Before anyone jumps at this, check this Washington Post article out.   http://tinyurl.com/Production-Firm-Stirs-Suspicion

They are operating as both Breakthroughs with Martin Sheen, and InFocus with Martin Sheen.  If you have any doubt about their authenticity, or lack thereof, check out who they claim to use as a distributor:  "Public Television Distributors, Inc.".  They claim that this company has distributed shows like National Geographic, going back 56 years.  If you go the website for that company, you will find a beautiful, high production quality website, and a beautiful picture of a building supposedly in Burbank.    The phone number gives you two choices: Choice 1 "Distribution" takes you to a timed loop and then leave a message; Choice 2 "Accounting" takes you to an invalid choice message.  The website's domain "publictelevisiondistributors.com" was only created and first registered in 2011 (odd for a 56 year old established company in the media business).  And there is no record of such a corporation in California, New York, Florida, Illinois, Delaware, or Arizona.  It is clearly a front set up to cover a loose end for the scammers in Boca Raton.

One of their promises is that they will get your "show" on public television stations.  However public television station policy is generally to run any program that is "pay to play".  Their so called airing schedule is completely bogus, and out of date.  Ask them when they have actually run a program on a public television station in a major market. 

They also promise your program will run 400 times on cable television in major markets on channels like CNBC, MSNBC, CNN or channels of your choice.  Think about it though.  They could not possibly do that for less than hundreds of thousands of dollars of air time.  Those cable channels are not giving away their air time.  Selling ad time is how they make money.

Also, think about their pitch:  I'll bet they told you they were in a hurry because they were closing out their program on this subject, which just happens to be in your area of expertise. (They may not have called you saying they wanted sell you on the idea of you paying for a program.  Instead they probably said they were looking for experts in the subject.  Then, after they get you turned around to thinking you want to do this, for about $25,000 to $30,000, they need all their money up front.  Let me assure you, no legitimate producer in the video industry gets all their money up front.  There is almost always a payment schedule, with payments due at successive steps (on signing, script completion, shooting, etc.) with a holdback for final delivery.

I am sure they will produce you a quick knock it out production.  But they want to make sure they have all your money before you realize that the rest of their promises were a total sham.  And then good luck getting your money back.

I do not know why Martin Sheen has apparently not tried to stop them.  I think he is more reputable than that.  My guess is that he got snookered into some quick production deal, including the use of his name, and is now afraid of a lawsuit for breaking the contract.  Who knows.

Advice:  Say "Thanks, but NO THANKS", and then tell them to never contact anyone at your organization again.

Caller: Breakthroughs and InFocus with Martin Sheen

Call Type: Telemarketer

From: Andy A
Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2013 2:02 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: wrong product sent.

Ordered the ULTRA set but got the regular ones instead.

I am totally disappointed. 

From: [email protected]
To:
Subject: RE: wrong product sent.
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2013 18:32:06 -0800

Send me pix please

Louis Kiss

Owner/Inventor: GRAB-IT PACK PRODUCTS

From: Andy A
Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2013 7:14 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: wrong product sent.

they don't have the clips on the smaller pockets and they're flimsy.

From: [email protected]
To:
Subject: RE: wrong product sent.
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2013 20:41:56 -0800

That is an accident and sorry about that.  Please send them back to me via priority mail and let me know the cost and tracking number.  I will refund your shipping and send you the proper items.

From: Andy A
Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2013 9:53 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Julie A
Subject: RE: wrong product sent.

I never had to pay for return shipping before. most business would email me a prepaid label to use and they come to me to pick up. Now I have to make an extra trip to the Post Office then wait another week for my order? Look at the history of this email, look at all your replies, then tell me how YOU would feel about customer service? You should just let me have these a gift for all the problems. The post office is out of the way so give me a few days to send them back.

Andy

From: [email protected]
To:
Subject: RE: wrong product sent.
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2013 09:41:32 -0700

I’m not a multimillionaire corporation and I have been politely answering your emails during the weekend as well as admitting to a mistake however I see an apology as well as the remedy will  not make you happy.

Keep them and I will refund your money.

From: Andy A
Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:49 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Julie A
Subject: RE: wrong product sent.

Is that a joke? Is that your answer??? Of course I am NOT HAPPY!!! My friends and family also thinks you have a cocky attitude. Maybe it is natural for you. I am very upset with your service and I would really rather have had the ultra version too. The regular one is cheaply made with weak clips and thin fabric. Even the waist and leg belt seems flimsy. There's a tag that says "Made in China". But as a business person, not a millionaire,  you don't realize the problem YOU created and how word of mouth travels fast on the internet. No this is not a threat but the facts are in black and white and a picture says a thousand words. YES, you admitted to a mistake (that at first you doubted). ALL other businesses that I have worked with never treats their customers in this manner. "Send me pix please", "That is an accident and sorry about that." Now ask your mother what is wrong with these sentences? All I have to do is publish your email, in a blog, the way it is. See what others may think? And last of all, what remedy are you talking about? Nothing was fixed. All I got was nothing but a cheaply made belt pack that I can show off to friends.

