If you have found this site, it is probably because you have decided to research a supposed law firm that has sent you a threatening letter demanding a civil payment on behalf of one of their retail clients. You may or may not have been convicted of shoplifting by this retailer. Some have, some have not.
The fact is, Palmer, Reifler and Associates sends out about 1.2 million of these letters every year in an attempt to intimidate you into paying a civil penalty without asking questions or costing them anymore then the price of paper, ink and postage.
Well, before you go shelling out cash to these people, do some research first. This tactic rides a fine line that separates it from a legitimate legal practice and mob-like extortion or shakedown.
First, let me start by telling you what happened to my daughter. My daughter is a good kid. College girl who stays out of trouble; gets good grades; star pitcher for her college softball team; volunteers for charities… I don’t mean to make her sound like a saint, but she is a good kid.
Last year she made a bad decision and shoplifted from a retail chain where she worked. Not realizing how quickly the store would figure this out based on register receipt discrepancies, she was quickly caught and arrested.
She cooperated with the store, plead guilty in court, paid a civil penalty to the store for the amount of the merchandise, paid all lawyer fees, lost her job, suffered the embarrassment of being escorted out of the store in handcuffs and did a summer worth of community service. Bottom line, she screwed up, got busted and took responsibility for her mistake.
Thinking this was all behind her, she went off to school and almost a year later received a threatening letter from a law firm called Palmer, Reifler and Associates demanding that she pay a $1775 civil penalty to the retailer or face further criminal penalties. Sound familiar?
She freaked out over this, but instead of paying this, she immediate contacted the lawyer who handled her case. He explained something to her that we would have never known had she not gotten some legal advice.
What he told us was that Palmer, Reifler and Associates is nothing more than a glorified debt collection agency that has found some loop-hole in the law that lets them exploit the system and shakedown individuals that may or may not have been convicted for shoplifting. Apparently, the retailers give them names of everyone who was involved in anything closely related to shoplifting and Palmer sends out a threatening letter in hopes of scaring you into paying them.
He said that they send out over a million of those letters every year, but only takes about ten cases to court every year. That is 10 out of 1.2 million. He told us to ignore the letters and not waste our time even calling them. He said the name on the letter was just some lawyer they found to carry out their dirty work in our state and not a lawyer employed by their firm.
I started doing more research on this "Law Firm" and what I found really made me sick. I am posting this in hopes that you will do the same and not just be intimated into paying these people. Do some research first. Let them take you to court where you can use your Constitutional right to defend yourself in a court of law with a jury of your peers. Even if this is a civil case, you still have rights. You are only obligated to pay if a judgment has been passed against you in court.
The reason that I am posting this is to spread the word about this practice in hopes that people will not pay them and maybe find a way to stop them. There was a class-action law suit filed against them in June of 2008. You can find information about that if you Google Palmer, Reifler and Associates.
In my opinion, these people are blood-sucking, ambulance-chasing dirt-bags that need to be stopped. I hope to get involved in some cause in the future that helps to make this type of "extortion" illegal.
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31 comments:
Any help you could give me with this firm I would appriciate. My daughter is in a very simuliar situation, except she is a minor. I just recieved the letter in the mail, but it looks more like a collection agency letter then that from a legitimate law firm. Any information you could share would be a big help.
Very helpful, indeed!
We had a similar situation with our daughter, who actually did not shoplift. She concealed an item, then had a change of heart and handed it back to the cashier. The store security person freaked, and she was arrested anyway.
But this 'Law Firm' has done exactly the same with her. They don't actually have any info on the 'case'--they just sent the demand. They even got her last name wrong. But we just received another letter, with the settlement at $600, double the first demand.
If they want to fight us, I'll be prepared.
You are doing a great service! Keep up the good work.
I too got the letters, about 6 over a 2 month period, I had already researched them and made the decision not to pay and take my chances in civil court, besides they were demanding well over my California 500.00 parental torte liability. They were also making weekly phone calls that were pissing me off, I called them and made it clear that I would not send them a dime, and told them "come to Ca and serve me, I will only pay if ordered by a judge." The letters and phone calls abruptly stopped, I take satisfaction that they bore administrative costs to pitch me, in my case only P&R paid any monies
I too have been getting letters from this law firm. My daughter wasn't the girl who stole the item from Icing store....$14 dollars. But she was with the group of girls that got caught and now they are trying to extort money from every one of the girls. I won't give them a dime. I am glad to see I am not alone.
Thank you for posting this. I keep doing research on this "law firm" even before I got my demand because I made the mistake of shoplifting. Obviously, I know my wrong and I definitely don't have the money to pay for it. I keep reading back and forth comments of paying it or not paying it, I think I will decide to take the risk and not pay for it. If anyone has additional follow up on their situation I would love to read more for reassurance. Thank you!
