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flyboy1294
08-06-2010, 03:47 PM
I'm probably already ****ed, but I figure I'll get your guys' opinion on it.

On January 3rd of this year, I contacted a member on here about an exhaust he had forsale. He promptly replied and said he no longer had it for sale, but he was incredibly knowledgable and offered some advise about my quad that was very helpful. He also mentioned that he did porting and head work if I was ever interested.

Around March 1st I contacted him saying that I had the cash and wanted to get some head work. I got a quote from him on the pricing, and he also made some additional recommendations on parts for the build.

March 22 I shipped him the head along with the parts that he recommended I use in it via UPS insured. He received them on the 24th. After this he started getting lazy about responding to questions about progress, etc. He would normally call me back or email me back within' hours, this turned to days.

Around April 5th he was involved in an accident broke his coller bone. I have found him talking about this on other forums/social networking sites. Note that he still had not touched my engine.

April 22nd he left me a message and said that he dropped the cylinder off for HD studs to be installed. He expected the head to be done within 10 days.

April 25th he asked that I pay the agreed price so he could drop the head off at a machine shop to be honed, have valves cut, etc. His reasoning was that he had recently lost his job and didn't have the buffer he needed. Note that after this his replies starting taking 5+ days.

May 24th he said that he did not have the head back yet from the machine shop, but could finish it within' a week after he got it back.

June 25th he said that he had gotten the head back. I was VERY uneasy at this point and said that if he did not make progress this week, I would be happy to come pick it up and take it somewhere to get it done right. He immediantly responded and said he was in progress with the valve job and would have it finished by the end of the week.

July 2nd I realized that I didn't send him new valve seals, so I had those send airmail to him. He received them on the 13th strangly. Said he would have the head ready to send out at the end of the week.

7 days later (July 20th) he said he would mail it by the end of the week... again. I was polite, but firm and asked him to give me a date. He said Monday the 25th.

I heard nothing from him so I gave him a call that Monday and left a message not-so-politely saying that if he did not have the head done, he needs to go ahead and ship it along with the parts I included and I would pay someone else to do the job right.
He got back to me Tuesday saying that he had just shipped the head and giving me detailed instructions on how to break it in, etc. My initial response was great relief that I did get ****ed over.

However, a week went by and I called him back asking him where the hell my stuff was, he made excuses saying that it was shipped 3rd class USPS without tracking, etc. I had SPECIFICALLY said that I wanted the head shipped UPS insured and gave him the ****ing extra to ship it this way.

He stopped answering my calls after this. I have sent him multiple emails/left messages asking him to double check shipping address, save receipts for shipping it, etc. Nothing.

And that brings us to today. August 6th, 10 days after he supposedly shipped the head and I still have nothing. If it doesn't show up tomorrow, I'm probably officially ****ed.
___
Here is a little background.

His name on here is 2001400exer. He is very rarely on and only uses this account to sell and buy things. Over at Raptorforum, his name is o3limited. He is pretty big over there and very helpful to other members. This is initially why I was comfortable shipping him $900 worth of parts. He was the guy that helped me with a Raptor with a bad accelerator pump a year or two back. Other people had him do work from Raptorforum and complimented not only the job, but his turn around time. (I have his address, name, social networking sites, phone #, etc. The only thing from stopping me paying him a visit is the 7+ hour drive. Plus if he is a scum bag he's long disposed of the parts)

I know I waited WAY too long to take action, but i was hoping this guy would pull through. I know for a fact he busted himself up pretty bad in that wreck, so I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. There has also been some family issues going on that have prevented me from getting to work on the quad, or really having time to think about it. All of it together has finally amassed into this mess.

I did use Paypal to send him the money, but I doubt they can refund the money, seeing as he had me send it as a gift (to avoid fee's). And they definitely could not refund the money he has in parts.

What do you guys think? Am I ****ed? Does anyone have any experiance with this guy?

