Michael P. Bean & Associates, Inc.

I received your most recent complaint letter via the Revdex.com.  As you know, I did list your diamonds for sale on March 11, 2014. As you already know from previous discussions you and I have had, our Marketing agreement outlines the terms and conditions which are followed to resell your diamonds.Michael P. B[redacted] and Associates Inc. does not purchase your diamonds from you, they are resold to new or existing customers. You and I discussed the fact that there were a number of clients in line to sell their diamond/diamonds at the time you asked them to be placed on our remarket list. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the list is not shrinking appreciably. We are doing webinars to hire additional brokers and I believe this will help to shrink the number of diamonds on our resale list. Once we reach your position on the list (Which I believe will be a minimum of 12 months from now),we will be reselling your diamonds and as they are sold you will be receive the proceeds for each diamond sold. Your other alternative is for you to send a check for $30.00 for each diamond you own and we will ship your diamonds to you for you to attempt to sell on your own. Please be aware that if you take that approach you will more than likely lose a considerable sum of money.Once again, please be patient and enjoy gaining money when each of your diamonds is sold.If you have any questions, please contact me.   Sincerely,Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates, Inc.Michael P. B[redacted]President

January 4,2017 Please refer to our marketing Agreement attached.  We do not buy back our brokers client's diamonds. We or the original broker resell their Diamond/s on a best efforts basis. The economy has been horrible for the last 4 years and that has resulted in a back log of diamonds...

waiting to be sold for the clients.The fact is Mr. [redacted] and I spoke on January 2, 2017 and he now understands the situation. We will continue our efforts to sell their diamonds when the number of diamonds in front of theirs in line are sold. I hope this clarifies the situation. Sincerely,Michael P. Bean & Associates Inc.Michael P. BeanPresident

Re: Revdex.com complaint ID [redacted] against Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates, Inc.  Dear [redacted]: Attached is a copy of the August 7, 2017 reply letter from Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates, Inc., with the Michael P. B[redacted] and Associates, Inc. Marketing Agreement, and the Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates, Inc. Application for Remarketing sent to me.      Thank you. [redacted]c: Attachment  Re: Revdex.com complaint ID [redacted] against Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates, Inc.  Dear [redacted]: Thank you for your letter dated August 22, 2017.  It was mailed on August 23, 2017.  I did not record when I received it in the mail.  However, since a response was requested within 10 calendar days, I am replying now.  I am not satisfied with the reply Michael P. B[redacted] gave to you, nor am I satisfied with the reply he gave me in his letter.   His letter stated, “As you know, I did list your diamonds for sale on March 11, 2014. I have enclosed a copy of the Michael P. B[redacted] and Associates, Inc. Marketing Agreement for you to review.”  I signed the “Michael P. B[redacted] and Associates, Inc. Application for Remarketing” forms on March 11, 2014 requesting the sale of my diamonds. I sent the forms by Priority Mail Express 1-Day from the post office on March 12, 2014.  The earliest they could have arrived would have been on March 13, 2014.  So, no, I was not aware that my sale was processed two days before the forms were received or before it was known that I was requesting a resell.          I was not made aware of when the sale request was actually processed.  During the last three years since I sent the request, there has not been on going communication initiated from Michael P. B[redacted] to keep me abreast of the status of the sales effort.  I have always been the one to call and ask the status of the sale.   His response to the Revdex.com is that “there are at least 30 sellers before” me.  I was never told in March 2014 how many sellers were before me.  I have not been kept up to date to know when my name moved up to another level.  What number was my name on March 11, 2014?  I was never told. I have never been told the waiting status but would like to be keep informed going forward. I am not satisfied with the response because of the situation I am in with this company.  On December 28, 2012 when I met with Scott J[redacted], representative for Michael P. B[redacted], I was never told any of the information that Michael B[redacted] highlighted and attached to this letter.  The statement says: “FOR VALUE RECEIVED, Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Incorporated of Ohio (the Company) hereby covenants and agrees to use its best efforts to resell the diamond specified below at its then current offering price for a comparable diamond, and to pay 85% of that price when such sale is completed.”  I was never informed of this information beforehand.  I shared with Mr. J[redacted] that I was upset because I had just lost a large amount of money with my investments with [redacted]. This statement was never shown to me; this statement was never verbalized to me. If Scott J[redacted] had shown me or had verbalized this statement to me, I would not have invested my money. I had already lost a lot of money with the [redacted] investment. Had he told me or shown me this statement that my investment would only be paid back, at best case, at only 85% - I would not have given him my money. I would not have invested.  