HELP! RIPPED OFF

[peibol77]

Hey guys,

 

I would like to ask for some help/advice on dealing with a situation that has been extremely stressful and is still to this day unresolved.

 

6 weeks ago, being in Spain visiting my family, I decided I wanted to finally go ahead and buy a wonderful 2nd hand Benelli TNT300 that I had my eyes on (I saw it on Kaidee). I wanted it to be checked by a mechanic and delivered to my condo in Pattaya before I arrived there so I started to search for "bike mechanic" services on Facebook and came up with an online service on Facebook. After a few days chatting with them they said they could handle the entire process: from inspecting and buying the bike for me, to getting the paperwork in place and transporting the bike to my condo in Pattaya before I even arrived. That seemed like a great idea. So before I wired them any money, I had a look at their website and Facebook. They had several good reports, with a 4.8/5 rating, so without looking any further I said OK, let's do this. That was 6 weeks ago.

 

What happened after that is so painful that I don't even want to think of it. Not only did they fail to even inspect any of the bikes I proposed that I saw in Kaidee (always with some excuse), but they constantly tried to sell me on other bikes that I didn't have an interest in. Eventually they showed me a TNT300 (not on Kaidee) that looked really good at a really good price, 65,000 baht. Saw pics and all looked awesome. Eventually I said, OK, let's buy it, and wired them the 65,000 baht. That was about 4 weeks ago now. After a week of them "trying" to get an appointment to inspect the bike, they tell me that "oh my buddha, the owner doesn't have a green book". So we ditch that one. I go look on Kaidee again, find a couple more to look at. Some more excuses when I tell them to go inspect another bike, they never actually inspect it. Another week goes by and suddenly they tell me "oh the old bike, he now has a green book!" At this point this smelled SOOO FISHY, but I already gave them the money and I was still in Spain, so I figured all I could do was play along. Then the saga of the DLT started. They never were able in 2 weeks before I arrived to Thailand to get the Green Book changed to my name or their name.

 

And eventually I came to Thailand. This was last week. My contact told me to meet him at the DLT in Chatuchak. So I go there, and while I wait for him, he tells me he had an accident and sends me some whatever pictures of a crashed bike. At this point there is no doubt in my head that I'm being played for a fool and these people are simply a bunch of criminals trying to rip me off. So I tell him to refund me or I will go to the police. He then says "he doesn't want problems and he will refund me". But one week later, I'm still waiting. He answers my messages once every 2 days with new excuses ("the accounting department has been notified, let me check with them", etc). 

 

The point where I need help is with what should my next steps be to effectively deal with this disgusting situation. Should I just go to the police in Bangkok and hand them all the evidence I have? Should I hire a debt collecting company? A Private Investigator? 

 

These people are clearly criminals, so I advice everyone else to stay clear of them. I've never had such a situation before in Thailand and I'm a little uncertain as to how to proceed. I don't like involving the Thai Police in this or any other matters, but maybe that's the only option.

 

If anyone here is willing to give me some advice on how to deal effectively with the situation, it would be greatly appreciated. I would like not only to get my money back, but to teach these criminals a lesson so that they don't take advantage of other well-intended people. 

 

Thanks in advance, guys.

Peibol77

Edited September 24, 2018 by peibol77

[ubonjoe]

Duplicate of this topic you posted in another forum.

This topic