SCAMMED by Mazport Scott (story from RX8club)

[Herblenny]

I've met scott once 3-4 years ago at a local gathering down in tampa.. All I can say is he was bit egotistic and acted like he knew whole lot about rotary engines.. To be specific, I've asked him a question during his rotary engine seminar and I've asked, "Do you spec your engine?" and his answer was, "If you have as many years of experience building these engines, you could just tell if the housings are out of spec or not just by looking..". I hate to say this, but no one can tell 1 or 2 thousandth of an inch by just looking. If you can, then you need to go work somewhere else where you could make more money... as this situation is clear that Scott is trying to scam STICK out of money. So, I say his statement to me was a false statement.

[Phoenix7]

What I find intriguing is the fact that in his post he says he is being slandered. I've seen nothing that could be considered slanderous. People like to throw that out quite a bit these days without actually being victims of slander.

I hope stick doesn't settle and get conned into inaction.

[Herblenny]

I've asked a well educated lawyer friend of mine... he said after doing some research, he hasn't found any successful slander case in this country.

Also, go look at the rx8club... I posted a case between Gordon and Peter Farrell... I didn't know Gordon made that much on his lawsuit (Peter's appeal but it clearly states what Gordon won).

[Herblenny]

Here is Gordon's story

Originally Posted by Gordon Monsen

The story in a nutshell. I had had Peter do about $18,000 worth of work on my car since the day I bought it new. Then, in Nov., 1998, I told Peter I wanted to go single turbo. Peter told me I could just buy Ed Taylor's car, which Ed had traded in to Peter for a 3 rotor conversion. I talked to Ed about his old car, but passed, because I knew Ed had raced the car. I knew my car was perfect.

I told Peter to upgrade mine. After a lot of haggling we decided to port my motor and rebuild it to race car tolerances, put a "like-new" used single turbo on it, and do a bunch of other stuff, like a custom race intercooler, etc. Peter quoted me a "500 HP turbo motor". gave him my car in January, 1999, and picked up the car in late march.

The car ran like a piece of shit. Much worse than when I gave it to him. Less power and almost undriveable. I took the car to a new guy near me, Dave Barninger of a new shop called KD Rotary. Dave agreed that there was something really wrong with the car. Brought it back to Peter. Picked it up a few weeks later and it still ran like shit. Went to MADS and showed it to Peter. He drove it with me on the race course, hard. It ran OK flat out, but was still undriveable at normal pace. Took it back. Took it back to Peter who said he would install an electromotive TEC II. Called after a few weeks and they said he was in Greece or something.

They said they wouldn't be getting to it for a while, so I went and picked it up around end of may, 1999. On way back, it caught fire. Had it towed to KD Rotary. They found the wiring harness had melted and caught fire. Built new harness. The car had pieces falling off it, they fixed. The IC pipe from compressor kept coming off, losing boost and banging into the hood and denting it. Bunch of other stuff. I spent about $14,000 over many months of not driving the car. In July of 2000, KD and I took it to a dyno and it only made 275-300 RWHP, or less than before taking it to Peter. They said the turbo was bad... and, I had put on less than 2000 miles since picking it up from Peter.

KD Rotary sent the turbo to Majestic Turbo and they rebuilt it. Opened it up and put in bigger compressor wheel, balanced and lightened the spindle. They said the turbo wheel had caked up with burnt oil and the vanes were chewed up badly. Wheel couldn't spin well and wouldn't be balanced and couldn't make much power. Suggested it had been raced hard and abused. Got it back in august and Dave put it back in the car. Took it out for a test drive the first week of September, 2000 and it blew up. (The motor). back to KD rotary. Dave took the motor apart and emailed me on September 19th and told me the motor was shot. Said it looked like a motor with 80,000 miles of wear and said the housings were so badly chewed up, it couldn't;t be rebuilt. Dave also said the engine, btw, wasn't my original engine, but the number on the block was from a guy named Ed Taylor's car (gave me the vin and I had Mazda run it).

I bought a reman, Dave ported it and reassembled everything for another $4500 or so. In later September, the 26th, I sent Peter a letter asking for my money back. Peter replied and said nothing doing. I though hard about suing him, but didn't think the cost was worth it. Over the course of the next 5-6 months though, I blasted PFS and Farrell on the Internet. So did many others who felt "ripped off". in June of 2001, Peter Farrell sued ME and Malloy Mazda and john duff and David Penner for defamation, and conspiracy to put him out of business by saying bad, untrue things about him on the Internet. He had duff fired and arrested for embezzlement.

After a year of legal bullshit, we had a trial. All this drained me and my family emotionally and the legal bills for 2 law firms ran me well into 6 figures. As you know, the jury did the right thing. That's it... almost. a few months before the trial, I posted to the Internet asking if anyone had bought a silver 1993 RX-7 from Peter Farrell in early 1999 (Ed Taylor's car was silver). a guy emailed me and said he owned the car in question. I verified it by vin. He said he had bought it from a guy who said it had had a 1995 18,000 mile motor transplanted in it according to the guy he bought it from. I called that guy and he said Peter Farrell had sold him the car in march of 1999 and said that the motor was like new and had come out of a 1995 RX-7 I verified the vin on the motor and it was mine.

