadn't bothered to issue the refund yet, even to the wrong bank and Visa number. But the CSR claimed he released the credit while on the phone with him for $269.91 to my Visa ending in xxxx. The old useless and closed account. Again quoting the "Banking Regulation" that he could not provide any details, statute number, and I've never heard of from any other merchant. His claim was that the refund will credit to the old Visa and non-existent bank in a few business days, and I've to find out on my own who bought the old bank out, hope my information is on file with them, and hope they will send me a check based on the credit. My immediate thought was, this was his polite way of saying I should "Go fornicate under carnal knowledge myself" and I'd never see a penny of this supposed refund.

So, if I don't see it in the next week or so, I'll bill Montel Williams show and Tristar directly and see if the bill is paid. If not, I'll have no choice except to file a lawsuit for my losses, along with attorney and legal fees. The problem is, I've won every lawsuit I've ever been involved in. That's the easy part, the hard part is collecting...or having money left over after legal fees.

I have become so bitter over Chinese made crap in America on every level, I refuse to accept delivery of any item stamped "Made in China" nor buy any Chinese made product from any vendor in America. Which is darn near every single business I walk into.

The bottom line is, if you buy junk from Tristar or Healthmaster, you're money is gone forever. In my case, I never give up when I've been cheated out of money before I get it back. Since I'm a contractor, I could put a contractor's lien on their corporate office, have the local Sheriff's office padlock their doors until I get paid. That usually works more effectively than lawsuits, especially when fighting a corporation with more money than me and their own staff of corporate lawyers.

I'll take some blame for buying this product when it first came out in 2009, before nearly everyone in America that bought them, found out they are junk. Now I can easily find over 300,000 online complaints and hate blogs on the Healthmaster with a simple Google search.