BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?

Subject: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Big Mick
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 10:13 PM

We have a long term Mudcatter who, it appears, is being ripped off by a mail order business from this area. I have a telly number, but I am curious if there is anyone close who could drive by the addy and just see if it is occupied? Not requesting any confrontation, just see if it is occupied. Any helpers?

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 10:23 PM

Would Google Earth be of any help?

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 10:38 PM

BBB online may have info on ownership status.
If the county government is well-wired, you might get the i.d. of the property owner online (tax assessor).
City or County might have ownership info for a dba online.
State may have ownership info for a corp or other business entity online.
The advertisement seller (newspaper or mag where you found the mail order) might help you with owner info.
Postmaster or FTC will both take complaints, as will the State A-G.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 10:54 PM

OK -I am just a doddering old Englishman , but there are TWO Lindens in Va - Warren County and Wise County - Do we get a clue ? They are a Fair way apart !

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 10:54 PM

Warren County Commissioner of Revenue property and name search

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Big Mick
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 11:00 PM

Just so you know, a Mudcatter from across the pond ordered a piece of jewelry. This Mudcatter has been getting the runaround. There was an out of service 800 number, and a street address. I entered the address into a reverse search engine and got a local phone number. I have been calling that number at various times, but get no answer. I am trying to find out if there is anyone there. Google Earth (thanks, kat) shows an out of focus picture that I can't tell anything from. I sure hate seeing folks get ripped off.

Any ideas?

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 11:11 PM

Nope. Finding out the name of the owner and all of his or her other addresses and phone numbers is all I can think of.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Big Mick
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 11:15 PM

heric, how do you get the other phone numbers?

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 11:26 PM

If the address gives you a name, superpages and all that stuff. If it gives you a business entity, you have to go to those other (possible) websites. State Department of Corps will give them for all or most principals of a business entity. If you happen across a "doing business as" name (or if you already have it), the City or County website should (mine does) have the names and numbers of the principal(s).

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 25 Jul 07 - 11:28 PM

If the address gives you a name (in that search link I put above . . )

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: M.Ted
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 12:39 AM

How did aforementioned Mudcatter pay for the jewelry? If it was with a major credit card(Amex,Visa, MasterCard) a complaint to card company is the easiest and quickest way to get satisfaction. Same with PayPal.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 12:43 PM

I'm in Charlottesville - which Linden?
My kids are gone for ****2 weeks*********** so I can do road trips...

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: GUEST,Big Mick
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 01:31 PM

It is located at 183 Jericho Rd, Linden, VA 22642. This right of I66, just west of Highway 688 (Markham). The company is known as Mystic Caravan. All I am trying to find out is if they are going to honor their orders. One of our own from across the ocean ordered a pendant and I am trying to contact these folks. Their 800 number is no longer valid, I have a local number but no one answers. They have sent our Mudcatter an email some months ago that said they were having family medical problems and be patient. But this person has heard nothing since and asked if someone stateside could help track this down.

Any help in the area is appreciated. PM and I can give you more specific details.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 01:43 PM

The name listed at that address, according to the Warren County tax assessor is "Kelly B. Collins" if that is any help.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Jul 07 - 01:44 PM

Is this the same number you have, Mick:

183 Jericho Rd
Linden, VA 22642-5828
[phone]

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 12:10 AM

By all appearances this woman gave the correct address of her primary suburban residence on her website. She's not answering her business line for anyone, not just a select few. It's a pretty good guess that she has some problems.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 12:21 AM

Which isn't to say that she can't be just a former renter, or that she shouldn't have changed her website or voice mail greeting. Hopefully she's not still taking orders. I'm just saying that if you approach her, I wouldn't start out too harshly.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: M.Ted
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 01:51 AM

Tell the folks they aren't alone, Mick--check this-- Ripoff Report

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: SharonA
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 06:43 AM

Is that woman's name "Kelly" or "Keely"? I see a "Keely" in Linden, VA with an email address at "mystic-caravan.com" on this page.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: SharonA
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 07:49 AM

According to MapQuest's aerial image, the area appears to be residential. It's impossible to tell from the density of the tree growth (you'd think they'd take their satellite pix in the winter, when fewer leaves are in the way!) whether there's a house at that address, but it's obvious that there isn't a shopping center or a mall there! So either "Keely" is (or was) operating her business from her home, or else Kelly B. Collins owns a tract of land with no buildings on it and someone was using it as a false address.

