Bellevue Online Medical Supply Business Sued By State

The Washington Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit Thursday against an online seller of stethoscopes because customers complained that they never received the products they ordred.

The suit filed in King County Superior Court accuses Seattle resident Marc Werblud and his two companies, Stethoscopes Plus, Inc., of Mercer Island, and Magna Fortis Corp., of Bellevue of violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act.

The businesses were run under the websites www.stethoscopes.com, which is a retail company that sells medical equipment including engraved stethoscopes, ophthalmoscopes, medical bags and other items, and www.magnafortis.com, which advertises high-end stethoscopes that cost between $169 and $349 each.

“The crux of the problem is that many consumers who paid for stethoscopes and blood-pressure equipment didn’t receive their orders and couldn’t reach anyone to complain,” said Senior Counsel Paula Selis in a prepared statement. Selis heads up the Consumer Protection High-Tech Unit.

The suit calls for the companies to stop the alleged practices, and calls for a penality of up to $2,000 per violation and refunds for those who did not receive the items they ordered, said Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Kristin Alexander.

The Attorney General’s Office has received 23 complaints about the businesses since 2007, mostly from consumers in other states, according to a press release.

Customers did not receive their orders for the equipment, which is listed on www.stethoscopes.com as in the hundreds of dollars. The websites also promise live customer support from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Pacific Time and 24-hour online support, customers told the attorney general's office their calls and e-mails went unanswered.

Attempts to reach Werblud were unsuccessful. Calls by Bellevue Patch to the companies' phone numbers listed on the sites, and with the Better Business Bureau were disconnected or were not accepting messages. Magna Fortis is not listed on the directory at the Bellevue office building listed as its address, and the Mercer Island and Kirkland addresses that have been associated with the companies are the same as local locations for The UPS Store.

Stethoscopes.com sells a variety of medical products, including stethoscopes of a variety of manufaturers, and offers free engraving.

The Better Business Bureau rated the companies an "F" based on 98 consumer complaints and what it said on its website was a "pattern of complaints from consumers alleging such things as lack of refunds, late or non-delivery of product ordered and unsubstantiated advertisement claims." (See link here.)