See this link in the Bad Seller forum for more information: http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229526
While posting what can be considered a private issue on a public forum is the last thing I wanted to do, I feel as if I've run out of other options.
Disclaimer: If you want to get a long story short version, I'll stick a brief abstract at the bottom.
Until about 3 months ago, Brad and I have maintained what I considered a pretty good friendship over about the past year and a half; corresponding through emails and over the phone at least once every two weeks if not more.
Our "business" relationship initiated in late November of last year when I purchased a tuned z.1 from Brad. We arranged all the details over the phone, and I sent Brad the money immediately through PayPal after we finished our conversation. Brad mentioned that he was experiencing a bit of a time crunch with his Christmas orders, and I told him I had no problem as long as I got my fork before I had to return to school at the end of Christmas break. When I'm at school, I don't have have easy access to specialized bike tools so getting the fork later than that really wouldn't work too well. To Brad's credit and even with all the delays, I did end up receiving the fork the day before I returned to school for the spring semester.
So I did get the fork when all was said and done, and while the timeline did leave a little to be desired, I had no complaints as I was up and riding for the majority of the semester. Fast forward to what I believe was mid-March, when I placed another order with Brad for a set of his raw proto 22.2 Folsom Prison bars. Like before, I sent Brad the money through PayPal, and even though I really didn't give Brad a timeframe on the bars - I didn't see them until about the middle of May, right about 2 months after I ordered them.
I didn't really think too much of it at the time, especially since they were just an impulse buy, but in retrospect I guess it was clear sign of things to come.
Finally, fastforward to early July this summer - I called Brad up and after about an hour's worth of chatting we came up with the plan for a Raw, Guideless, Secret Agent with a Euro BB and a Pressfit headtube, kitted out with profile cranks/hubs, with a 6spd rear and a non-disc 20mil front.
I sent Brad a $400 downpayment on the frame/component combo sometime in the next two days following the conversation, with the promise and delivery of more money in the near future. Taking into account my past experiences with Brad's usual delays, I placed what I considered to be a relatively simple order with a deadline over a month away, on August 15th. I chose August the 15th for the same reasons that I chose the deadline for my previous fork order - I was driving back to school on the 16th and would no longer have access to the necessary tools to put the bike together leaving me with a pile of parts that I couldn't ride.
I left for Poland on July the 12th. While I was in Poland I emailed Brad two or three times to ask how things were going, which he replied that the frame was underway; and I also asked for some progress pictures, which he promised - yet I never received. As soon as I returned to the states 17 days later on the 29th, I gave Brad a phonecall and sent him the next installment of $600. During that phonecall we worked out the details of the Profile order, which to his credit he did place; as well as him telling me that he had completed the front triangle of my frame and was waiting on some chainstays to be bent if I remember correctly. Once again I asked for some progress pics, which were promised, yet never received.
Around the time my Profile order arrived, I sent Brad another payment bringing the total money recieved in the range of $1100 total. This is also around the time I began asking him when he expected my frame to be done, which he replied that he'd need about a week more to get the frame to be clearcoated, and then it'd be out in the mail.
That week passed and I didn't hear anything from Brad so I called him again. He said there had been a delay so things were going to take a little longer than expected.
I called Brad again on either August 14th or the 15th, which was the DEADLINE. I asked him what the delay was this time, his response was that "he was waiting to weld on the cable guides before he could send it to clear" - a little fishy considering we had agreed that there would be no cable guides on the frame that I ordered.
It is at this point in time that I simply gave up, waiting for him to contact me when he actually had the frame done. To this day, I have YET to see any proof that he's actually made me a frame, much less one anywhere near to being within the month+ deadline that we set for the entire deal to go down. It was about a week and a half after I returned to school that I began having to deal with some relatively serious personal/family issues, so I brushed the fact that I was out $500+ in return for NO product to the side to take care of what really is and still was important.
