Be very careful if you ever decide to do business with this man.
I began communication with Bob Cohen at California Cruisers via e-mail in Oct (today is Dec 14). I found his website on line and began to correspond with him. I told him I have a 2005 PT Cruiser GT Turbo that I wanted to add woody panels to it, white wall tires and smoothie wheels, painted red with baby moons and a chrysler emblem added to the hubs. I asked him about pricing, styles, colors for the wheels and info on the tires, and specs on the tires.
He told me that the white wall tire he would put on was a tire brand called Dayton, that the wheels he already had for someone else but would take them and put them on my car, we discussed the panels that I wanted including a custom color varnish to make it look a little more realistic and he quoted me a price of $4100 (tires were $710.00, paneling was $1600 or $1700 and the wheels were $1500 and then $200 for the Chrysler Emblems and $100.00 for the joint plugs for the woody paneling). He wanted payment in cash after I made an initial deposit by credit card. We set up an appointment. I got the cash and went down for the installation.
When we got there, the shop was a horrid mess. We drove the car into the shop and he and his assistant, who was some acquaintance and did not really have a full grasp of the task ahead began to apply the panels to the car. Mr. Cohen used a double sided 3M tape and a huge amount of clear silicone. Each panel was applied to the car, siliconed up and taped to the paint or window to hold it in place. Silicone was everywhere. He applied the panels in about hour sort of like beat the clock.
From there he threw the painted red wheels into the back of my car and told us to follow him over to a tire shop a block or so away. They began to install the tires onto the wheels and removed my old wheels and tires and threw them into the back of my car and they continued to talk to us the entire time the car was up on the rack until it was lowered and they were through.
Mr. Cohen told me that he was not finished with the car, that it needed to be fine tuned, the paneling was not finished and that he could either come out to the house to finish it up or we could come back out. He told me that the white walls needed to be inflated to run on 40 psi, and to take the tape off tomorrow after the silicone had dried. He said that he did not get the emblems (which cost me $200.00 but as soon as he got them he would attach them to the hubs (baby moons) and send them too me.in fact he showed me how to remove the hubs without damaging the paint on the wheels. I also had purchased from him for $100.00 plugs to show a joint connection of the woody panels, which were also not on the car.
After we got home we took the old tires and wheels out of the car and put them into the garage. The tire place had pulled one of the stickers off the new tires and thrown it into the back of my car with the old tires. I brought it in and left it in my office. The next day we went to take the tape off the car and the tires looked low. We checked the pressure and sure enough they were at 32,34, 35, and 33. So we went down to the gas station and added more air. The tires continued to lose air, evey two to three days we had to add more air to increase the pressure to the recommended 40psi. They were usually down about 5 pounds. The car looked great from a distance, but up close it was very apparent that it needed the fine tuning and the extras that I had paid for added to the complete job. The emblems that I paid $200.00 apparently did not come in.
In looking at the job that Mr. Cohen had done, you could see dust, hair and debris embedded in the varnish of the paneling. There were drips of varnish, and areas where there were variations of color because there was varnish applied and areas where there was no varnish. There was silicone on the paint of my black PT, and on the windows, and on the rubber of the window gaskets. (bleed over from the tape). The wheels on the car again looked awesome from a distance but once you got close there were paint drips, dust and debris in the finish and overspray on the chrome rings. Overall the job or craftsmanship of the product was way below par. It was clear that he did not paint any of these products in a dust free environment. Worse yet as you looked around the shop it was clear it was painted on the floor or on milk crates and dust and hair floated down and embedded itself into the drying varnish and paint. I was sort of okay with this because he had told me that he would finish it up and make it right. I am still trying a year later to get this all handled.
With the tires constantly losing air, I became concerned that something was wrong. I decided to look at the sticker that the tire place threw into my car and to my horror the brand of tires put on my car was not what we had discussed. He had orginally told me that he was going to put a Dayton Tire on my car. With that information, I had done some research and I did not find anything that was alarming regarding the reputation of the tire. The tires that I actually now had on my car were Dean tires, a product of Cooper tires, and a model that had been in not one but several recalls. Not at all what we had discussed. I had paid top dollar for the tires. $170.00 per tire (I realize I could buy more expensive tires to the tune of $200.00 or 300.00 or more, but this car is not a performance car and this was top dollar for a white wall tire, give or take $20.00 a tire) The dean tire model he put on my car has a retail value of $38.00 a tire for black walls. (It seems that they take the black wall tires and vulcanize a white wall rubber wall onto it and sell them as white wall tires for $170.00.installation charges)
I called him and asked him what is the deal here and that is when the games began. It has been over a year and 3 months. He has asked me to take readings on the tires morning, noon and night 3 times each time and then report back to him. He has put me in touch with the person that he bought the tires from for me to work it out with him. When he said he would see to it that Mr. Cohen took care of me (Good cop bad cop) that never happened. When I confronted Mr. Cohen about my conversation, he said, it was like he would never say that. I suggested we do a conference call and lets just see who said what to who... That never happened. All these hoops he made me jump thorough really had no real relevance since they were not the tires I paid for in the first place. I said I wanted new tires put on my car, that I never ok'd these tires, they don't hold air and I wanted them changed period end of conversation. He then said, go ahead and
research new tires that you might want, because he said he knew nothing about white wall tires. I now know more about white wall tires than I know about my own business.
