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Chesta Company & Precious Pets Hall Of Shame Member Added May 4, 2012

Last updated - May 13, 2012

Chesta's production facility is located in Shanghai, China and is the largest sublimation factory in Asia.

So why the American flag? We believe it is to give the false impression that their products are American made when they are not. Granted their web site says otherwise but we are betting this logo appears on their products giving the impression of American Made. We regard that as false advertising or lying. But that's just us. What we think about that logo. You form your own opinion.

**"Please note that due to the supplier's recent change in manufacturers, which I feel has compromised the quality of the Canine (Dog) flags you have come to trust and love, I have decided not to offer any of the new manufacturer's flags tagged Made In China. (Not all flags are created equal)

Precious Pets Paintings, www.preciouspetpaintings.com, was the work of Suzanne Renaud which was selling garden flags as well as the paintings and other merchandise with her depictions of dogs. But after her death, her husband Phil Renaud appears to have been unable to continue the business as usual and he found a new manufacturer for the garden flags. Now the garden flags are made in Shanghai, China and one reseller of the garden flags, with the dog paintings by Suzanne Renaud on them, complained about the lower quality of the merchandise. And that happens when companies change hands or leadership. Cost cutting. But is was not Phil Renaud who responded to her complaints but rather Jeff Berman and his Not-American Made company, Chesta Company. That would give one the impression that Phil Renaud turned control over to, or sold all or part interest in his company, to Jeff Berman and his Not-American Made company, Chesta Company. He took on a "partner" to help manage orders, according to Phil Renaud. In our opinion, a very bad choice of partner. We consider Jeff Berman a bully. A really dumb bully but a bully none the less. According to Jeff Berman:

For some reason Phil was under the impression that you operated a retail store (bricks and mortar, not just web) and our research does not support this. Unless we have missed something we only see that you are a web retailer and we will not be selling any further products to web only sellers.

Except that is not true. What research? Did he really talk to Phil Renaud at all? We think not. And why did not Phil respond? And it does not matter what impression Phil Renaud was under. He did not ask, nor did he demand, nor did he require any conditions to the sale prior to the sale of the merchandise. On October 24, 2011, in response to a request to use pictures from the Precious Pets web site, Phil Renaud responded:

Sure no problem to use thumbnails as long as credit given to Suzanne

And on March 29, 2012, Jeff Berman emailed the seller with this:

Regardless of when you bought the flags, we did not nor will we give you the right to use Suzanne's name or the Canine Collection as your site can easily confuse a consumer. I want you to remove Suzanne's name and any reference to Canine Collection from your home page. You may sell the flags until you are sold out and then we would want all of the images and such removed completely from your site.

The request to use thumbnail pictures would strongly indicate on-line sales. As did the first email from the seller which had the headline of "Online Store". Was Jeff lying to the seller about Phil not knowing? We think so because of his demands the seller stop using "Canine Collection" and the name of the artist, Suzanne Renaud, in selling off her inventory. The problem here is that neither Precious Pets nor Chesta Company own the rights to "Canine Collection". And, when reselling merchandise of this sort, it is perfectly legal to use the name of the artist to describe the articles. That Jeff Berman, is called fair use under federal trademark law. Jeff Berman is living proof that ignorance is bliss, especially for the one who is so ignorant. Jeffy-poo must be one really happy camper. Sorry. We mean one really blissful camper. In that March 29 email, Jeff Berman threatened legal action if the seller did not comply with his improper and illegal demands. Small sellers are at the mercy of bums like Berman because the small sellers lack the legal knowledge and resources with which to defend themselves. Under federal law merchandise sold without a contract indicating conditions are legally available to be resold, unaltered, without the consent or approval of the original owner or the manufacturer. That is why Jeff Berman, Chesta Comapny, Phil Renaud and Precious Pets now grace these pages. The collective descriptive word that comes to mind is MORONS.

MC999 eBay Listing Removed: Copyright Violation - Unauthorized Item (624361588) Your item was removed because of a request we received from Precious Pet Paintings, a member of our Verified Rights Owner Program (VeRO), asking us to remove the item for: - Item(s) infringes copyrights (for example, a bootleg recording of a live performance, a pirated copy of media such as software or movies, or an unlawful copy of copyrighted works such as text, paintings, or sculptures). If you have additional questions or concerns on why your item was removed, please contact Precious Pet Paintings directly at: rsmith@chesta.com

In two NOCIs from Chesta, eBay termined 19 listings and then restricted the seller's account for 7 days .The seller still has twenty-six flags left. But what copyright infringement? She was reselling lawfully acquired merchandise and had permission to use their pictures until she had sold off her stock. That IS NOT copyright infringement. So that means someone at Chesta Company committed perjury when the NOCIs were sent to eBay. PERJURY. Perjury because both partners, Jeff Berman and Phil Renaud, knew the flags were authentic, both partners knew the flags were lawfully acquired, and both partners had told the seller she could use the pictures from the web site to sell the flags. Those eBay listings were ordered removed in a false complaint. But guess what? eBay will never take any action because eBay does not care.

**"Please note that due to the supplier's recent change in manufacturers, which I feel has compromised the quality of the Canine (Dog) flags you have come to trust and love, I have decided not to offer any of the new manufacturer's flags tagged Made In China. (Not all flags are created equal)

That comment is the seller's opinion about the quality of the flags that are being Made In China, not about Suzanne Renaud or her fine art work. It is very possible that Phil Renaud has not even seen the wording because in his threatening and way off-base email he appears to be relying on what he was told by Jeff Berman. Since the 19 listings were terminated there are none out there for Phil Renaud to look at for himself. Phil claimed:

We will not allow you and or anyone to attack Sue's work and the quality of her product. An immediate retraction is expected. I have also authorized, Mr. Berman and Chesta to seek any and all legal actions to stop this behavior. I personally feel very hurt that you have decided to take this approach and disrespect Sue's legacy, when people are working very hard to continue her work and match and or exceed the quality. Shame on you!!!!

