Notice to all:

Avoid using Landspeed Racing in Arizona.

I ordered a header and an upper strut bar from them last August. The money was taken from my business account in September and I still do not have the header or strut bar or a refund.

These parts were part of a massive build for my customer and now I have to come out of pocket 425 for the header, and 165 for the strut bar, to take care of my customer.
I don't make hardly enough money at my shop to survive and this is a real blow to my bank account, not Landspeeds fault, but it isn't helping me that is for sure.

I haven't received so much as an email from Todd at Landspeed, but I have called him about 20 times and all I get is lip service from him....oh they are back ordered, I don't have single cam headers in stock yet, there is a delay in the shipping....you name it I have heard it..

I hope none of you find this unprofessional, I am just a guy who was trying to build a business on very limited funds, and I got screwed. Now I have to go get a full time job, (which I've done), in order to make enough money to hire an attorney in Arizona to go after Landspeed to get my parts or a refund.

Thanks for reading, I hope I might have saved some of you some grief.

 

Sounds like it sucks big time. Good luck getting everything figured out

 

I don't think it is in poor taste informing the general public, on here, of proprietors that resort to "theft" as a means of doing business. I have had a similar experience with a company called Massimo Peformance. Oneday I will meet up with this "********" and get back my money that he so quickly took. I will react then ask questions.....

 

Yeah, I'm currently getting screwed also.

Ordered a new set of SS Goodridge brakelines for the race car (mine are 4 plus years old). I had a cool gift certificate from the MWHC win!

This was in November. No lines yet and all I hear is they are back-ordered.

I'm taking action with my Credit Card fraud recovery department.

Chris- Thanks for the gift certificates from these jokers!

Landspeed racing blows!

 

sscguy-
thanks for understanding. I just want to sound like a complainer, but what recourse do I have to get my refund or parts, an atty?

I called and spoke with some atty's in Az, they all want major bucks just to write them a letter...what b.s. One atty wants 500 bucks on a retainer just to write them a letter. The cost of my parts is 590. What a poor situation this has become.

If anyone in Az. knows of an atty who is approprietly priced, please refer them.
I HAVE to get this resolved. I have the bank statement to prove they took the money. Any help would be appreciated.

 

i doubt ppl in rr/ax are going to TREVTEC in Las Vegas. but FWIW avoid them as they are very shady.

 

isn't this small claims court? i dunno about az, but i think in cali it would go under small claims. perhaps u can do trial by mail. u can easily prove your case.

 

ghettoracer-
what is fwiw? Does this pertain to the topic of "don't use Landspeed?"

 

I think some of the problem stems from the whole import crazy.

There are countless "muffler and tail-light" companies on the web. The ECHC gets e-mails from these guys all the time.

In 2004 some of the ECHC drivers (including me) got screwed by a company called Honda Solutions. After a letter from Honda of America they changed their name to Import Solutions. These clowns set up a great contingency program for the ECHC and I accepted their offer. Little did I know, these losers where no-where to be found 1/2 through the season and all the prizes/ contingency dollars were worthless. I think they owed Franza about $1200.00 buck worth of stuff by the end of the year.

This year the ECHC is rolling back what offers we accept.

I guess in the years to come most of the lame "muffler and tail-light" companies will be gone and only the good ones will be left. We can hope.


edit- type-o


Modified by JohnW at 7:51 AM 2/3/2005

 

for what it's worth. i just throw in trevtec since the thread is about shady business...

 

ghetto- thanks for educating me, I am older and don't know all the abbreviations on this site.

John W- When I set up the Midwest Honda Challenge Contingency program a year ago (for the 2004 season), I demanded all awards be written and presented to us, before we offered any press coverage, or on site presentations.
Hawk brake for example, sent me all the certificates on paper, ahead of time, and I had them for the whole season to hand out, along with the banners and other things contained in the marketing agreement. Not only am/was a Hawk pad dealer, but they are about 1/8th mile down the road from my business, so the deal was done by me going there in person with an appt. of course.

In the future, set up a contract for each sponsor, individually tailored to their specific needs, and get all the awards up front...I hope this helps.

chris

 

Frank is correct that such a relatively small amount of money would go to small claims court.
These kinds of court don't really require you to have an attorney. Both you and the other guy show up in front of the judge and present your case. Judgement passed. Done deal.
Presumably, the other guy won't show up, you'll have judgement against him to pay your money back or send you the parts.
Best case scenario, you get your stuff when you tell them that you are taking to small claims court.
Worst case scenario, you ruin their credit but you get diddly squat because they declare bankruptcy.

hth.

 

go watch some judge judy or something lol... but i think u can probably even do a power of attourney if somebody in az is willing to help. what's nice about small claims is that it isn't as procedural orientied and u don't need to know all the technical terms. not like how a traffic court is, where you have to be super prepared to fight the ticket; because the system is designed to take your money. small claims it is just you against him. tell your story, present the facts, judge decide. pretty straight forward.

 

Ok, let me understand this...
I will need to fly to Az from Ohio on a court date, cost incurred.
How do you file a case from Ohio in Az? Is it possible to do this via the mail somehow to avoid the time off of work and plane ticket?