I told him I was concerned about driving on these tires and losing air, making these potentially unsafe. I told him that I was also uncomfortable driving on them because they were going to show wear and I wanted them removed and replaced. He has been promising me to get the new tires and to this date a year and three months later nothing, but lies, stories, excuses and abuse.
9 months after having to drive on the tires one of the tires blew out on the highway. Now of course he says he is not able to honor the agreement of taking back 4 good tires because I damaged one of them.
He had told me, in numerous e-mails, that he would, or has or will order the tires and never did. He told me that I should pick out the tires that I want and see if I could get them cheaper than the retail amount. I located a wholesale pricing for him and told him how to get the account set up and then he told me that he cannot buy the tires wholesale because he is going out of business (which is questionable since he is still selling on the internet.) I had told him that I would pay for any difference over what I already paid for the tires if they were to cost more. I was able to find a tire that was the same price at a wholesale cost... However, he is not able to buy them wholesale because his business credit apparently is not up to par, so he feels I should pay the retail price which is over $800 and also absorb the price for the blown tire, plus the tire I had to buy as a temporary tire.
I actually contacted the tire manufacturer and asked them if they would sell me the tires directly at a wholesale price using my fed tax ID number and my calif resale number. They came back to me and said that they would, but only for a short window of time. Well Mr. Cohen is not interested in working this out so now the tires are no longer available to me on a wholesale basis. He does not seem to understand that regardless of whether or not the tire was damaged 9 months after my discovery that he switched tires on me he is still responsible to replace them period, no deal. The delay in time is all his doing not mine.
Meanwhile, the emblems that cost me $200.00 never came in the mail attached to the baby moons. I was told that they no longer make them. I asked for the money back and that never came. I was later told he had the emblems. I have yet to see them. I have asked and asked for the money back and nothing.
I made an appointment to go back to have the "fine tuning" work done to the panels and wheels, I called to verify that we were still on before I went out because it is far for me to drive. When I called I was told that he was no where to be found. Then he returned my call and said I did not have an appointment for that date! Yeah right. So I tired to set up other appointments and I cannot get him to commit. Up until this point I was holding out for the tires before getting into the craftsmanship issues.
The panels have not been "fine tuned" the wheels have not been "fine tuned" and are now sitting in my garage along with 3 good Dean tires and 1 blown out Dean tire. The plugs have never been installed because the paneling is still not done.
He did come out to my house to see the tire one evening, and began to work on the panels without having any tools and proceeded to re silicone the panels and re tape them. He kept asking me to supply him with tools and lighting, yet this was never a scheduled work request, but just a stop by to check the tire that had blown out on the Freeway. He added more silicone and damage to my car. Panels are not sticking, silicone is cracking. He became abusive (in front of neighbors) about the tire agreement and we asked him to leave. He left his clipboard in the garage and he called me later that night at 11:30pm and wanted me to go out to the garage and confirm that I had it. He threatened me with having the police come to my door and I said, it was late call me in the morning and I will go out and check then, that I was already in bed and asleep. He called me 3 more times and told me that his bosses said to make sure that he got it. His business license indicates one owner and that is him. I was tempted to keep the clipboard in exchange for the tires and finishing up the job, but I don't believe in working like that and returned the clipboard to him the next morning.
I have continued to try to work this out with him. But really get nowhere. I am very upfront about my process with him, letting him know that my intentions are to protect others and report him to the Better Business Bureau, The Federal Trade Commission, The Internet Center for Fraud, Consumer complaint sights and through my own website/blog. That if he co-operates I will announce to the various platforms that he has done the right thing.
I told him if he cannot afford to pay for the tires, he can pay me by installments and then once all the money has been collected then the tires can be purchased. He made one installment and changed the rules and asked for his money back. Laughable if one had any sense of humor.
I have heard from others who have had similar problems, so I am not the only one. My situation will end up costing me the $4100 the cost to fix the damage he did to the car and the panels the cost to buy new tires plus the cost to buy temporary tires when the white wall blew the cost to fix the drips and overspray to the wheels the cost to file in court running down any other "owners" he has indicated have an interest in his company. I know I am looking at about $7,000 to be put back to whole, not inclusive of my time and emotional distress.
I have tried to use this last year to reason with him, yet each time he communicates back to me he has excuses like;
There was a fire and I was unable to get back to you.
My computer was down. We were broken into and robbed twice! (not once but twice oh my!)
I lost all my email and data and had to have it retrieved.
I had a computer virus. One of my customers died so things have been slow around here. I lost $20,000 in business.
The world is in a very bad economic condition and I do not have any business.
I am no longer in business but I am trying to help you the best that I can. (check out his website and tell me that he is out of business) My new location which is off the freeway is not doing well because they closed the off. Ramp and it is going to be that way for year.
I would prefer not to go to court, but to work this out, I don't see any other way to get any satisfaction. Maybe this will help others to stay clear of potential damage, fraud and emotional duress.
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