This is crazy this company sent me a letter also i took my children to get there ear pierced at claires in the mall and paid the total they gave me two days later they left a voice mail on my phone stateing i owed them more money for the piercings i thought it was a scam so i never returned the call well 5 days later i recieve a letter from this so called attorneys saying i pay 290 or they are gonna charge me with theift from the store so im trying to figure it all out and as soon as i do i wil repost
I have been receiving letters from this company and have been paying them for about 2 years now and they sent me a letter stating I outer $2600 and failure to do so they will file legal state charges against me. I'm terrified and don't know what to do. I've missed only one month of a payment.
I'm an attorney, and my minor daughter found herself in the same situation. DO NOT pay these scumbags a dime. What they do is a disgraceful abuse of the legal system. They have no intention whatsoever of actually suing you. They simply use fear tactics against vulnerable people to virtually extort money from them. Throw their letters in the trash. If they call, tell them not to call you and hang up. Eventually they'll go away and slither back under their rock.
I have received two letters from this so called law firm; the first letter demanded 500.00 dollars and then 20 days later, they demanded 936.00. i immediately went to a lawyer for legal advice. i was told that these people send letters all the time and will eventually stop harassing you if you ignore them.
So glad of the helpful comments ... our daughter, as well, was caught with a girl who stole something worth about $5; they were wandering through Kmart after the girl's father's car broke down. Our daughter wasn't involved ... and told us about it that day. Later, got a letter from these low-lifes and I started researching it ... was hard to find good info. In the meantime, husband got a 2nd (higher) demand letter ... and he paid! I was so angry, because Kmart had lied and said they had video and had turned it over to prosecuting attorney ... I checked, wanting to know why we hadn't heard about charges ... I will NEVER shop Kmart/Sears again ... and the helpful writers are correct ... these people DON'T get facts, just names, for the most part and it's pathetic that they haven't been shut down ... by the Florida Bar.
I received a letter also. I live in Louisiana and they say I stole from a Marshalls in Macon Ga. I have never been to any Marshalls let alone one in Ga.
I would love to hear some follow up from some of you after you ignored the letters. How long before they stopped contacting you? Did anyone actually get sued in civil court? I am facing a similar situation and am trying to decide what to do.
I just got one too. I'm ignoring this as well and i heard they can't actually come and get you either
DO NOT PAY THESE CRIMNALS THE WANT TO STEEL FROM HARD WORKING PEOPLE EVEN ID YOU ACCEDENTALY STEEL ONCE IN YOUR LIFE TIME AN ITEM WORTH LESS THAN $500 WHY SHOULD YOU PAY THEM ANYTHING AS LONG AS THE HAD THERE ITEM BACK DO NOPT BE FOILED BY ANYTHING OTHER TAHN THE COURT SYSTEM AND ONLY PAY BY COURT ORDER DO NOT WARRIE ABOUT U GOING TO PAY MORE
do not pay if they treating you by the court tell them you are ready to appear on the cout date belive me they want take to court cost the 10,000 or just to take you to court so they wannt do it to collect $500 to 5,000 no worries just ignore them they do not worth your time
My son is also in this situation. He made a mistake and hopefully has learned from his actions. First letter they demanded $636.99. I told my son to ignore the letter because it was not a court order. After receiving the 2nd letter, they are now demanding double the mount. I'm so glad I found this site. From now on these letters will just go into the shredder just like spam mail. Until I see a court order I will just ignore them!
I was caught shoplifting at an old job at claires, the police were not called I talked to a loss prevention man over the phone and they made me sign a paper before I left stating what the damages where and what I owed. They said I owed $3400. I was told by the loss prevention man that if I had anything that was undamaged that I could return it and the cost may go down so of course I still had anything and it was in perfect condition so I returned it all. He said not to pay anything until the company gets ahold of me and let's me know the amount I have to pay. So I waited and haven't heard anything from them still. It's been about 2 months since it happened. I got a letter from Palmer Reifler and associates in Florida saying I owed $3400. I don't have the money to pay it even if I wanted to considering I'm a college student and am barely working at all. I also got a call a month later from them and it was a recording about having to pay as well. I tried to get in touch with the loss prevention man since and the company and they haven't responded to me yet. I don't know what to do please help!
Don't pay them a dime! Read the other posts about them. They have no legal right to your money. The company you stole from/ returned to is the only one who had the ability to demand anything. Without a police report they can't really do anything, nor do they want to. They don't have time or money it would take to pursue charges. Lawyers are very expensive! They could easily run up $3500 in legal fees and get nowhere. Palmer & co. prey on misfortune and take money from people. They are sending out hundreds of these letters, knowing that some will pay. Easy money for them. But even if you paid them, it would have no effect on your case.