I had my Ohio atty call Todd at Landspeed and he seemed to not get the point that my atty. was calling him to resolve the issue and that he wasn't just another customer.

I never had a problem with Landspeed last summer, now this order is being screwed up, and John Whitaker isn't getting his brake lines from the gift cert./sponsorship award I set up for the Midwest Honda Challenge a year ago.

Anyone who can lend me some guidance?

 

What I usually advise my clients to do here in Montreal (different legal system, but we still have small claims court and letters of demand) is to send the letter of demand themselves. If and when the case gets before a judge, he doesn't care if the letter came from a lawyer or not, only that is follows the proper formula. If I were you, I would get the information on the procedure for small claims court in that state, which is probably available online, and begin with the type of letter that they recommend. It will show the guy you are serious and know what needs to be done. It's not a sure-fire solution, but it costs you almost nothing to try it.

 

You guys should contact user DMF. He is pretty active on this board, runs HC here in AZ and is sponsered by Landspeed. Maybe he can help.

If not, I'm located in Phoenix and could try to help if possible. I have purchased a few items without issue from Landspeed but it has always been cash and carry.

Erik

 

Civic 44-

Thanks for you assistance. I just have a hard time believing that a company of Landspeed's caliber would just take the money, and then not box up the parts and ship them, what is that a 10 minute process???? unbelieveable...

I will look online in the AZ court system for a letter of demand per your suggestion.

thanks

 

Keep in mind that if you sue, you can also ask for the defendant to pay your legal expenses. Assuming you win, you get it all back.


Matt

 

First if you find it necessary to sue, do it in your home state. The company did business in your home state by taking your order and probably by doing a national ad designed to reach your state is "doing business" in your state. You can get the offending party served by certified mail. So they have to come to your state to defend and if not you get a default judgment against them. To the person that said you can get the other side to pay your lawyer's bills, that is incorrect. I know because I am a lawyer.

If you get a judgment have it recorded in your county's probate court so there is public notice. When they go to get a line of credit or other major financial transaction, it may get picked up by the credit reporting agencies and they may have to pay you off to get credit, a loan, or purchase an asset.

You can also contact the Attorney General's Office consumer affairs division of the state of the deadbeat company and file a consumer complaint. They may end up contacting the business. There is also the better business bureau. In the extreme situation and involving the mail you can contact the US Postal Inspectors.

Does any of this guarantee you get paid? No. You can't get blood from a turnip. But you can make it unpleasant and sometimes in order for a company to get what they want (line of credit, etc.) they may have to pay you off on your judgment.

I would suggest small claims court and doing it yourself. Getting suit papers sometimes gets people's attention.

Barry H.

 

This will not help your current issue but I would suggest using a credit card for such purposes in the future. This will allow you to not pay for the goods in questions until you receive the goods. You will need to notify the credit card company so they can 'hold' the charge. You then notify them again when the goods are receive and this shows up on your next bill.

This may not be the best option for a business but would offer some protection.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JohnW &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">In 2004 some of the ECHC drivers (including me) got screwed by a company called Honda Solutions. After a letter from Honda of America they changed their name to Import Solutions. These clowns set up a great contingency program for the ECHC and I accepted their offer. Little did I know, these losers where no-where to be found 1/2 through the season and all the prizes/ contingency dollars were worthless. I think they owed Franza about $1200.00 buck worth of stuff by the end of the year.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep, some of which I was counting on to prepare for 2005. Well, we know where I'll be now, cheering you guys on and not behind the wheel.

Screw sponsors that don't honor their word.

That said, kudos to folks like Mr. Phillips who actually exceed their customers' expectations.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 97ssb-gsr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You guys should contact user DMF. He is pretty active on this board, runs HC here in AZ and is sponsered by Landspeed. Maybe he can help.

If not, I'm located in Phoenix and could try to help if possible. I have purchased a few items without issue from Landspeed but it has always been cash and carry.

Erik</TD></TR></TABLE>

honestly please contact him and try and get this resolved landspeed is about to be put up as DMF's sponsor on the national HC site, i don't want bad business being associated with HC

 

Wow I have ordered alot of things from landspeed and never had a problem. I know the guys over there, I will get ahold of them.

 

Sad to see this happen.

Whatever you plan to do about this, don't put it off. I spoke to one of Landspeed's vendors after I read this post, and they confirmed that they have had issues with Landspeed, as well. Probably inappropriate to provide details, but I am convinced that you are not the first to have this problem with them. For a company to behave this way usually means money trouble. Pretty likely they won't be around much longer. Especially if they keep pulling this kind of ****.

Hope they make good.

 

to all with great words of encouragement and advice:

I paid with a company visa card, it is just beyond me why I haven't gotten the product, this would be so easy to resolve.

Also, Landspeed sent my company and for that matter the MWHC series gift certificates to redeem for race wins, 2nds, etc...and I know of at least one guy who has tried to redeem his for a set of brake lines and hasn't gotten them..
So what is the deal with Landspeed....they were so good to deal with a year ago, I wish them no ill will, but others should be informed.