Wednesday, the Better Business Bureau announced a nationwide alert against Dr. Bass, a speaker cabinet company based in Horry County. The BBB said 39 complaints have come into its office since October 2008 from around the country including North Carolina, Nevada, Texas, and Maryland.
In a report with NewsChannel 15 Thursday, owner, Marc Serio, said personal problems and a bad economy led to his company's struggles, and he was trying to resolve issues.
But since our report, we've been contacted by people claiming Serio is a crook and a liar.
Matt Morgan, of Maryland, says while he was serving the U.S. government in Afghanistan more than two years ago, he paid Serio more than $1400 up-front for speakers.
"When I came home from overseas," says Morgan, "I did get speakers from Serio, but they were not what I ordered."
Morgan says he returned the speakers to Serio, but has yet to receive his new speakers or his money back. "I've contacted the BBB and the South Carolina Consumer Affairs about this situation."
A Dr. Bass customer from Nevada, Michael Fenicchia, says he's waiting for his custom-made speakers since September 29, 2009 and has yet to be refunded.
"Marc Serio is a compulsive liar, cheat, and fraud who is operating a Ponzi scheme on the backs of musicians worldwide," says Fenicchia in an email. "It's about time the BBB issued this alert, defrauded customers have been trying for up to four years to have Dr.Bass blocked from further advertisement, or doing business, and countless victims have been defrauded, including myself, since then."
Fenicchia has started a web thread with testimonies from customers of Dr. Bass.
Serio declined to comment on the record about Fenicchia's claims.
