INVESTIGATION: Still No Answers for Washington Golf Center Customers
Two months after it abruptly closed, there are still no answers for customers of Washington Golf Center.
The closing left clients and customers holding worthless gift cards and unpaid bills.
The owners of the Shirlington building that housed the store had to hold a cash liquidation sale earlier this year, telling ARLnow.com that the company had stopped paying its rent in October and had not even bothered to declare bankruptcy. The company simply walked away from the lease, the landlords said, forcing them to sell the remaining merchandise themselves in order to recover some of their losses.
Store customers who had recently bought gift cards, however, had no way of getting any of their money back. One customer from Fort Washington, Md. said he had bought each of his sons a $500 Washington Golf Center gift card for Christmas. Neither had used it when the store went belly-up. The value of the gift cards went from $1000 to $0 overnight.
“What’s unfortunate is that there’s no information — no final clearance, nothing like that,” the customer said. “I would have liked some sort of announcement, some advance notice.”
Other customers who commented on our story also reported holding gift cards worth between $125 and $1,250.
“We’re well aware of the company,” said Edward Johnson, local president of the Better Business Bureau. ”They have an ‘F’ rating and that’s because of complaints.”
Johnson said consumers have very little recourse when a company closes its doors without filing for bankruptcy.
“It’s not uncommon for businesses to go under. When they do, however, there’s an obligation, if they’re incorporated, to wind down the corporation and file for bankruptcy. That’s what a company with integrity would do.”
Several people have commented about the store on the internet said they got the impression that Washington Golf Center was going out of business well before it actually closed, due to low inventory and other factors. Johnson said a crime may have been committed if the store sold gift cards while preparing to close.
“If the company knowingly sold gift certificates and knew at the same time that they were closing their doors, then there is a case for potential fraud,” he said.
Crime Report: Young Women Assaulting Cops Edition
In this week’s Arlington County Crime Report, we find two cases of young women assaulting police officers.
ASSAULT ON POLICE-ARREST 06/02/10, 1000 block of S. Hayes Street. On June 2 at 8:30 pm, a woman was caught shoplifting at a mall. She then spit on a security guard and assaulted a police officer. Shanta Watson, 18, of Washington D.C., was charged with Assault on Law Enforcement, Assault and Battery, Identity Theft and Petit Larceny. She was held on a $7,500 bond.
ASSAULT ON POLICE-ARREST 06/05/10, 3100 block of Wilson Boulevard. On June 5 at 12:40 am, an officer was arresting a suspect when the suspect’s girlfriend assaulted the officer. The female assaulted a second officer as well. Stephanie Vogeley, 21, of Arlington, was charged with two counts of Assault on Law Enforcement and Drunk in Public. She was held on a $5,000 bond.
The rest of the report, after the jump.
Local Eco Heartthrob Spearheading Cleanup Efforts in the Gulf
Philippe Cousteau, grandson of the legendary ocean explorer, has been making headlines lately for his efforts to help spearhead a cleanup of the Gulf oil spill.
If you’ve been watching TV coverage of the spill, there’s a decent chance you may have seen Cousteau talking about the disaster.
“This is a catastrophe beyond imagination,” he has said.
But what you might not know is that Cousteau lives in a well-decorated but relatively humble apartment in Pentagon City.
With a resume that includes television host, CEO of his own environmental charity, co-founder of an environmental marketing and design firm, prodigious world traveler and all-around dreamy do-gooder, you might think Cousteau would be living in a trendy loft somewhere in the District. But, for now, he’s chosen practical, unassuming Pentagon City instead.
Here’s hoping he makes a difference down in the Gulf.
Photo via Facebook.
Kojo Coming to Town
WAMU 88.5′s Kojo Nnamdi is coming to Arlington next week as part of the Kojo In Your Community series. He’ll be asking the question: “What makes Arlington, Arlington?”
The two-hour live broadcast will focus exclusively on Arlington and how it’s “a county of contradictions — a blue county in a red state; home to the Pentagon and communities of people from around the globe.”
The discussion will take place at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Parish (3304 Washington Blvd) from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15. The public is encouraged to attend and participate.
Photo courtesy WAMU.
The ARLnow.com World Cup Guide
Lessons we learned while gathering information about local bars and their World Cup specials:
- Irish pubs cannot stand France.
- Irish pubs cannot stand England.
- Irish pubs are likely to ask “Wait, why do you need an excuse like the World Cup to drink?” when asked about their World Cup drink specials.
- Even British pubs are hesitant to say that they’re supporting England in Saturday’s match against the U.S.
- There are too many ridiculous eating and drinking opportunities to avoid soccer for the next month.
Soccer is a game meant to be watched with a large group of loud and inebriated fans, so go ahead, summon your old middle school soccer ambitions and yell out those rare soccer-related phrases you remember from the matches (“CORNER KICK!” and “STRIKER!”).
ARLnow’s list of places to watch the World Cup in Arlington is after the jump. The tournament, by the way, kicks off (get it?) at 10:00 a.m. Friday with host country South Africa versus Mexico.
Photo via Facebook: Piola Restaurant all decked out for the World Cup.
Morning Notes
Columbia Pike Blues Festival Nine Days Away — The annual Columbia Pike Blues Festival is just over a week away, but now’s the time to get excited. We Love DC has come out with their top five reasons to check out the festivities. Number 4: the performance by 16-year-old jazz wunderkind Matt Wigler, dubbed “the blues version of Stephen Strasburg.”
Bike Sharing System Named, Minor Controversy Ensues – It’s like the 2000 election all over again. After asking the public to vote on a new name for the recently-announced Arlington-D.C. bike sharing system, Arlington County and DDOT decided to ignore the name that got the most first place votes — “George” — and go with the name that got the most first, second and third place votes — “Capital Bikeshare.” Some blog commenters have been bemoaning the choice of a generic, non-interesting name, but hey, at least officials took the time to explain why Capital Bikeshare is a better name than George, right?
Combat-Ready Tech Coming Back to Marine Corps Marathon — FLIR Systems, the company that develops the infrared cameras you’ve probably seen if you’ve ever watched one of those car chase shows, is going to showcase some of its military tech at the Marine Corps Marathon in October. The technology, which is also helping to keep Marines safe in war zones, will be placed throughout the course. It will allow authorities to track any “situation” during the long race. It will also provide a live video feed of the race leaders.
Flickr pool photo by Knascar.
