11 grand gone, no kit delivered

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by HighPlainsDrifter

Hi,
I just heard that there may be a buyer for the company and if it goes through I should get a refund........so I will give him a bit more time before I start legal procedure.

You'll never see a dime unless you get a law suit filed. Once the new owner is in charge he has no obligation to the sins of the prior owners. Don't believe a word this guy says.

Isn't it time to drive a final vampire stake through this place? The "goodwill" of the trade name has been lost. A new owner might have assets in jigs etc but he would be better off starting a new company.

[Wisconsin_Snake]

Listen to these guys... He's buying for time. the more time you let go, the less likely you'll get anything back...
Get a lien against the comapny ASAP. I believe laywer fees would get added to the lein.

[joyridin']

Agree with the above. Whoever buys the company can just buy the assets and not the debts. That would mean the previous owner has to settle any debts the company owes. That never happens.

Put a lien on it right away.

[cobra1966]

Hey guys , greetings from Edmonton Alberta, i actually spoke to this clown on the phone , he wanted me to bring mine down and wanted my car for measurements etc and a base to make new parts..after talking with him on the phone numerous times and giving all my frame dimensions etc he sent me pics of "frames " he supposedly built. i still have his number and where he lives in Sask. It sounds like to me some good old payback is in order here...seeing as im not that far away i may take a drive down and look into some collections as i F@#$Un do not like people being taken advantage of.

My email is mikem2cnc@gmail.com if anyone want to be in touch

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Email sent.
Perry

[Cruisin428]

May not be pertinent, but if you used the us mail system for this transaction, it may fall under US Postal fraud.

At that point the US government will be involved.

A buisness friend got into a mess with a customer using US mail. I dont think he got his money back but the other person had the US after him for mail fraud.

The only other leverage I can think of besides the lawyers listed above. Is small claims court. There are limits to the amount. Here it is 7500. Maybe you could split the 11k if you sent two payments, do two small claims filings? check your lawyer options then check small claims, you would at least make your claim known before the sale. Also file against him and the company, not just the company.

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by Cruisin428

May not be pertinent, but if you used the us mail system for this transaction, it may fall under US Postal fraud.

At that point the US government will be involved.

A buisness friend got into a mess with a customer using US mail. I dont think he got his money back but the other person had the US after him for mail fraud.

The only other leverage I can think of besides the lawyers listed above. Is small claims court. There are limits to the amount. Here it is 7500. Maybe you could split the 11k if you sent two payments, do two small claims filings? check your lawyer options then check small claims, you would at least make your claim known before the sale. Also file against him and the company, not just the company.

Buyer and seller are both in Canada.

[redmt]

Originally Posted by Cruisin428

May not be pertinent, but if you used the us mail system for this transaction, it may fall under US Postal fraud.

At that point the US government will be involved.

A buisness friend got into a mess with a customer using US mail. I dont think he got his money back but the other person had the US after him for mail fraud.

The only other leverage I can think of besides the lawyers listed above. Is small claims court. There are limits to the amount. Here it is 7500. Maybe you could split the 11k if you sent two payments, do two small claims filings? check your lawyer options then check small claims, you would at least make your claim known before the sale. Also file against him and the company, not just the company.

I tried the mail fraud angle when acton ripped me off. The USPS has many requirements that prevented me from having him prosecuted. The biggest thing was that seeing as how he did send a few parts, it did not constitute fraud. If I could have gotten it into court and he found at fault , then they may have been able to do something. The NH Attorney General stated that they had so many complaints against him and that mine was one of the smaller ones that my chances of ever recovering anything wasn't going to happen. These rip off artists seem to have the upper hand in these things.

[Murky781]

Remember the days of tar and feathers? Seems like we need to revisit the good old days and work from the "top down" to "correct" the imbalance in some of these matters.

[cycleguy55]

I was at a 'Show and Shine' in Regina, Saskatchewan on Monday, and one of the folks I talked to said Ryan was trying to sell him the jigs and moulds for $60K CAD. He said they've spoken a few times but never met. I indicated to him that I've seen a few posts on CC from folks who gave Ryan some money and aren't happy about the outcome (or lack thereof).

While he seemed interested in getting into the business, he commented that Ryan was asking too much for what he was offering. I doubt he'll be moving ahead with the purchase - but you never know what kind of crazy stuff will happen.

[74proii]

Wouldn't it be nice if we collectively had enough pull to just create a new "third" company for individual parts based on all we have between everybody without all the B.S.? After all didn't he just have body molds and needed to "copy" our components? Hell even just getting the smaller stuff replicated like hinges etc. would be very advantageous I think for many of us.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by 74proii

Wouldn't it be nice if we collectively had enough pull to just create a new "third" company for individual parts based on all we have between everybody without all the B.S.? After all didn't he just have body molds and needed to "copy" our components? Hell even just getting the smaller stuff replicated like hinges etc. would be very advantageous I think for many of us.

Good luck. I've been around here a long time. We have a lot of members that like to talk big, but when you ask them to step up and write a check they scamper away like chipmunks under the deck. Just check the many threads where guys tried to get Halibrand wheels made... and failed when they asked for an up-front payment from the guys that had all said "oh yeah, count me in for a set of four."

[rodneym]

...my ears were ringing.
What's up?

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by rodneym

...my ears were ringing.
What's up?

Tinnitus?

[rodneym]

That, too. Too many years in front of Ampeg SVTs.

No need to worry - I learned my lesson. It was naive but noble, no?
It's all out there. Just gotta know where to look and who to ask.

[twobjshelbys]

Time to drive a stake through this vampire's heart. There is no sustainable business plan for this place. All that will happen is someone with good intentions will buy a failing business and become the next one to fail.

To a large extent, the value of a business sold is its "goodwill". There is very little, if any, of that left. The cost of pulling up the bootstraps will be very high, and with the number of Cobra manufacturers, the only market is in Canada, a very small market.

Sorry to be brutal, I'd be happy to be proven otherwise.

[Brasilcat]

Originally Posted by cycleguy55

I'm somewhat surprised they'd take the view this is a civil matter. It seems to me this looks like fraud - and that's a Criminal Code matter.

Ref: Criminal Code

Any time two entities enter a business agreement, if one of the parties does not hold it's end of the bargain, the dispute becomes a civil matter for law enforcement cannot take sides. Law enforcement cannot ascertain which party agreed on what and what claims one party may have against the other. Therefor, it becomes a court matter in which a Judge will look at the evidence provided by both parties and decide. To the joy or disappointment of either party.

I hope this helps clarify why we should not rush to assume Law enforcement has jurisdiction.

EXAMPLE: "Police officers can only handle crimes where one party intentionally deprives or defrauds the other party." Police officers can't determine if one of the parties intentionally change the terms of the agreement or has financial claims to offset not being able to fulfill a business agreement. That's where a judge comes in

[Wisconsin_Snake]

Can someone post a pituure of this guy???
I would like to print a copy of it so I can spit at it...

Seriously through... Let's get a piture of this crook along with what ever else, email/phone/address, etc. Post it on on the other car enthusiest sites and craigslist to warn other people.

[SnakeDoc]

Ryan Maertens picture can be found here.

Ripoff Report | Ryan Martens Complaint Review Foremost, Alberta

By the way he is on other "car sites"

[SnakeDoc]

Ripoff Report | Ryan Martens Complaint Review Foremost, Alberta