BlueHippo Funding, LLC is a US-based installment credit company founded by Joseph Rensin who claims to offer personal computers, flat-screen televisions, and other high-tech goods for sale to customers with bad credit. In an article published November 25, 2009 titled the BlueHippo file for bankruptcy: The company blamed the bank; accused of violating the settlement with the FTC , Eileen Ambrose reported that the company "was forced to file protection under Chapter 11." On Wednesday 9 December 2009, the company filed for bankruptcy Chapter 7 after the freezing of funds by their payment processor. A petition to a Delaware bankruptcy judge to free funds was denied. The toll-free phone number and website advertised by the company no longer works.
The company encountered several complaints with the Better Business Bureau; The Better Business Better Maryland Bureau issued a consumer warning to the company within eight months of its inception. Bruce E. Mattare's companion left the company in 2004 to start TronixCountry, which has offered merchandise on terms of similar installments within the scope of BlueHippo with an Islamabad based call center.
The main product BlueHippo is a personal computer system. His radio ad states that customers must build a "brief credit history" to qualify. Payments are made through the installment plan.
The company has been researched several times for consumer fraud. In April 2008, BlueHippo completed with the Federal Trade Commission to replace customers who were tricked by up to $ 5 million. However, on November 12, 2009, the FTC filed a memorandum in federal court reporting that despite accumulating more than $ 15 million from customers since the April 2008 settlement, BlueHippo sent "at most one computer" before the FTC resumed legal action in April 2009. Blue Hippo repeatedly fined by the court for failing to file an approved FTC report for submission as part of agency oversight. On November 13, 2009, Ars Technica reported, "The FTC has had it, and today it returns to the court asking a federal judge for an offense against BlueHippo."
Video BlueHippo Funding
Criticism and investigation
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 8,000 pages of complaints and launched an investigation into the company. In February 2008, the FTC settled its complaint with BlueHippo and required the company to pay up to $ 5,000,000 to settle the FTC bill. In April 2009, a federal court found BlueHippo insulting for not issuing a report to the FTC as required by the settlement.
The Maryland Attorney General reached a settlement with Blue Hippo in 2007. Under the terms of settlement, the company agreed to pay compensation to consumers who paid more or did not receive their goods.
Bill McCollum, Florida Attorney General said, "We think that overall, this is a very deceptive trading practice."
Tennessee Attorney General filed a civil suit for alleged fraudulent practices against BlueHippo companies, as well as filed an order requiring greater disclosure in the ad and before obtaining further payments, as well as a $ 2.5 million cash freeze. West Virginia also sued BlueHippo.
A class action lawsuit filed against BlueHippo in Ottawa County State of Oklahoma District Court on January 23, 2007. The case was transferred to the United States District Court Northern District of Oklahoma on 7 March 2007.
On August 25, 2009, the Better Business Bureau has received over 3950 complaints from across the United States. "Due to this pattern of complaints and BlueHippo's failure to correct the main cause of the complaint, the company was rated 'unsatisfactory'."
BlueHippo changed its business practices to include a refund policy in mid-2006. However, BBB reports: "In November and December 2006, the volume of complaints increased again and the BBB has renewed concerns about the effectiveness of the company's efforts to reduce the volume and pattern of complaints. accusing the company of being slow to provide the promised refund and continuing delays in merchandise shipments. "On January 1, 2007, BlueHippo offered a full refund if the customer canceled for the first 7 days. However, any order canceled after the grace period will only accept "store credit". This store credit will only allow customers to purchase goods on the company's website.
Maps BlueHippo Funding
References
External links
- BlueHippo Funding (offline on December 11, 2009)
- The Company Allegedly Predicts Consumers With Bad Credit at TheBostonChannel.com
- Video CEO/President BlueHippo Joseph Rensin
- "The Poverty Business" at Business Week
- Baltimore Better Business Report on BlueHippo
- BlueHippo agrees to settle with Maryland for ~ 1 Million Dollar, Baltimore Sun
- ConsumerAffairs.com report
- NY Times article: Tempting Ads, Little Money, and Then Many Regrets, The New York Times
- BlueHippo Under Fire With Better Business Bureau, KLTV-TV, Tyler, Texas
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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