Custom bicycle - paid in full but no bike delivered

[jrk92128]

My husband and I live in California. We paid for a bicycle to be built by a custom builder in Colorado. This is a company we have personally visited and met the builder, so we had not reason to distrust them. We initially gave them a deposit of $5000 to start the build in January. In March, their sales rep contacted us to say that the build is nearly complete and would be ready to ship soon. They also asked for the balance due - which was another $5000. We sent the check- it cleared our bank weeks ago. In the past several weeks, we have had numerous emails and phone calls asking when the bike will ship. Last week the builder called to say that it would ship this Wed (April 15). However it is now Friday April 17 but we have not received the bike or even notification of why it is not ready to ship. Every time we inquire, we get different reason why it is not ready to ship, and I am becoming concerned that there really isn't a bike and they just took our money. Do we have any recourse to recover our money? Or if there is a bike, how can we get them to finally ship it?

 

[army judge]

My husband and I live in California. We paid for a bicycle to be built by a custom builder in Colorado. This is a company we have personally visited and met the builder, so we had not reason to distrust them. We initially gave them a deposit of $5000 to start the build in January. In March, their sales rep contacted us to say that the build is nearly complete and would be ready to ship soon. They also asked for the balance due - which was another $5000. We sent the check- it cleared our bank weeks ago. In the past several weeks, we have had numerous emails and phone calls asking when the bike will ship. Last week the builder called to say that it would ship this Wed (April 15). However it is now Friday April 17 but we have not received the bike or even notification of why it is not ready to ship. Every time we inquire, we get different reason why it is not ready to ship, and I am becoming concerned that there really isn't a bike and they just took our money. Do we have any recourse to recover our money? Or if there is a bike, how can we get them to finally ship it?

If your were the victim of FRAUD or any other form of TRICKERATION, the local police agency in Colorado MIGHT be the place to start. Contact a detective at the police agency in the city where the bike scammer is located. Tell the detective your story, assuming she will even listen to you.

Otherwise, no bike and missing TEN LARGE, you'll have to sue the bike scammer in a court in his state of Colorado. Yeah, good luck with that. I hope the police can be of assistance to you.

You might try creating asocial media page or two to see if others have been scammed, too. If so, one often finds strength in numbers!!!!

 

[mightymoose]

Was there any type of contract involved regarding this custom bike? Was there a promised delivery date in this contract?
How do you know the bike did not shop on the 15th? Did they tell you? Do you know what shipping method was used? Have you asked for a tracking number?