Done Fenno - Warning - Equip Broker

[Frog]

Welcome to Don Fenno Enterprises
Posted on April 8, 2013 by Fenno Enterprises

Don Fenno Enterprises, LLC has been assisting customers in the garment decorating equipment business for over 20 years. We strive to find and represent those pieces of equipment that give the customer the best value for their purchases. We follow up with close client contact — before, during and after each transaction — to make sure the customer is completely satisfied.

We deal in new and used equipment to meet our customer’s ongoing operating needs. We also have a toll-free number 888-291-8116 to insure constant availability of our resources for our clients.

This is directly off his site,with the exception of me changing the font color. I've never bought or sold from him, so I can offer no opinions

Not passing judgement on Don (though forewarned is forearmed) but has anyone ever heard of a con man or crook, or even a generally honest guy who has fallen onto hard times) publishing something in their listing  like "While we try to do right by you, say goodbye to your hard-earned money if something screws up or we incur unexpected expenses as we don't have the resources to cover it"

I wonder if anywhere this profession offers licensing and/or the need for bonding or insurance to protect against this sort of thing. That way, at least if one chooses an unlicensed broker, it's buyer beware. Apparently, for the most part, it's buyer beware in general!

[ZooCity]

Welcome to Don Fenno Enterprises
Posted on April 8, 2013 by Fenno Enterprises

Don Fenno Enterprises, LLC has been assisting customers in the garment decorating equipment business for over 20 years. We strive to find and represent those pieces of equipment that give the customer the best value for their purchases. We follow up with close client contact — before, during and after each transaction — to make sure the customer is completely satisfied.

We deal in new and used equipment to meet our customer’s ongoing operating needs. We also have a toll-free number 888-291-8116 to insure constant availability of our resources for our clients.

This is directly off his site,with the exception of me changing the font color. I've never bought or sold from him, so I can offer no opinions

Not passing judgement on Don (though forewarned is forearmed) but has anyone ever heard of a con man or crook, or even a generally honest guy who has fallen onto hard times) publishing something in their listing  like "While we try to do right by you, say goodbye to your hard-earned money if something screws up or we incur unexpected expenses as we don't have the resources to cover it"

I wonder if anywhere this profession offers licensing and/or the need for bonding or insurance to protect against this sort of thing. That way, at least if one chooses an unlicensed broker, it's buyer beware. Apparently, for the most part, it's buyer beware in general!

This is why I'm done with "brokers", "finders" or whatever they care to call themselves.  Don't do business with me unless you can deliver what was purchased or at least operate as a legitimate business and refund the money/take care of the problem when you can't. 

Nobody should give people working like this a dime.  Most will hold on to it as Don here has no matter what happens- they're gambling on other deals with your cash and literally don't have it to give back. Others will hold your equipment after payment while their other client continues to use machinery that you now own.  Not making that up, happened to us and while somebody used our dryer, we ate thousands in costs of moving and installing an old dryer and after all that are still out a few grand. This happened with one of the "good" brokers. 

Move on and find your used deal direct from sellers or go with a legitimate business that takes in and refurbs machines.

[jrbestinknthread]

i notice that a lot of people defend don fenno like he is a good broker and a honest man i read some of bill post and don fenno from my experience is the worst .. here is my story and pending i purchase a 14 color sportsman 2012 that i never even got to see and never got anything at all he said that the seller back out of the deal after after 2 weeks that he had my money already so he promise to refund our money since the deal went bad so after calling him and calling him we manage to get 9,000 back it is going on almost 3 months and we still get the lies that the money is on the way that he wired it and is is stuck on paypal i really don't know if we will ever get our money back but at least i can warn people about what kind of person he really is... i know on the past posting you did not really believe bill on what he said but if you send me a email or wish to call i can send you contract e-mail's and wire transfer and picture's of the machine to prove what a person he really is and also i notice every person i talk to about him have never even seen the guy or know what he looks like... if you defend him then keep doing business with him and eventually you will be in my shoes i am just warning people about him new or old to the industry and people that are thinking of dealing with him so they don't end up like me and manny others... thanks

junior
jr@bestinkandthread.com
909-947-5507

[alan802]

Right now, I don't know that there is a single good broker out there, I've heard horror stories about all of them, even the few that are known to be honest.  Seems like they all operate on a ponzi scheme type system and they don't have any operating cash to buy things.  They can only buy a piece of equipment with the customer's money and they don't have anything of their own for when things go bad.  Any profit they make doesn't seem to go back into the business they're trying to run, who knows where it goes.  I don't think it's an easy business to run, and the only way to do it the right way involves a "trust, but verify" approach and you need a good bit of operating cash to secure equipment and not rely on deposits to come in from other deals to pay for a deal that should already be squared away.  It's true, this part of the industry attracts a certain, less-than-desirable type of person and very few, if any are honest, hard-working individuals. 

