In 2001, I rented a satellite phone from RentCell.com (Jeffery Brahm). At the end of the rental, I was shorted almost $100 of my refund due, but Brahm's girlfriend admitted the "mistake" and refunded my overpaid deposit in full.

I rented another satellite phone from RentCell in 2002, and during an emergency in an remote, isolated spot in Newfoundland, the first time I used the phone it did not work.  To Brahm's credit, he expressed a new phone to me right away.

I did not rent any phone from Brahm in the years 2003-2010.

In 2011, I rented another satellite phone from Brahm. When I received the phone, the day before my trip, the wires on the charger were frayed, split and taped together.  I just thought he knew his business and would never rent defective equipment and since the phone had been charged before it was sent it, there was no way for me to tell if the charger worked. The phone, of course, worked then because it had been charged by Brahm.  One week into the trip, during normal use while trying to charge it, the clip that secures the charger to the phone broke.  I was able to work up a fix for this (tape the charger to the phone), but a week or so later during a potential emergency when I tried to use the phone, the battery had gone dead, and when I went to charge it, the charger would not work. I was stranded.

After I returned the phone, Brahm never provided me with the 90-day accounting, refused to refund my unused deposit, and refused to answer my five letters demanding my money back.  Below is my latest letter to Brahm.

I suspect the 90-day period is there in the first place because most customers  forget about the deposit after that.  I also suspect I am not the first person to experience his shady business practices, but most people, especially organizations, drop it and move on.  I also suspect I am not the first person to receive from him equipment that does not work.  Keeping unused deposits is one thing; but knowingly sending out defective equipment is not only unforgivable and negligent, but perhaps even criminal.

So, before you rent anything from RentCell, be aware of this one person's experience.

Here's my recent letter to Brahm. As an attorney, I am very careful to report only facts and my opinions.

Mr. Jeffrey Brahm, RENTCELL, INC., 2625 Piedmont Rd. NE, Suite 56475, Atlanta, GA 30324

(Alternate address: 28107 Plantation Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30324)

Dear Jeff:

I have not been able to follow up until now on my May 14, 2012, letter to you regarding your breach of contract by not providing me with an accounting and returning the substantial unused portion of my deposit on my rental of your satellite phones in 2011. Only when I was making arrangements to rent a phone from another company did I remember.

Before I again recite the details of the two 2011 satellite rentals from you, let me remind you of my two prior experiences with you.

In 2001, after I returned a rented satellite phone to you, my refund was short almost $100. After my conversation with your “girlfriend” about this, the correct balance was refunded to me.

In 2002, when I again rented a satellite phone from you, the phone failed to function the first time I tried to use it on the road, during the evening of an emergency when I was stranded in a remote section of Newfoundland. Fortunately, the next day I was able to get help and notified you as soon as I could about the malfunctioning phone. To your credit, you instructed me to send back the non-functioning phone and you expressed another phone to me in Newfoundland.

On August 1, 2011, I rented another satellite phone from you for a long-term rental. On August 9, I had to return home to deal with an emergency, and was not sure when or if I would be able to resume my trip. I called you and told you that I would be happy to keep the phone for the duration of my contract unless you felt you could use the phone elsewhere. You said you did need it because you were short of phones for the hurricane season, and you asked me to return the phone, which I did that day. I never received the 90-day accounting from you, but you charged my credit card $160.41 at short-term rental rates even though I resumed my long-term rental 10 days later. You admitted that had failed to take out the required $500 deposit. And you really should have charged me at long-term rental rates because I said I was willing to keep the phone for the duration of my contract, but I returned it because you said you needed it, and then rented it again just days later.