If the head isn't here by Monday I guess I'll start to part out the quad. It's been fun but too much of a headache. Plus I could use the money.

toby400ex
08-06-2010, 06:44 PM
Well, if you dont get the parts or money back dont part the quad out. Its worth way more buying a head and selling it that way. How much could a head for a 400ex cost now days anyway?

Quad18star
08-06-2010, 07:05 PM
Sorry to hear about your luck ... it's a piss off to know this is happening on here.

Make sure to leave a remark in the Trader Feedback section to advise others that may deal with this person.

DnB_racing
08-06-2010, 07:19 PM
IM sorry to sat that things dont sound good!! as stated above put all info that you have about him any ebay names anything that might help someone else not fall into his scams. real sorry for you people can be scum !!

check out this happened to me
http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=444510

rbgnwa45
08-06-2010, 08:58 PM
Drive to his house with a buddy, with paypal and forum records of his BS. When you get there, call the police, get the officer to read it all, then knock on his door with the cop standing there and be like where the ****s my parts? If the cop can't do anything, go back later and wait till he leaves his house, then follow him and do something mildly drastic. Hopefully he's a young jerkass that will be easily intimidated. I mean, you drove 7 hours and if it's obvious the police won't do anything, show that you atleast will do whatever you can.

flyboy1294
08-06-2010, 09:27 PM
Originally posted by toby400ex
Well, if you dont get the parts or money back dont part the quad out. Its worth way more buying a head and selling it that way. How much could a head for a 400ex cost now days anyway?

If it's anything over $100 it's too much for me right now. I set aside a certain about to invest in this rebuild, I have met that amount. I have to work for every cent, it doesn't come easy. Plus I had Kibblewhite valves, GTT studs, a Stage 3 cam, TI springs, that he's got. That would cost a lot to replace, and I don't do things half-assed.


Originally posted by rbgnwa45
Drive to his house with a buddy, with paypal and forum records of his BS. When you get there, call the police, get the officer to read it all, then knock on his door with the cop standing there and be like where the ****s my parts? If the cop can't do anything, go back later and wait till he leaves his house, then follow him and do something mildly drastic. Hopefully he's a young jerkass that will be easily intimidated. I mean, you drove 7 hours and if it's obvious the police won't do anything, show that you atleast will do whatever you can.

The only problem is I'm a teenager. Driving 7 hours isn't cheap in a V8, I'm broke.

If it does come to where I go up there, the police would not be involved. I assume he would have already disposed of my parts, so I'd ask for cash value. He's 23, so you could call him a young jerkass lol.

__
I'll keep you all posted. I'm hoping that it'll be waiting for me tomorrow when I get off. We will see.

CJM
08-06-2010, 11:40 PM
Send him a registered letter demanding your stuff back. he has to sign or refuse the letter so you know wtf happened.

Since he is 23 all you gotta say is "either make good on the parts or I will be contacting my lawyer" thats hould share the crap out of him and he will probably make good.

flyboy1294
08-07-2010, 08:38 AM
Originally posted by CJM
Send him a registered letter demanding your stuff back. he has to sign or refuse the letter so you know wtf happened.

Since he is 23 all you gotta say is "either make good on the parts or I will be contacting my lawyer" thats hould share the crap out of him and he will probably make good.

I will try this route Monday if my parts do not arrive today.

The only problem that I can really see is he is claiming to have shipped the parts. I can't tell if he's honest, or if he's really good at scams. The whole sending money as a gift and shipping the package 3rd class un-insured is very frustrating and makes it hard to hold him accountable.

It's odd that he has such a great rep over at RaptorForum, and even more so that he has continued talking to me about the head for close to 6 months. Most cons would have cut you off by then. I don't know, maybe he's legit, but he's taken far too long.

CJM
08-07-2010, 08:54 AM
Yea it doesnt make sense he would drag it out so long either.

bens250ex
08-07-2010, 09:12 AM
a guy shipped me some stuff USPS lowest postal and it never arrived..we both waited and waited and finally showed up back at his house 3 weeks later and they said that i recieved it and then sent it back b/c i didnt want it??? anyways IF he did ship somethin sim could have happened but im not stickin up for him just sayin shipping on my end has been pretty ****ty lately. hopefully it will show up though.

