HLPAG

[sharpspike]

maybe the wrong spot to start, but considering the other post on these guys maybe not.

just a queston to those who know or have some contacts to make something happen.

has HLPAG every been written up in any of the MOPAR mags as ripoffs. if not does anybody have any contacts to get it done, maybe we can get AIRBORN's story told in print ( would be nice to find others as well, the lady on the old DC site comes to mind ) would be nice to generate some heat on them. i was thinking maybe mopar collector's guide they seem like they might have the balls to tackle something like this.

one other idea: we have a 1000 members, if we see a ad for them in a local car mag, may place a buyer beware ad in the same mag.

id be willing to put my name on a complaint letter to the Illinois Attorney General if someone wants to compose one and get it started on here. if they get a letter with 1000+ names on it the decide to look at them.

for the site, maybe a sticky at the top of each forum, with a simple buyer beware.

just thinking out loud. they can stomp one person at a time, put 1000 pissed mopar guys outside there shop and i think we'll need to send in some diapers.

[AirborneSilva]

sharpspike,  THANK YOU, those are all great ideas and I hope that the group we have here will as a whole pursue some or all of them.  for my part I will be pursuing this through e-bay (so that means sending HLPAG an e-mail asking for satisfaction), and I will also be contacting the illinois AG as well as the better business bureau.  For anyone who would like the illinois AG contact page here it is http://www.ag.state.il.us/about/contacts.html I have not gotten the better burea page as of yet.

I was able to contact the lady who got ripped off by them, thanks to wakko.  I sent her an e-mail and this is what she sent me back;

'Well,

I was lied to about the car I biught, I am still waiting on parts they said they would send me and I havent recieved,  They sent me a bad title, and so forth, I am guessing we can try and get a civial class action lawsuit but you need to find as many people as possible, I am willing to join in if you try and do anything,"

So it does appear that she has not gotten any satisfaction and is willing to jump in here with us.  I will send her the link to this thread.

[oldsnofear]

i replyed to the other post please read it they almost screwed me for 25k thanks shawn

[PocketThunder]

who was the guy that built this go kart General Lee?  wasnt he a member here?  I know it was somewhere in Wisconsin near Madison...

[Old Moparz]

Starting petitions, posting ads telling about how bad they are, or whatever else groups will try to do as a whole will not do a thing. A magazine wouldn't touch it unless it was just publishing a story about the outcome of a court case. If anything, you'd be opening yourself up to some kind of liability issue with helpgagme coming out on top as the good guy. The way the legal system works, is that only the parties directly involved are the ones that matter. All other people are basing opinions on what they have read or heard, & have nothing to do with any facts of the case. (Heresay?)

You want to try contacting ebay about the problem to straighten it out? Someone with no arms or legs would pitch a no hitter in the World Series before that happens. Ebay is an absolute joke when it comes to going after a potentially bad seller. Bad sellers spend good money through ebay's viewpoint, not the buyers. Playing by ebay's rules will take almost 2 months of email tag, & they're counting on the time frame to let you cool off so you'll just go away. You'll also get computer generated responses telling you "Thank you for contacting ebay with your concern. We'll work on this & get back to you." They'll also post 257 different links to other places on their site that tell you how to contact the seller & work it out yourself.

I'd still play ebay's game, but at the same time go straight ahead & follow through with contacting helpgagme via certified mail. Tell them the car has been completely misrepresented & that you want your money back. They'll ignore you, but at least you have record of it. Don't threaten them with a lawsuit, just do it when you have everything lined up & documented. Something to be sure of, is making sure you have the correct name of who or what company you dealt with. If you file papers with the name you thought to be correct, it could come down to an actual court appearance months later to see it has to be done all over again. This happened to a close fiend of mine.

[AirborneSilva]

Thanks for the info, and suggestions.  We are going to send these guys a certified letter and copy the Illinois AG and better business bureau then go from there. 

[calchargerRT]

I just remembered reading an artcile about a real strong attorney who handles almost exclusively cases of auto fraud, the artcile was in one of the Muscle Car mags and was about how many cases he has taken on (and won) in the exploding muscle car market (fraud, misrep, clones repped as real etc). I can not remember which Mag, but the guy sounded STRONG for these cases. He was a car guy also and not just a lawyer, seemed like he enjoyed getting these rotten apples and nailing them. I wish I could remember the magazine. I am thinking maybe it was a newletter from Haggerty Insurance and not a magazine. Anyone remember this?

Ian

[AirborneSilva]

I just remembered reading an artcile about a real strong attorney who handles almost exclusively cases of auto fraud, the artcile was in one of the Muscle Car mags and was about how many cases he has taken on (and won) in the exploding muscle car market (fraud, misrep, clones repped as real etc). I can not remember which Mag, but the guy sounded STRONG for these cases. He was a car guy also and not just a lawyer, seemed like he enjoyed getting these rotten apples and nailing them. I wish I could remember the magazine. I am thinking maybe it was a newletter from Haggerty Insurance and not a magazine. Anyone remember this?

Ian

Yeah if anyone can remember this guys name it would certainly be worth givning him a call or at the least sending him an e-mail...  Thanks Ian...

[calchargerRT]

I will try to hunt around some old mags and maybe on the net

Ian

[calchargerRT]

I got it, second mag I looked thru. I started thinking it was in Hemmings Muscle Machines (this is a great mag, my favorite of all- Nov. 05 issue has a 69 Super Bee 440-6 on the cover and full resto story of 69 Charger 500 Hemi car inside), well sure enough the 2nd one I opened was the August 2004 issue. The artcile is on page 36. The lawyers name is Ted Ritter from Bridgeton, New Jersey. The article states

"Ritter is known in South Jersey car circles as a lawyer who is friendly to car collectors in a jam".

