A Montville small business owner has been in a bind.
Shierka Billips spent almost $36,000 on a printer to expand her business, SVG on Demand.
But she never received it, so she called NBC CT Responds for help.
Billips purchased the printer from OmniPrint International, a California-based company, at a tradeshow this spring.
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She said she was told to expect the printer in June.
But June comes and goes, “No printer,” she said.
July, August, September - still no printer had arrived.
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In a conversation with Billips in September, she told NBC CT Responds that at first, she was slowly getting excuse after excuse from employees and then, “No contact. No replies to my emails. I made TikTok videos tagging them. I have emailed over and over.”
Billips has built more than just a successful business from her Montville basement, she’s built a crafting community.
Social media followers call her the “Crafting Cousin.”
She doesn’t just inspire folks online, but she sells screen print transfers online, too.
“I started making digital designs with afros and different designs that looked like me and it went crazy because there was nowhere to find that kind of design,” Billips said.
This spring, Billips was ready to build on her brand, so she decided to make this big investment.
Her customers and social media followers were looking forward to her future products.
While she was waiting for answers about the printer, OmniPrint International was advertising its presence at a September trade show in Las Vegas.
“That makes me upset, right? Because they’re out here making their money,” Billips said.
After NBC CT Responds reached out to the company, Billips said she got a call in September from the CEO promising her a refund.
We confirmed this with an OmniPrint International employee, too.
Billips was thrilled, but weeks went by, and still nothing.
NBC CT Responds has since discovered similar complaints about OmniPrint International online.
USAMM.com, a Texas military uniform and screen-printing company, said it never received the printer it purchased either.
“They’re taking money, but they are not shipping any product,” owner Jared Zabaldo told NBC CT Responds.
We reached out to OmniPrint International about the Texas company’s situation but never heard back.
NBC CT Responds continued to ask about the whereabouts of Billips refund and got nowhere, until just days before we were planning on running this story.
OmniPrint International wrote to us that Billips refused delivery of the printer.
She said that’s not the case.
In an email, a lawyer for OmniPrint International wrote, “We are currently taking steps to resolve this matter directly with the customer and are committed to reaching an amicable resolution.”
Billips said she’s not giving up hope.
“I’m literally now using my personal credit cards and things like that to just try to stay afloat. This $36,000 could have easily turned into $100,000 in 90 days, easily, was our projection,” said Billips, who says this has been such a hurtful situation.
We’ll keep you posted on the outcome.
A takeaway here: use a credit card when making big purchases so you have more protection. That’s what the Texas business did.
The owner tells us his company got its money back after filing a dispute with the credit card company.
Fortunately, Billips has been able to do that with about half her payment, getting back $20,000.
But she paid the other half of the bill with PayPal.
PayPal’s purchase protection does not cover industrial machinery.
Billips continues to wait for a refund from OmniPrint International.
