My husband and I are starting a concession business. We are on a tight budget and couldn't afford the large prices of the concession manufacturers. So I hunted for used trailers. I found two guys that had what I wanted and were reasonable. I called both. Both stated they actually custom build thier trailers. The company I chose to go with was Smoky mountain concession. Llc. He had many nice websites, very thorough and offered me a number of payment options.
So for more than a month I spoke with him and emailed back and forth preparing everything for my health inspection. He had a deal that if you paid everything up front he would give a $3000 discount off the price. Even better than his internet options. I thought it was great. So we held off paying as long as we could hoping to come up with the whole amount. He said he needed 2 months to build the closer the season approached. So time was up and we decided to pay the half we had and drove to North Carolina to check him out.
He had us follow him up the mountain, since it was hard to find. We arrived at a property with 2 trailers unfinished. We were a little suprised that there was no workshop, only a screwdriver and hammer in site. But I looked past this, since time was of an essence and he seamed to know what he was talking about. A very pleasant guy. We drove home and decided to wire the money to him to have proof of payment. He said a check would take 10 days to clear and I didn't have 10 days to waste.
I sent him $ 8500, for our perfectly designed trailer. We were set completely, working on the other aspects of our business. Not till 2 weeks before the deadline of his contract did we ask some questions and requests pictures.
We heard nothing. We got nervous. I called, texted, emailed. Nothing. 3 days later, he texted me that his emails keep bouncing back and that he will call me in the morning. He never called. 2 days more passed, I continued to try and reach him, panicking...
So, I called the police in North Carolina and asked what should I do in such a situation. When do I acknowledge I've been scammed and panick. I mentioned his name and they immediately knew of him. He has warrants for his arrest and had done this to others.
I panicked. How he stays in the same area and repeatively does this is beyond my imagination. So I searched online and found no reports of this happening to anyone else. I am scrambling to come up with a trailer in two weeks and a huge amount of money to purchace one. While looking I found the same pictures Smoky mountain concessions has on other manufactures websites!
This man has put us in such a situation it is undescribable. We invested everything we have in this, our business is scheduled to start in less than 3 weeks, we have no trailer, no more money and a pile of debt. When we had hope to change our lives and start a new business, this man destroyed it for $8500. It is unthinkable. I pray no one else has to go through what my family is going through now.
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