Bath bomb: Broadway soap shop Bliss recouping losses after $20,000 biz deal gone bad

A Broadway small business has become entangled in business deal involving a wide-ranging Web of businesses and charities that has cost the independent retailer more than $20,000 in losses, according to its owner.

Bliss Soaps' owner Phil Wright tells CHS that he and his co-owner Chuck Sapronetti lost more than $20,000 on a wholesale order arranged with a business called Emperor's Essentials, a health and supplement product provider headquartered in Florida but active here in Washington state. Wright said everything with the deal -- one of the largest they've ever had -- seemed on the up and up until the last few weeks. Nearly three months after Bliss delivered the goods and got paid, Wright says Robert Friend, head of Emperor's Essentials, reversed the charges.

"He paid us. We made the products. Then he reversed the charges three months later. We didn't know which way to turn with it," Wright said.

Friend, it turns out, is not a stranger to financial controversy. He and his wife are involved with a group of charities that has been investigated for its questionable practices. Here is a Seattle PI article about the couple from 2007. Most recently, the activities of the American Veterans Coalition, which lists Friend as its 'registered agent,' were under scrutiny as the Gig Harbor-based charity settled claims in Arkansas and Kentucky. The office of the Washington State Attorney General would not comment on whether it is -- or is not -- investigating any of the charities Friend is involved with. Those include the AVC, the Cancer Assistance Network, the Disabled Firefighters Foundation, and the National Association for Disabled Police Officers. We have also requested information from the AG on any complaints against Friend, his organizations and his company, Emperor's Essentials. None of the organizations were included in the state's recent busts of so-called 'badge charities.

CHS also talked to Rebecca Sherrell, charities program manager for the Washington Secretary of State's office. Sherrell said her office had no documentation of any state actions against the Friend charities.

Back at Bliss, Wright said he didn't know what to do. So he gave Friend -- somebody he says he's known from the business world for seven years -- a call.

"He tries to intimidate," Wright said of Friend." "'I'm so right,' 'you don't have a chance.' I think a lot of people back down from the intimidation."

CHS got a small taste of this when we contacted Friend at his Gig Harbor home through a number provided on one of his organizations' Web sites. Friend answered the phone with a cheery "Emperor's Essentials!" Then he learned he was talking to a reporter. "Do not call me," Friend said. "This is a private residence and I do not want this to happen again."

Later that night, Friend forwarded us this e-mail without additional comment:

Phil and Chuck,

 I am going to press criminal charges, a restraining order, and harassment charges, and take this to court very quickly if you do not stop your threats and harassment. Brian and I have been gentlemen to this point. Enough is enough. All your text's are documented and ready to be supplied to the legal authorities as needed. They are in black and white. There is no wiggle room in what  you are doing. Some of what you are committing is criminal, and a lot is blat en civil wrongs.

 We feel you have miss led us, duped us, and not provided us with what we have paid you for. We also feel you still owe us a sizable sum of money and have caused us large financial losses. Let's let the courts hand down a decision.

 I suggest you allow the courts to deal with this and they will decide whom owes whom what. We have everything documented and we will provide it accordingly at the prescribed time. I am sure you are aware that Chase called last night and are leaving the charge backs right where they are, with Emperor's Essentials. They have your documents and they have ours, and they have made their decision accordingly.

 We have been trying to be patient with you, but one more action, or phone call like today and we are filing charges.

 Be under no allusion, you have been put on notice. Govern yourselves accordingly.

 Robert Friend

Wright said Bliss won't back down.

"Yesterday, the intimidation almost worked until we saw the support of people coming out to support us," Wright said. Bliss sent out an e-mail to customers telling them about the situation and announcing a sale to help the shop recoup some of their losses.

"We've made most of it back," Wright said of the response. "We were getting an order an average of every two minutes online."

But Bliss isn't finished. Wright said he expects to report the deal gone bad to the State Attorney General's office and will pursue the matter in court.

"I don't know anything about the process," Wright said. "When you run a super honest business you usually don't care about these kinds of things."