BikeBandit.com went under, and stole over a half $million of customers dollars with it

[Scott9999]

Motorcycle Parts Seller BikeBandit Has Stolen $646,000 of Customers' Money and Disappeared, Says Bankruptcy Trustee

 

I remember buying from these folks at some time in the past.  The article covers the history, i.e. they changed hands several times from 2015 on, and Vey Motorsports eventually owned it.   Looks like both companies developed integrity problems. 

 

There's a comment by a user named JohnnyDollar that discusses the fact that many online suppliers are actually nothing other than a web shell with a catalog, undercapitalized and holding no inventory.  When these companies fail, they sometimes leave the web site running, and keep collecting orders and dollars with no staff, no inventory, and no means of buying or shipping the goods.   I think advmonster.com is a classic case of such a site, i.e. they used to provide quality products, then their delivery and customer service became questionable, and now the site's there, but you can't actually place an order.  

 

It's a good lesson, i.e. be careful with the smaller companies.  Just because they look HUGE on the internet, a bunch are mom and pop operations, who may or may not deliver your goods, and whose service reliability of yesterday may not be the same tomorrow.   It's still a "buyer beware" world.

[Brodiepunker18]

I was trying to look at something a few weeks ago on bike bandit but the website was down…probably better in my case but wow that’s crazy because I used to buy stuff from them regularly.

 

😯😶

[Scott9999]

What happened with BikeBandit kind of reminds me of what the mob used to do in areas they controlled.  They'd gain partial control of a business (e.g. gambling debts, or just ordinary strong arm tactics, protection rackets, etc.), as a "silent partner".  Then they would gut the business, stealing all inventory and even cash until the proprietor was broke, declared bankruptcy, and stiffed his creditors.  From reading the article (which includes ample opinion, i.e. may or may not be wholly factual) it looks like that Vey fellow (Robert Rosenberg) and the Affinity Development Group (i.e. Gary Drean) got together to buy BikeBandit, strip it, transfer Affinity and Vey Motorsports debts to BikeBandit, and then bankrupt it, walking away from their debts.  There may have been a flip side to this, i.e. either Affinity got in over their head in a business they didn't understand, maybe they bought into a fraud (i.e. BikeBandit's financials and sales were fraudulently presented from the beginning by it's original owner), maybe Vey bought into the fraud from Affinity, or maybe it was legitimate, and only went under due to the financial pressures of the COVID baloney restrictions.  

 

What appears certain is that "they" (Drean was still invested in BikeBandit, and Vey owned it) left their web site up a couple of months after filing bankruptcy without a formal announcement, it took orders, BikeBandit pocketed the cash, and never refunded orders OR listed the consumers with standing orders as its debtors.  

 

There may have also been some level of Judicial malfeasance involved.  While the judge did appoint a trustee, who in discovery documented the fraud to customers and other financial shenanigans, a judge had to accept that bankruptcy filing in the first place, and since it was an online company, should have stipulated by court order that the web site be immediately shutdown, and that the consumers would be the first level of recovery.  I also don't know how Vey Powersports or Affinity Development Group is/was able to financially separate themselves from BikeBandit (presumably an LLC or INC), when they are all primary shareholders AND listed as primary debtors.  (In fact, that corporate veil may be pierced pretty quickly, as it doesn't protect against outright fraud by corporate officers).

 

It's all a very weird, complex situation, which again, tells me that it was probably fraudulent and run by a bunch of con's from 2015 onwards.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On 6/18/2022 at 3:07 AM, Scott9999 said:

Motorcycle Parts Seller BikeBandit Has Stolen $646,000 of Customers' Money and Disappeared, Says Bankruptcy Trustee

 

How does this work with credit card payments?  Can't customers contact their bank and have them issue a chargeback?  

[MichiganBob]

Thanks for the good head's up Scott.

 

Pays to be cautious.

[Scott9999]

1 hour ago, Joe Frickin' Friday said:

 

How does this work with credit card payments?  Can't customers contact their bank and have them issue a chargeback?  

Good question.  What does VISA (for example) do when a customer company continues to accept charges for two months, process them for payment, then when VISA goes to charge back, discovers that the customer company went bankrupt MONTHS ago, and there's no money in their account to charge back from?  Either the customer or VISA will become an undeclared debtor (hence, the fraud charges; a bankrupt company is required by law to declare all of their debts and debtors).  When they continue in operation AFTER filing Chapter 7 for dissolution, that's also, criminal financial fraud. 

 

The credit card companies may make customers whole.  They may not.  Customers may sue the C.C. companies for continuing a business relationship with a bankrupt company, attempting to hold them liable (but I suppose the C.C. companies have an army of lawyers on retainer).  I guess the real question is, what did the C.C. companies (and maybe Paypal, too) do, when the first customer complaints came thru.  Remember how this progressed, i.e. people buy something online, they presumably get a shipping notice (i.e. if they do not, and they don't follow up, well, that's on the customer, too), if they do not, or the shipped item never arrives, they attempt to contact customer service. They get a "not in service at this time" message.  They text, email, maybe even drive by the warehouse of they're local. 

 

There are enough questions to make this case a lawyers dream.  The only problem is, there's no assets or money left to recover.  That's why I said that fraud pierces the corporate protections that a company's principals enjoy, and that's going to be the focus of recovery efforts, both by the court and via any lawsuits.  However, by this time, any recoverable property by the principals has probably been absconded with, i.e. in the kids name, the dogs name, maybe buried in gold or silver in a safe somewhere, the house(s), refi'd and mortgaged to the hilt, etc.  Unless, of course, the principals were stupid, and this thing (stripping out the company since 2015 and then crashing it, doesn't look like it was done by amateurs.   Besides, an individual consumer (or more likely, a class action) can WIN a lawsuit, but that doesn't mean it's enforceable against a ghost.  Even if the court via the local DA ends up tossing the principals in jail, that doesn't do a bit of good for customers who lost their money in a bogus sale.

 

You've heard the ol' saw "Ya can't get blood out of a turnip"?  Well, turnip, meet Bikebandit.

[MichiganBob]

Ironic name for the store.

[MotorinLA]

It's sad, but there are quite a few people out there who have no compunction about taking from others without feeling any remorse.  The first guy I ever arrested for robbery many, many years ago told me that it wasn't his fault that the guy he robbed wasn't strong enough to defend his property... 

 

I guess the upside to online crime is that at least you don't get pistol-whipped about the head when you try stop the criminal from taking your stuff.