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Stephanie Neipling [email protected] Liquor Permit Tuesday, July 07, 2015 3:55:45 PM image001.png image002.png image003.png image004.png

Hi Boyce,   Please see the email below and let me know the status when you get a chance.  I appreciate you!     Prefix: Mr. First Name: John Last Name: Smykla Middle Initial or Name: Suffix: Business Name: JOMIS Enterprises 4320 S CHERRY ST PINE BLUFF AR 71603 E-mail Address: [email protected] Home Phone: 8708792362 Business Phone: 2720 S CAMDEN RD PINE BLUFF AR 71603   On June 16th of this year, $1,202 was drafted from my bank account to pay for my Liquor and Beer permits.   On June 25th, I had still not received my permit in the mail, so I called the ABC office to check on the status. I was told that they showed receipt of my payment, to wait for the permit, and if it didn't arrive by the 30th, to have my vendors call the ABC and they would let them know it was okay to deliver to me.   I still have not seen my permit. On the afternoon of July 2, a vendor called me and told me that he called the ABC to confirm that he could deliver to me. He said they told him it was okay to deliver that day, but that he wouldn't be able to deliver in the future without the permit. He was also told that it was mailed out on the 16th and that I needed to go pick one up.

  I called the ABC office the next morning, but they were closed on July 3.   This morning, I was going to call the ABC, but the vendor called before I did. They told him that I need to pay $50 for a replacement permit. I called and left a message for the Director, and am awaiting his call. I don't have his e-mail, but I found yours online.   I have had my store for 5 years now and have never had an issue with receiving a permit from the ABC or the Tobacco board. I'm not sure how it didn't get here, but I've been looking for it every day since I made my payment and have not received it.   I do have a few concerns over how this is being handled now:   1) I don't understand why I wasn't told on the 25th that it had been mailed on the 16th. That would have let me know immediately that there was a problem. When I was told to wait for it, I thought maybe they had a backlog of permits to send out or other pressing business to attend to, and that it had not been sent yet. 2) I was told by a vendor that it had been mailed on the 16th and that I needed to have it by Monday. I was simply doing as I was instructed and waiting on the permit, and then I find out from a vendor what I should have been told on the 25th when I called to find out the status of the delivery of my permit. 3) Now my vendor has been told that I need to pay $50 for a replacement that nobody can confirm by certified mail or signature that it was actually sent to me, or that I received it.   A simple solution to me would be to mail me my permit at no cost. I'm not saying they didn't mail it the first time, but I am saying that I didn't receive it. I receive mail at least a dozen times a year for the wrong address from a neighborhood behind me. Perhaps they get some of my mail also. I don't know, but I don't think it would be fair for me to pay an additional $50 for a permit that can't be confirmed to have been received on my end, especially since it is simply a piece of colored paper and the cost of postage.   If you could please forward this to the director, I'd appreciate it.   Thank you for your help in this matter.   John Smykla   Thanks,

Stephanie Neipling

Office of Governor Asa Hutchinson Deputy Director of Constituent Services

State Capitol, Suite 120 Office:  (501) 683-6393 [email protected] www.governor.arkansas.gov