Riley Automotive

[donsrods]

I think that some of our members have posted pictures of frames they were thinking of buying from a company called Riley Automotive. I wanted to pass along a warning to be careful because it appears quite a few people have been ripped off by this man, Eric Schill. He just got a writeup in the Feb issue of Rod and Custom so I am sure some people will see that and feel they are dealing with an ethical business owner.

Here is a link to a thread on another forum. The thread starter is out a couple thousand dollars with little hope of recouping his money.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=649324

Don

 

[Blue Eyed Devil]

I was reading this over there and really sorry to hear it. I hope the word gets out and he doesn't receive another dollar until he makes this right with Ed.

 

[donsrods]

I feel really bad for the guy, that is why I got as involved as I have. It is really cut and dry, the man sent him a couple thousand dollars, then paid $1000 in shipping, and got a very small part of his order. Now Eric won't even talk to him about where the rest of the order is. To me this is out and out theft.

I felt by posting it here some other potential victim(s) might be forewarned.

Don

 

[Old Iron]

It baffles me how people can not seem to do what they say and have agreed to

Jim

 

[donsrods]

It looks like 160,000 HAMB members emailing, facebooking, and calling Eric have put some pressure on him. He refunded the guy in Germany his money this morning [cl but it took 2 years and the pressure from the HAMB to do it.

If you are thinking of buying from Riley Automotive, here is my suggestions:

1) Talk to them on the phone and get a FIRM shipping date from ERIC.

2) Confirm that agreement in writing via email, state the date you were given, and put "Time is off the essense" in the email. That sentence makes it so he can't ignore the date he gave you.

3) Then, insist he respond to your email via another email agreeing to the terms. NOW YOU HAVE A WRITTEN, ENFORCEABLE CONTRACT.

4) Finally, pay via some secure method, like PayPal or CC, and do NOT allow you time to contest it to pass in case he defaults. He has been known to string people along with promised so that the contending period passes and you are SOL.

I'm glad the man in Germany got his money, but there are so many other people who have had less than good dealings with Eric that I would never personally buy anything from them...........too risky.

Don

 

[Charley Davidson]

I feel for the guy & glad he was made whole.

I will never deal with anybody named "Riley" as that's the name of my Ahole neighbor that I've been harassed/intimidated by for the past year and 1/2 even just today

Moving soon

 

[Crossfire]

Riley ripoff automotive.

And if the Hamb members hadn't got involved he would still be ripping people off. A middle man business that needs to be closed. I also sent him an e-mail about his shady business practices. The only Hamb members that glorified this idiot were ones within 500 miles of him so he couldn't get over on them.Anybody these days that pay in full in advance for a high dollar product is taking a chance. My e-mail told him just like it was,don't want to hear about his financial problems. The man sent you money for a product,the money should have been spent on filling the order,not for him and his wife to go to Bonneville and get his fancy car in a magazine. Even though he finally refunded the guys money the damage is done. I for one wouldn't order anything from him. There are alot more businesses ripping hotrodders off than this one.

 

[donsrods]

Today I got an email from Hotmail. Riley Automotive filed a complaint with them that I was harassing him via email and also harassed his wife on the phone. I did basically what you did, Crossfire, just sent him an email telling him I thought it was pretty shabby what he did to Ed in Germany, and I simply left the same message with his wife (who I thought was the receptionist at his business. The man is a fool and still doesn't think he was wrong in any way.

Tonight my Son Dan and I went out to eat and I mentioned the Riley fiasco and Dan said he had bought a few items from them and actually had good luck. So it appears some people had ok dealings and others not so good.

He will never see one cent from me though, ever.


Don

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Today I got an email from Hotmail. Riley Automotive filed a complaint with them that I was harassing him via email and also harassed his wife on the phone.
Don

Oh, that's rich! The guy has time to file complaints, but can't put the effort into writing a general apology? As a business, you don't fight fire with fire, you put them out.

A smart man would try to save face, and repair his business' reputation. Swallow your foolish pride and admit your mistakes.

"We apologize for the service issues some have experienced. (insert creative excuse) We have since resolved those issues, and look forward to serving our customers both past and future."

How hard is that?

 

[donsrods]

Yep, that would be the thing to do IF a man were a professional and didn't run his business like it was a hobby. I hope he learned a lesson out of all of this and cleans up his operating methods.

Don