Complaint Review: Vintonauto Consignment and Sales

I saw a boat for sale on Craigslist and contacted the seller. I did not receive a response for a couple of weeks but was eventually contacted by the seller of the boat saying that my email had gone to her junk mail and that the boat was still for sale. This should have raised a flag as it was a near perfect boat at a very reasonable price and would not be on the market very long.

She told me that it was actually being sold through Vintonauto Consignment and Sales located in Atlanta Georgia but I could have the boat delivered up to 1,000 miles free of charge.  Also, I could refuse the boat after inspecting it if it did not meet my expectations and I would not be charge the transportation cost and would get a fast refund.

I contacted Vintonauto through email on their website as they did not answer their phone after being put on their call waiting system for 10 minutes. They provide on-line chat to answer any questions and a very easy way to set up a wire transfer to their bank in Florida to a company with a different name than Vintonauto. 

Obviously, this all seemed too good to be true so I did a little research before I proceeded. I could not find any information on Google search for Vintonauto other than the comments on this site. If you go directly to their web site, "Vintonauto.com" you will see great reviews about the company and process. All looks good but again, no informaion about the company on Google. 

I contacted the buyer to ask more about Vintonauto and offered to meet her in Atlanta to reveiw the boat there and review the title to ensure that everything was all good. She said that I was accusing her of lying but I stated that this would not cost her anything and actually potentially save her a shipping cost. After that exchange she would not return my emails and she would never provide me a phone number so that I could talk direct with her.

I have also tried to reach out to Vinton Auto to see if I could come look at the boat and all of the paper work to ensure that the lady that I was talking to had clear title to the boat. They have not answered any of my emails.

There were several indications that this could be a scam but when a person is excited about getting a good deal for something that they have been looking to buy for a period of time, some of the caution falls by the wayside. Please be careful if you have a similar experience. Like Craigslist states on their website, 99% of most scams can be avoided by meeting in person and verifying the item, clear title, etc.

I hope that this helps as this site save me a lot of money.