Posts Tagged ‘Mitchell Communications Group’

Tony Mitchell threatens to sue me over my blog postings

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Executive summary: Tony Mitchell threatened to sue me for exposing his company’s slimy telemarketing practices on my blog. I had to pay a lawyer to defend myself against his threats. See below for his letter and the one my lawyer sent in response. If you hate slimy telemarketers and opponents of free speech as much as I do, please consider clicking the “Donate” button to the right and kicking in a few bucks toward my legal defense. (Note: The previous sentence will be removed if/when I’ve recouped my legal expenses.)

I have written before about Mitchell Communications Group, a.k.a. Faithful Marketing, a.k.a. Vandell Communications, all different names for the same telemarketing firm owned and operated by one Tony Mitchell. Hereafter I will refer to them as “Vandell”, since that’s the name they’re using as I write this.

I won’t rehash here everything I’ve written about Vandell, but here are the high points:

  • Vandell’s one and only line of business appears to be calling people on the phone, telling them that they’ve won a fabulous prize, and convincing them to attend a 90-minute sales pitch for a vacation club / timeshare rental club / whatever to claim it.
  • Vandell claims that they only call people who have entered contests, but there are many testimonials on my blog and all over the internet from people who say they entered no contests and yet were called anyway.
  • Vandell claims in their scripted sales pitch that they are not a telemarketing company, and yet they describe themselves as a marketing company on their web site, and their main business is making telephone calls; if they’re not a “telemarketing company,” then I don’t know what is.
  • In a misguided effort to respond to the material I’ve posted about them, Vandell has posted numerous forged comments on my blog, including one comment purporting to be from a police officer.

As if all this wasn’t bad enough, Vandell has decided that the best way to silence their critics is to threaten lawsuits against any web site which criticizes them. Such sites are easy to find by searching for “Vandell Communications” or “Mitchell Communications”, or searching for the caller ID of the number from which they call you.

I’m an easy target for such chicanery, since I blog under my own name and my contact information is readily available. A couple of months ago, I received the following letter. (more…)

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An open letter to Tony Mitchell

Sunday, November 7th, 2010

UPDATE [August 30, 2011]: Tony Mitchell has threatened to sue me for criticizing him on my blog. Read all the details here, and please consider chipping in a few bucks to help cover my legal defense. Thanks!

Dear Mr. Mitchell,

A few months ago, I posted a voicemail message my wife and I received from your company about a prize we had supposedly won from a contest we had supposedly entered.

Since then, over 100 other people have commented here (and more have posted elsewhere) that they’ve received the same call. The facts and experiences posted by myself and others make it clear that these calls are a scam.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m sure it’s true that anyone who follows your instructions will receive a prize as as you promise. Unfortunately, that that’s just about all that’s true; most everything else you tell people is a lie. That’s why what you are doing is a scam. That’s why I posted about it on my blog. And that’s why I’m posting about it again — because you continue to lie and deceive people while falsely professing your innocence.

In a recent comment on my blog, you said, “I dont [sic] not [sic] understand why the individual has made such a blog and if there is any support or evidence to this being fradulent [sic] I [sic] would like to be informed or just an explaination [sic] of why he has chosen to attempt to cybersmear my creditibility [sic].”

(more…)

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Scam call from “Mitchell Communications” / “Faithful Marketing” / “Vandell Communications”

Friday, August 6th, 2010

UPDATE [August 30, 2011]: Tony Mitchell has threatened to sue me for criticizing him on my blog. Read all the details here, and please consider chipping in a few bucks to help cover my legal defense. Thanks!

UPDATE [February 7, 2011]: As others have noted, they’re now making calls under a third name, “Vandell Communications”. I can confirm that’s how they’re spelling the name because, for some inexplicable reason, @VandellCom followed me briefly yesterday on Twitter before unfollowing me. D’oh!

UPDATE [November 30, 2010]: If you receive one of these calls, please report it to both the National Do Not Call Registry and the FCC. The latter is more likely to result in action against the caller, but it’s important to file both complaints.

UPDATE [November 7, 2010]: Please see my Open letter to Tony Mitchell, the owner of Mitchell Communication Group, a.k.a., Faithful Marketing.

UPDATE [October 29, 2010]: When this article was first published, on August 6, 2010, they were “Mitchell Communication(s) Group”, but now they’re “Faithful Marketing”. They’ve changed their name, but not their modus operandi. I’ve updated the title to reflect the new name, but I’ve otherwise left the article as originally posted.

Got a scam call today I wanted to let other people know about.

The caller ID was “Gorden Leslie” with the phone number 773-891-5581. Here’s a transcript of the message:

Hi, this is Patrick calling from Mitchell Communications Group. I have made numerous attempts to reach you [lie!] regarding an entry form that was filled out in your name within the last 12 to 18 months to receive a new car. [probable lie!] This will be my final attempt to notify that your name was pulled and you’re going to receive one of our top four major prizes. It would be in your best interest to give me a call back as soon as possible. The number is toll free at 1-877-279-3457 extension 243. We’re not a telemarketing agency [lie!] or a timeshare and this is not a cold call so please do not ignore this message. I’m very aware of the do not call list so I wouldn’t be calling unless you actually entered. [lie!] This is a time sensitive matter I do look forward to hearing from you. Once again congratulations my name is Patrick.

Just for kicks, I called back and was connected to a woman who identified herself as “Rhonda, your prize coordinator.”

(more…)

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