WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) — Computer company OG10kTech, which 70 customers complained had not delivered computer graphics cards and other equipment valued over $100,000, is now the subject of a lawsuit by the Ohio Attorney General.
On Monday, Better Call 4 posted a story about the company on Brooksedge Boulevard, and its owner William Taylor Sr. subsequently requested an interview. However, he canceled the interview on Thursday.
Ohio A.G. Dave Yost’s lawsuit, filed today in Delaware County, said William D. Taylor Sr. sold personal computers and hard-to-find computer parts, such as GPUs used mainly for gaming or for mining cryptocurrency.
Customers pre-paid, and waited
The lawsuit said Taylor misrepresented the business, falsely claiming that the store had special relationships with vendors who could obtain or currently possessed highly sought-after products at prices that didn’t reflect the substantial mark-ups seen elsewhere.
Two customers on the complaint list said they paid between $920 and $980 to get RTX 3080 GPUs. That model of GPU has sold elsewhere for almost double — $1,800 — due to price hikes, and was still selling for an average price of $1,220 in March, according to Jon Peddie Research.
At the point of purchase, consumers paid in full to be placed on a waiting list for the products. After waiting several months for delivery, over 70 customers began requesting refunds, which Taylor didn’t provide, even though OG10kTech’s return policy stated that refunds would be given for items not received within 45 days, Yost said in a media release.
In addition to OG10kTech, NBC4 confirmed that Taylor operates Black Swan Gaming at 1572 North High Street, 2nd Chance Crypto, and sells on Newegg.com and Amazon.com as well as through his website.
Lawsuit: Give them their money back
Yost’s lawsuit asked for money to reimburse people who didn’t receive their prepaid orders, and fines of $25,000 for each violation of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act including:
- Failing to deliver products.
- Misrepresenting the availability of goods.
- Selling merchandise on its website that it neither possessed nor could deliver.
- Failing to observe its duty to segregate purchase monies.
- Failing to provide refunds.
- Misrepresenting that the subject of a consumer transaction was available.
- Misrepresenting the availability of refunds due to the defendants’ precarious financial position.
How OG10kTech built trust
Adrian Hurtado paid in advance for one of OG10kTech’s gaming GPUs on Nov. 30, 2020. It was during the pandemic when he was building a computer for himself. He spoke to NBC4 on Thursday from his home in California.
“I saw him doing a couple of deliveries on something called Twitch, so he would live-stream himself doing deliveries and talking to customers,” Hurtado said. “Looked like a legitimate vendor. So I went ahead and placed an order for two graphics cards for $1,672.”
Hurtado was notified by Taylor first on email and then on Discord where Taylor had a wait-list.
“It wasn’t very organized it seemed,” Hurtado said. “I reached out to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, filed a complaint, and they let me know they were looking into it and today there was a press release that they are going forward and suing Mr. Taylor.”
Hurtado noted he didn’t intend to go through “this whole fiasco.”
“It was almost two years ago now,” Hurtado recalled. “I didn’t think Mr. Taylor would do right, and rectify his wrongs. I was really hopeful that the authorities would move in and take some action on this to help us consumers out.”
If you feel you’ve been affected by OG10KTech, Black Swan Gaming, WTSR Marketing, or William D. Tayor Sr. Inc, Yost recommended visiting the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection website, or filing a complaint.
View the full document initiating a lawsuit from the attorney general’s office below:
