Trim Tabs <scam> Pretty Bummed Out

[HangOutdoors]

Been spending at a pretty good clip lately on the boat. I was going to buy a new set of Lectrotabs from Russ at lectrotab, but wanted to hold off a bit on the spending. I ran into a guy at the Marina and he showed me a brand new set that he had that he didn't want to use and they were new, the MLC-1 which was perfect. I saw them and looked them over. He wanted $500 for them and would help me install them this afternoon before my trip tomorrow. Since he was at the Marina and worked there, I had no problem with him. I went to the ATM and paid him $500 bucks and told him I would be back today, this was last week. Finally something I can save a few bucks on. (He wanted exactly what most people could get out of the ATM... Should have seen this.)

Went there today with the boat in tow and embarrassed myself, Chris was not there, only worked there for a half a day and the phone number he gave me and them was not his. I filed a police report but what are you going to do. They believe his name was fake to.

Bums me out, perhaps I am too trusting. Kind of put a bad start to our trip tomorrow. I will be thinking about the whole time. Wanted to use the tabs in Lake Michigan.

 

[props2you]

OUCH! I feel for ya man, that does suck, that gut wrenching feeling certainly is not fun. Hopefully they find this guy as I'm sure it's not his first or last rodeo!

Best of luck!!

 

[isitsummeryet]

Why would you pay him entire amount upfront? Yea you are very trusting.. Sorry to hear that.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Guy had a Marina shirt on and was helping Launch all the boats.

 

[Markk]

I’ve seen three different unique thefts lately. All from my friends businesses. Two electronics thefts via fake rental documents totaling $41k loss. Another friend lost two rolexes by a snatch and grab from his store. People are getting desperate for money.

 

[anmut]

Damn, that sucks! They must have some record of who he is if he worked there for a half day. Any cameras there to show you paying him the money? For $500 I would spend some time tracking that person down.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I called the Marina just now and asked if they have any more information, and they guy says he believes that this Chris guy may have been targeting other Yamaha specific Jet Boaters in the area and getting money from them as well to buy the Trim Tabs. Sounds to me like he knows what someone with a Yamaha Jet boat is looking for..........

 

[HangOutdoors]

@anmut Not really, just part time cash labor I guess. They don't want to stir up much about it..... Cash labor, go figure. But I don't want to cause them any grief. It is my fault. They indicated that they are sorry but they are not liable, since the guy came up to my boat at the public dock adjoining the Marina and that is where he sold me the stuff.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Its not so much the money, I really wanted to have the trim tabs on for the Lake Michigan in case there was a good chop out there as always is the case. smh.... Lessoned learned.

 

[McMark]

Trim tab and scam mojo.

 

[anmut]

I called the Marina just now and asked if they have any more information, and they guy says he believes that this Chris guy may have been targeting other Yamaha specific Jet Boaters in the area and getting money from them as well to buy the Trim Tabs. Sounds to me like he knows what someone with a Yamaha Jet boat is looking for..........

Gently remind the Marina that someone representing THEM ripped you off, and you are going to hold them accountable for this. They need to do more leg work on tracking this clown down:
1) Employment paperwork? In WI you have to verify ID in duplicate before a person can legally work for you and make a photocopy of said ID.
2) Was he referred for a job or walk off the street?
3) What did he drive?
4) Interactions with the staff, did anyone pick up on anything personal about him?
5) Talk to the other targets, there might be some information there you could use.
6) Where did he get the marina shirt from?

If you get ANY push back on this from the Marina, I would remind them that this was their employee that ripped you off. If they want to pony up the $500 to get you to stop your search, then that would also be acceptable. Don't let them pass this off as your problem. If they claim they don't have any paperwork for *insert excuse here* then I would make a call to whatever state office in MI that controls employment rules and explain that you were ripped off by an illegally working employee.

 

[isitsummeryet]

Just so you know.. you love top end speed obviously I can tell from your other posts but trim tabs deployed even on first click will reduce top end speed quite dramatically. Fully deployed, I sacrifice my top end speed approx 30%. So its a trade off. Just wanted to make sure you know that before you install them and get bummed out.

