Complaint Review: Auto Tenda Transactions - Internet Internet

We found a pontoon boat for sale on an online classified ad for way cheap close to home! We tried calling the number listed on the ad multiple times and it was a fax machine. So we filled out the "contact us" information on the ad.

We received an email back from a Michael Evans, from the sales department from AutoTenda Transactions stating the boat was available. Still unclear, we sent another email asking  for a phone number for contact and left our phone number for the owner to contact us. We were told by Michael via email that people use them for transactions and they are a big company which keeps pricing down.

After searching AutoTenda Transactions on the web, only good things were said and that it was a legit company. They claim free shipping to anywhere in the US and Canada of orders over $999. Remember that we were interested in a boat that on the ad said it was in Denver. They claim 10 day money back guarantee and best price guarantee. They also claim that no payment is made until the boat is tried out and inspected for 10 days.

Since we weren't getting answers via email and had more questions, we decided to do the online chat. We did it twice in a row and an Allan was the operator both times.(How often does that happen?) When we questioned the legitimacy of the company he got defensive in his chat and said if we don't trust the company than dont do it. They are a big company and only want respectable people to buy from them. He then pasted multiple links to research the company, with "legit" posts and positive testimonials.

We were told by the chat operator how to register and get started to have the boat shipped to us. I even asked if we could go drive to see it and there was never a reply. We were then told later via email by Michael Evans that the company has multiple warehouses that the items are stored in across the US. We assumed that there was a warehouse in Denver since this is what the ad stated. Later in another email the next day he stated that the boat would be shipping from the warehouse in Raleigh after we asked where it would ship from. When asked why it said Denver on the ad, Michael stated "The boat is stored in one of our warehouses in Raleigh, NC ....All shipping fees are included in the sale price and for this reason our vehicles are listed on many states..."

We were sent an email to use Money Gram for sending payment, which we did, even though we knew not to. The email we received today from Michael stated that there was another buyer interested so we needed to give a "straight answer, yes or no." The invoice sent from Michael had directions to make the payment. It instructed us to not mention that it was for an online purchase it was for a friend. It listed a person by the name of Bryan Detrick in Dallas, an AutoTenda Transactions agent. 

So we sent the payment. In an earlier email by Michael it stated to send payment to the "UBuy StoreHouse agent listed" We weren't dealing with UBuy. It was mentioned earlier as well.

After we got home and settled, we decided to go back through the emails because we still felt uneasy. We researched UBuy StoreHouse and found that it was an Internet scam stating exactly as AutoTenda Transactions had been stating. We immediately called Money Gram and told them of the possible scam and they cancelled the transaction.

We were saved in this one but so many others have not been. UBuy StoreHouse is listed online with scams as late as June 3, 2013. This is June 6 and there is no website or information on UBuy StoreHouse but there is now a scam called AutoTenda Transactions. This scam is changing names rapidly. Be ware!!