That loss (investment fee) would definitely be much larger than the money lost with [redacted]. I could have kept it in the bank and lost no money if he and Michael P. B[redacted] were honest to disclose this information upfront, before defrauding me upfront.  They deliberately were not transparent and deliberately did not disclose this information to me beforehand. The representative and the company were glad to take my money knowing none of this information was told or given to me. Also highlighted was “The company cannot guarantee that its best efforts will result in the rapid sale of the diamond.”   Prior to me agreeing to invest, no one informed me that historically it could take years to resell the diamonds. If I had been told these two factors beforehand, I would not have invested with Michael P. B[redacted]. In my December 28, 2012 meeting with Mr. J[redacted], I was shown and given the “Investment Diamond Order Form. Nowhere on this form is there any verbiage which contradicted what Mr. J[redacted] had verbally stated during his presentation about this investment.  Nowhere on this form is there a statement saying: “FOR VALUE RECEIVED, Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Incorporated of Ohio (the Company) hereby covenants and agrees to use its best efforts to resell the diamond specified below at its then current offering price for a comparable diamond, and to pay 85% of that price when such sale is completed.”  Nor did it say that it could take years to resell the diamonds. I was not told about this statement and I had not agreed to this either.  Nowhere is my signature acknowledging accepting this statement nor is there my signature acknowledging my knowledge of this information before my money is given to Scott J[redacted] or before my money is used to purchase the diamonds beforehand.   I received a letter dated 12.29.2012 which welcomed me as a client and confirmed that my investment check was received.  Nowhere in this letter is there a statement saying: “FOR VALUE RECEIVED, Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Incorporated of Ohio (the Company) hereby covenants and agrees to use its best efforts to resell the diamond specified below at its then current offering price for a comparable diamond, and to pay 85% of that price when such sale is completed.”  Nor did it say that it could take years to resell the diamonds. In addition, nowhere in this letter is there an acknowledgement that Michael P. B[redacted] has my signature accepting this statement nor is there an acknowledgement that Michael P. B[redacted] has received my signature acknowledging my knowledge of this information before my money was given to Scott J[redacted] or before my money would be used to purchase diamonds beforehand.    I later received a thick package with a letter dated January 14, 2013 regarding diamonds were purchased to fill the order.  Also enclosed was an Invoice for a “balance due …. $354.00.” The letter further stated that all the documents related to this purchase were enclosed: “(1) Fully completed investment diamond order forms. (2) A certificate for each of your diamonds purchased. (3) An Original, (Copy on file), Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Marketing Agreement for each of your diamonds. (4) A retrieval from storage form, which you may send at any time to have your diamonds shipped to you.”  Seeing how thick the package was, I did not read each page. I relieved on the information given to me by Scott J[redacted] in his presentation in our face to face meeting.Nowhere in this letter dated January 14, 2013, is there a statement saying: “FOR VALUE RECEIVED, Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Incorporated of Ohio (the Company) hereby covenants and agrees to use its best efforts to resell the diamond specified below at its then current offering price for a comparable diamond, and to pay 85% of that price when such sale is completed.” Nor did it say that it could take years to resell the diamonds.   In addition, nowhere in this letter is there an acknowledgement that Michael P. B[redacted] has my signature accepting this statement nor is there an acknowledgement that Michael P. B[redacted] has received my signature acknowledging my knowledge of this information before my money was given to Scott J[redacted] or before my money would be used to purchase diamonds beforehand.   Neither was this statement included on the “INVOICE,” “Investment Diamond Order Form,” “Retrieval from Storage” form, or the “Application for Remarketing” form – all forms from Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates, Inc.I received a letter dated February 14, 2013, for my second investment. Later, another letter dated February 27, 2013 was received.  Nowhere in these letters was there a statement saying: “FOR VALUE RECEIVED, Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Incorporated of Ohio (the Company) hereby covenants and agrees to use its best efforts to resell the diamond specified below at its then current offering price for a comparable diamond, and to pay 85% of that price when such sale is completed.”  Nor did it say that it could take years to resell the diamonds.  In addition, nowhere in this letter is there an acknowledgement that Michael P. B[redacted] has my signature accepting this statement nor is there an acknowledgement that Michael P. B[redacted] has received my signature acknowledging my knowledge of this information before my money was given to Scott J[redacted] or before my money would be used to purchase diamonds beforehand.        I received a letter dated March 27, 2013 for my third investment. Nowhere in this letter was there a statement saying: “FOR VALUE RECEIVED, Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Incorporated of Ohio (the Company) hereby covenants and agrees to use its best efforts to resell the diamond specified below at its then current offering price for a comparable diamond, and to pay 85% of that price when such sale is completed.” Nor did it say that it could take years to resell the diamonds.  