[TA Widow]

Hello. I hope this is the right place to put this. I have a huge grievance with a shop. There are 9 names that they go by - all are run by the same man, Bob Mcelreath - shop names are Pick a Pony, Build a Bandit, Pontiac Pros, Discount Classic Auto Restoration, Common Man Classic Hot Rods. Known e-bay aliases eck0211, turtlevhare, winstoncup2watch, restoguru7881.

My husband paid $15,000 for a fully restored Trans Am Bandit on June 4, 2012. He unexpectantly died on June 7, 2012. That's 3 days later. About a week goes by and I start trying to contact Bob and his company. 51 days later I have to drive nearly 500 miles round trip because no one can bother to respond to an e-mail or phone call. I get a new contract promising a full refund within 30 business days- my husband told me and other people confirmed that it's a policy of the shop to refund widows the money if the car isn't completed before the purchaser dies. This time the money was barely in the bank! The new contract is written by the Bob's step-son, Zak Kampert. Bob finally returns from God knows where and said that he'd left the step-son in charge and he apologized for Zak not returning any messages. He says and e-mails that normally he has a "well-known" 60 day refund policy for widows, but he'd honor the contract. He gives me $2000 in mid-August. At the end of the 30 days Bob states publicly that I had coerced his UNDERAGE stepson into the contract and I knew that he has a "well-known" 90 day refund policy. I talked to the stepson for about 30 seconds on the phone. I never met the man. He sent someone else to deliver the contract because it was 20 whole minutes away (I'd just driven 4 1/2 hours with 2 kids in the car). There was no coercing. The policy changes at the owners whim.

It's been 144 days today since my husband passed away. The owner refuses all communication. The police cannot do anything because he gave me a $2000 partial refund and he does barely enough work to be considered only a horrible business man and not the con man that he is. He is currently conning at least 34 other victims out of at least $500,000!!! He's on the hunt for more too - he keeps putting more ads on e-Bay and other sites. I have no idea how he stays out of jail! The NC Attorney General's office is "investigating" so they can't comment. Does anyone know how to get this crook to pay people money they owe him? Suing him won't work because he has told everyone that he's "liquidated" his assets. He is an amoral professional con-man.