While I have been waiting to hear from Brad that he's finally finished my frame - instead I've received three "threatening" voicemails in the time since then and now.
As of right now, I've sent Brad $1100+ dollars and he returned the favor by giving me excuses for why he couldn't meet an already generous deadline, and then leaving threatening voicemails shortly thereafter. When I didn't respond to that sort of childish un-businesslike behavior, he dropped down to calling me a drug user both on public forums and over the phone; kind of ironic considering the reputation that Brad has established for himself over the years. Keep in mind that until this day, today, January 1st, 2008, almost 6 months since I initially placed my order and sent my first payment, I still haven't seen a picture of the frame the frame I ordered or anything close to it.
This entire situation is slightly ironic, looking back at my rather short RideMonkey posting history, as a good number of my posts on here have been supporting Brad, but apparently I was the one who was misguided at the time.
Brad has all together stopped returning any correspondence - instead I've been writing back and forth with another mutual friend, Garson Fields, in an effort to get this situation sorted out. Garson has on several occasions asked Brad to get back to me, or to sort this situation out, but to no avail as of yet.
Abstract/Long Story Short:
I'm out $500 on a frame that to the best of my knowledge was never built, and Brad has shown no intention of returning one cent of the money he's essentially stolen from me.
What's the next step I can take to get this situation resolved?
I've tried contacting him directly for several months now, but clearly he has no intention of simply returning the money he's taken for a product he never delivered. I screwed up by giving him the benefit of the doubt and not filing a PayPal claim within their short deadline - but I did manage to save a record of everything in relation to this transaction, so when it comes to the burden of proof I feel as if I have more than enough in my favor.
What's the next step?
Plain and simple, I just want my money back. This is absolutely ridiculous behavior from someone who claims to run a reputable business - and I know that I'm not the only one who's ever had an issue with Brad's business "practices"
Be a man Brad, admit that you didn't deliver and give me my money back.
Cross posted in the BMX/Street/DJ forum under this link:
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2781949#post2781949
While posting what can be considered a private issue on a public forum is the last thing I wanted to do, I feel as if I've run out of other options.
Disclaimer: If you want to get a long story short version, I'll stick a brief abstract at the bottom.
Until about 3 months ago, Brad and I have maintained what I considered a pretty good friendship over about the past year and a half; corresponding through emails and over the phone at least once every two weeks if not more.
Our "business" relationship initiated in late November of last year when I purchased a tuned z.1 from Brad. We arranged all the details over the phone, and I sent Brad the money immediately through PayPal after we finished our conversation. Brad mentioned that he was experiencing a bit of a time crunch with his Christmas orders, and I told him I had no problem as long as I got my fork before I had to return to school at the end of Christmas break. When I'm at school, I don't have have easy access to specialized bike tools so getting the fork later than that really wouldn't work too well. To Brad's credit and even with all the delays, I did end up receiving the fork the day before I returned to school for the spring semester.
So I did get the fork when all was said and done, and while the timeline did leave a little to be desired, I had no complaints as I was up and riding for the majority of the semester. Fast forward to what I believe was mid-March, when I placed another order with Brad for a set of his raw proto 22.2 Folsom Prison bars. Like before, I sent Brad the money through PayPal, and even though I really didn't give Brad a timeframe on the bars - I didn't see them until about the middle of May, right about 2 months after I ordered them.
I didn't really think too much of it at the time, especially since they were just an impulse buy, but in retrospect I guess it was clear sign of things to come.
Finally, fastforward to early July this summer - I called Brad up and after about an hour's worth of chatting we came up with the plan for a Raw, Guideless, Secret Agent with a Euro BB and a Pressfit headtube, kitted out with profile cranks/hubs, with a 6spd rear and a non-disc 20mil front.