 

[Beachbummer]

Sorry for your loss. It will sting for a while. I am always uneasy with deals with Money up. It's an expensive lesson, but hopefully others reading take heed. Always have leverage for any funds paid up front. Do you best to pay with a Credit Card when possible, you can always dispute later. But cash up front, there is no recourse if it goes sideways.

I know for OP this is not a life changing amount and long term you will be OK, but this stuff stings and stinks. Sorry.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@isitsummeryet Yes I know they will, but I am looking at just deploying them when needed in the big water. Crossing Lake St. Clair 10-15 miles in that chop can be painful. The admiral and the kids get beat up pretty bad.

@anmut I get what you are saying, and I agree with you. But, I don't want to cause grief for them because I was being to optimistic and purchasing something I should have done more due diligence on. The guy told me they where his and he just wanted to get some cash out of them. I have done transactions like that my entire life, not a lot but some and everything has always seemed to work out.

No worries, will order a set hopefully if there is another group discount coming up this year or next spring. Just felt like sharing..... Maybe he will be dumb enough to sell them again to someone who reads this forum and knows the con game.

 

[Julian]

Shitty way to learn this lesson...but something we all can learn from too!

I agree with @anmut that the Marina holds responsibility for their employee wearing their shirt. At the very least they should be able to identify they guy- if they say they can't, then they have violated employment laws. At least they should have a copy of his drivers license.

 

[HangOutdoors]

It smelled like it was a work for part-time for cash because they didn't have enough staff to keep prepping and launching all their boats. Looked like they still had a lot in winter wrap and on racks. One of those "We will pay you X an hour, here wear this shirt and do that" type of thing. The term the Lady used was "Temporary Seasonal Labor"

 

[anmut]

It smelled like it was a work for part-time for cash because they didn't have enough staff to keep prepping and launching all their boats. Looked like they still had a lot in winter wrap and on racks. One of those "We will pay you X an hour, here wear this shirt and do that" type of thing.

Clear violation of employment laws, even if that's the standard for that kind of work. Here's what I would start with:

"I've thought about the situation and, while I believe there was no intention by the marina to be a part of this theft, the fact of the matters are that this person was your employee at the time and because of this representation, I understood that the marina was sanctioning and/or condoning this transaction. I believe that the marina owes me, at the very least a proper investigation into the employees employment paperwork, and if said paperwork wasn't complete while your employee was representing the marina, then the marina is responsible for the theft. I would ask you, the marina, if an employee stole $500 from the marina, would you be doing more work to recover it than you are doing for me?"

Employment laws are very clear to protect businesses, employees, and customers for specific cases like this.

 

[Dave burke]

Clear violation of employment laws, even if that's the standard for that kind of work. Here's what I would start with:

"I've thought about the situation and, while I believe there was no intention by the marina to be a part of this theft, the fact of the matters are that this person was your employee at the time and because of this representation, I understood that the marina was sanctioning and/or condoning this transaction. I believe that the marina owes me, at the very least a proper investigation into the employees employment paperwork, and if said paperwork wasn't complete while your employee was representing the marina, then the marina is responsible for the theft. I would ask you, the marina, if an employee stole $500 from the marina, would you be doing more work to recover it than you are doing for me?"

Employment laws are very clear to protect businesses, employees, and customers for specific cases like this.

Well said @anmut. @HangOutdoors, sorry to hear this and if it was me, I wouldn’t let the marina off the hook. Think of this way, if this guy didn’t have a marina shirt, would you have done what you did? I doubt it...

 

[HangOutdoors]

@Dave burke Probably not. Going to swing back out there.

 

[MGoMike]

Really sorry to hear about that. Totally sucks. I also get your desire to have trim tabs on Lake Michigan. We’ve got a 212x and last year I thought it would be fun to ride up the Lake from Muskegon Lake up to White Lake. The forecast said 0-1 foot waves, but when we got out there it was more like 2-3 foot waves. It was a rough ride for sure but doable in our size boat.

Definitely keep an eye on the weather. And make sure you are all set with your safety gear. The coast guard will probably be out doing checks.