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A guy listed a rear seat on the samba. I wrote him and asked
about it, told him I was going to be in the LA area and would be interested in it if he were close. He wrote me and told me he was 400 miles north. But he said that he could ship it if I wanted to buy it. He also wanted me to wire him the money so he could send it the next morning, - here's his email-- "So i can pick the money up right now? I will sent it to you first thing tomorrow.
So we are going on two weeks now. I ask him to send my money back and he is wanting to keep $50 out of the 150 that I sent. Stating that he bought a box that cost $13 but the day before he told me he looked at boxes but they didnt have boxes large enough. So beware of internet buying obviously this person is not a man of his word. - Here are some of his emails. "I got the money, I am eating off it right now, money tastes good. I will sent it tomorrow! I cleaned most of the bed, but it could use about another 10 min cleaning. -----"I was busy today and didnt have my car anyways, tomorrow i will ship it! ---TWO DAYS LATER--- "I couldnt find a box, some guy at homedepot was going to give me one but he never showed up. anyway I will ship it tomorrow"----- THREE DAYS AFTER THIS MESSAGE----- "I have been so busy! I am so sorry, i will have it shipped to you tomorrow. "----- Another day passes "no, i took it apart really to be shipped, tomorrow sorry" ------After that I asked him to just return my money since he obviously was not going to ship the seat. I was not rude I just told him that obviously this was a bigger problem than he could deal with. His reply was to keep $50. The problem is I don't even know if he will ever send anything back. I'm not real concerned about this transaction but I think their should be ways to avoid things like this. Besides the obvious of not making any deals at all.
Is anyone with me in saying that maybe there should be a seller rating
like there is on auction sites for VW sales sites. It is difficult to find certain items and I rely on people making honest business deals. It's a shame that a man can't be as good as his word anymore. Thanks for creating this site so I can at least voice my frustration. Hope this helps someone else from getting burned.**** steve fannin, phoenix, az
I look at the samba and other vw sites almost everyday. one
day i looked when i shouldn't have. I saw this amazing looking 23 window double door bus for sale by some kid in California who is very active in the car flipping business on the internet. Do you know who I mean? More clues will follow. So I wait til noon here so it's 9am in Orange,
California. I make the call. The kid is very knowledgeable, and well spoken. We talk, I ask questions, he gives answers. I tell him that I would like Lenny Kopp at WCCR to look at the bus. I know Lenny has a very good reputation, and is very particular. This kid tells me if "Lenny looks at the bus, he'll pick it a part, and I won't want it". I assure
him not to worry about that, if the car is what he says it is, and if I'm going to pay $21,500 for a car (more than I paid for a 2000 GTI VR6) Iwant it checked out. He applies pressure by telling me that 5 people are coming to look at this car in the next 24 hours. I assure him that i won't negotiate with him on the price, I, in turn ask that he is
only honest with me if the car has ANY MAJOR PROBLEMS. He assures me that the car has no major problems and it runs and drives great. He, in addition has gone the extra distance to fine tune door alignment etc. Lenny looks at the car. He tells me that in his opinion, the double doors cut in have ruined the value of the car, but if I want a nicer bus to be cruising around in, it's fine for that but I don't have a show winner here. I later find out the this kid asked lenny "not to burn out his deal." I call the seller back and tell him that I want it. I send money. I get the title.Not the sellers name on the title. At this point I realize that this kid is a car flipper. 6 weeks go by: so I go to the shipping depot to pick up the bus, I am so excited, I've
wanted a 23 window sooooo bad!! It won't start. A turn signal is stuck on. We push start it. The brakes are mushy. 3 pumps til they catch. I gas up, thinking what the hell, I've driven far worse, besides, this is a California bus. I'm driving down the highway and it is drifting all over the road. I get home, I'm beat. The details are far too many to list, but the long and the short of it is that I'm lucky to be alive. The fuel lines were spraying gas all over. The coil wire was loose (can you say "fire hazard?"). The master cylinder was bad, the rear brake cables were "tucked in" to the drums. All of the running gear was off a 59 bus. It was missing alot of the bolts that hold it onto the frame. I put in a new gas tank, wiring harness, the heater boxes were on backwards, no lights worked. One rear shock was hanging off. the jack points are mashed, the wiper shafts are shot, the
doors were not aligned.The steering box was bad.There was rust repaired improperly with sheet metal tacked in over other sheet metal.Screws are snapped off all over the place, hardware store screws are holding the interior panels on. the wheel wells had been cut out and replaced.Clearly this vehicle was slapped together for sale. I have talked to
this kid innumerable times. Most recently after the bus had been in the shop for 6 months. I called him and told him that I had finally gotten the repairs done to the tune of $7600 (now it's over $10k). He said " don't call ME after six month and say I owe you anything!" I told him I JUST got it back from the shop and we need to work out something here. He said with pompous impunity that the best he could do "was to sell the bus for me again and get me my money back. or i could sue him and lose" nice! We are talking about used cars here, used car salesmen.I've talked to a lot of people, they all know him. They all say the same thing. "liar, scumbag,fullacrap..." and on and on. I find his lack of integrity a disappointment. and I'll see him the next time i'm in the LA area. gibbs connor, pa more wipeouts
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