I sent Brad a $400 downpayment on the frame/component combo sometime in the next two days following the conversation, with the promise and delivery of more money in the near future. Taking into account my past experiences with Brad's usual delays, I placed what I considered to be a relatively simple order with a deadline over a month away, on August 15th. I chose August the 15th for the same reasons that I chose the deadline for my previous fork order - I was driving back to school on the 16th and would no longer have access to the necessary tools to put the bike together leaving me with a pile of parts that I couldn't ride.
I left for Poland on July the 12th. While I was in Poland I emailed Brad two or three times to ask how things were going, which he replied that the frame was underway; and I also asked for some progress pictures, which he promised - yet I never received. As soon as I returned to the states 17 days later on the 29th, I gave Brad a phonecall and sent him the next installment of $600. During that phonecall we worked out the details of the Profile order, which to his credit he did place; as well as him telling me that he had completed the front triangle of my frame and was waiting on some chainstays to be bent if I remember correctly. Once again I asked for some progress pics, which were promised, yet never received.
Around the time my Profile order arrived, I sent Brad another payment bringing the total money recieved in the range of $1100 total. This is also around the time I began asking him when he expected my frame to be done, which he replied that he'd need about a week more to get the frame to be clearcoated, and then it'd be out in the mail.
That week passed and I didn't hear anything from Brad so I called him again. He said there had been a delay so things were going to take a little longer than expected.
I called Brad again on either August 14th or the 15th, which was the DEADLINE. I asked him what the delay was this time, his response was that "he was waiting to weld on the cable guides before he could send it to clear" - a little fishy considering we had agreed that there would be no cable guides on the frame that I ordered.
It is at this point in time that I simply gave up, waiting for him to contact me when he actually had the frame done. To this day, I have YET to see any proof that he's actually made me a frame, much less one anywhere near to being within the month+ deadline that we set for the entire deal to go down. It was about a week and a half after I returned to school that I began having to deal with some relatively serious personal/family issues, so I brushed the fact that I was out $500+ in return for NO product to the side to take care of what really is and still was important.
While I have been waiting to hear from Brad that he's finally finished my frame - instead I've received three "threatening" voicemails in the time since then and now.
As of right now, I've sent Brad $1100+ dollars and he returned the favor by giving me excuses for why he couldn't meet an already generous deadline, and then leaving threatening voicemails shortly thereafter. When I didn't respond to that sort of childish un-businesslike behavior, he dropped down to calling me a drug user both on public forums and over the phone; kind of ironic considering the reputation that Brad has established for himself over the years. Keep in mind that until this day, today, January 1st, 2008, almost 6 months since I initially placed my order and sent my first payment, I still haven't seen a picture of the frame the frame I ordered or anything close to it.
This entire situation is slightly ironic, looking back at my rather short RideMonkey posting history, as a good number of my posts on here have been supporting Brad, but apparently I was the one who was misguided at the time.
Brad has all together stopped returning any correspondence - instead I've been writing back and forth with another mutual friend, Garson Fields, in an effort to get this situation sorted out. Garson has on several occasions asked Brad to get back to me, or to sort this situation out, but to no avail as of yet.
Abstract/Long Story Short:
I'm out $500 on a frame that to the best of my knowledge was never built, and Brad has shown no intention of returning one cent of the money he's essentially stolen from me.
What's the next step I can take to get this situation resolved?
I've tried contacting him directly for several months now, but clearly he has no intention of simply returning the money he's taken for a product he never delivered. I screwed up by giving him the benefit of the doubt and not filing a PayPal claim within their short deadline - but I did manage to save a record of everything in relation to this transaction, so when it comes to the burden of proof I feel as if I have more than enough in my favor.
What's the next step?
Plain and simple, I just want my money back. This is absolutely ridiculous behavior from someone who claims to run a reputable business - and I know that I'm not the only one who's ever had an issue with Brad's business "practices"
Be a man Brad, admit that you didn't deliver and give me my money back.
Cross posted in the BMX/Street/DJ forum under this link:
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2781949#post2781949