A Word Of Caution Regarding Luke's Ultralite

[Ken Thompson]

Agree with Doug. Threads like this can a community service. Keep it open.

[Matthew / BPL]

Well said, Doug. Thanks for that post.

[Bruce Tolley]

I was one of the folks who suggested closing the thread. It does not appear to be going anywhere but trash talking about a failed or failing business.

If the goal is to warn people off, and you want to push the thread once again to the top of the page, just state the facts simply that LUL is taking $ but not fulfilling and delivering the goods.

And I have one question, If folks paid via Paypal and the goods have not arrived, why cannot they get resolution via Paypal?

[Andy H]

A lot of people have done that Bruce, including me. However, as far as I know he isn’t using Paypal anymore because he isn’t in good standing with them. I don’t know what form of online payment he’s using now but it’s working because he’s still taking orders and getting paid.

 

Also, he still has people’s money, including mine as I had two unfulfilled orders with him. I know I’m not getting it back or going to receive what I paid for and I’m ok with it but for him to announce on instagram that he’s back working this past week with no mention of making good on his backlog or addressing the many people he’s ripped off is really shady. That’s why this thread exists, it’s been a year now of this.

[Ito Jakuchu]

I don’t see so much name calling or trash talking as much as people letting know what happened in their dealings with LUL.

Sometimes it might read like a bit much but, perhaps what happened to them is a bit much. I have to say I find everybody really understanding and calm.

Is allowing the affected people to discus these things not also what should be possible on this forum?

I personally find the amount of Gear Swap posts take more away from the enjoyment of the forum, and I just skip those threads with very little effort.

[Roger Caffin]

It’s all very sad when this sort of thing happens.

Cheers

[Woubeir (from Europe)]

Sad indeed, but I’m asking myself also: which paying method do people use ? All my paiements go by my credit card. My paypal-account is linked to my credit card. That way, my money is always secure. If a seller doesn’t offer one of these options, I simply don’t order there.

[Roger Caffin]

Oh yes, there is still some responsibility on the buyer – always.
Cheers

[Monte Masterson]

I’ve never bought anything from Luke, but I’m glad this thread exists because I was considering a silpoly poncho.

As far as members posting harsh words about Luke, too bad. When you take it upon yourself to rip people off you should expect it.

Why close this thread down?  I like for the TRUTH to be exposed. I hope this thread goes to the top of the Page1 Recent Posts every few hours until the stealing ceases.

I believe the Federal Trade Commission is the agency you’d want to contact. I’m not an attorney, but felony fraud charges might be in order.

 

 

 

[jason a]

I think these are all great posts. I think there is some frustration from many people me included and some of the posts come off as harsh. But that really falls on Luke. His site and facebook page says they are “Rocking” and accepting limited orders but he has left a string of people going back a year that he did not deliver too. The main frustration is they stop responding to people when refunds are requested. We should all have empathy, what are you supposed to do when you just can connect to these people.

 

[Kief H]

I admittedly haven’t gone back through the entire thread but I’m mystified by complaints about “name calling” and “trash talking.” It seems to me that folks are keeping it civil and factual. BPL has always been service-oriented and this thread is a valuable service to consumers. In the past Luke received plenty of praise for his products in this forum, without anyone accusing his fans of being shills. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, his detractors are being impugned? Makes no sense.

[Kattt]

I am for empathy right up to dishonesty and that is where it ends unless one proves a commitment to making amends.

It’s not completely clear  to me  if this a case of a handful of people that have been unable to work out a satisfactory solution with the vendor for the way he mishandled things in the past or if there is continued deceit going on. If it’s the latter then there is no excuse.

[jason a]

This is an update. I reached Mark this morning at the 740 number kindly posted here by Rob.  Mark by the way is Luke’s father. Two general things happened. One he refused to give a refund but wanted me to work a refund through PayPal claim. I said that is strange because all he has to do is go in to his PayPal account and refund the money, I should not have to make a claim to get a refund. I have already requested that through PayPal but they likely won’t be able to collect from Luke. I detailed why in a previous post about how they request payment. Mark said they are working hard to take care of everyone. I asked how he is doing that for people that did not get orders going back to March 2017 and his response was he was dealing with that and would not discuss with me. He also said that he thought that all orders had been filled or refunded anyway.

