|
|
Dazzling Derek New user Fall River, MA 11 Posts |
You always tend to hear about the bad things that happen to people when making a purchase but not so much about the good things. I am new here to the forum and just thought that I would share a story about my recent purchase.
I reside in MA and have been searching for a brick and mortar store to do business with. Although I have found many online shops and can research the effect/gimmick online its nice to go in somewhere and actually talk to a human face to face. Up until last week I never even knew about Hank Lee's store. I took the hour drive and was pleasantly surprised by the customer service. Although the retail store part was quite small they had a lot of products and information there for me. I made my purchase and walked out completely satisfied. When I got home I started practicing some of my new products and packed up for the next days performance. Unfortunately one of the gimmicks I purchased had a defect. It was no fault of Hank Lee's it was a manufacturer defect. (I should have prepped the gimmick the day before but waited till the last minute) I sent them an email about what had happened and they responded the next day. They sent me a new product without even asking for the old one back first at no charge and simply told me to bring it back on my next trip up to visit. Really cool guys and great customer service. They have earned my business and loyalty. |
David Garrity Special user 525 Posts |
Bob and Steve over there at Hank's are just terrific to work with!!!!
David Garrity
www.MagicalArtist.com Follow me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DavidGarrityMagic |
David Thiel Inner circle Western Canada...where all that oil is 4005 Posts |
That's a great story! Thank you for sharing it.
David
Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Except bears. Bears will kill you.
My books are here: www.magicpendulums.com www.MidnightMagicAndMentalism.com |
Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Thank you Derek! I am also pleased to hear good news regarding Hank Lee's!
Doug |
vdeangelis New user 3 Posts |
Hank's is a nice shop but if you are looking for another really good magic shop in Mass., check out Diamonds Magic in Peabody. Eddie, the owner is terrific and couldn't be more conscientious or pleasant to work with. They are a terrifically current and well supplied place to shop as well.
|
LoyaLover New user 78 Posts |
I beg to differ. I've never heard bad stuff about Hank Lee untill I made an order recently.
It has been a month by now, and the items has yet to arrive. In addition to that, they stop replying my email once payment has been made. These are the issues 1) The bill came and there were foregin charges that ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE INVOICE. 2) Items have still not arrived after A MONTH 3) They CLAIM that they would do a refund because the father's day discount option wasn't working. 4) ZERO replies since payment has been made. |
Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
I think the difference is, Derek actually visited Hank Lee's in Medford, right Derek? You won't usually have a problem doing that. You can find out right then if he has in stock what you want. Mail order, I would avoid like the plague. For that, there's Penguin.
Just sayin'... Doug |
Munseys_Magic Special user 520 Posts |
Any update on Hank Lee? His sentencing was set for 7/20, but I can't find info about it anywhere.
|
Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Hank SENTENCED? Wow. Going to jail? Somehow I cannot imagine that. You have to know (or have known) Hank, to see how unbelieveable that is! I just wish he could have done the right thing. I seem to be repeating myself, so forgive me guys...he used to be my #1 source for magic! He even (indirectly) introduced me to Walter B. Gibson!
