Earlier this month I relayed the information sent to me via email from T-shirt Hell that the owner had decided to close the site. See: T-Shirt Hell is Out of Business. Now I’m going to make the case that the same T-shirt Hell owner has committed fraud by deceiving his customers and his fan base.

The reason being is that yesterday I received a follow-up email from T-shirt Hell coninciding with their ”closing date”  which thanked everyone for their support of free speech and their business. Then there was a link that said: “Here’s the bad news.” 

On the linked to web page it starts with this: T-Shirt Hell going out of business? Really? Because of some hate mail? Are you f**king kidding me?

In other words the whole thing was a scam to sell a record number of T-shirts in a short amount of time. To me that constitutes fraudulent behavior. The owner claims it’s just a prank. Normally pranks don’t result in selling 100,000 plus T-shirts to customers who were either trying to be supportive or trying get a collector’s item.

Brand name businesses have “Going out of Business” sales all the time and then restructure. There is a lot of legal wrangling but essentially they do have to declare bankruptcy and there is a definite price to pay for doing so. The difference here is that T-shirt Hell lied to its customers in order to make a profit and never went out of business. It wasn’t even a change of heart–the whole scheme was premeditated.

Originally the T-shirt Hell owner said he was closing shop not due to loss of revenue but simply because he was tired of his business and wanted to move on to something new. If you read the original announcement post I wrote I didn’t believe that the reason they were closing shop was due to “hatemail.” I figured like any creative business owner sometimes you get sick of it all when it becomes a success and want to try something else. Apparently I’m a “sucker” for believing him, along with all the rest of his customers.

Here’s how Sunshine Megatron (what the owner calls himself) puts it:

Let’s call it my own personal stimulus package (besides my normal, daily “personal stimulus” if you know what I’m sayin). In 3 weeks, I’ve done EXACTLY what is needed to stimulate any economy..and that is to get people to open their wallets. Not only did the last 3 weeks save jobs at T-Shirt Hell, they’ve opened up a whole new world to the people who had never bought our shirts until now.

Freedom of speech, my ass. It was all about greed. Profits were obviously down and Mr. Sunshine didn’t like taking the economic hit that we all are feeling. Possibly he was having trouble paying the mortgage on his vacation home?

Imagine if anyone else pulled this stunt to sell huge numbers of their product within a month? Wouldn’t there be an investigation? Isn’t it similar to the corporate scandals we keep hearing about–lie to the public and do anything to make a buck?

T-Shirt Hell was one of the original internet troublemakers that stood against political correctness, corporate mindsets, and content middle class American values. I’ll remember them in that manner. Now they’re no better than the peacenik hippies who sold out to wear a suit and tie. And from the feedback comments on their site I can see a lot of gullible customers who are laughing it off. Those are the real “suckers.” What they should be doing is saying “Ha-ha, I want a refund on my shirt.”

I’m all for making money, lots of it and I believe there a gray areas and compromises along the way to making that money. What T-Shirt Hell did, however, I can’t stomach. I believe they owe their customers an apology instead of justifying their scam. And it’s not a prank! It is a scam!

T-Shirt Hell will get away with it for a few reasons:

1. They have money which gives them access to lawyers.
2. Not enough people will complain to the Better Business Bureau to file a case.
3. A large percentage of T-Shirt Hell customers may be too young to understand they’ve been ripped off–yes, they got their T-Shirts but under false pretenses. It’s like me buy a collector’s item from a manufacturer who says it’s a limited edition, then he manufactures more decreasing the value of your item.
4. A large percentage of T-Shirt Hell customers are potheads and racists. They’re too stupid to complain. Again, check the feedback page and you’ll see customers laughing it off as if it was alright simply because this is T-shirt Hell and they expect such antics. You idiots just made a rich guy richer and you’re probably working your ass off in a low paying job.
5. The T-Shirt Hell owner will probably make fun of anyone who claims they were deceived and tell them they “can’t take a joke.” He seems to have the mentality of a bullying highschooler who picks apart anything you say and ridicules you for it. I’ve worked for clients like this and while I can handle their abuse, they are egotistical and annoying.
6. I may be the only one who calls it like it is–Fraud! I may also be one of the few who likes the T-Shirt Designs, likes the pushing of limits when it comes to humor and free speech, but still thinks the company’s business practices are now suspect. Sunshine Megatron will claim free speech martyrdom towards any of his accusers when in fact the issue is not free speech per the Tee Designs, but outright lying to customers. This isn’t a prank, it was a money-making scheme.

So there you have it. Yeah, I’m pissed off, but for the right reasons. I don’t care how outrageous a business is or if it is manned by a character who likes to push the envelope, when it comes to your customers you don’t take their money under false pretenses. You can be a-hole and still have good business practices. Sunshine Megatron is an a-hole with no integrity left.

What’s really disappointing is that somehow his groupies are going to think he’s “cool” for doing this. It’s nothing of the sort. If you had any individuality you would see through this ploy for what it is–a rich a-hole getting richer off of hard working people and spoiled college students who get their money from Mom and Dad.

I say to hell with T-shirt Hell. They’re no better than politicians, lawyers, or corporate fraudsters at this point. If you have a brain demand a refund for the shirt you bought.

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