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It's Time to Come Clean About the "Solomon's Secret" Pre-Order

7/1/2016

9 Comments

 
I have been living in South Carolina for less than a year. While I still have a lot to learn about local and regional culture, I have picked up a few things.  In the spirit of my adopted home, I made this card for J. Hutton Pulitzer:
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If you don't understand the meaning of the phrase, look it up in the Urban Dictionary.

Pulitzer has been taking "pre-order" money for books titled Solomon's Secret and Commodus's Secret since at least November of 2014. He's been taking money and providing in return a "100% guarantee" that those who pre-ordered the book(s) can get their money back at any time. The estimated shipping date, meanwhile, has been a moving target.  When I wrote about all of this during #Swordgate, the websites and videos advertising the books suddenly disappeared. I've been contacted by several people who tell me they've tried to contact Pulitzer to get their money back, but their emails go unanswered (PayPal does not refund money after 180 days, so that's no longer an option for those that ordered the package long ago). The last online presence for marketing the books that I'm aware of (a Facebook page) became inaccessible last night as Pulitzer made this promise on the Fake Hercules Swords Facebook group through a third party:​
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J. Hutton Pulitzer, bless your heart!

It's hard to know exactly where to begin with this farce.

There is no evidence that there are, or ever have been, any books to ship. This isn't a matter of a few people not getting their orders: as far as I know, no-one who has paid has gotten anything. Making it seem like it's just a problem with a few errant orders is ridiculous.

The tech mogul doesn't keep records of payments? He's trying to shift the burden to you now to prove that you already paid your money? No-one has gotten the books, and yet now each person who paid has to demonstrate that they paid in order to be put on a list of those who haven't gotten the books? It's a joke that's not funny anymore.

I got an email just a few days ago from someone (who wishes to remain anonymous) explaining his situation to me. He forwarded to me what he received when he paid for the books back in November of 2014. Here is a transcript of the communication he got from the National Treasure Society:


"From: National Treasure Society <nationaltreasuresociety@gmail.com>
To: xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, November 20 xxxxxxx
Subject: Solomon's Secret LIMITED EDITION KIT Purchase

Dear Xxxxx,

You can download Solomon's Secret LIMITED EDITION KIT at

https://www.e-junkie.com/d/?t=1xxxxxxx

Please note, the download link will expire after 5 attempts.

Thank you for your PRE-ORDER of Solomon's Secret.  You will get a  downlad link so you can downlaod your ORDER COPY- this is NOT THE BOOK.  The BOOK COMES IN HARD COPY!  The downlod is just your recepit and instructions."


You can tell by the typos and the ALL CAPS that Pulitzer is the probable author of the email.

When I click the link it takes me to this:
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And when I click on that link, I get this message:

"This download link (https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/df.php?txn_id=XXXXX) has expired. Please contact the merchant at nationaltreasuresociety@gmail.com."
That's it. You're at a dead end. Several people have told me that Pulitzer and/or whoever is supposed to be answering the emails is not replying to their requests for instructions on getting a refund. Notice that this person ordered in 2014, so the 180 day PayPal window has long since closed. I wrote an email to publisher@InvestigatingHistory.org (as the Rip-Off Report response stated I should) but have not gotten a response.  The person who emailed me the receipt wrote this:

"Andy,

This is what I got when I pre-ordered the Solomon's secret book. The link never gave me anything when I clicked it. Now its expired. No one responds to emails at the gmail account. I finally got Pulitzer to respond to a message on Facebook. He told me I had to get a refund through PayPal. But, PayPal only lets you do that for 6 months. Then you are out of luck."

I extend an open invitation to Pulitzer to visit us on Facebook and explain what is going on with these book orders.  

My unsolicited advice is this: refund all the money to everyone and then let those who still want the books (should they ever be produced) order them again. That would be the responsible thing to do at this point.  

I think there are probably legal options available to those of you who have attempted to get your money back but have been unsuccessful. 
9 Comments
Trevor
7/1/2016 07:19:37 am

This scam has gone on for far too long. He's a con and always has been.

