Alice Reid thinks her 100-year-old crystal heirloom is in a South Dakota warehouse, if it wasn't confiscated by the FBI.
Truth is, she doesn't know where the chipped compote is or if she'll ever see it again.
David Jasper, owner of Jasper Institute of Art Restoration, which also operated as D & J Glass, inspects pieces of a Sumerian prayer bowl that he was to restore in his Sioux Falls, S.D., facility. FBI agents reportedly seized 80 glass and art pieces as they executed search warrants at the company and at Jasper's home.
Last March, Reid took the $650 dish to a dealer at an antiques show conducted by the Pilot Club of Lawrence. The dealer D & J Glass and Art Clinic was to take the piece back to its studios in Sioux Falls, S.D., then quote a price to have it fixed. A large velvet sign hung above the booth, making the company seem reputable, she said.
"It's been in the family forever, but I felt very comfortable leaving it with them," Reid said.
A year later, the company has folded, leaving more than 200,000 pieces unrepaired. The FBI is investigating and has seized 80 glass and art pieces.
And Reid still hasn't seen her compote.
Hundreds of complaints
D & J Glass had a booth at the annual Pilot Club antiques shows for about four years, said show co-chair Diana Boyd. It was scheduled to return last October but didn't.
Boyd said the company repaired three pieces for her; the latest was completed about 18 months ago.
"You talk to different dealers and ask around, and they said they did wonderful work, and they do beautiful work," she said. "I can show you the pieces, and you can't even tell they were broken."
That's why, she said, the company's recent troubles are "so out of character for them."
The Better Business Bureau has received 33 complaints about the company which also operates as Jasper Institute of Art Restoration in the past three years.
But the real complaints began to surface in December, said Bob Gray, spokesman for the South Dakota attorney general's office. That's when employees' paychecks began to bounce, prompting many of the 30 or 40 employees to quit. The Better Business Bureau says the company folded Dec. 20.
Since then, Gray said, "We've taken hundreds of complaints probably, from all over the country."
Most people like Reid just want their heirlooms returned.
Too big, too fast
With the increasing number of complaints, the FBI began investigating the company, although Special Agent Paul McCabe wouldn't say exactly what his agency was investigating.
According to Derald Hallem, a former employee, agents seized 80 pieces Feb. 13 as they executed search warrants at the company and the home of the owner, David Jasper. South Dakota media reports said more than 200,000 pieces still remained at the company's warehouse at the time.
Hallem, who now is contracting with Jasper to repair the remaining pieces, said financial troubles doomed the company.
"It got too big too fast," he said, "and whenever that happens, the company will surely fail. A lot of that had to do with poor money management on their part."
But, Hallem said, accusations circulating in the Sioux Falls media that Jasper acted illegally are false. Jasper could not be reached for comment.
"They're not driving brand-new cars or Mercedes or anything," Hallem said. "Whatever money being used was put into the company, covering the payroll for the employees."
Hallem said the company was mailing letters to clients explaining that their glassware still will be repaired, but it may take several more months to complete the 500 pieces that remain.
Clients also have the option to have their pieces returned unrepaired, which many have opted to do, he said. But he said he didn't know if money already charged to credit cards would be refunded.
In the meantime, Hallem is asking patience from clients.
"I will get to their pieces as soon as I can," he said. "I'm only human."
A really bad deal
Reid had $160 charged to her credit card, and D & J Glass attempted to charge another $140 to the card. But by luck Reid lost the card and canceled it before the second charge could be completed.
She's attempted to reach the company by phone, but its line has been disconnected. In January, she enlisted a friend in Sioux Falls to stop by the D & J Glass building, where someone told her Reid would receive a letter about the company's closing. But that letter hasn't arrived.
Boyd, of the Pilot Club, said she'd heard of only one other complaint in Lawrence besides Reid's. But Reid said with the D & J Glass booth at the antiques show for several days, there surely were other Lawrence residents who sent glass to the company. A woman behind her in line had a thick crystal platter in 20 pieces.
"It's just a really bad deal," Reid said. "It's just fraud."
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