Because of the Bluegrass Mall issues that were covered on the Mandolin Cafe, Bluegrass Works and our site, it became apparent that the Bluegrass Mall was not as it seemed. In fact, people all over started complaining that goods were not being shipped and refund requests were not being honored. Shortly after, The Bluegrass Mall web site was closed down.

Here is a warning on BluegrassWorks.com dating back to 2004 regarding Ron's enterprise allegedly failing to deliver. One poster claiming to be "cmalec" (unverified) stated, he was Ron's son and that Ron had even taken advantage of him too. You can read the comments in the warning link. The point being is that one should read all of the comments in the forum to understand the foundation of what was happening in the 2004-2005 time frame.

According to those who wrote on the forums, goods were being advertised. Orders were made and money was received. Problems arise and thus no goods are delivered or money is ever returned. The basic description of fraud.

Fast forward another year to 2005. Here we have another alleged scam under the name of John Barrone. But, apparently, that is an alias for our infamous Ron Malec. And, the story given by the posters there is the same: Advertise, take orders, don't deliver, have some weird excuse...

It doesn't stop there. Enter the year 2005. More alleged scams from our familiar Ron Malec operating as John Barrone and a new name, TShirts and Things. What happened here? Advertise and promote, take orders, don't deliver, have some weird excuse... Sound Familiar? Do I detect a pattern here? Well, lets see...

Enter the year 2006. Ron is allegedly at it again. A poster, claims that they ordered some shirts through one of Ron's web sites operating as the Bill Monroe Foundation web site. Guess what? Advertised goods, took an order, failed to deliver or give a refund, ... Ron also had an E-Bay site that was being mentioned in the same vein -- allegedly no goods were delivered again. This is starting to get old real fast.

But, it doesn't end there. Let's look at what happened in 2007. Here, under the name of RMGraphic Design we took an ad on Cybergrass. People started writing and calling me. They wanted to know why they weren't getting their goods. Further checking and I find out that the RM of RMGraphics is our old nemesis, Ron Malec! We yanked the ad as it violated our terms. But, it did cause us some ill-will and I personally made the refunds that were requested. Ron Malec never returned a dime. There were, again, the usual creative excuses.

Now lets hop on over and read what was going on with the Mandolin Cafe during the 2004 time frame. Again, the topic is Ron Malec and the Bluegrass Mall allegedly failing to deliver. Excuses ranged from family tragedy to a computer virus to whatever. Lots of excuses but apparently no goods or refunds.

So we have five years and multiple instances of exactly the same alleged modus operandi by the same individual in apparent fraudulent transactions against bluegrass music enthusiasts. In 2008, it changed from T-Shirts to the now non-existent magazine, Jerusalem Ridge Magazine, but, the method was exactly the same.

Continuing into 2009 the Jerusalem Ridge Magazine fiasco continues. We have his association with a well known member of our community. Goods were promoted and advertised. Orders were made and money was received. Problems arise and thus no goods or money is returned. Sound familiar? I thought it would.

Early in May, people on the BGRASS-L bluegrass discussion group started complaining about not receiving their issues of Jerusalem Ridge Magazine that they had subscribed to. Ah, and now those all too familiar funky excuses start coming. FEMA confiscated something. A hurricane wiped them out. Prepaid the printer and they had a fire. Of course, nobody, including the magazine, had any kind of insurance to cover any losses. Same as it always was.

Campbell Mercer and the Jerusalem Ridge Festival's web site has a posting about the failure of Ron to deliver his highly publicized magazine. Campbell comments, "We have all been waiting for an explanation and decision from him. We forwarded emails to him and many got a response, but some did not. We have learned that Ron's life, like so many in America, has been turned upside down by recent economic events and he has found himself in a nearly impossible situation." The problem is, that this isn't the first, second, third or even fourth time. This is a pattern.

Good intentions don't count when you use other people's money and don't inform them of the risk. Good people spent good hard-earned dollars in good faith and expected to receive good merchandise. There was certainly nothing wrong with their money so, why should there be anything wrong with getting what was promised. Stock brokers go to jail for doing exactly this. While all of Ron's activities may well have been sincere at the onset, the lesson of "Once Burned -- Twice Learned" certainly comes to play here. With Ron, it seems that everything he touches seems to fail and those failures apparently leave bluegrass enthusiasts holding the bag -- an empty bag at that. At least, that's the way it has appeared for the pat five years. If you see Ron's name attached to anything -- Buyer Beware!

The Jerusalem Ridge Magazine web site has the all familiar hard-luck story about financing and the current economic climate being to blame. The site, as in each instance before, claims that "we will issue a full refund on all subscriptions received to date" but, from those we've heard from, refunds are not coming. They claim you can submit a new request to the email address of refund@jerusalemridgemagazine.com or by writing to JRM Refund, 33 Wade Drive, Lititz, PA 17543. Ron's E-mail address is rmgraphicdesign@aol.com. Let us know if you get your refund.

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