In addition, nowhere in this letter is there an acknowledgement that Michael P. B[redacted] has my signature accepting this statement nor is there an acknowledgement that Michael P. B[redacted] has received my signature acknowledging my knowledge of this information before my money was given to Scott J[redacted] or before my money would be used to purchase diamonds beforehand.       I made a total of three investments with the representative and with Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates, Inc.  My meeting with the representative was always face to face.  I was never given any disclosure nor a full disclosure regarding the 85% rule or the fact that it could take years to resell the diamonds.  Had I been informed and aware of these terms, I would not have invested my money with this company.  It was not until March 11, 2014, when I was ready to request the sale of my diamonds and to complete the Application for Remarketing forms, that I read the content of the Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Marketing Agreement form.  The sell request documents were sent by Priority 1 Day Mail Express on March 12, 2014.  Three orders had been placed with the representative Scott J[redacted].  Who knew it was truly a game of hide and seek. Those damaging terms and conditions were hiding in with all those other diamond related papers. Those terms and conditions that no one was willing to disclose upfront. No one wanted these terms and conditions to be known before Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates get your money and spend it. Then it’s a catch-22 – it would be years before you get out of this merry-go-round, now that your money is tied up – year after year after year. To my distressed, I then realized that I had been defrauded all of these years. I ask myself why wasn’t there a full disclosure of this information on December 28, 2012, when I met with Scott J[redacted]? As a check and balance, why didn’t any of the letters,  the INVOICE, the Investment Diamond Order Form, the Retrieval from Storage form, or the Application for Remarketing form from Michael P. B[redacted] Inc. include the statement: FOR VALUE RECEIVED, Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Incorporated of Ohio (the Company) hereby covenants and agrees to use its best efforts to resell the diamond specified below at its then current offering price for a comparable diamond, and to pay 85% of that price when such sale is completed?  .” Why wasn’t it explained that it could take years to resell the diamonds?  If there is no goal to create a fraud, if Michael P. B[redacted] believes in their product, why not disclose this information upfront – before you take people’s money? Why hide the Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Marketing Agreement form, with this statement on it, among the volume of papers the client gets later once they have spent the money to buy the diamonds? Why not be fair to the client and provide full disclosure? To protect both the client, the representative, and the company, why wasn’t there a form, that both the representative and the client must sign, with this disclosure statement on it? One copy would go to the client and the other (s) to the company. It is not acceptable to me for Michael P. B[redacted] to send me a copy of the Michael P. B[redacted] & Associates Marketing Agreement form, with this statement highlighted – after the fact.  To handle it this way, is simply a slap in the face to me because it shows me that they were aware of their business misconduct and non-disclosure. Why not make sure each representative gave each client that highlighted statement before the client commits money to invest. A signature by both the client and the representative, with these disclosures statements listed, would have been the proper way to have submitted the order to the company.  This method would have provided full disclosure and both sides agreeing and understanding the terms of the contract.   Based upon the way my personal situation was handled, I was not given full disclosure before I invested my money with Michael P. B[redacted], Inc.: I was not told about the 85% rule by Scott J[redacted] or the company before investing. Nor was I told that it could take years to resell the diamonds. He did not sign anything showing this fact nor did I sign anything showing that I agreed with this 85% because I wasn’t made aware of this upfront before I invested my money. Thus, I feel that an exception should be made, in my case, and Michael P. B[redacted], Inc.  should be obligated to immediately sale my diamonds and send me my proceeds.  I should not have to wait for anyone else in front of me.  Had I known the 85% rule, I would not have invested with Michael P. B[redacted]. It has been three years since I asked for the resale of my diamonds. Every time I’m told certain persons are ahead of me.  What legal agency is monitoring this “list?”  This excuse can go on forever. When will it stop?  It serves to benefit the company and not the client. It’s a forever moving target. I want a waiver to get out of this 3-year restrictive waiting. I want my diamonds sold now -since I was not given full disclosure of the 85% rule before I invested, nor did anyone say that it could take years to resell the diamonds before I invested. In addition, I do not feel that only 85% pay out is valid for me due to the lack of full disclosure before my investment. I feel that my payout should be at a higher rate.  Why is this company not held to a fiduciary responsibility and due diligence for its clients?  Thanks for your assistance. Sincerely, [redacted]