I too have ordered from bigcd..
one charged to my account jan 13..product received. the other charged Jan 19..not received.

I am 72 yrs old and maybe more understanding and forgiving of Mike's problems.... but...
I also believe he is honest...
does not want anyone to lose money..and is trying to making things right for everyone who ordered from bigcd. He sends out emails to his customers bringing us up to date on what's happening. Mike's not hiding and running away from his problems. I respect that.
Let's give him a break. I'm betting my money on him...and that I or You won't lose a dime.

I certainly haven't lost a dime, but that's only thanks to CITIbanc who credited my account (plus interest) when they launched their own investigation.


btw- I never received *any* email from BigCD stating there were any problems. The only communication I've seen is posted on this board.


zeek

Maybe I just have a different view of ordering merchandise.

Mike may be a great guy... I don't know. I don't know him and I'm not friends with him. But people who ordered stuff from BigCD didn't order from a buddy or friend, they ordered from a company. When I go to a web site and order a DVD, I'm not "betting my money" -- I'm ordering merchandise.

When the retailer then charges me without sending the stuff, that's a problem... and one that my credit card company will take care of immediately. I don't care if he's a great guy and is sending me daily updates via e-mail... why should I (as the customer) have to deal with these headaches? Why should I have to be concerned with the state of his company, his credit limits, his cash flow, his rock band, or anything else? All I want is the item that I ordered and paid for. As I said before, if BigCD is having problems, that's too bad. But they aren't my problems.

Well said, B...

My bank has already credited my checking account (I paid by debit card) the amount of a charged but never delivered order. So I'm now in the role of observer in this drama. I hope all the other customers are able to get what they want out of this.

Even though Mike said he had no money for refunds I was issued a credit from my CC company on February 27, a month after BigCD posted a charge for a transaction that never took place.

CC companies usually err on the side of the customer. So they usually refund you the money in a timely manner then go out to get it back from the seller; especially if there's a lack of response from the seller. Some, like AMEX immediately credits your account then investigates.

capital one credited me a few days ago and sent me a letter..

What is the corelation between your age and your willingness to be taken for a ride? You are lending credence to the notion that we older folks are an easy target for scam artists.

"Charged Jan 19,, not received". What more do you need to know to find out that you are not getting proper business service! Did you place the order because you wanted the product, or were you merely playing commerce roulette.

http://www.bigcd.com now displays the following message:

Well people that's what you get for giving someone a chance....

Glad I contested my charges and consequently got a full refund....

Now I'm gonna go somewhere else more trustworthy to make my purchase that this guy was unable (or unwilling!) to make....

Good riddance!

We were told no refunds and asked not to request refunds from our credit card companies. When a link for requesting a refund appeared on the website it was unobtainable. Now the website is closed. I doubt bankrupcy was caused by poor business planning but rather unethical business ethics and consumer manipulation.

As mentioned earlier I received a refund from my credit card company so this is a judgement, not a gripe. I hope everyone else is able to get their money back.

It was my understanding from the prior threads and this one that BigCD was originally going to declare bankruptcy to get out of the debit situation and the proprietor was going to walk away without personal debts. However, once the proprietor realized that there was more than enough data linking the demise of the company to his own personal finances (and that of his band), he had to realize that having the company declare bankruptcy wouldn't stop the various CC from going after him in person.

For those wearing the rose coloured glasses about BigCD: My understanding is based upon laws in my state of Washington. In my state, if the company's funds are wound up within the principals' finances and there is any hint of impropriety (non-separation of funds between company and personal), then having the company declare bankruptcy doesn't necessarily let the principals (in this case aka "mike") off the hook financially. So, just because Mike is paying you back out of his personal earnings doesn't necessarily make him a nice guy. He might simply be doing it to avoid destruction of his resume with the appearance of civil suits and fraud charges.

Here's what the site says today:

"Domain name, software for bigcd.com for sale. (Serious offers only please)

[email protected]"

Do you think anyone would be dumb enough to buy a domain with so much negative baggage?

