Carrier options when stiffed by a dealer?

[JW Transport]

Hi everbody,

We moved a car for Speedway Motors, 6231 Eby Ave in Merriam, KS 66202 (AKA ATC Cars) Dealer License #: DL D-2859, back in January for the Barrett Jackson auction. Patrick Dalton (AKA Casey Dalton) said he'd be there to pay us $650 at delivery, but claimed he was running late and promised to drop a check in the mail that day for us. Since we'd done business a few times in the past, and his rating on CD was good, I fell for it. He did this to two other carriers that I know of. Anyway, it's 6 months later, and I'm still trying to collect. He ended up blocking my number instead of facing me.

I wanted to post this to warn others, as well as ask for advice in this matter. With brokers, we can file a claim against their bond, but what recourse to we have against dealers?

I told CD about it, but like any other issues I've brought to them in the past, it went nowhere.

Thanks for reading and any advice is appreciated.

Chris.

[ccoop769]

Maybe brisco can join in on this as he is starting to do this but doesnt dealers carry a bond also?????? Ive thought about this in the past but have no experience with it happening to us. Thanks for the post, sorry bout your luck, should change the header of it to the dealers name though.

[LBZ]

I think I would have to schedule a load through his town & go visit him at his door step. He may not care about screwing you, but he will be embarrassed when his family & neighbors figure out why you are there.

Other than that, not sure if a collection agent would mess with it or not. If you know the other carriers they may be willing to join in on the collection agent for a higher gross.

[Dorsey]

Mechanics file liens on cars when they aren't paid. When I bought my semi I was up at the tax collectors office and a guy had filed a lien on someones car. Not for working on the guys car but for work he did for him. He was up there to block them from renewing thier tag.

[Buster]

Dorsey is correct as long as he has not already sold the car. Please fill out your profile so we know where you are. We might be able to help better. If your close enough or are going by his dealership I would stop in and talk to him. If talking does not work then get loud and make a seen. The police might be called but you might embarrass him enough to pay up. They will not arrest you for getting loud, just ask you to leave. I've done it and it works!! Make sure to leave him a negative on central.

[JW Transport]

Thanks for all the replies! I definately plan to pay the snake a visit next time we're in the area. I like Buster's idea of causing a scene, or even LBZ's idea of paying him a house visit. I'm pretty sure dealers are bonded, but I havn't done the research yet on how to get the bond info from the dealer's license.
Chris.

[Brisco]

Not sure about Kansas dealers licensing requirements, but here in Texas you do have to have a $25K bond for your Dealership. You rendered a "Service" for that "Licensed" dealer and can file against his bond (if Kansas requires bonds) if you have documentation backing up monies are owed for your service.

In Texas, to file a "Mechanics Lien", you must have the car in your possession at the time of the filing. In other words, lets say a body shop repairs a vehicle for a "self paying" customer (not an insurance job). 2 weeks later when car is ready and customer does not have the money to pay bill, that body shop can hold it in storage for 30 days waiting for customer to pay. If customer does not pay within that 30 days, then the body shop can go down and file a mechanics lien against that car. You cannot file a mechanics lien due to other forms of non-payment if the issue comes up after the transaction becomes final. In other words, if the customer writes you a hot check and takes possession of the car and you find out a week later that the check bounced, then it becomes a Civil/Criminal matter.

BUT, and this is a big but, if there is already lien on that car, say GMAC, then GMAC has priority over said car. Your mechanics lien will be listed as a "second lien" (look at a Texas Title - off to the right it shows "1st Lien - 2nd Lien") If said customer pays off car and GMAC releases their 1st Lien, that person cannot sell that car or transfer that title to someone elses name until that 2nd Lien is satisfied. If this happens, say customer pays off GMAC and GMAC releases that 1st Lien, then that body shop has every right to go and repossess that car from that Customer for monies owed.

I have 2 vehicles sitting in my shop right now, a 2005 Sentra and 2007 Hyundai, that I'm storing for my friend who has the Auto Restoration Shop who is going through the "Mechanics Lien" process on both cars right now. They both have clear titles and are owned by this Shylock POS Dealer that tried to screw him out of the monies owed to him. Jeff has done several "Mechanics Liens" on "Dealers" cars over the years and this guy he's dealing with right now is a real dumbasss. Some of those Dealers (Not Me!!:D) think they can screw over the "little guys" when it comes to having their vehicles repaired and worked on. Jeff doesn't put up with their BS at all, know what I mean. He won't go file against their "Bond" for a $2200 repair bill, he'll take that damn $7,000 car using the Mechanics Lien process just to teach them a lesson. :D

[Brisco]

Thanks for all the replies! I definately plan to pay the snake a visit next time we're in the area. I like Buster's idea of causing a scene, or even LBZ's idea of paying him a house visit. I'm pretty sure dealers are bonded, but I havn't done the research yet on how to get the bond info from the dealer's license.
Chris.

Also looks like you're not the only "Transporter" he's screwed over taking cars to Barrett Jackson. (you're not Rolando are you???)

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/merriam-ks/T6BTP6O6HMBA21905

Go to page 2.

Google his "WHOLE" address (Speedway Motors, 6231 Eby Ave in Merriam, KS 66202) and read the crap this guy is pulling on e-bay and all over the internet. I say Google his whole address as listed above because there's more than one "Speedway Motors" out there and googling the complete address leads directly to all the complaints against Patrick Dalton.