How Jim ripped you off - Specifics Options

[rave2n]

Short story for me...

"Price for a standard GEN3 with upgraded Heat exchanger and upgraded pump, and plug and play harness
2800 shipped to your door."

I got the GEN3, with no heat exchanger, no pump, and no plug & play harness.

Sourcing an aftermarket exchanger and pump is looking around 300 to 350 not including the attaching bits, harness not complete estimated cost 400 dollars.

If you need further details, I'll edit them into it.

[richee3]

I didnt have a bad experience with Jim, per se, but it could've gone better. This was before any business got started with anyone else. Talking in chat, he told me he had a couple of spare engines in his garage, mainly for use as parts. I bought a 3S-GTE from him right before selling my Celica. I PM'd him before he shipped it out and let him know the situation, that I wouldn't exactly have a car to put it in anymore. I didn't ask for any special favors. I told him he could still ship the engine to me and I would take a hit on reselling it and shipping it to someone else. He responded saying that he could save me a huge hit and sell it for me directly from his garage, then send me the cash so I only had to pay for shipping once. That sounded like a bargain to me, so I agreed. I paid Jim $1,800 for the engine (in payments, all on time if I remember correctly- its been a long time though and I was poor so I might have been late) and a few weeks later, he sent me a PM saying he had found a buyer for the motor but they weren't willing to pay what I did. The timeline was perfect for me since I had just bought a new car and I could use any large sum of cash that I could get. My cost was $1,800 and I got $1,000 back.

Was I duped, and was there really no buyer? I'll never know the truth. I lost $800 but I've accepted that because I really couldn't tell what was really going on and I agreed to the $1,000 offer. I would have lost at least $300-400 anyway, had I actually gotten the motor.

Do I ever expect to see that money again? No. Lesson learned, my own fault, and he could very well have been telling the truth.

Edit: I just checked my Paypal history to get the specifics details and dates. I'm on my phone and snapped a screen shot, so forgive the size.



As you can see, my memory is incorrect. I even forgot one payment. I paid Jim $1,600 for the motor, not $1,800 as I thought. I got $1,100 back, not $1,000. His second payment to me of $50 was for powdercoating his brakes for him, which I would have done assuming I ever got the brakes to powdercoat. So that puts me down $500, not $800. And I still agreed to his refund so it's my own fault, really. I've accepted that I won't see that money again and I'm not losing any sleep over it. Other people here were taken far worse than I was and I've really only posted here to support them, not attack Jim.

This post has been edited by richee3: Jul 22, 2012 - 10:25 AM