RE: RE: WHO WOULD BUY FROM THIS COMPANY? NO ONE Richardson said there was no question that keys he sold early on were activated for a year starting the day he sold them, not the date he bought the 500 keys.
RISKY BUSINESS
Richardson has said he sold 20 MobiKEYs to the Florida Department of Education and had to reach into his own pocket — to the tune of more than $6,000 — to get those activated.
Without the one-year activation of the keys he bought, the product "was absolutely useless to me," he said. "If I had to buy the activation service, again, I'd be selling the product for a loss."
Richardson, through a second company, Secure Link Technologies, bought some service activations. He said he had no choice but to do that so he didn't leave the state hanging with 20 useless keys.
The State Attorney's Office conducted an inquiry, one step less than an investigation, into Route1's dealings with Richardson. But it didn't proceed because of the lack of jurisdiction.
Jeanette Dugas, who at the time worked as an assistant state attorney, corresponded with Route1 executives and the company's lawyer, who wrote that Richardson's separate purchase of activations a year after his purchase of 500 keys evidenced his acceptance of the policy.
"I would hesitate to interpret that action as acceptance," Dugas wrote back. "What recourse did he have at that time?"
Dugas sided strongly with Richardson on the issue of when the year-long subscription activations began.
"Why would they not commence from the date of purchase of the end user?" she asked. "It doesn't make any sense to punish your final customer for the amount of time the MobiKEYs sit in inventory. Otherwise, what would be the point of any authorized re-seller holding any inventory at all? They would only purchase MobiKEYs as sales were made."
Richardson said he thinks Route1 will have to defend the lawsuit because to fail to do so would result in the company owing a judgment. He is asking for treble damages on his $102,000 investment.