Reply
Peter Geuzen
7/1/2016 08:15:51 am

I think it's time to start a Top Ten List. +++Jovan's Top Ten Reasons He Can't Ship Your Order Or Refund Your Money+++. As this farce and the inevitable stalling tactics unfold in the weeks ahead, we can rearrange the list based on how flippin nutbar the excuses are.

Number 1 - I need all the people that sent me orders that I already have records of, to send me proof that I should have records of your order. You are guilty on not ordering until you prove that you are guilty of ordering.

Reply
Peter Geuzen
7/3/2016 07:58:27 pm

Number 2 - You have to go through PayPal....even though I know there is a 6 month time limit after which PayPal does nothing for you and that I've used to my advantage to rip you off, you still have to go through PayPal.

Reply
flip
7/1/2016 09:10:11 am

E-junkie is a sales platform for small businesses. Basically you can upload a file (pdf, etc) which the customer is able to download after purchase. So Pulitzer uploaded a 'receipt' as the content to be purchased. Expiry on E-junkie is also automatic, as far as I can recall, to prevent piracy of the file. Just because the link has expired doesn't mean anything as that's what's supposed to happen on the E-junkie site after a short period of time. (Also E-junkie is not Amazon, and doesn't link with Amazon in any way so refunds through Amazon as Pulitzer put it, is a total lie)

E-junkie has a fairly decent backend too, allowing a person to download a list of all customers, including their contact info; any half decent business person would take a copy for their records, or browse their account for those who haven't recieved their purchase. Because E-junkie also shows who did AND who didn't download their file. Even if we assume that Pulitzer uploaded a downloadable copy of his book and not a 'receipt', he *still* wouldn't need to collect a list of customers who didn't receive it. He'd just have to check his order list in the backend.

It might be worth contacting E-junkie to see how they deal with merchants on their site who seem fraudulent; but they'll probably claim that they have no ability to deal with it as a transaction platform who acts as a middleman. However, in order to use E-junkie Pulitzer has to fork up a monthly fee... so he must still be paying up if any of those links still reference his account. (Surely they'd remove a defunct non-paying account?) It could be worth his customers asking E-junkie to at least suspend his account or something. It's very possible he broke the terms and conditions (you can't sell "goods which are misrepresented or which in fact do not exist") to which he must abide.

Reply
PattyO
7/1/2016 09:43:22 am

Thank you for the realistic update and verification that we were all swindled like a glassy eyed crowd at a traveling side show. Oh, nevermind, at least then you GET a bottle of snake oil!🐍
Sadly this has soured me on the whole Oak Island Mystery. I know he is no longer involved, but my summer travel plan to visit was cancelled out of disgust for the situation.

Reply
Joe Scales
7/1/2016 02:00:24 pm

Those who paid for goods not delivered need to find out where the thief in question lives and contact his local police precinct and/or state's attorney office. This is the only way they'll get recourse.

Reply
Jason Michael
7/1/2016 05:00:46 pm

I doubt they missed much really. When you advance money for something you pretty much write it off right then and there and if you actually get something then it's a bonus. At least with Ben Hammott you actually got a book, just it was made up instead of factual. Still kind of entertaining though.

Reply
Jeff
11/1/2016 11:58:19 pm

Guys we should seriously start a class action lawsuit against this turd as I'd bet that he has already spent a good chunk of the preorder money if not all. So the only way anyone would get any money back is to sue his ass. Let's class action this turd and take him to the cleaners. Let's make it so he can never show his face again

Reply
Jeff link
11/16/2016 02:16:37 am

I still think a class action is in order but this man is a snake and total piece of 💩. I for one will never again watch a show if he is in it. As well I will never ever buy a book again that has absolutely anything what so ever to do with him. He is a lier and a thief and should be treated as such. If by chance he does actually have any degrees and such I believe that the school he got them from should strip him of said degrees as his actions have brought nothing but discredit and shame upon that school from being associated with this scum bag J.H PULITZER

Reply



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