Query about "Czechmarionettes.com"

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous (Czech-Related)' started by jgidley, Sep 29, 2008.

  1. jgidley

    jgidley Member

    Dear Friends,

    I am wondering if anyone knows if the company calling itself
    "Czechmarionettes s. r. o."
    is a bona fide supplier of Czech Marionettes or an online scam?

    The address they give online is
    Czech Marionettes
    Korenskeho 11
    150 00 Prague 5
    Czech Republic
    PH: +420 257 31 00 39

    And the contact is via email:
    info@czechmarionettes.com

    Their URL is
    http://www.czechmarionettes.com/

    I had seen them recommended on a puppetry discussion board and I have ordered two marionettes from them over four weeks ago but have had nothing arrive as yet. I have emailed them several times with no reply and tried to phone them but with no answer.

    I live in Australia so I cannot follow this up locally.

    I would appreciate any local knowledge on this situation.

    Very much appreciated in advance.

    Dr Jennifer Gidley
    Educational Psychologist
    East Melbourne
    Australia
     
  2. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    I don't know this company, but it's in offical trade register with address you wrote.

    Czech Marionettes, s.r.o
    Praha 5, Kořenského 1038/11, PSČ 150 00

    -----

    accountable person:

    Thomas Davis Fuller , born 20.06.1962
    New York, Brooklyn, Spenser street 3, apt. 4B, 11208
    USA

    Czech address: Praha 5 - Smíchov, Lidická 284/42, 150 00
     
  3. jgidley

    jgidley Member

    Thanks Thomas,

    Hopefully this is a good sign and they will deliver the goods.

    Jennifer
     
  4. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Thomas is guy who is in trade register stated as accountable person for Marionettes company :)
     
  5. doodlin

    doodlin New Member

    I have also been scammed!! Isent an order in Aug. and have never received it. They also would not answer my inquiries!! Am also having problems with the Art Shop. This does not look good for the Czech Republic.
     
  6. Petr_B

    Petr_B Well-Known Member

    Czechmarionettes s. r. o. (s.r.o. = Ltd.) is not the same as the Czech Republic! ;)

    Anyway, is there a relation of Czechmarionettes.com (the website doesn't work at the moment) with http://www.czechmarionettes.cz/ or even http://www.czechmarionettes.org/?
     
  7. jgidley

    jgidley Member

    Hello,

    I was the person who posted the original message. Firstly, I have still not received any goods nor ever received any response to my email queries.
    I am in the process of trying to retrieve the lost money through my bank. I note that the original website address I gave is no longer working so I suspect that they have been exposed - perhaps by our posts here?

    While I agree that this fraudulent website is not the the same as the Czech Republic, I am wondering if the Czech government has any watchdog departments that would investigate such a fraud? If not they need to do so. Clearly the frauds gave an address which could very easily be checked and as ESO pointed out above they are in the official trade register with a person named. This kind of online fraud should be investigated by the Czech republic or it will in the longrun get the Czech Republic a bad name in terms of online business services at least.

    I have been to Prague and it is one of my favourite cities in the whole world, but I would no longer trust a website that has a czech address because I don't believe there are sufficient regulations in place. For example re the websites mentioned by Petr_B, I think the second one http://www.czechmarionettes.org/ is a bona fide puppet theatre company between Czech republic and New York and has a new york address.

    However the second address http://www.czechmarionettes.cz/ which relates to an individual puppet maker I would not trust now. For all I know it may the other frauds just reconstituted as a new website. This is the problem with the CR not policing its registered businesses. Surely there must be more than two people in the world who have been defrauded by the frauds posing as

    Czech Marionettes
    Korenskeho 11
    150 00 Prague 5
    Czech Republic
    PH: +420 257 31 00 39

    The non-policing of officially registered businesses in Prague will do damage to all the many authentic businesses trying to do ethical online business.

