BBB: Almost 300 complaints against local Web site, AG's office looking into company
COLUMBIA -- Jenny May used to love shopping online.
"I purchased the baby bedding, the crib online," May said from her living room.
She was so comfortable with computers, in fact, that she even met her husband over the Internet. When May found out she was pregnant, she wanted to have a hot-air balloon themed nursery. That's when she came across MookieGifts.com.
"This is where the hot-air balloons were supposed to be," she said, pointing to an empty space above her crib.
May bought two red-and-white hanging hot-air balloons for $103 bucks. Her card was charged - but her order never came.
"My card was debited," said May. "And it was two weeks later and I had still not received my items."
That was back in June. For the past three months she's been trying to get answers - by e-mail and by phone. But what she got was a generic, pre-recorded voicemail. "Hello, we are unable to answer right now," the robotic message said. "To leave a voice message please speak after the beep."
Lots of complaints
As it turns out, May isn't alone. The Better Business Bureau in St. Louis said they've gotten almost 300 similar complaints about the site from people across the country.
"We've been receiving a fairly large number of complaints for a while against this company," said Scott Thomas with the BBB. "Consumers say that they've purchased gifts, paid for the gifts and haven't received anything."
We did some digging and found the man behind the company - Dan Corkery - a former local radio host now living in Columbia.
Corkery owns MookieGifts.com along with two other similar online businesses. All list their address as a UPS store in Columbia, mailbox #157.
A scam or bad business?
We asked Corkery if he was scamming people. His response was simple: "No."
Corkery said he's not in the business of ripping people off. He said he would have refunded May's money had he heard from her.
"I went back and looked at all the e-mail records that we had," said Corkery. "All the phone records and her name didn't appear."
But KRCG tracked down a dozen e-mails between Jenny May and Mookie Gifts dating back to June. Ten of the e-mails were from May, only two were from the company.
In one e-mail response a woman named Amie wrote, "...If your nursery was completely ruined over $103.22 to be exact then maybe it was already ruined before the balloons were a problem..."
"Is that a professional way of conducting business?," we asked Corkery.
"Probably not a good answer," he said. "I wouldn't have answered it that way."
Touring the warehouse
We took a tour of Corkery's basement warehouse and found boxes, shipping material, and all sorts of novelty items - including May's red balloon.
"We do not scam people over fuzzy slippers and mailboxes that look like fish," said Corkery.
The Better Business Bureau said it might be a case of too many orders, too few employees.
"We certainly don't want to go out and call them a scam at the moment," said Scott Thomas. "Obviously taking money and not providing merchandise is certainly bordering on a scam."
After we saw Corkery's inventory we asked what the hold up was. "We got backed up in the early part of this year," he said. "It's one thing we're addressing."
"If we've grown a little too fast to accommodate the customer service end of it, that's something we need to fix," said Corkery. "But that's the problem."
May gets her money
"We purchased something that was supposed to be such a pleasure," said Jenny May. "And now has become such a headache."
There is some good news, though, for her. Dan Corkery recently refunded her money, in full. He also said Amie has been fired.
But with almost 300 complaints brought against the Mookie Web site, the Attorney General's office said they're currently looking into Corkery's company.
Online Safety Tips
So, how do you stop something like this from happening to you? With the help of the Attorney General's office and the Better Business Bureau, KRCG has compiled a list of 10 helpful consumer tips to keep in mind next time you're shopping online:
1. Always pay by credit card - you have protection under federal law against unauthorized charges, but only if you pay by credit, not debit or PayPal.
2. Do business with familiar Web sites - ones with track records you can verify.
3. Make sure you're shopping at secure sites - looking for a padlock icon and "https" at the top of the screen.
4. Know your rights - by law, a company must ship your order within the time stated in its ads. If no time is promised, the company must ship your order 30 days after receiving it, or give you an 'option notice.'
5. Ask the company for its physical address and phone number.
6. Don't be duped by professional looking Web sites - look for seals from trusted third-party organizations, like the Better Business Bureau.
7. Be cautious if you're asked to provide personal information to conduct a transaction - being asked for your Social Security number, or personal bank account info should be red flags.
8. Print out a copy of your order and confirmation number for your records.
9. If you pay by credit card, your transaction will be protected by the Federal Trade Commission's Fair Credit Reporting Act.
10. If anything goes wrong, file a complaint with the Attorney General at (800) 392-8222 or at www.ago.mo.gov.
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