The second thing is since they were “Rockin” and accepting orders and not responding to people who had been ripped off, I was in the process of going to various authorities and I wanted his comment before doing so. He said no he did not want that and they were working hard to take care of everyone. I said there seemed to be many, many ripped off customers that were unaware they were working hard to take care of everyone. I told him that I felt he needed to go on his website and FB page and say they are suspending orders until they are caught up and post a process for addressing the issue for past people who had not received product or refund. I asked that he update the website with the accurate 740 number and to stop deleting FB posts of people that had been ripped off. A very agitated Mark, said he would not be doing any of that.

I talked to the Delaware Sheriff’s office that covers his area and they said they were interested in investigating and to send all the info I had and any names of other people affected. Rob P, you are pretty important here because you are in their jurisdiction. So to be fair to Luke, I will begin to document that info but I would like to hear from other people here that have unresolved issues with Luke. Can you please PM me if you have open orders you don’t think are getting filled, open refund requests or if you had to make a PayPal claim to get your money back. I would like order info like date, product and payment method. If I don’t hear from a good number of people, I may just drop it.

 

[Bruce Tolley]

138 posts seems excessive too me. This thread is about tracking down a vendor, the vendor was called a thief and other emotive words which I see as negative. There has been a lot of research about how negative emotive content drives not only engagement with social media but also the longevity of social media threads.  That being said, I wish all the consumers who have lost $ good luck in finding resolution.  I shall just stick to the stove threads and viewing photos from the latest GGG.

Cheers/Bruce

[Roger Caffin]

It seems to me that folks are keeping it civil and factual.
This is important – both for BPL and for any legal action. Please keep it this way.

If Mark (Luke’s father) is trying to clean up the mess, I can quite understand he may be feeling a bit stressed over the whole thing. It may be difficult for him to make all the refunds immediately if he does not have all the details and does not have the funds.

Cheers

[Ryan Smith]

Jason,

Welcome to BPL. Sorry to hear about your issues. If I were you, I would also post something on WhiteBlaze and HammockForums.  There have been threads about Luke’s thievery on those sites also.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/124672-Do-not-buy-from-Luke-Ultralite!

It’s pretty obvious that Mark/Luke do not intend to refund your money.

Ryan

[Andy Berner]

Instagram post this morning from LUL

https://instagram.com/p/Bgcy6XtgnBN/

https://instagram.com/p/Bgc1350AuMS/

[Matthew / BPL]

Read the comments on this IG post as well.

https://instagram.com/p/BgeA5oOgU7I/

[Ken Thompson]

That stitching is a mess.

[Matthew / BPL]

Really? I don’t know much about sewing. What is off about it?

[Kattt]

When using a serger with thin fabric the top and bottom feed can be off and the the two sides are not fed evenly.  Happens to me to but that is definitely happening there.  That tube is warped. If that is a problem depends on what it really is that was just sewn.

[Roger Caffin]

Impossible to say whether the serger stitching is a mess or whether is fine, as we do not know what the sewing is meant to be doing. I can imagine plenty of cases where it would be quite OK.

Cheers

[Kattt]

I serge tubes and I know what happens when the dogs don’t feed equally. You could not iron that flat, no matter what. I have no idea if that matters  here but I am familiar with that problem. A good serger can be adjusted to at least minimize that. I deal with this all the time since tubes is what I sew 95% or so of the time and it’s very frustrating.

[jason a]

A sad ending to this story. I have not posted for a while but I have been trying to get to the bottom of this Luke’s Ultralight issue. Luke has over $300 of my money from October and has never sent the order, or a refund. I was finally successful in opening a case with the Delaware County Sheriffs Office since Luke and Mark were not interested in refunding any funds. The assigned detective made contact with Mark, Luke’s father. Mark said that Luke as developed a serious drug habit, is not working at all and the family does not know where he is most of the time. The Detectives have not been able to make contact with Luke at all  so he’s on the run. The definitive end to this story is that Luke and his dad Mark, still have the website up and are stealing money from unsuspecting customers. It’s heartbreaking that Mark is enabling Luke to destroy his life but that is his choice. The orders will not get filled and there is no money for refunds. There are a few products that you probably will get because Luke and Mark buy them from a wholesale vendor but you won’t get any of the cool custom products and will lose your money. Paypal has closed Luke’s account because of all the claims so there is no restitution from there. Its a bummer story, the worst being the loss of such a talented guy, but it’s important that everyone considering a purchase know what is up.

[Paul S.]

Sounds like another causality of the opioid epidemic.  Very sad.

[Author]

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