DnB_racing
08-07-2010, 09:50 AM
dont do anything that will ruin your life!!!! dont threaten him with violence, Your young and a record will destroy your ability to have any potential to make big money.right now its only money!! I know its hard to let go of cash but your better of letting the legal system handle it. It sounds like you have enough proof that he will be held responsible, It will take a long time but you will still have your reputation intact!!

rbgnwa45
08-07-2010, 10:38 AM
Atleast kick him in the balls :ermm:

If you have any transaction record and it's obvious he's holding out, than a cop should be able to do something about it. Tell the cop he told you to use "gifting payment" because it's cheaper and he thought there would be no transaction so he could get away with it, etc.

There has to be laws on shiz like this, not just "send at your own risk". :huh

miller821
08-07-2010, 05:13 PM
Where's this guy live? Maybe someone you know is close enough just to stop by and ask for a receipt from USPS or something.

flyboy1294
08-07-2010, 05:37 PM
Originally posted by miller821
Where's this guy live? Maybe someone you know is close enough just to stop by and ask for a receipt from USPS or something.

Britton, MI. I can give anyone an exact address, but I doubt it would be wise to go charging into someone's battle.

Nothing arrived today. I am sending him one final message. My dad and uncle are both in Law Enforcement. I might let them give him a message or two from work.

flyboy1294
08-07-2010, 05:50 PM
Originally posted by DnB_racing
dont do anything that will ruin your life!!!! dont threaten him with violence, Your young and a record will destroy your ability to have any potential to make big money.right now its only money!! I know its hard to let go of cash but your better of letting the legal system handle it. It sounds like you have enough proof that he will be held responsible, It will take a long time but you will still have your reputation intact!!

I am in no position to threaten with violence. I believe that I can have the family attourney/police department back me up and resolve this before I ever set a foot out the door. Here is a copy of the final message I sent him.


Ben,

Listen, I don't enjoy being left in the dark. It's been 11 days since you claim to have mailed my head and parts, and 6 months since you first got it. I still have nothing, aside from your word that it is coming. I am trying to be polite here, but you're not making it easy. I understand that you don't check your email very much, but this is business and you're not doing your part in keeping up.

I will ask yet again,
Do you have a receipt for shipping it? Can you confirm you shipped it to the right addres? How did you ship it, 3rd class? Did you buy insurance?

I will wait until 3pm Monday, and if I haven't heard from you I will have to pursue other options.

Respectfully,
(my name)

DnB_racing
08-07-2010, 05:56 PM
^^^^^^^^very well said^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

flyboy1294
08-13-2010, 02:48 PM
Alright, here is an update.

The scumbag has obviously not shipped the engine and has shown no intentions of doing so. I got my personal business taken care of, so this Tuesday, 2 weeks after he claimed to ship it, I was able to talk to someone in the legal field.

I'm not sure if it is wise to post everything verbatum on the internet. So here is a parapharsed version of what the final message I sent to him went like.


Mr. Ben Cline,
(his address and contact info)

Please allow me to introduce myself, I am Sergeant (name), a Kentucky State Law Enforcement Officer.

Please note the attached time line below. I am personally aware of many of the dates and events as it was I that sent the engine head to you on March 22, 2010 and it was I that sent you the (dollar amount) from my PayPal account to you on April 26, 2010.

I have given you the benefit of the doubt all along the way because he felt that you had an excellent reputation. I have read all of the email messages that you have sent, including the one that you sent on July 26, 2010 advising that the engine head had been sent. Today is August 12, 2010 and I have not received the engine head.

Sir, I will continue to give you the benefit of the doubt for 7 days from today's date; however, I expect to receive the engine head and all of the parts that were shipped to you (many which were sent by via the United State States Postal Service) by no later that August 20, 2010.

