PORTLAND, Ore. -- An online marketing company scammed dozens of Northwest coffee drinkers by selling a cruddy Illinois brew branded as direct from Seattle.
Kirsten Samwel is addicted to coffee and drinks up to six cups a day. The Vancouver attorney went to law school in Seattle, home of Starbucks and known nationally for its coffee drinkers. She considers herself something of a "coffee expert,"
"I love coffee ... it's my life blood. I know what good coffee tastes like," she said.
So when Samwel spotted a website called SeattleCoffeeDirect.com selling coffee by the pound at a steep discount, she saw an offer she couldn't refuse.
Dozens of other local coffee drinkers also bought coffee from SeattleCoffeeDirect.com, only to later discover the beans weren't roasted in Seattle or anywhere nearby. They came from an Illinois company advertising itself as a robust Pacific Northwest brew. And the deeply discounted sale price was also a sham.
SeattleCoffeeDirect.com had an advertised coffee price of 2 pounds for $4 - and offered an online "guarantee" that consumers could "cancel at anytime."
Samwel was alarmed to find a $40 charge to her credit card and recalled thinking, "This better be golden coffee," she later said.
The coffee came. Samwel absolutely hated it.
"It's terrible," she said.
She tried calling and calling, but she only got voice mail accounts. Finally, she got a "real live" person on the phone.
The company's representative agreed to cancel her membership.
But a month later, more coffee arrived and more money was drained from her account.
"They took $80 out of my account twice, " said Samwel.
She called the Oregon Better Business Bureau. Samwel was informed the company actually operates under 21 different names.
Its umbrella company, Peel, Inc., is an Internet-based marketing company that sells a variety of products, from coffee to jewelry to art."
Because businesses can operate under so many different names it was like a puzzle. We had to piece together what company to contact," said Kyle Kavas with the Oregon Better Business Bureau.
Samwel found 77 complaints in Oregon and nearly 3,000 complaints nationwide filed against Peel, Inc.
"The people who are angry are not getting their money back," Kavas said.
Samwel filed a report with the BBB and also with the Illinois Attorney General's Office, since the company is headquartered there.
"That company needs to be shut down, " said Samwel.
Now, it looks like it has been shut down. Peel, Inc. appears to be offering refunds on all 21 websites it operates, KGW News has learned.
It is now impossible to make orders online. But how do consumers prevent themselves from being scammed up front?
Experts recommend investigating online retailers before making a purchase. Google the company's name to learn about its consumer-related history. Read and understand the terms and conditions.
Consumers should review the return, refunds, and shipping policies.
When making a purchase, uncheck the boxes on a web page, read the statement next to each box, and decide whether or not to re-check the box. Oftentimes the check-box is an agreement toward the purchase of unwanted offers.
Don't click on pop-up ads during the transaction, the BBB warns.
Samwel said she was stuck with two bags of unwanted coffee, purportedly from Seattle, but actually from Evanston, Ill.
