Santa Barbara women say they were ripped off by consignment shop owner

Several women in Santa Barbara and Carpinteria have reported what they call dubious dealings with Lori Frisbee, longtime owner of Montecito Treasures.

” We haven’t had payment, we haven’t had returned calls, we haven’t had returned email. ”

One woman, who asked to remain anonymous, says she and her business partner experienced problems back in December when they dropped off 28 items to the consignment shop.

” Any one item would’ve been $2,000 to $3,000,” the woman says. “These were quality pieces and this was brought specifically to a store that had been in operation for a while, we thought, had a reputation. ”

Turns out, it definitely has a reputation.

Gail Elbek says she had similar problems with the consignment shop two-and-a-half years ago.

” It was a headache. It was a major headache. ” Elbek said.

She also dealt with Lori Frisbee.

” We had some beautiful antique furniture, dropped it off and I never heard back from her again. ”

Elbek said when she and her husband helped his mother move into senior housing, they put four pieces on consignment with Frisbee.

A solid wood buffet or sidebar, a Danish dining table set with 6 chairs, and two other chairs, one with intricate caning and one in fabric.

” The chair that she never paid me for was the wing chair, perfect condition,” Elbek said.

There are similar patterns to the stories and similar outcomes: no return calls or emails, no word whether any of the pieces had sold, and no payment. In one case, the items were immediately taken off-site.

“The person was gone, the shop was closed temporarily, the phone line was cut and the employees there gave me the runaround,” the other woman said.

Elbek says after months of phone calls and emails, she eventually reached a woman by the name of ” Dorothy, ” one of Frisbee’s employees.

“‘Have you sold any of these items? There were four major items,’ and she goes, ‘Oh, we sold two of them right away.’ ”

The dining set and the sidebar.

Elbek says it took calls to the District Attorney’s Office and nearly six months before she’d receive any payment.

In the end, t he amount was around $1,000.

To this day, Elbek does not know what the pieces sold for – – Frisbee refused to give a receipt or share numbers.

As for the other two chairs, Frisbee told Elbek they’d been there too long and were now hers.

” Now I realize it’s obvious there’s more than just one or two of us, ” Elbek said.

When Frisbee refused to return the other woman’s calls and emails, she drove to the shop and talked to the current operator, demanding answers.

” I was told to leave, remove myself from the premises, ” the woman said.

After several calls to Montecito Treasures, we stopped in and talked with the person manning the shop.

He introduced himself as Leslie James and said he was simply sitting in to help out a friend, by the name of Jane, who was overseeing the shop.

What followed was a convoluted story about Frisbee, texts between the two indicating a falling-out, and a shop full of treasures belonging to — who knows?

Days after our visit, the woman who brought in two dozen pieces finally received a check, not from Frisbee, but from James. The check was dated back in February. The amount was $160.

Even with the money eventually paid out, both women say they never received a receipt or explanation of which pieces sold and for how much.

We reached out to Lori Frisbee, and have not heard back.

NewsChannel 3 also talked to the District Attorney’s Office and were told, while they do not take consumer complaints, they will bring a suit if they see a pattern.

You can find more information about the DA’s consumer protection unit, by clicking here.