If you do not have my items, I will accept the full cash value of all items plus the (amount) that I paid you for the work that you agreed to perform. I am currently working to determine the full amount that will be owed under those circumstances.

If, by August 20, 2010, you have not resolved this matter, I will forward this to the Kentucky Attorney General, the Michigan Attorney General, the United States Postal Inspector, and of course, PayPal. I would urge you to resolve this matter in the most expeditious manner as this could result in multiple state and federal felony charges.

Please respond to this email or contact me on my Department cell phone to let me know that you are interested in resolving this matter in one of the two methods outlined above.

Sincerely,
(name)

I also attached a timeline similar to the one I included in the first post.

I do not think that I will be able to recover my parts. But I promise you, I will make his life a living hell for the next several months. A few hundred dollars more in legal fees will be a drop in the bucket, especially if it means that I can stop him from ripping someone off.

I will offer more updates as they happen.

In the mean time, watch out for this guy. He won't show his face on here much, but he is known as 'o3limited' on Raptorforum.

dpizz450
08-13-2010, 03:11 PM
nice job. keep us updated.

CJM
08-13-2010, 03:15 PM
Yes, sounds very good-keep us posted.

HondaRacing83
08-13-2010, 09:59 PM
i remeber him on raptorforum!very helpful man!he helped me out a couple of times to!!wow cant believe he would do that....i wish the best of luck to you

flyboy1294
08-14-2010, 07:08 AM
Originally posted by HondaRacing83
i remeber him on raptorforum!very helpful man!he helped me out a couple of times to!!wow cant believe he would do that....i wish the best of luck to you

I know, that is what shocked me. He also helped me a couple times over there, along with many other people. Some people would even ship their programmable CDIs to him and he'd tune them. I tried to assume he was just down on his luck, but he has made it clear that he has no intentions to even try to justify his actions.

Again, any new developements will be posted on here. Right now I'm just letting the deadline expire. Monday I will run his license number for any criminal record. After the 20th (assuming he doesn't reply with a solution/compromise), I will send a registered letter to his address (keep in mind that it will have ALL of his contact information on it-might shake him up) along with the Attourney General of both states and USPS. They might not give a rip about a claim for only ~$1200 of mail fraud, but this very well may wind up in small claims court. It's going to be a stretch, but he is facing two felonies.

jcs003
08-14-2010, 08:08 AM
i commend you for not giving up. alot of us have been duped by these scammers. i was the victim of an ebay scam. i was ablr to have this con artists privlages revoked on ebay, but im sure he found his way back in the system.

best of luck with your pursuit of justice. its not always money. its principle.

buck440
08-14-2010, 07:38 PM
i sure as hell wouldn't trust some random dude to port for me on here. but that's just me i guess:rolleyes:

DnB_racing
08-14-2010, 07:48 PM
Originally posted by buck440
i sure as hell wouldn't trust some random dude to port for me on here. but that's just me i guess:rolleyes: I know what your trying to say ,but that's not a very nice statement to make!!!! there are many very trustworthy and highly qualified technicians on this forum!! you might want to revise that statement it sounds very offensive!!to some fine members

jcs003
08-15-2010, 04:41 AM
Originally posted by DnB_racing
I know what your trying to say ,but that's not a very nice statement to make!!!! there are many very trustworthy and highly qualified technicians on this forum!! you might want to revise that statement it sounds very offensive!!to some fine members

x2.

c-leigh racing is a 250r guru and his engine work is top notch. there are others. even mickey dunlap used to come on here.

flyboy1294
08-15-2010, 08:27 AM
Originally posted by buck440
i sure as hell wouldn't trust some random dude to port for me on here. but that's just me i guess:rolleyes:

He was reputable over at Raptor forum. I also knew several people that knew him personally and recommended him. I felt that he had the credintials to back him up, and I had seen his work.

It might've been a lapse of judgment on my part, but hindsight is 20/20. I realize I made a mistake now (obviously), I do not need to be critiqued at this point.