    Sincerely

    Dr Jennifer Gidley
    East Melbourne,
    Australia
     
  8. doodlin

    doodlin New Member

    I didn' mean to insult anyone with my reply, I only meant to infer that there would be a mistrust of doing business on line. These puppets are the most beautiful ones in the world and it is unfortunate that some one is giving you people a bad name. Then again it doesn't surprise me as money does strange things to people! I am wondering if there is a connection to the Art Shop as they have done the same thing to me and I am out of considerable money from both companies! What a shame.
     
  9. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Hardly, as the name listed is American!
    accountable person:
    Thomas Davis Fuller , born 20.06.1962
    New York, Brooklyn, Spenser street 3, apt. 4B, 11208
    USA
     
  10. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

  11. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    Up-date: I was in Smíchov this afternoon so I went along to 42 Lidická to see what's there.

    It's the same building where Kava Kava Kava is - a well-known coffee shop. But there are several floors, with lots of flats so I went into the passage and there were all the postboxes with people's names on them, including Thomas Fuller and Nikita Fullerová, Czech Marionettes. There were bells to the flats but they didn't have their name on one of them.

    Unfortunately, I didn't have time to see what's at Korenského 11 but I'll try to get there next week.
     
  12. jgidley

    jgidley Member

    Dear Polednikova,

    I very much appreciate that you are following up on this issue. This will be very helpful information as those of us who have been misled try to retrieve our money.

    I look forward to hearing from you further when you have time to investigate Korenského 11 to see whether there is a marionette shop or distributor there.

    Warm regards,

    Jennifer
     
  13. Jodie

    Jodie New Member



    Hi Doodlin,
    Which company do you mean by Art Shop? Rici Marionettes, their webside is www.czechmarionettes.cz
    What sort of problems do you have with them? I was thinking to buy some marionette of them, so better let me know if you have any bad experience with them.
    Thank you
    Jodie
     
  14. Jodie

    Jodie New Member

    Hi Jennifer,
    I have found the webside www.czechmarionettes.com transfered to www.mymarionettes.com , last week they were using www.czechpuppetsmarionettes.com . It looks like they are changing the address often, propably because of visibility. More people will find their link this way. It seems to be the same company as there are same photos of marionettes.
    I hope this information will help.

    Kind regards

    Jodie
     
  15. jgidley

    jgidley Member

    Dear Jodie,

    Thank you and yes this is definitely the same website just with a slightly modified name. Obviously this must be how they are able to keep scamming and getting new people in to their fraudulent operation.

    Surely there must be something that can be done to make them responsible for their theft of people's money.

    I will try contacting the websites that "eso" listed
    Thanks,

    Jennifer
     
  16. Polednikova

    Polednikova Well-Known Member

    I managed to get to Smichov again and went to see what's at Kořenského 11. It's a large building that looks as though it's mainly flats although on the ground floor there is what could be some sort of office, with vertical blinds.

    Anyway, I was standing at the door, looking at the names on the buzzers - there was no Czechmarionettes or Fuller listed - when I woman came out. She asked if I needed any help and I said I was looking for Czechmarionettes or the Fullers. She knew them but said they were no longer there and had moved to Lidická. So we know that they don't have two premises but that they are definitely living on Lidická.

    As she didn't speak English, we had to rely on my Czech and I managed to explain that my friends had ordered some marionettes but hadn't received them. She didn't look surprised and said they they had also had problems with the Fullers.

    Very kindly, she gave me her phone number but more usefully, her husband's phone number and he does speak English. So if anyone wants to make contact with him, pm me and I'll let you have the number.
     
  17. MissingMyOldCouple

    MissingMyOldCouple New Member

    Hi!
    My name is Lee. I sent my money in for the "Old Couple" marionettes in July of 2008. They took my money, sent an automated response email, followed by another saying that they were "going through a difficult time."

    They would not answer any other emails. I asked my credit card company to cancel, but they said that I would have to settle directly with the company.

    I contacted the Czech Republic Embassy, which gave me a list of lawyers and wished me well.

    I now have time to work on this to get my money back or the product and would appreciate any ideas.

    I trusted these people and wanted to do nursing home shows with these marionettes and my grandchildren...
    - Thanks for your time... - Lee
     

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