So, what Farrell had done was take Ed Taylor's motor out of his car, turbo, electronics (boost controller, additional injector controller, downpipe, turbo and all, and put it into my car. This is the engine from the car I had turned down buying, because I thought it had been abused. that car had sat at PFS from July of 1998 to march of 1999 without anyone buying it, probably because it ran so bad, and had stuck it in my car, without rebuilding it or doing much of anything to it. He took my perfectly good motor out and put it in Ed's car and was now able to sell that for a very good price. He made money on both sides of the deal without doing any work at all. How much money? hard to say, but he sold Ed's car for something like $19,000 and I have a bill for the motor he put in, my motor, for $3800. He sold me the turbo and motor for just under $10,000. Cost to him? about $1000 worth of work.

That's the story.

[Herblenny]

Continuation...

Originally Posted by Gordon Monsen

Well, the trial is over and I (and the net...) have won convincingly. I thought I 'd make a few comments that I am (now) fairly sure I can make without any fear of consequence... I paid for this right well into six figures and fortunately the courts will have Mr. Farrell repay me the expense. This will be a very large sum of money even should the judge reduce it somewhat.

Soooo. First, we did not just win, we crushed him (Farrell/PFS). The jury rightfully determined that every one of Peter's claims was wholly unfounded, and then went on to award every single one of our counterclaims in a UNANIMOUS verdict. In total the jury was presented with 10 questions to deliberate. The final score: Monsen 10 Farrell 0. the jury found that Mr. Farrell defrauded me.
The jury found that Mr. Farrell breached his contract to upgrade my car. And the jury found that he violated the Virginia Consumer Protection Act in his dealings with me. Our victory will be
permanent and far reaching, despite any hopes to the contrary. It may also have an effect on the remaining lawsuits that Mr. Farrell has still outstanding against his former employees, John Duff
and Debra Singleton. These people regardless of other, exogenous issues that may or may not exist, have been relentlessly pursued by their former employer and have few financial resources to combat what I believe is an "abuse of process". (One of my attorneys has suggested he might defend them pro bono and will be contacting them in that regard) This is not the last chapter we intend to write either. We believe Peter misused the legal process to attempt to intimidate and out muscle those that were brave enough to criticize his practices. Mr. Farrell has caused me and my family incredible hardship over the past year. Mr. Farrell threatened me and then sued me. He told my attorney that he would take my cars from me and other possessions, if I didn't have the money to pay him. We couldn't bring this suit until we won the other two suits. We have and now we will. And we should prevail. If we succeed in this suit, it will add further damages to the pile we have already accumulated. It is of note that the damages and fees were awarded against BOTH Peter Farrell Supercars and Peter Farrell personally (though Farrell's attorney spent most of his closing arguments trying to separate Mr. Farrell personally from his company).

Second, I want to thank my attorneys, Phil Desfosses of Desfosses Law Associates in New Hampshire, and Chip Purcell, my required Virginia state counsel, of William, Mullins, Clark, & Dobbins,
Washington, DC, and indirectly, Paul Emerick, of the Hudgins Law Firm, Alexandria, Va. I would like to thank Phil's son Alfie for assisting in gathering information and arranging for witnesses. And, I would like to thank Chris Carlisi for researching the case law, drafting several motions, and putting up with all my bullshit. All played a role in the success of this year long effort. However, as all the counsel involved would readily attest, it was Phil Desfosses who WAS the litigator. He directed the research, depositions, hearings, and trial strategies. And, he was brilliant in court.
Needless to say his conduct was of a much higher character than Peter's attorney who seemed more adept at name calling and slinging petty insults than applying the law. Some of his more
amusing or pathetic "points" include accusations that I have a drinking problem (in AA for 13 years suggests I do have a problem), that "people who know [me] don't like me," and my personal favorite, that I acted with treachery comparable to Al Quaida.

As for our future plans (my attorneys and I have become close), I have no idea what Farrell may be doing, but MY attorney is taking a vacation to Alaska and his staff is working on our abuse of
process suit. I have always thought Farrell himself did a lot of this work (and am pleased he has). He may be working on a motion right now to avoid or negate the inevitable payment of the
awarded monies. Meanwhile, I expect that his attorney is the only winner on his side, assuming his attorney has been paid. I would not want to be his attorney, if he has not been paid to date.

And, this is to Peter Farrell. Peter, when we met at the last deposition (Dave Barninger), I told you that you should drop the suits, because they exposed you to so much harm, both monetary and reputational. I told you that even if you won some claim or other, that, if I won any of the fraud, breach of contract, or violation of the Virginia consumer protection act, it would devastate your ability to be in the car business, because I had said I would publish the (public) jury's findings on every Internet forum available to me. You laughed me off and said you had already spent too much in legal fees to drop the case. That was not a sound course of action. Not only has your reputation been irrevocably damaged, you must now pay me a great deal of money. Pay the awards and get on with your life or don't pay and continue this costly effort and risk more damages.

