The guy taken by the shop that took me is asking for support

"Battery Tender Unnecessary" (carac)
06/11/2015 at 11:36 • Filed to: None

Ryan McElveen started a facebook page asking for the shop that took his money upfront and have done nothing in over a year to give his 1968 250SL he saved his whole life for back. Show support if you wish to.

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It’s the same shop that screwed up my E30 M3

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Here’s the transcript of his ordeal.

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DISCUSSION (21)

PS9 > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 11:42

What exactly does someone do in this situation? Lawyer up? Class action with other wronged customers? Is there some way to get this dude’s business license revoked given the trail of wreckege he’s left behind in this niche industry?

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 11:43

What a con.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > PS9
06/11/2015 at 11:49

Lawyer up is probably the only option. It’s surely not small claims at this point.

BloodlessWeevil > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 11:52

Wait... they will not give him his car back? Report it stolen, because it is.

Party-vi > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 11:52

If Berry still has the car, that means he hasn’t sold it to pay off the work performed as per his supposed mechanics lien he put on it. I doubt there is a lien, and he only said that to keep the car longer.

What about going to the local media, or perhaps a Mercedes club in the area?

McMike > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 11:53

See if you can ID the journal entries I added .

5/20/15 – went to Robert shop with a tow vehicle and two sheriffs deputies ... He told Officer Cook that my car would be completed next week.

5/20/15 – Civil case filed in Knox county General Sessions Court – Civil Division. Docket # 55259H

5/21/15 - Insurance coverage increased on 250SL

6/09/15 – 1968 Mercedes Benz 250 SL still held hostage

6/10/15 - Report of fire at Eurohaus Motorsports. Car and shop are total loss.

TylerJ > PS9
06/11/2015 at 11:55

Wasn’t it discovered that Eurohaus was operating without a business license since 2011?

PS9 > TylerJ
06/11/2015 at 11:59

What clusterfuck of a shop owner this guy is. I’m literally speechless.

TylerJ > PS9
06/11/2015 at 12:04

Yeah, in the “My E30 Nightmare” post, OP posted a screenshot showing that as off 7/23/2014, Eurohaus hadn’t had a business license since 08/09/2011.

I don’t know if they still haven’t gotten a new business license though. It is my understanding that not having a business license makes the “owner” personally liable for everything.

I say “owner” because without a business license, is there really a business to own?

McMike > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 12:08

Damn ( Google Review )

Beware of this “company” and its proprietors. Eurohaus had my Porsche 944 for almost 2 years. Motor replacement. Paid up front. From then it was “I’ll have it done next week” or “my guy was out, will start next week.” Eventually he started ignoring my requests for updates and not responding. I took him to court to get the car back, but he didn’t show up, leaving me with the court costs, which I couldn’t recoup without knowing his bank. Couldn’t afford to pursue the matter further. The car still isn’t right and I can’t afford to fix it because Eurohaus took the money I saved to get it fixed. I didn’t want to get into specifics because Robert doesn’t take criticism well, but I’ll chance getting some threats. A short trip on Google will inform you this is the second location of this iteration of Robert’s businesses. A Tennessee state tax lien was levied in 2011. Shortly thereafter Robert let the business license expire and the company was “dissolved” as far as the state was ...

Battery Tender Unnecessary > PS9
06/11/2015 at 12:08

I would really like that lawyer that posts on here to give a run down of your options when a shop can’t or won’t return a car, especially in a situation like this where the shop owner has actually already been paid.

McMike > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 12:14

Looks like they’ve been just about as productive updating their Twitter

https://twitter.com/rbeuro

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 12:14

You know, I think what needs to happen is someone from a properly dangerous criminal organisation needs to take his car to this chap.

Then, when he fucks them around and takes their money he’ll be in some properly deep shit.

Karma.

Battery Tender Unnecessary > McMike
06/11/2015 at 12:16

Yeah. There’s a pattern there.

Kanaric > BloodlessWeevil
06/11/2015 at 12:23

6/10/15

- Report of fire at Eurohaus Motorsports. Car and shop are total loss.

I think the car doesn’t exist anymore

WiscoProud > McMike
06/11/2015 at 12:28

That's sad. Hopefully insurance makes him whole.

BloodlessWeevil > Kanaric
06/11/2015 at 12:41

Wow, well that’s “convenient.” I would still report it stolen unless I saw the VIN on the burned out husk myself. The whole operation sounds like a car theft scam, it was probably gone less than a month after he gave it to them.

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 13:27

You know, at this point couldn’t/shouldn’t he just have the guy arrested for grand theft/receiving stolen property? The guy is holding these cars hostage, plain and simple. He has no legal right to them anymore if the owner is asking for it back and he is not owed money for work performed. This seems pretty cut and dry to me. Or, why not just report the vehicle stolen to the police and then tell them where it is? After all, Ryan should have the title to the vehicle still since Berry has no business getting a mechanics lien.

Battery Tender Unnecessary > Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
06/11/2015 at 13:39

That’s where it gets murky. When does it stop being an agreed upon transaction and become tantamount to theft? If he hasn’t signed an estimate or given signed, written permission to work on the car then it might technically be destruction of property. The theft is harder to provide since he was the one that left it there.

BorkBorkBjork > Battery Tender Unnecessary
06/11/2015 at 16:31

It’s in Tennessee. Go buy some guns, round up a posse, and take it back by force.

-EDIT-: Just saw the place burnt down. Guess the car is gone forever.

Captain_Overboost > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
06/29/2015 at 17:08

Yep. Guarantee that fuckin’ scumbag “owner” set the joint on fire to collect on an insurance policy so he could take the money and run. He was already too far under water to keep the place, whether it was a legit business or not, going any longer.

So, the answer? To him it was obviously burn the joint down and haul ass with the cash. He must’ve taken “business lessons” from John H. before he (apparently) got his shit straight and got back on the straight and narrow.

I hated reading this guy’s story. You see someone like this scrimp and save on the way to his dream car and a scum bag like this comes along. He deserves a little back alley justice.