Now, isn't THIS ironic: following the link in my previous post, you'll see that "Keely" of "mystic-caravan.com" is an Amazon woman, either a member of a "tribe" or seeking to join a tribe. Yet at the same website is a page displaying the "Amazon Creed", which includes the following: "Respect is for all, but it doesn't come easy. We must each define it for ourselves. For us... respect means no 'ripping off', no hoarding... Respect is for all our relations, and all our relationships." (Wouldn't that include business relationships?)

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: SharonA
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 08:10 AM

On the Mystic Caravan website's privacy statement page, there is an alternate address. It reads:

Contacting the Web Site

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this web site, you can contact:

The Mystic Caravan
ATTN: Keely Collins
9311 Millbranch Place
Fairfax, VA 22031

[e-mail]

Note that the email address is the same as on the Amazon Nation website where she lists her hometown as Linden, VA. Again referring to the MapQuest aerial image, the Fairfax address is in a townhouse development. The red star indicating location isn't situated over a particular house, but then, MapQuest is not known for being THAT accurate! Anyway, Fairfax is a LOT closer to Washington DC than Linden is, so perhaps some Mudcatter in the area could drive by and see if the townhouse is occupied or vacant (or if there is even a townhouse on that street with the number 9311 on it -- could be a blind address!).

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 10:29 AM

Oh, dear. Mayber her parents got divorced, share custody, and her internet privileges have been suspended.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 11:22 AM

It was very definitely "Kelly" according to the clerk of the county. I assumed it was a guy, but I suppose it could be a woman.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 01:29 PM

A call to the local public library and a check of the city directory there shows Kelly Collins at the address given with the phone number given.

Linden straddles the Warren/Fairfax County line, and the Jericho address is in Warren County.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 02:06 PM

The owner of 9311 MILLBRANCH PL FAIRFAX VA 22031 is Veta B. Collins.

(Keely could well have been an attempt to name the daughter after her father Kelly.)

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 02:12 PM

BBB shows 16 complaints, fifteen within the past 12 months. For 14 of them the company did not respond. Here

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: SharonA
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 02:17 PM

I guess that Keely must be Kelly's nickname, then, since it's Keely on both the Mystic Caravan website and the Amazon Nation website. I have doubts about heric's theory that Keely is a minor, because of the extent of the articles for sale on the Mystic Caverns site and the fact that Keely's name is listed as a contact for comments and complaints on the privacy page of that site.

As Rapaire says, Linden is in Warren County, not far from Front Royal -- absolutely beautiful Appalachian countryside out there. Fairfax is in suburban Washington DC, near Alexandria and Arlington VA.

I think Rapaire's reference to the "address given" means the Linden address, yes? If so, what about the Fairfax address -- is Kelly Collins listed there too? It's certainly possible to be listed at more than one address in the phone book.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: SharonA
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 02:32 PM

Heric, "Kelly" is a pretty common girl's name here in the states, certainly here in the mid-Atlantic area. It is not commonly used for a boy. It's possible that a male named "Kelly Collins" could exist, more likely as an immigrant than as a person born here... but neither is as likely as the possibility that Linden's "Kelly" is a woman. What makes you so sure that Kelly is a guy?

Veta Collins must be a relative of "Keely", since "Keely" is listed as the contact name at the Fairfax address.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: SharonA
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 02:43 PM

I'm PM'ing Big Mick with Veta Collins's phone number; I hesitate to post it here although apparently it is a matter of public record.

By the way, the toll-free number on the Mystic Caravan website has been disconnected.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 02:48 PM

My best friends and neighbours when I was 6months - 8 years were Patrick, Kelly, and Shannon, three brothers.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: SharonA
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 03:07 PM

Definitely a generational thang! Shannon is used for girls more than boys nowadays too. (BTW, when I was growing up, one of the neighbor boys was nicknamed Connie.) I'm not saying Kelly B. Collins isn't a guy; I just don't think so, that's all.

"Keely" is definitely a woman -- an Amazon woman!