[ericheartsu]

I'm gonna go on record saying Bill Foust has always been up front, and done right by us.

We've also dealt with Don, and we didn't have a horrible experience, but that's still super scary to lose that much.

[jrbestinknthread]

well i been trying to call don fenno  to get my money which he promise yesterday to make a payment no answer just goes to show what type of guy he is before he got our money he showed a lot of interest call 2 to 3 times a day and email on a daily basis now does not call back we have to call him several and if we are lucky he will text us that he is in a meeting. then he waits to the end of the day and tells us the same lies the money is on the way i am sure those of you who have been burn by this so call honorable man knows what i am talking about..

[3Deep]

That cat (Don Fenno) has used your money to pay his bill's and to get into other deals in hoping he can ( like playing a card game) get ahead or break even, he might have all the best intentions in the world in getting you your cash back but right now I'm 100% sure your money is like a horse race he's letting it ride

darryl

[GraphicDisorder]

Hear so many deals like this. Clearly screen printers are just not doing the due diligence on someone before sending them huge dollar figures. There is no advantage most of these "brokers" offer. Most of them never so much as see the equipment let alone have any business representing it.

[bimmridder]

Thinking back some 13 years or so....Mr. Fenno was on me for months wanting to buy my dear old Gauntlet. Now I wonder if he already had it sold.   

[Frog]

Why do they call them "brokers"? Because, deal with the wrong one and you can end up a lot "broker" than you started out! 

[ZooCity]

I've said before and will say again that Bill Faust has always been an upright dude with us but we've only done smaller transactions for parts.  I think he operates a little differently than the others and has an actual, bona fide parts business to support the brokerage side. 

Still, I'm now firmly in the mindset that if someone doesn't actually own the item I'm buying I don't want to talk to them about it. 

A question for those burned by brokers- did you have a bill of sale?   Not that it helps much if someone is broke and evading you but never, never, never do a used equip transaction without one.

[jrbestinknthread]

Frog: lol i needed that with all the crap that i am dealing with this liar and crook : anyways i did get a text from Don Fenno a bit ago that the bank closed i honestly am not surprise that is why i went ahead and told my attorney to start the process just don't have the time to listen to anymore or his lies. i am tired of trying to be nice and this guy does not care since he never has time we will make sure he makes time.. well thanks for all the support and for hearing me out like i said i hope nobody falls for his so called kindness and gets screw. i am also thinking of doing a huge e-mail blast with a marketing company to all screen printing shop's so they are also aware of don fenno cause i know a lot of people like me don't think about checking forums till something like this happens.

thanks

Junior

[JBLUE]

I bought a press from him and had absolutely no problems what so ever. When it arrived some of the flash bulbs were broken and he replaced them no questions asked. I did not even have to send him pictures. He replaced every part on the press that I asked for. I am a picky bastard. My presses have no air leaks and he replaced every thing that had a leak. For those of you that know a lot of fittings that never leaked when a press was together leak after it is pulled apart and put back together. The pallet rubber was not to my liking and I had a new roll here in a couple of days. None of which was charged to me or my lender. Now I did not give him the money a funding company gave it to him. Thats why you should use a lender instead of going out of pocket. They have a lot more power than a single business owner. You start flaking on those guys and your pretty much done.

[Binkspot]

It's a shame you see it happen all the time, people getting jerked around buying equipment. That being said it should not matter if your buying new from a large company or used from a dealer or broker a contract needs to be drawn up for the deal. Have everything spelled out. This helps protect the seller and buyer. If your dropping $20k or more on a piece if equipment another $500 to have it drawn up shouldn't break you.
Another red flag is the broker needing the whole amount up front. Even if you do get the machine and let's say it doesn't work you have little leverage to have it made right once the money is paid. I would hope the seller or broker would make it right.
After chasing your money for 30 days I would have gotten the attorney involved. Being a deal across state lines and more then $20k it could be seen a fraud and a federal offense, a good lawyer will remind him of that and usually gets things resolved real quick.
Jblue brings up a good point of going through a lender or leasing company. Even if you have the cash it's another level of security, pay it off early. I have moved a few machines that were purchased through a leasing company and they wouldn't release the money until I and the buyer signed off.
It's a hard lesson and hind sight is always 20/20 but at the very least it will prepare you for the next time.

[jrbestinknthread]

thanks for all the advice believe me i will not for that again and i will look and talk to my lawyer about the fraud and a federal offense deal..