I resumed my rental of a satellite phone from you on August 19 for a long term rental, for which you charged my credit card on 8/18 for $624.00, which included the $500 deposit. Before leaving for my trip the next day, I tested the phone, which I was quite familiar with since I used it that model the previous three rentals from you, and it appeared to be in working condition. I also charged the phone, or so I thought, but since you had already charged it as you told me there was no way for me to tell if the charger functioned properly. (I have no way of knowing if you charged it using the charger you sent me or another charger, although I have to suspect the latter.) When I first received the phone, I was somewhat taken back by the condition of the charger: the wires were frayed and split in several places and taped in other places. (I took photos of the condition in which I received the phone.) Since I was in a hurry to get my trip underway, I assumed you knew your business and that the charger would function properly despite the obvious flaws in it. In other words, I trusted you.

As I was driving over the course of the next 10 days, I charged the phone several times for an appropriate length of time, or at least I thought I charged it. I was quite familiar with the process of charging it. But then, in Labrador, as I attempted to plug in the charger, one of the two clips that hold the charger to the phone broke off. (I did not inspect it to see if it had been glued on after a previous incident, but it broke off so easily during normal use, given he overall condition of the charger’s wires, I suspect it might have been.) I informed you immediately about this, telling you I was not surprised that this happened because of the overall condition of the charger (e.g., the frayed and taped wires). I was expecting to hear back from you with instructions for returning the phone, as you did in 2002, but I heard nothing from you. Later, because I needed the satellite phone, I came up with a fix for securing the charger to the phone, although in retrospect that was futile since the charger was not otherwise functioning because of the frayed wires. Specifically, sometimes it would charge but then it would stop, unbeknownst to me since I was driving, the only time I could recharge it.

I had no occasion to need the phone until September 21, when I was alone in a potential emergency situation in a remote location in northern Ontario. As I attempted to place a call on the satellite phone to let authorities know my location with instructions, the phone would not work. I plugged in the charger and attempted to charge the battery, but it would not charge for long, and then failed altogether. It was only then I realized what the problem was, and that you were probably so short of phones when you sent this one, you sent me the old charger with the frayed and taped wires.

I noticed you immediately of this situation as soon as I get back into cell phone range. Because my trip was coming to an end and I told you I would not need the phone any more, you instructed me to wait until I got back in the United States before returning the phone, which I did on September 27th in Michigan.

After I returned the phone, I was expecting to receive the final accounting from you and the return of my unused deposit after 90 days as you agreed by contract, in which accounting I was also expecting you to include adjustments for the fact that the phone charger (and, therefore, the phone) did not work. That accounting never came. Over the next five months I wrote to you four times asking for the accounting and the return of my unused deposit, but you never responded to any of my letters.

In view of the above, I am now demanding the return of the entire $624 you charged to my credit card for the second rental on August 18th on the grounds that you knowingly and negligently sent me a defective charger, and therefore phone. You knew or should have known that a charger with defective wires would render the phone useless. My guess is that you sent me an old charger because, as you told me, you were otherwise out of equipment, the reason you asked me to return the first phone on August 8, and you were hoping it would last through my rental period, which it did not, or that I would not need the phone and notice the defect.

Please understand that my concern is that you honor the contract and send me what I am due. But I am even more concerned that you are sending out defective equipment used principally for emergency purposes and jeopardizing the lives of those renting from you by doing so.

Although my demand in this letter is for the return of the entire $624, I would be willing to accept half that amount ($312, which is less than I would have received back if I had paid for the rental for the entire period had everything worked properly) if you pay (by check to address on my letterhead) by August 15. If you do not pay by then, my demand for the $624 stands.

On a personal note, I would like this say this. Your behavior during these last two rentals in 2011 was very peculiar, and not only your sending me faulty equipment and subsequent refusal to return my unused deposit. When I talked with you, I detected that you were not the same person I rented from in 2001 and 2002. It was abundantly clear to me your experiences during the period 2003-2010, when I did not have the occasion to rent from you, somehow had a very negative impact on your trust of and relationships with your clients. I am sorry that that happened to you, and I hope things improve for you. But as you struggle to overcome whatever adversities beset you, my suggestion is that for your own sake, you honor your contracts and do not send out defective emergency equipment to your clients. You have already lost far more business from me than you gained by refusing to return my unused deposit.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

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