Complaint Review: Tracy Huff

WORDS TO THE WISE: DON'T BUY A CAR FROM A PRIVATE PARTY ONLINE. DON'T BUY A CAR ONLINE FROM OUT OF STATE. DON'T BUY A CAR FROM A PRIVATE PARTY WITHOUT A SIGNED, BINDING CONTRACT.

This alleged business man (says he is in real estate & wind turbine energy technology) lives in a trailer park and ripped me off by advertising a jade green Infiniti I-30 (2000) on Autoweb.com.

As soon as I deposited my $5,000 downpayment into his Bank of America account (30 minutes after he asked for it) back in NOVEMBER 2001, he conveniently disclosed that the his title to the car was encumbered (i.e.: NOT CLEAR) because he had pawned it!

I asked him in no uncertain terms beforehand whether he had title to the car. He assured me he did. Then the shenanigans began.

He spent my $5K, then became disagreeable, refusing to work with my lender after saying he would, and even aftr I agreed (at his request) to pay for his airfare and accommodations for delivering the car to me.

In lieu of him bringing the car to me (once he had my money and changed his mind), I offered to drive up and get it. He agreed. My uncle and I drove 300 miles to pick up the car and get or get my money back. After test driving the car and many assurances that all was well ... HA HA ... JOKE ON US: It turned into a futile 600-mile round trip road trip for which neither of us really had the time.

As a result of the ordeal, I was stuck in a rental car which cost me over $2,000 (my previous car was totalled in an accident) above what my insurance covered.

The noble Mr. Huff promised me he'd get the money back to me in JANUARY, 2002, allegedly to be received from the sale of his business, or some orders he was expecting to fill for the business. NEVER HAPPENED.

Instead, when I had the nerve to demand he deposit my money in my account, this upstanding gentleman of impeccable character wrote me telling me to leave him alone and contact his 'attorney' if I wanted my money, and smugly told me to sue him, and 'hope to get [my] money back by this time next year.'

Well, it's well past 'this time next year.' I called him this morning (APRIL 13, 2003 ... 29 MONTHS after my first dealings with him).

He seemed surprised to hear from me (as though you just forget $5K). He was nice enough, and says he intends to pay me back. He says he is expecting to have the money 'any day now,' as he is expecting some sales. He'll e-mail me when it goes through. Not holding my breath, but will continue to hound him.

In all fairness, Mr. Huff seems to be a nice enough guy that's constantly down on his luck and trying to make it as an entrepreneur. That, I can respect. What I can't grasp and won't accept is his resorting to self-righteous defensiveness as a substitute for personal responsibility, integrity and honesty. He knows he's wrong, but lashes out because he can't see the trees for the forest (intentionally flipped the referencess).

If I had to guess, he's in debt up to his neck and dodging creditors left, right and center. I only feel sorry for his wife and his young son (who accompanied us on the test drive.) Nice, smart kid; poor role model for a dad.

And so, I end as I began:

WORDS TO THE WISE: DON'T BUY A CAR FROM A PRIVATE PARTY ONLINE. DON'T BUY A CAR ONLINE FROM OUT OF STATE. DON'T BUY A CAR FROM A PRIVATE PARTY WITHOUT A SIGNED, BINDING CONTRACT.

Angie
Rancho Cucamonga, California
U.S.A.