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[kanuck]

Why is it still up?

Just an observation.

[undy]

Probably for the same reason that the site keeps going down. Nuf' said...

[patrickt]

I will say it is disappointing that no one from that organization (and I use that term very broadly so that it includes anyone in any way associated with the name or company) will even address the issue publicly with all of the guys who are complaining on the various sites I visit. It's almost as if they're saying "screw you, we're out of here and we won't even give you the courtesy of a polite response." Oh well, I suppose you can dress them up, but you can't take them out....

[eschaider]

Your point is well made Patrick.

It is worth remembering that the wind down of a business, particularly a legit one, normally is mostly concerned about dotting the I's and crossing the T's with respect to closing down their financial business obligations and giving the employees as soft a landing as conditions and events might allow. If there is additional resource available, the niceties of handling incoming inquiries about the who, what, why etc after the closure can sometimes be addressed. Most of the time there is little time or resource to attend to the niceties. It is just a very tough time for all, in-particular the entrepreneur ...

[patrickt]

Alright, if you were to bet, would you wager that a $500 check sent to them tomorrow would be returned to sender or cashed?

[eschaider]

Fair question.

Once the business is closed there should be no bank account and no bank to cash the check. Could a disreputable person find a way — no doubt they could. I would expect the check typically would end up being returned or lost in the myriad of paper associated with the closure.

If I am informed correctly, I believe a bank will not cash a check that is more than six months old or is issued to a business that has closed.

[GRUFF78]

Here is the public announcement in a nutshell:

At least 25 (so far) customers were robbed of their engine deposits and/or parts going back at least 3 years with no product or service to show for it. Many 100's of thousands of dollars. The owner was effectively operating a Ponzi scheme and was assuring customers that everything was good up to 3 days before he stopped answering the phone, emails and disappeared.

That is the bottom line announcement.

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by GRUFF78

Here is the public announcement in a nutshell:

At least 25 (so far) customers were robbed of their engine deposits and/or parts going back at least 3 years with no product or service to show for it. Many 100's of thousands of dollars. The owner was effectively operating a Ponzi scheme and was assuring customers that everything was good up to 3 days before he stopped answering the phone, emails and disappeared.

That is the bottom line announcement.

That is bad news and not what I would have expected from the firm. Businesses prosper and businesses fail but Ponzi schemes are intentional and literally criminal.

If the representation is true then I have no sympathy for the business owner(s) who seduced unwary buyers by using an industry good name to inspire confidence that they were engaging in a fair value for value exchange from a reputable provider.

[kanuck]

I wonder what Keith has to say about this, I know he sold the business but was the landlord and it was literally in his back yard. He was in the business a long time so there is no way he did not see things, hear things, or suspect things, it's a small comunity. I am not putting any blame on him, but there is no way he was oblivious to all this.

[Buzz]

Keith as I recollect was pretty angry and bitter when he bailed out of the business a few years ago. He'd put in years of blood, sweat and dedication and was fed up of the hassles of doing business in a world of online chatter, hearsay and damn-near libelous allegations about his published dyno figures. As pissed-off as he sounded about that stuff back then, I'd recommend standing back a few feet when offering him a penny for his thoughts about this situation. It definitely can't help that all of this is happening under his own name which he'd spent decades building up as an industry synonym for top-notch quality and performance. If this ignominious ending to his legacy saddens me, I can only imagine how he must feel.

[GRUFF78]

Its true. I was robbed 12K. Others much more. Criminal and civil legal efforts are underway.

Super pissed and disappointed.

Be very careful out there folks.

JM

[KarlzEE Bebout]

Sounds like who ever took over Keith's business should probably have eyes in the back of his head. Some people might take getting ripped off "personal"

[767Jockey]

This all sounds horribly familiar, just like the inexcusable actions of the once respected FE guy in Michigan who took guys' money and delivered nothing, yet at the same time keeps to this day accepting guys money and is actively trolling for new "customers" by posting on forums where he's protected by a friendly forum owner, while simultaneously avoiding forums where he's called out by name without said protections. He takes the cash from guys and then refuses to answer their emails, calls, etc. Inexcusable. For me, I would stick to guys like Blair, Brent, and others who have served this FE communuty for so long with virtually no complaints against them. I have dealt with both Blair and Brent, and the customer service and integrity offered by both was above and beyond.
The odd thing to me is that the guy from Michigan had years of complaints against him - "He has my parts or money and now he won't answer the phone. Does anyone have a way to reach him" type stuff. All these complaints were roundly shouted down by his fan club on multiple forums at the time they were posted. Yet, guys should probably have done better research and known better, as all the complaints were out there. In the case of Craft, until recently I can't think of any real complaints against them. I find that very odd. My sympathy to those caught up in this ugly mess. You guys all deserve better. Best of luck to you all moving forward in collecting your parts and money.

[DanEC]

I had my motor built by Keith and had a great experience and 10 years later the motor is really solid. Yes, I remember a couple problem motors a year or so before he sold out and he was obviously very upset with all the forum and social media time and content he was having to deal with over them and things in general. I didn’t deal with Lance for my build so I know nothing about him. But I hate the business went belly up as they are local for me and I had considered having them build another motor for me. There just aren’t many places around here left to go to for that anymore. I also hate to see so many people left in a lurch and possibly out of their money.

[CobraResurrect]

Several years ago a guy from France reached out to CC because his emails were not being answered. He was having an engine built.
I'm not going to name names but someone from the company responded on the thread in a very not so nice way, *****ing about being called out online.
That was enough for me to decide to use someone else to build my engine.

[kanuck]

The reason I brought this to attention is, I have been following the cobra replica market and related vendors since I can remember Arntz and Butler come to mind. And in those 40 plus years I have seen too many folks get ripped off and there dreams destroyed there have been many too many so I am not going sit back and say nothing.

PS: I started to count the bad ones I remembered off hand and it was too disheartning so I had to stop.

[767Jockey]

Originally Posted by CobraResurrect

Several years ago a guy from France reached out to CC because his emails were not being answered. He was having an engine built.
I'm not going to name names but someone from the company responded on the thread in a very not so nice way, *****ing about being called out online.
That was enough for me to decide to use someone else to build my engine.

This?.......

Craft engine

[cycleguy55]

Accusing someone of running a Ponzi scheme without good evidence to back that up is risky. There are many reasons a business will run into financial difficulty and shut down that have nothing to do with criminal activity or nefarious intent.

Proceed with caution.

[twobjshelbys]

I sent the supercharger from my Ford GT to a shop to have the pulley swap undone (I didn't have the tools to do it myself). I boxed it up and UPS destroyed it on the way. The shop went on to charge to my credit card. He stopped answering calls and emails and wouldn't refund the charge. I got Amex involved and they finally reversed it but he dragged on the event for two months. His claim was that it was a charge mistakenly made on my card for another customer's repair... He said he couldn't refund it but that was a boatload of c*** - a vendor can credit as well as debit any time. It's pretty obvious to me he was kiting a charge on my account to float some other work - he basically got a $3K loan for 60 days for the Amex 2 or 3% fee...

[MKS427]

It unfortunate and devastating for everyone who lost money in this deal. It is also unfortunate, Lance didn't make it work. He may have had good or bad intentions at the end, but we'll never really know. Someone did advise to be careful about making libelous statements. I'd call that good advice.
Although, Lance's letter stated, deposits have been turned over to the attorney. He did not specify if he filed bankruptcy. Those who are out are most likely at the mercy of the bankruptcy court. I hope you all recover a good chunk of your hard earned money, but we all know the reality.
Good luck to all.