Veta would appear to be an old woman. She's the sister of a woman who died earlier this year at age 88. See this obit: a href="http://www.rootsweb.com/~txterry/ObitHarveyZoe.htm">http://www.rootsweb.com/~txterry/ObitHarveyZoe.htm

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: SharonA
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 03:14 PM

That link, again, is http://www.rootsweb.com/~txterry/ObitHarveyZoe.htm

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 03:15 PM

I have no real idea about Kelly as a minor or Kelly as a male. I was half-joking about the minor losing her interent privileges. I was surprised when Kat assumed Kelly as a male, I would assume that to be female, also.

But I think the letters should be addressed to the names we know to be the true owners of the two properties.

My empathy is weakening. However, I'd like to know if and when he or she stopped actually accepting payments. It may have just fallen apart suddenly.

Seems to me that certified letters addressed to Kelly and Veta at their respective home addresses should attract enough attention to get a refund of one jewelry purchase.

Make it so, Mick.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 03:51 PM

oops no! I am not a proponent of putting the screws to little old ladies (Veta)!

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: heric
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 04:00 PM

Hey there's your family tragedy: Her (paternal) great-aunt died in Portales, New Mexico in February. That would throw me for a loop, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 04:14 PM

And people expect privacy on the Internet and World Wide Web!

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Bobert
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 04:39 PM

Well, I prolly live closest to Linden than any other Mudcatter... We are 35 miles south of Front Royal and Linden is 'bout 7 miles east of Front Royal on Rt. 55... Ain't much to Linden... More an area than a actual town...

I will say this, however, that there is a string of homes and businesses along Rt. 55 that is ver much "snaggle tooth" looking... There is also a mountain developement that has some nice mountain homes and some not so nice mountain homes...

As fir volunteering to ride up tghere and hunt out some rip-off artist??? Not my bag... Like I said, Linden has more than it's share of snaggle-tooths...

I know 'cause I gotta drive thru it to get to I-66 to go D.C....

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: SharonA
Date: 27 Jul 07 - 06:28 PM

Yeah, come to think of it, with the price of gas being what it is these days, you could spend enough $$$ driving to Front Royal and Fairfax to buy another pendant someplace else.

LOL, heric -- now Keely is Veta's granddaughter?! Hey, who knows, it could be so.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: M.Ted
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 09:15 PM

Curious how this little episode of CyberSleuthing (a euphemism) is going--my suggestion--contacting the credit card company, is still the most effective one--if you didn't use a major credit card, you learned a nice lesson for next time, and paid cash for it--

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Big Mick
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 09:30 PM

Well, that's a nice country boy, but no one is asking you to hunt someone down.

I spoke with Veta, and Kelly is her daughter. Apparently there has been a case Lyme disease, and a great many medical problems. That being said, I asked Mrs. Collins (even though I knew the answer when I asked) why the money was not returned, as the illness is well over a year old. She indicated that she didn't believe her daughter would have spent the money. We had a decent conversation, and I believe she knows that this is true. Bottom line..... the money is gone and that's that.

I sure appreciate the info you have all shared, and the hard work several of you did. The PM's you have sent me are what allowed me to reach this woman. I am working in an area where I can't get online regularly, so I have had to drop in from time to time.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 07:10 PM

So, I guess I don't have to take that road trip? Y'all are being a little cryptic...

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 07:59 PM

Well, shoot, Mrrzy... Ya' can always come over the mountain to Luray and say, "Hey"... Or if you wanta hear some groovin' North Mississippi Hill Country Blu8es, my band is playin' at "The Pub" this Saturday night... We start 'round 9:30... The legendary "Catfish Hodge" will be playin' just before us with the Gary Smallwood Band right after us...

Bobert (alias Sidewalk Bob)

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Aug 07 - 08:00 PM

Opps, that's in Harrisonburg...

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: GUEST,Sam
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 04:26 PM

Damn... I wish I knew that this business was a POS before I ordered my pendant!! Ok, I put in an order for it on the 22nd of this month. Almost 10 days later, I have written them multiple emails (prolly 5 or so) about this order. It hasn't been processed or anything yet. I'm guessing that this item won't even be shipped if it does process (which I hope it doesn't now), after reading on a few other sites about this business. So, hopefully Kelly or whoever will close down their site soon and refund whoever needs to be...

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: Sorcha
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 05:16 PM

I wouldn't hold my breath, Sam.

Subject: RE: BS: Linden, VA - any Mudcatters close?
From: M.Ted
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 08:10 PM

Harrisonburg? Wait a minute....