Let them threaten you; but ignore their calls and letters. They cannot legally do anything to you and will eventually give up.
Three and a half years ago these people tried to get money from us through the same scam. I followed advice and paid them nothing. They gave up after a while. After 3 years we are still fine and no harrassment.
so i was caught shoplifiting when i was 15 and got letters from these guys. and i ignored them they went away. i got caught shoplifitng again when i was 19 and i got letters from these guys again. i ignored them because i remember them being a scare. and i was told by many people not to pay. well its been months and i keep getting letters, and i just got an email from them which has never happened. what should i do? the email was very generic and the link was to their main site, neither of which had any information about my particular case except that it was at walmart and took place a little over 4 months ago. it didnt even say how much they wanted just to make a payment.
im just worried cause i was caught as a minor and both claims are from this office. the total amount they demanded from both incidents is about $1200. but its been 4 months and i just got an email from them. advice?
I'm in the same boat and I'm worried also I worry about this everyday I've done a lot of research and everyone says not to pay they called me about 4 weeks ago and o blocked the number I haven't got any new letters and I haven't got an email. I would try to not worry as much as possible im hoping it disappears
Again, consider this: They make their money by intimidating people. I doubt they even have legal authority to sue you on behalf of the company. It costs thousands of dollars in time and effort for them to take you to court. Didn't the company already get their stuff back? Palmer, R&Ass. just go for easy money. They would rather harass someone else and get their money with no effort. What does it cost to send an email? A nasty letter?
It's basically a scam. If you don't pay, they will first demand more money. Don't fall for it. Stand up and don't pay. Enjoy your life. With us, they eventually gave up after a few letters. That was 3 years ago. All is well.
I gave them back everything I had of course over time I probably lost some of it but I have them a lot more then half everything I could find the thought just scares me of having to pay them all this money that I can't afford to pay
I'm glad I found this, I am 18, and about 3-4 months ago I was caught stealing from a Spencers in Indiana. I wasn't caught myself, but they saw my friend take something and even though I hadn't technically stolen anything, they took my name down and info. The police were called, we both signed a paper saying we would never enter the store again, that is all fine and dandy. She stole 2 things, they were drinks, some Bob Marley drink for herself, and a Yoohoo for me. I offered to pay, they told me I couldn't, I was very cooperative and calm, they told me nothing was going to happen, they told me I'd get a letter about collections, but that it wouldn't be too much. Two weeks later I got a letter in the mail from this place saying I owed them $300 for everything, it scared me half to death, my step-dad paid about $90 of this and I had plans of keeping up payments, but things changed and I moved back to East Tennessee, today I received another letter from them saying I owed them now $525, I'm trying to start college, I have a part-time job as a pizza delivery girl, I make 7.25 an hour plus tips, I can't afford to pay this, I can't afford to make payments, I'm not sure what to do, I'm scared to death that I am going to have debt following me forever now, you all are saying not to pay it, have any of you had anything happen if you didn't pay it?
I am being harassed by this company from a case three years ago involving my child. I am so glad I researched this company. I will disregard their letters, block phone calls and not pay them.
My daughter allegedly took candy, the officer on scene did not do anything and said the store was over reacting. He offered to testify in any civil case on my daughters behalf. I received a letter yesterday from Palmer. They misquoted MA law and lead me to believe I would be liable if a payment was not made in 20 days in the amount of $50.00, their demand. However my daughter could be liable and they could pursue me for statutory damage between $50.0 and $500.00 per their letter. I read the law and it states "the damages shall be: not more than $50.00 in addition to any actual damages incurred if the value of the property is less than $50.00. The property allegedly taken was worth just under $6 and I paid for it. I would even be willing to pay double the damages for the trouble but 10 times seems deceptive. The would like me to put in writing my $5 offer. I called them and told them their claim and letter was in bad faith. There excuse was this letter was sent out without understanding the damages. That is their job. I get that companies need to crack down on theft, however don't take advantage. The CEO of Spencer's stores needs to be aware and I will be writing to the board and him next. I have owned a business and get it and am lucky to understand the law, however customers of these stores need to understand how they are be taking advantage of.
I just received a letter from them in the mail today and I haven't got one from them in over a year. I'm 2015 I made a stupid decision of stealing from my job and returning what I took they are saying o owe $3500 I thought they had gone away since it's been so long this time the letter says I failed to pay the amount should I ignore it also? I thought this problem was gone I even moved and they sent it to my new address.
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