Mr. lane says "these guys fight hard" and he is right. But, as the "highlander" tradition has it, "there can only be one" and I have "taken his head". This is all over but the shouting. I have no
further interest and little involvement. This is cleanup. There is no battle any more. I have won, but, more importantly, our little community online has re-won the right we have always had to
speak our minds freely and without fear of reprisal from those whose work or products are shoddy.

gordon monsen

Verdict papers..

[Herblenny]

Kevin,

I could kind of see your point of knowing clearance for corner and apex... But housings and irons?? Actually to be specific, I asked specifically about irons and housing to Scott at Mazsport..

[zayrx7]

man that sucks, sorry about your loss

[Jedi54]

Phil, thanks for all the help so far on this.

The 8 club is being VERY protective of that thread but I'm sure eventually word will spread.
I normally wouldn't be so involved in someone else's business but seeing a fellow car enthusiast ROBBED out of $38,000 just doesn't sit well.
I don't see anything in Stick's engine bay that warrants any real cost. (other then the motor)

we'll have to see if Scott ever volunteers more information but I am hoping Stick finds an attorney quickly. Any guy who has $30,000 + sitting around for a motor swap should still have a few dollars left over for an attorney.
Might not be the easiest case to take since there is no contract BUT I'm sure there were PM's / emails with some time frames and description of work to be performed.

[Herblenny]

Jedi54,

I totally understand how Stick feels... I went thru similar situation couple of years ago (where my nick name pitbull came from). What I hate is vendors making false claims such as, "I'll could get it done in XX weeks.... No problem!". Unless they have valid reasons, they should update their customers and take their job serious and get it done in timely manner they promised.. Scott didn't do that nor the guy who ripped me off of money and my time.

Just so you know, Stick sent me a PM. I think he's a smart enough man and will do the right thing.

[Rotary13B1]

WOW! Unfrigginbelievable. I read that whole thread and this one. And if someone owed me that much money, I'd be sure to bring my trusty lil friend Mr. Bat to settle the debt. Some people don't seem to bat an eye unless they see a coffin near by.

[Whizbang]

"i just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance bill by threatening my agent with a golf club!!!"

[To_Slow]

That's some bad news for the 38k hit. Most off these vendors will do this type off rip-offs do to dealing with kids.

Most off the Rx7 Rx8 owners from 16-22 years old and are not educated on what they need to do in case off this situation happening. They will just wine on the forum and hope they will get there money back or service finished ( It will not happen) etc. They need to take legal action or before you jump in on a big project with a vendor, think off the possibilities of shit going south and your arss is covered .

Not just long a goo i had a similar satiation happen to me. I place an order from a top rotary shop for a 3 low comp lighned rotors balanced etc...

Was promised 3 weeks after excuses excuses 6 moths later i get my stuff. Of course it looked like shit machine work looked like back yard special .. garbage. Long story short. 4k later

I got my money back.

So that tells you it don't mater what type of rotary shop they are. If thy get a feeling that you are young and do not know to much they will take full advantage of you .......

[Herblenny]

Originally Posted by To_Slow

That's some bad news for the 38k hit. Most off these vendors will do this type off rip-offs do to dealing with kids.

Most off the Rx7 Rx8 owners from 16-22 years old and are not educated on what they need to do in case off this situation happening. They will just wine on the forum and hope they will get there money back or service finished ( It will not happen) etc. They need to take legal action or before you jump in on a big project with a vendor, think off the possibilities of shit going south and your arss is covered .

Not just long a goo i had a similar satiation happen to me. I place an order from a top rotary shop for a 3 low comp lighned rotors balanced etc...

Was promised 3 weeks after excuses excuses 6 moths later i get my stuff. Of course it looked like shit machine work looked like back yard special .. garbage. Long story short. 4k later

I got my money back.

So that tells you it don't mater what type of rotary shop they are. If thy get a feeling that you are young and do not know to much they will take full advantage of you .......

I answered to something similar to your statement on other forum..

This is what I wrote:

I agree, in ideal world, we all should have a definitive written contract for all our so called business transactions. Unfortunately, that's not done in regular basis and usually thought of after situation like this.

But ultimately, the point to all this is trust. I would hate to live in a world where we don't trust each other. And this case is clear to me that Scott can not be trusted. I think holding someone's car for over a year after thousands of dollars of payment is made clearly shows Scott neglected Stick and Stick's job became bottom of his priority after payment is received! That is an action showing Scott can not be trusted.... If I'm wrong about this, I hope Scott would come on without excuses and explain himself. But I feel that he is just waiting for something big to occur as he's already listening to someone else..... that also shows me he knows what he has done is WRONG!

[Jedi54]

Internet Brands (owners of RX8club.com) have stepped in and closed the thread. Should be interesting where this goes from here...

[Phoenix7]

that's it? Just closed it?

I have contacted the person expressing their concern, I will close this thread until we get an opportunity to communicate.

Thanks,
Adrian
Internet Brands

Well, that seems reasonable. Get both sides and act accordingly...Now we wait.