I also found his Firms website:

http://www.ritterlawoffice.com/firm.shtml

Contact Info:

55 Fayette Street
P.O. Box 320
Bridgeton, New Jersey 08302
Phone: (856) 451-3030
Fax: (856) 453-0911
info@ritterlawoffice.com

Good luck I hope this guy can help,


Ian

[Recharger]

Good find, Calcharger!!

I agree with Old Moparz (unfortunately) that no magazine would touch an ad like the one you mentioned.   That would open them up to a libel lawsuit, so there's no way they would print something like that before a court ruling.   I think that's a big part of the reason why there's no 'deatbeat sellers' thread on this site either.   Laws really seem to put the burden of proof on the buyer in situations like this.   Innocent until proven guilty I guess...if only they'd let me be king and enact my laws....

You've got the right idea with the letters and certified mail.   I got screwed by a deadbeat ebay seller and a crooked contractor within 2 months a few years ago, and learned 2 hard lessons at once.   Lawyers seem to love paper trails.   I had none in both cases.   And whatever you write to these lying thieving bastards, be sure to keep the name calling and opinions out of it.   Just the facts.   And be sure to find out if that lawyer's going to start charging you a hundred bucks an hour to pick up the phone before the secretary puts you through.   Got screwed on that one once, too.        Good luck with this, I'd love to see Luedke & co. get lynched.


PT, I remember seeing that go kart on the old site.   I don't know what the guy's name is though, or if he made it over to this site.   Cool toy.

[AirborneSilva]

I got it, second mag I looked thru. I started thinking it was in Hemmings Muscle Machines (this is a great mag, my favorite of all- Nov. 05 issue has a 69 Super Bee 440-6 on the cover and full resto story of 69 Charger 500 Hemi car inside), well sure enough the 2nd one I opened was the August 2004 issue. The artcile is on page 36. The lawyers name is Ted Ritter from Bridgeton, New Jersey. The article states

"Ritter is known in South Jersey car circles as a lawyer who is friendly to car collectors in a jam".

I also found his Firms website:

http://www.ritterlawoffice.com/firm.shtml

Contact Info:

55 Fayette Street
P.O. Box 320
Bridgeton, New Jersey 08302
Phone: (856) 451-3030
Fax: (856) 453-0911
info@ritterlawoffice.com

Good luck I hope this guy can help,


Ian

Ian, you da man  thank you....

[AirborneSilva]

You've got the right idea with the letters and certified mail.   I got screwed by a deadbeat ebay seller and a crooked contractor within 2 months a few years ago, and learned 2 hard lessons at once.   Lawyers seem to love paper trails.   I had none in both cases.   And whatever you write to these lying thieving bastards, be sure to keep the name calling and opinions out of it.   Just the facts.   And be sure to find out if that lawyer's going to start charging you a hundred bucks an hour to pick up the phone before the secretary puts you through.   Got screwed on that one once, too.        Good luck with this, I'd love to see Luedke & co. get lynched.

The wife will be writing the letters and I will be feeding her the pertenent info, she's from NY and is an upper level governement employee (one of the few that actually works), so she is pretty good at writing scathing letters 

[AKcharger]

I think they're worse than Hitler

[AirborneSilva]

I think they're worse than Hitler

No arguments here and as far as I'm concerned they deserve no less then hitler got 

[ScottW]

Here-here. 

I've been read all of these posts and about all I can do is just shake my head in disbelief.

[Wakko]

Ian, you da man  thank you....

Huh?  What'd I do?  Oh wait...wrong Ian. 

[AirborneSilva]

Ian, you da man   thank you....

Huh?   What'd I do?   Oh wait...wrong Ian.  

Oh, sorry  but you da man too 

[67hcode]

I live not too far from these guys and awhile back found an article in the local paper about them..it actually made them out to sound like good guys. Talk about the reporter being out of touch!  I scanned the article and tried to post it but it is a pdf and too large, I guess.  Let me know if anyone wants it..maybe i can email it

[AirborneSilva]

I live not too far from these guys and awhile back found an article in the local paper about them..it actually made them out to sound like good guys. Talk about the reporter being out of touch!   I scanned the article and tried to post it but it is a pdf and too large, I guess.   Let me know if anyone wants it..maybe i can email it

Could you e-mail it to me at AirborneSilva@hotmail.com Thanks

[AirborneSilva]

67hcode, Thank you I got the article.  That guy pictured (Oscar) is the guy I dealt with, man what con artists they are.  The wife is putting the finnishing touches on the letter we are sending them them today (she writes much better then I do and has a much better edumecation  ), so we will see what happens from here.  Thanks again for the article.

[694spdRT]

who was the guy that built this go kart General Lee?   wasnt he a member here?   I know it was somewhere in Wisconsin near Madison...

I posted those pictures for a friend. He joined the old site but, has not made it here.  The Go Kart ended up on Ebay and HPLAG bought it after the auction had ended from what I was told. 

[Spartan]

ya, HLPG has a video clip of it on their web site.......

[AirborneSilva]

ya, HLPG has a video clip of it on their web site.......

Yeah and it's anoying too, just one more reason to dislike them!

[Spartan]

Ya, home of the little lee.......its their slogan now........

Never trust a business with a free hotmail e-mail address, lol.