"Gibby" and I were friends for years, and he used to send me stuff from his Nashua N.H. shop. Both of us used Hank Lee exclusivley! OMG!! I just found out what the deal is! I had no idea! I don't know how long the site for this will be up, so I'll paste the text here (from medfordpatch.com): The owner of a magic store in Medford is charged with credit card fraud and making false statements to authorties after he tried to pull off a $500,000 trick on one of his customers, according to court filings. Harry P. Levy, the owner of Hank Lee's Magic Factory, admitted he made 134 false transactions between 2009 to 2011 on a customer's American Express card totaling $561,927, according to a stipulation of facts signed by Levy and prosecutors. The document was filed in Federal Court in Boston Friday. The store's website was still operational as of Friday evening. Levy, a Lexington resident, regularly lied to investigators as they looked into the credit card charges last year, the filing said. He also claimed other people were defrauding the victim, the filing said. The victim was a Texas man who ordered regularly online from the Magic Factory, typically using his PayPal account, according to a U.S. Attorney press release. But in 2009, he made a transaction with his American Express card by entering his account information in the store's website, according to prosecutors. One of the victim's assistants spotted the unauthorized charges while reviewing his finances in May 2011, according to court documents. The victim checked his account with the Magic Factory, but only his legitimate purchases appeared, court documents said. Levy told the victim the unauthorized charges paid for foreign orders and showed him invoices with Vietnam shipping addresses, according to the filing. But those invoices were false. "In fact, the charges had been made by (Levy) personally," the filing said. "They had not been made in response to foreign orders." Even the items the victim legitimately ordered with his credit card were never received, according to the filing. When federal investigators sat down with Levy in September 2011, he blamed the fraud on other people defrauding the victim, and the victim himself, according to the filing. "(He) didn't look at his American Express bill for more than two years," Levy told investigators. "People were using his cards." He also claimed he shipped orders submitted by the victim all over the world, prosecutors said. Levy told investigators he continued to take the orders, but eventually stopped shipping them because he "thought something was up," according to the court filing. Levy was ordered to provide investigators with files related to the charges, but he gave them logs that were "not comprehendable by a human," the filing said, and did not provide any specific information. Levy also falsely told investigators he wrote to the victim to tell him someone was using his credit card, prosecutors allege. After several more interviews and a visit to his store, investigators obtained a search warrant for the Magic Factory and found files that showed Levy falsified invoices, the filing said. Levy has agreed to plead guilty to credit card fraud and making false statements, and in exchange prosecutors won't charge him with wire fraud or aggravated identity theft, according to a plea agreement. Levy faces a total of up to 20 years in prison on the charges. Prosecutors will seek a sentence at the "low end of sentencing guidelines," and to have Levy ordered to pay resititution to the victim, according to the plea agreement. No further court dates for Levy have been set, according to a federal court online docket. Oh...man. This makes me physically ill. Was it alcohol? Drugs? WTF? I cannot imagine it's the same guy I used to visit in Boston! Well...this convinces me beyond a shadow of a doubt. 20 years...that's a life sentence for Hank! Doug |
Munseys_Magic Special user 520 Posts |
According to Hank himself, his sentencing was moved (by the prosecution) from 7/20/12 to 9/6/12.
|
Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
So, September sixth is fast approaching...
|
J M Talbot Inner circle 3053 Posts |
He has announced that they have sold the house in an effort to downsize... not sure if it is related.
|
Illuminate . White Label New user 45 Posts |
Rabbit out of Hat...
Hank Lee will be put away for some time... Check out his recent blog post for his comments. |
Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Link?
|
kennewhitson New user Kansas 69 Posts |
Hank got 2 yrs and has to pay $560,000. Unfortunately the folks a t the factory continue the same practices that got them in this situation. Sad, very sad.
|
Munseys_Magic Special user 520 Posts |
Was there ever an article published that said Hank got two years? The "Hank Lee" sign is still hanging outside his warehouse.
|
Munseys_Magic Special user 520 Posts |
Sorry. I just found it: http://medford.patch.com/articles/magic-......rd-fraud
|
Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-07-27 01:50, Dougini wrote: Sorry guys...my bad. That should be WENDALL Gibson, Walter's nephew. Doug |
mndude Special user 878 Posts |
Has anyone talked to him how well he's surviving jail? Sure sucks this happened to him.
|
Michael_Wald New user Massachusetts 18 Posts |
I did business with Hank Lee for over 30 years. Over the years I spent thousands of dollars at this shop. My experiences with him and his staff were uniformly positive. I had no complaints whatsoever, at any point in time.
|
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » From Soup to Nuts » » Hank Lee has done right by me (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.04 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |