In a recent on-line dealer publication,
Acorn had this to say about Jameson Medical -

Double Dealers

Hello ACORN Dealer!

Today I'd just like to let you know about some 'rogue dealers' in the stairlift industry, and the devious practices they use - commonly known as 'Bait & Switch'.

Some dealers out there want to trade on the good name of ACORN. They advertise our products, using our marketing materials, because they know our reputation will draw custom.

However, they are not authorised dealers and have no right to sell our stair lifts. Instead, they use ACORN's name and images to attract attention - and then try to sell an inferior lift.

A typical method is to advertise a " previously owned " ACORN Stairlift for $1,600 to $1,900 with a " with full warranty ". When an interested customer calls the dealer then " checks their inventory " and finds that they are temporarily "out of stock ". He offers them a new model of a different brand that he claims to be " just like the ACORN ". This new " just like " brand happens to be " on sale ", and is usually sold for $1,999 plus shipping.

They mislead with their advertising, and then offer a lower quality model, with a lower specification, leaving many customers with the impression that they are actually buying an ACORN. Their use of ACORN's marketing material adds to the customers confusion. We have had a few phone calls in our office from these customers complaining about their inferior, non-ACORN stairlift.

One of these dealers is Jameson Medical (Web site), who are advertising ACORN products online they are not authorised to sell. They even claim to have a "Golden Acorn Award" - but nobody has this award. This award has never existed!

They will be hearing from our lawyers soon - as will any other dealer who advertises a quality product of ours which they are not authorised to sell.

Let us know if you have come across similar practices, these dealers are putting the entire industries reputation at stake!

All the best,

Alex George
ACORN Dealer Sales Manager
1-866-665-4127
ageorge@acornstairlifts.com

(Their link to our web site went directly to our on-line reply - they have since removed the link)

This was our reply -

As a fellow stairlift distributor - I invite you to call me toll free to find out the truth about my experiences with Acorn. I have tons of facts that can be verified by (current and ex-employees of Acorn) - Matt Harper, Alex George, John Bovis, Al Lake, Joanne Kennedy, Liz Cockcroft, Tom Fuller, Ryan Semmer, and others. The facts can even be verified by Mr. John Jakes himself. (President/Owner of Acorn?)

Does Acorn deny that it has sold product to Jameson Medical since August 2001? What company would sell $922,889.34 worth of merchandise to a "rogue" distributor? More importantly, what company would do everything it could to lose a million dollar account? Bait and Switch?? The last time we ordered an Acorn it was "switched" to a Brooks. According to Alex George, as of 5/14/06, Jameson Medical was an authorized Acorn dealer. I guess that has changed ... and yes, as of today - the change was by my choice. Jameson Medical will NEVER sell another Acorn stairlift.

Also, Alex George is a red blooded American. He would not have spelled "authorised" (with an "s"). That is the British spelling. This is America - we spell it authorized. (with a "z"). Why not call Alex and ask him if he wrote the article or if his name was signed to something he didn't author. (Untruthful right from the start in my opinion). I'm sure Tony Blair would not approve.

Bait and Switch? If we choose to tell our customers that the Summit is less expensive and in 4 1/2 years we have not had the first service call ... that is not against the law. If we choose to tell our customers that the Acorn batteries fail every other year and only have a six month warranty ... that is not against the law. If we tell our customers that the Acorn has a flimsy toggle switch that gets snapped off all of the time, and we tell our customers the Acorn has a circuit board that costs $650 to replace, tell our customers the limit switches routinely fail, tell our customers the unit over runs the lower stop way too often, tell our customers Acorn uses cheap Phillips head screws that commonly strip out rather than hex head lag screws to mount the unit, and tell our customers that it is a royal pain to change batteries ... that is not against the law. It is never against the law to speak the truth. For that matter, it is not against the law for us to speak our minds and offer our opinions. It is not illegal for Jameson Medical to publicly respond to Acorn's allegations.

Golden Acorn Award? Yes! We really did get one and it was shipped to us directly from Acorn Orlando. You can verify that by calling Matt Harper - now at Meditek Stairlifts. (877) 850-6781

Look forward to talking to you ... one and all. Perhaps it is time you DID learn the truth about stairlifts.

... Thanks for all of the calls. Wow! Sounds like the Boston Tea Party of 2006 is underway! I guess history does repeat itself.

I had forgot about the time Acorn thought they could save a penny or two by switching to a new vendor for the battery jump wire and most of them fell off during shipment. Was it three or four container loads before it was identified and corrected? How many man hours (and frustrated installers) did we each incur? Yeah, we never got a dime for our efforts either. Acorn knew of the problem and sent them out anyway. They should have been recalled and fixed by Acorn staff - not ours!

I was also reminded of the entire batch of failed circuit boards. There was no recall nor reimbursement for our efforts then either. Remember - we had to pay up front for a circuit board until we sent the damaged one back. Acorn used our money AND labor to fix Their problem!

In today's mail (postmarked June 5, 2006) I received the April and June issues of Acorn Dealer.com directly from Acorn. Go figure. Forwarded to our attorney's office for yet another laugh.

Elliott Law Offices - Corporate Law
Marcia Elliott & John Flick
327 Central Street
Gardner, MA 01440
(978) 632-7948

Acorn's next stunt was to send a letter of complaint to the Better Business Bureau on 6/21/06 --

JAMESON MEDICAL Inc. NOT AUTHORISED TO SELL ACORN
STAIRLIFTS. ACORN Stair Lifts would like to advise all potential stair lift buyers that Jameson Medical Inc. is not authorised to stock or sell ACORN Stair Lifts, or to use official ACORN marketing materials.It has come to our attention that the
Jameson website is offering ACORN stair lifts to customers.
However, ACORN has not supplied any lifts to this company and does not authorise it as a dealer. More likely is that Jameson attracts attention with such advertising and then sells an inferior (non-ACORN) lift to its customers. Many of these
customers believe they are buying an ACORN product and then
contact our office to complain of faults. There is little we
can do, as it is not our lift that has failed. Jameson Medical
also claims to have a Golden Acorn award. No such award
exists. ACORN Stair Lifts advises customers to buy their
authentic lifts only from authorised dealers. If in doubt,
contact ACORN (US):ageorge@acornstairlifts.com

Ext: 2232 Tel: +1 407 956 1204

SETTLEMENT: No Settlement requested

And now you know just what limits Acorn will go to in an attempt to destroy a company that offers a superior product and conducts its daily business with ethics and honor.

Latest News - (distributed April 2006)

Double Dealers | 2nd June 2006 |

Double Dealers