No, Phil. Shame on you!!!! To begin with, It is no longer Sue's product because YOU took on a partner and the flags are being manufactured in a different facility than before. That was not a decision made by Sue but by YOU, which you admitted in an email to the seller on January 20, 2012. It is YOUR product. And you know very well the seller thought very highly of your wife and talent. In her letter to you, dated February 14, 2012:

¶2 You know how much I love Suzanne's flags and how thrilled I was to find you. I really felt honored to be able to offer Suzanne's flags to my customers. ¶5 I could tell from our discussions how proud you and Suzanne were to offer USA made products. ¶11 Phil, I really do love Suzanne's work and my customers have also greatly enjoyed the ability to purchase them on my webstore. I have also enjoyed working with you directly to bring her passion and talent to other garden flag dog lovers through my webstore. ¶13 On a personal note Phil, I will miss our business relationship. It has been such a joy working with you and selling a product that I so loved and believed in. I am in tears writing this to you and I am feeling such a loss. You must be thinking hey, it's only a garden flag! While it is 'only a garden flag' it was much more than that to me.

Are those the words of someone who disrespects your late wife? Not at all. The warning to prospective purchasers was about the new flags lacking the quality of the old flags and it is her opinion. In her letter to you, dated February 14, 2012, she detailed her concerns about the inferior quality of the new flags, not once describing the problem as being the art work:

¶2 However, I was sad to report that unfortunately these new flags produced by Chesta had several defects and were not of the same quality as the previous flags I had received. ¶3 On January 25, 2012, I sent you an email outlining several concerns with the first being the textile itself. It was a much thinner textile and the structure of the piece itself was just not there. ¶4 Secondly, the packaging and presentation was unacceptable. The flags did not lay flat in the packaging. While this may be a cosmetic issue, it was all about first impressions, appearance and appeal which we both know is so important to our customers and how they make decisions in their purchases. ¶5 Thirdly, the made in China labels sewn into the header of the flags was more than disappointing. Actually, I think I was a bit stunned only because you and I had previously discussed how much it meant to offer flags made in the USA. I could tell from our discussions how proud you and Suzanne were to offer USA made products. And after receiving flags from you, I knew why you felt that way. I felt the same way for a variety of reasons. There is a huge difference in the quality of the textile. I was honestly heartbroken to see the Made In China labels.

Phil already knew of the complaints the seller had about the quality of the Made In China flags. And Phil already knew of the admiration and respect the seller had for Sue's work. So why the misplaced outrage and the unenforceable threats of litigation?

The beauty of partnership is that it is a US manufacturer so we can print flags on demand so our customers will always be happy. And Made in the USA is a good thing for our economy and jobs......

What gives? Chesta Company brags on its web site, http://chesta.com/ [in part]:

Chesta is a fully vertical production facility specializing in the manufacture of art-driven textiles and other various substrates. Chesta's production facility is located in Shanghai, China and is the largest sublimation factory in Asia. The advantage of this fully vertical production facility is increased quality, as Chesta can cut it, sew it, print it, package it and ship it.

Does "cut it, sew it, print it, package it and ship it" from Red China sound like it was made in the USA? From the "largest sublimation factory in Asia"? Not very likely in our opinion. Sublimation is a process similar to screen printing where an image is printed onto fabrics, like the 100 % Polyester fabric used by Precious Pets for the garden flags (www.preciouspetpaintings.com/). And the new garden flags come with a label that says Made In China. The Precious Pets web site (as of May 10, 2012) makes NO mention that their products are made in the USA, or anywhere else for that matter. But why would Phil email that to a buyer? Does he live in Phil-antasy Land? He has to know his garden flags are manufactured and printed in Red China. If he does not then he is an idiot. Shame on you, Phil!!!! Lying about Made In The USA? If it looks like a lie, and it stinks like a lie, it is very likely that it is a lie. Tell us, Phil. Are YOU lying? Inquiring minds want to know.

So what is the connection between Chesta Company and North Carolina? Their products, those of Precious Pets, are being shipped from Alex Small, Ashton LLC, 848 S. Main St., Burlington, NC 27215. Wait! Chesta Company is in Ohio. What is the connection with North Carolina and why? It seems to be Alex Small and Holt Sublimation. Pay attention because there will be a test later. Alex Small, Production Manager at the Ashton, LLC location of the Cranford Group (http://www.cranford-group.com/associates.php), appears to be related to one Larry Small, former CEO of Holt Sublimation Printing. Guess who is the present president of Holt Sublimation? Jeff Berman. Coincidences in matters like this are very suspicious. It appears that Jeff Berman is pushing business to relatives of a former buddy. But at what expense and forfeiture of quality? Does he care? We do not know but from the tone of his emails we suspect he is a real turd. But that is just our opinion. Based upon the emails and the fact he went after a seller who dared complain about the quality of a product for which he and his company are now responsible. That is turd, spelled T-U-R-D, pronounced as in "Berman". So what happened to that "American manufacturer" Phil was touting?

As with Chesta Company, we have a suggested change to the images used by Precious Pets. See below.