Vent away, Frank! That's a heck of a tale. You're still alive, and a frame can
probably be found if the original one is gone. Pretty cool.
Gordon Glasgow
Renton, WA
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
> [mailto:owner-datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Frank
> Roggeband
> Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 7:43 PM
> To: datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
> Subject: disappearance, theft and recovery... sortof
>
>
> Hello all,
>
> I could also have titled this 'beware of those who call you friend'.
>
> Due in part to health reasons (I have very bad arthritis in my neck,
> spine and knees that sometimes really slows me down.) and personal
> distress, I made a decision a couple of years ago to have the body and frame
> separated and restored at a local shop. I had met with the owner several
> times and during these discusions found that we had a lot of common
> friends and aquaintances going way back. We even knew each other from
> many years ago.
>
> August 2000 life as I knew it completely fell apart. I had to rescue
> my sister from a soon to be ex-husband who beat and tortured her for
> more than twelve years. This is way off topic but will help set the
> mood for this tale of woe.
>
> While this was going on my good friend "Bob" was closing up his shop
> which he was operating part time while managing a body shop at a local
> car dealership. As far as I knew "Bob" and the owner of the dealership
> were good pals from way back and it was understood that "Bob" would be
> able to complete my car, it was nearly done, after hours. Knowing that
> "Bob" was also working on a car for his son and routinely worked after
> hours, everything appeared on the level. Truth is this WAS ok until other
> employees were found to be working on the car during business hours and
> labour was not being recorded.
>
> Our good pal "Bob" was still operating his own 'business' using the free
> labour pool of the dealership's body shop. An alleged theft of many
> thousands of dollars in tools and supplies led to an immediate dismissal
> with various police agencies becoming involved.
>
> I had a meeting with the owner of this dealership and an offer was made to
> complete the work at a huge loss for the bodyshop. The same price that "Bob"
> had quoted. We agree on a price and a work order was drawn up for the amount
> of hours known to have been spent on the car already. First I had to recover
> the downpayment I had given to "Bob". What a piece of detective work it was
> to try and located this 'teflon' coated snake. I ran across some very upset
> people at the mere mention of his name. When I finally caught up with him
> I found he did actually have some friends who used strong arm tactics to
> help "Bob" slip away. His body shop only existed on work order sheets and
> business cards that were printed up and there was nothing at all to link
> "Bob" to anything. Even the business licence was a forgery.
>
> To shorten this up a little. Everything peaked all at once and I met a very
> nice team of cardiologists. As you can imagine the time frame I had been
> given had expired and my roadster would be scrapped. At this point I really
> didn't care. To hell with the cars anyway until I get things sorted out.
> There is still a lot more going on that is much bigger and involves hundreds
> of thousands of dollars and people worse than "Bob".
>
> I had accepted the fact that I had been ripped off and lost my car in the
> process. Until this morning.
>
> The phone rang promptly at 9:00 am. "Here it's for you, some guy." It was
> the owner of the dealership. He said he was retiring and had sold his
> franchise back to General Motors and what do you want to do with this car
> of yours? Stunned I had to sit down. I had been told it was scrapped and
> no longer existed. I was assured he still had it safely stored away and
> could I come down and maybe we could work something out to clear up the
> work order and storage fees before GM gets a hold of it. Giant Corporations
> tend to be a lot more difficult to deal with and would not see the real
> truth that we both had been taken by our mutual good friend "Bob".
>
> I had two options. Walk away, I tear up the work order and scrap what's left
> of your car. (the frame is still missing) or if you can still use it lets
> be fair and settle it. I agreed to reimburse my good friend the cost of the
> labour, not the actual shop rate, known to have been spent on the car (48hrs).
> Even though I may not have to with a good lawyer. I think this is only fair
> because I have a completed body shell ready for paint. We overlooked storage
> fees and materials used from the shop and came up with a number considerably
> less than the actual cost and agreed the matter is closed.
>
> I have been on this list for a very long time and have seen many good
> and some bad stories of cars and such. I have been lurking on this list
> for a long time now and watching closely the 'for sale' postings just in
> case I decided to get in over my head again. The mere mention of cars and
> even working on them turned my stomach. Hopefully I will soon catch 'the bug'
> again and get on with things.
>
> I am going to make one last look for my frame. If it still exists I will
> find it. What's left of my roadster will be delivered to my storage locker
> on Tuesday.
>
> Sorry about the lengthy post, I just have to vent sometimes.
>
> --
> Frank Roggeband | 67.5 1600, 69 1600, 69 510, 71 510, 75 710, 93 KingCab
> Grimsby Ontario | Http://www.hwcn.org/~ae845/Profile.html
> Canada | email-->frankr@hwcn.org
> Electronics Technician and Datsun Enthusiast.
>
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