I am sorry that you feel offended from your actions and that I could not get the product that I properly ordered. Was treated as a liar and then I got a really bad excuse and an apology. Then to add salt to the wound you make more excuses that your customer can't take a joke. Please review the history of our conversation and tell me if it was you, would you be HAPPY with this shopping experience?

This year I had the privilege of being invited to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and was able to attend on Friday which was the last day of the event.  Throughout the previous week I carefully planned who I wanted to visit and get a feel for possibly having a GRAB-IT PACK PRODUCTS booth in 2013

In an event I can only call “serendipity” I saw a posting on Twitter with a link to the World’s first ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE STORE which is located in Las Vegas.  Since I was going to be in town I wrote them an email stating I am a makeup effects artist that has played a Zombie in numerous films and that my product would be PERFECT for their store.  The night before leaving I received an email that told me to “stop on by!”

While perusing the CES booth catalog I noticed a few carrying case lines attending and to my surprise a product similar to mine was also there.  Since I never saw their product other than online I was excited to see what they were all about.

I’m not going to mention their name for reasons that will become obvious as you read this story.

The ride from Los Angeles to Vegas went well and I enjoyed catching up on podcasts that were months old and taking up space on my iPod.  Traffic was extremely light early in the morning and I arrived at 11am to find one last parking space directly across from the Convention Center.  My daughter would have said, “Rock star parking!”

After getting my badge that had my name and GRAB-IT PACK PRODUCTS printed on it, I noticed I was being stared at by a gentlemen standing next to me at the tram stop to the main room.  He asked me what the Grab-it Pack was and I showed him.  He then went on to say, “You emailed me the other night, I own the Zombie Apocalypse Store!”

This was an amazing coincidence and we spoke the whole bus ride which made me really excited to see his store.  I got directions and hoped I would get the chance to stop by after the show.

Upon entering the main floor I visited the booths with the carrying bags.  Everything was impractical, high fashion, and overly priced.  Nothing I would even consider competition since it is an entirely different league.

Eventually I arrived at the booth I specifically wanted to see.  The display was mediocre at best and when I saw their products up close I couldn’t believe the amount of money they charge.  However if there was one thing I was jealous of, it was their ability to advertise and market to the masses.  THAT is why they charge so much!

I carefully examined them at length and then decided it was time to speak with the booth attendant.  A few seconds passed as I tried to vie his attention from his infatuation with reading an instruction manual of some sort.  I introduced myself and stated we sale items to mutual distributers.  He stated he was a marketer for the main company and that I needed to have one product per year in order for them to have any interest in my company.

I noticed he wasn’t even paying attention to me anymore and I stated, “I can handle that.”  I don’t think he heard me and I couldn’t understand the reason for his attitude since no one was in the booth.

He then asked me, “Do you like looking at naked girls?”  I only responded with a perplexed look and a painful reminder that I did see the movie SHOWGIRLS when it opened.  Does he think I’m like Nomi Malone?  That’s the main character in the movie, a bumpkin type that just fell off the turnip truck in the big city.  I just saved you the pain of searching out this horrible film in order to understand my ridiculous comparison.

He began to slightly escort me out of the booth while he said, “There is a DJ down this way and go right where the music is loud.  There are some near naked hot girls dancing around.”

I looked at him even more perplexed and all I could gather after being so astounded by the absurdity of the situation was, “Ok? Thanks?”  Is this why “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”?  He turned his back on me quickly and got back to reading.

The time was passing slow and I was pretty much done with the trade show at this point so I called the Zombie Apocalypse store and arranged a meet up time in 45 minutes.

Right up the street from TREASURE ISLAND I found the destination and had a blast checking out the store.  Customers were all asking me about what I was wearing.  Mike the owner proudly stated, “That’s his product and we are now carrying it!”

I left his store with a cool t-shirt and made new friends with similar interests.  On my drive home I realized I had an overall better business experience with someone who was genuine, honest, and proud of their business rather than someone that pumped thousands of dollars into a booth.

I’m sure the booth did well due to their exposure but customer service and just plain awesomeness is something that can’t be patented.  Worse yet, it’s hard to recover from someone that just treated you like a tool.

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