Camelback Consign & Design Michael Burns, Mike Burns, Vera Manuz Consignment Store Vampire Steals Consigned Items, Money "Legally" Phoenix Arizona

In Oliver Twist, by Dickens, Fagin is the ugly, self-rightous thief who fosters orphans and trains them to pick pockets. Re-incarnated as Michael Burns, super-villain, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona and opened a consignment store, Camelback Consign & Design.

Burns bypasses the orphans and picks consignor's pockets himself. 

It's a snap. There’s a short contract to sign. It includes a promise of monthly payments based on sales. Burns sends some guys with a truck – including a son or two (Justin, Chad or maybe Paulo) to pick up consignors’ items for a modest fee. It’s fast and simple.

Some things sell. Some don’t. And some are never seen again.

There's another important difference between Dickens' Fagin and Phoenix’ Burns. Fagin, at the end of Dickens' novel, is hanged. Not Burns. He hangs the consignors - his victims - out to dry. 

When a consignor comes to collect payment – Burns won’t put a check in the mail; each consignor must come to him – he hands out a sales report and a check.

Burns coulda been a Harlem Globe Trotter... if checks were basketballs. He bounces them right and left. It’s amazing: the less publicity he gets, the higher his bounce.

My check bounced for $2194 in September '13. The BBB website lists a 12/11/13 complaint that mentions two bounced checks totaling $30,000.00.

Thanks to Call (Channel) 12 for Action, last December, Burns felt compelled to make good on the NSF check I received in September - for sales dating back to July 2013. As of this date (3/28/14) I remain unpaid for all  items sold in August, September and October, when our contract expired.

The key to the scam is the contract each consignor signs. Once inked, that paper protects Burns better than Captain America's shield ever could.

He can take any damned thing he wants. keep your cash. keep your antiques. Whatever. Because that contract means whatever he steals doesn't amount to "theft." Legally, it's "civil breach." Translated, it means the police won't do a thing. You have to take him to court and win. Since the process is so expensive, miserable and time-consuming, no one bothers.

My attorney says the cost can run to $30,000. Even if you win in court, a private investigation of the man indicates that he has no assets of his own. Not even a car. There's apparently nothing to attach or garnishee. 

Say you win in court and you do get paid. HURRAY! you and Burns both cheer. While you recoup a small percent of your costs in time and money, Burns is free to keep scamming.  

The contract I signed guaranteed me 65% cuts of all sales.  

Total reported sales for the three-month contract amounted to $15,966.10. My 65% = $10,377.96. Burns paid me $2200 December. He kept the balance: $8.117.96. Wanna bet he's not claiming the extra income on his tax return?

Burns has my money, but all he can talk about is how much he lost on the deal! The cost of moving the items! The space
they took up in his store and storage facility. The losses sustained because I insisted on making life difficult for him. Poor man! It's heart-breaking.

In mid-October, I picked up my unsold consignment goods. But, upon careful review of the inventory, I found that 79 items were unaccounted for. Some were sold for 10% or less than the minimum price I put on them. Some just vanished. 

Burns assured me that he hadn't sold the flow-blue, antique French china footbath and matching pitcher on which I had set a minimum of $3200. Turns out he sold it, after all, for $225.

I also gave him an African drum with a minimum list price of $525. It was sold for $40. It appraised at $550.

In all, I estimate the value of the items not returned at $19,710.00. Very, very conservatively. 

On February 28th, Burns agreed to pay me $21,036.43 or return items of high value within seven days. He had me write a contract, etc. Except he never paid. And that's the second time I fell for this gambit!

TheBBB has since revoked the accreditation of Camelback Consign & Design and given it a rating of "F" on a scale of A= to F.  Check out the complaints filed there against Burns and Camelback Consign & Design. I'm not the only victim left poorer than I was to start with. 

Yes, I and others have complained to the Arizona Attorney General's office. All I've gotten for the effort are two, identical form letters, dated four months apart, promising to let me know when Burns responds to the AG's request for a response. 

Camelback Consign & Design is under six miles from the offices of the AG. But it can't elicit a response from Burns any more than I can get a reasonable effort from the AG's office. I done been scammed twice as I've paid them both! One gets taxes, the other taxes my commitment to non-violence!

Yes, Virginia, Mike Burns is one smart SOB. He spends most of his time at 1030 E. Camelback Road. 

Drop in for a plucking, anytime.

I've created a blog to track my experiences and make others aware of the scammer's activities. You can find it at camelbackconsignanddesign.blogspot.com.