Other than the people at dvdtalk, and the people they have told, I'm sure if someone just came long, they wouldn't know about the negative talk about it, and I'm sure Mike wouldn't tell a potential buyer about it's past.

I just received an e-mail from Mike saying that my dispute with PayPal since January, prohibits him from
getting to the funds in his account, or conducting business with his PayPal account. He wants me to relieve
him of the $36.00 dispute, so he can proceed. Here is his context:

Context
BigCD was closed months ago... this is my personal paypal account and its
completely restricted I can't sent money I can't do anything at this point
I'm completely financially ruined and broke and living with my mom I sell on
ebay for money to live. If you ordered from bigcd.com I'm sorry but it died
quite violently and there was nothing I could do about it as I might soon
because I can't take living anymore. I can't fight life anymore I tried
everything I could to get by and succeed with my ideas and my hard work and
it didn't work. The world sucks and I can't live in it anymore. I am trying
to have one reason to live but i don't see it there isn't anything I can do.
I'm so tired of fighting, i am so conflicted on whether I should live or
die. I'm sorry to say this to you I'm just fightin with demons. I'm turning
30 in 2 months and I have done nothing but fail.

Just so the forum knows what's going on.

From what I've read he's lucky not to be in jail. I guess I would be depressed too were I caught ripping people off for thousands of dollars.

what a nut job!

Wow, that has to be a first. An online retailer sending a suicide note to a customer.

I hope you do not decide to releive him of this dispute. I was also one of the ones who purchased a DVD from his site only to receive the runaround. My belief is that he will continue to bilk others out of money in any way possible.

Anyone know his eBay userID?

edit: his userID is mikeCTW


zeek

Don't relieve the dispute. He's pleading for your pity -- basically saying that if you don't relieve the dispute, he'll kill himself. He needs to sell stuff on eBay to live? He just said he's living with his mother. I'm pretty sure she has a roof on that house and food in her fridge for him to eat. He might be sending this e-mail to everyone that is disputing charges on PayPal so that he can relieve some of his debt. I find it hard to believe he couldn't just open up a new PayPal account under his mother's name or something if he is that desperate to exchange stuff on eBay.

Hey Mike, they're called money orders, get hip. While you're out getting a money order try picking up a job application.

Follow-up to my post of 6/19/02; Mike sent this to me late last night. After more back and forth, he sent me this response to
my latest "no relief statement. I am doing this because I am sure there are more people in our Forum that are
going through the same thing with him.

Context:
"I don't have a band anymore actually I am working on starting a new one. I
think within a few days they are going to refund your paypal account so be
watching for that."

I will post a follow-up when if and/or when he credits my PayPal account.

I probably would have sent the suicide email to my internet service provider and let them handle it. Not that they would care or do anything.

My final update to this fiasco, (sorry if I bored you all), but Mike just submitted to PayPal his refund to me.
My hope in this continuance of this thread, was for those who also have been "taken"; it may be resolved as well.
Here is the PayPal verbage I received today:

Context:
PayPal has concluded the investigation of your Buyer Complaint. As our
policy states, we conducted this investigation on a best effort basis and
made no guarantee of funds recovery.

Case ID: XXXXXXX
Transaction Amount: $36.66
Transaction Date: 1/10/02
Seller's Email: [email protected]
Previous Partial Recovery: $0.00

We are pleased to inform you that the outstanding amount of $36.66 has been
recovered. Please allow up to 5 business days to see the adjustment on
your account.

Note: If the payment, or a portion of the payment, was funded by your
credit card, the appropriate amount will be refunded to your credit card.
You will see this in your transaction log as two entries. The first is the
refund to your PayPal account and the second is the credit to your credit
card.

Sincerely,
Lee
Complaint Resolution Department

The application to my account occured tonight.
I hope all is going in the same direction for the rest of the members of this Forum.

This was tOtAlLy bad from the start.

My CC co. also credited me back.....