C219 CLS55 and CLS63, 2004-2010

Lynch Mob mentality and 360 forged...

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Old Apr 5, 2009 | 08:43 PM
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Lynch Mob mentality and 360 forged...

I have been reading all the posts across all forums about the mounting trouble with 360. I was at their showroom about 5 or 6 weeks ago and all seemed well enough. I sat down with Jordan about a set for my CLS and to see his cls63 for myself. I was impressed with the shop and it didnt smell fishy to me. I am a damn good judge of character so if all that is being reported is true he sure fooled me.

I have an office in Miami not far from his shop so I will personally going back down there to see whats going on. I am a business owner and understand both sides. My issue is with the lynch mob mentality. It can easily sink a small company like 360 and cause irreparable damage. I am by no means saying Jordan isnt ultimately responsible - but I am saying that the public (especially via the internet) can go overboard attempting to snuff out bad guys. In my business if one person makes a negative comment it can cause a catastrophic shift in perception which ultimately can lead to very bad things. Report negatively on a stock and watch it plummet - sometimes despite strong earnings/fundamentals.

With regard to the foreclosure situation allow me to say as a life-long Florida resident it is not uncommon for very successful people to be in some form of the foreclosure process right now - especially on new construction investment properties as it appears this is. I was aware of this when I met him 6 weeks ago and quite frankly doesnt mean a whole lot. Letting a second home/investment property go in this market is as common now as the 100% financing done on these properties was 2 years ago.

I will report back what I see going on hopefully by Thursday. I intend to find out anything I can about what is going on as I truly love the wheels after seeing them. If they are in fact in deep trouble aside from what is already known I will certainly be able to tell I would think - I am in the bankruptcy/debt restructuring business.

Stay tuned...
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Old Apr 5, 2009 | 09:39 PM
  #2  
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Originally Posted by beauphus
Stay tuned...


I understand your intentions here, but it appears that there isn't much to "stay tuned" about. I'm assuming most of the facts have already been publicly disclosed. Based on what has been released over a variety of forums, I couldn't imagine any company recovering from this. If this was going to be prevented, the business owner should have began damage control many months ago. It sounds like he was buying Ferrari's, moving into immaculate facilities, and starting new wheel brands instead. I wish him the best in his next venture, but more importantly, I hope that the customers who were affected from this mess are either reimbursed or receive the goods they initially paid for.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 02:48 AM
  #3  
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Well, from personal experience, 360 did not come through for me, and many others. I met every single expectation from them, but they did not meet mine. I paid in FULL, and got nothing in return. The guys at 360 forged are cool, but there is something wrong, and instead of being honest with costomers, they accept money for wheels knowing damn well that they can't make them. Makes no sense

For example:

I bought a silver carbon fiber interior kit from Neil a Euroteck. He told me that this product would take a couple of months to make. He was open and honest about it, and yes, it took forever. But he gave me the options that I needed. I made the choice to wait for the product, not fooled into doing so.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 05:57 AM
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Originally Posted by beauphus
I have been reading all the posts across all forums about the mounting trouble with 360. I was at their showroom about 5 or 6 weeks ago and all seemed well enough. I sat down with Jordan about a set for my CLS and to see his cls63 for myself. I was impressed with the shop and it didnt smell fishy to me. I am a damn good judge of character so if all that is being reported is true he sure fooled me.

I have an office in Miami not far from his shop so I will personally going back down there to see whats going on. I am a business owner and understand both sides. My issue is with the lynch mob mentality. It can easily sink a small company like 360 and cause irreparable damage. I am by no means saying Jordan isnt ultimately responsible - but I am saying that the public (especially via the internet) can go overboard attempting to snuff out bad guys. In my business if one person makes a negative comment it can cause a catastrophic shift in perception which ultimately can lead to very bad things. Report negatively on a stock and watch it plummet - sometimes despite strong earnings/fundamentals.

With regard to the foreclosure situation allow me to say as a life-long Florida resident it is not uncommon for very successful people to be in some form of the foreclosure process right now - especially on new construction investment properties as it appears this is. I was aware of this when I met him 6 weeks ago and quite frankly doesnt mean a whole lot. Letting a second home/investment property go in this market is as common now as the 100% financing done on these properties was 2 years ago.

I will report back what I see going on hopefully by Thursday. I intend to find out anything I can about what is going on as I truly love the wheels after seeing them. If they are in fact in deep trouble aside from what is already known I will certainly be able to tell I would think - I am in the bankruptcy/debt restructuring business.

Stay tuned...
We are all so very glad you are comfortable with 360 forged. Now go order your wheels and enjoy them.

Best,
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 12:00 PM
  #5  
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Here are some of my thoughts about this. I "encouraged" the lynch mob by posting PUBLIC RECORDS and added my comments to how businesses tend to get into these problems. The thing is, this "lynch mob" is able to see obvious financial problems on 360's part & then the actual victims of 360 have had to deal with attempting to get their money back or have the wrong/substandard/incorrect wheels replaced. If this "lynch mob" saves someone else from blindly dropping $5k on a set of wheels that they might not see in a reasonable time frame, I think it's a good thing. It's fair to let them see what's happening behind all the fancy photo shoots & videos that are selling the products.

Who sank 360 Forged? Ultimately, the business owner is responsible; this wasn't some malicious competitor out to make them look bad, as Jordan claims. I'm sure there are some competitors that are happy he's having problems, but they can't affect how quickly 360 can crank out a set of wheels, nor does a competitor have control over the quality (since they are supposedly all done in house now), .

As a business owner myself, I wonder why he didn't refund customers money and instead told them to dispute the charges? That's a real quick way to get your merchant account closed. The only answer that makes sense is that 360 Forged did not have the money to return to the customer. Where the money went is the subject of speculation, but if a large percentage of your orders are done via credit cards, it's probably a good idea to be able to accept them.

Of course you also have actual evidence of them changing the corporate name, as well as creating a DBA/fictitious name. Again, I'm only speculating at this point, but most likely that is happening to open a new merchant account with a different tax ID. Tell me why some customers paid a deposit to 360 Forged, then paid the balance to System Forged?

The other main reason is to "re-brand" the wheels & start over; it allows the product to reach a "new" customer who doesn't know anything about any problems with the last business. The customers who were burned in the past won't fall for it, but there are plenty of new ones out there who will like the product & purchase. What happens then is really up for grabs; who knows what type of business they will be in the future?
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 12:12 PM
  #6  
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Originally Posted by Andy0331
Here are some of my thoughts about this. I "encouraged" the lynch mob by posting PUBLIC RECORDS and added my comments to how businesses tend to get into these problems. The thing is, this "lynch mob" is able to see obvious financial problems on 360's part & then the actual victims of 360 have had to deal with attempting to get their money back or have the wrong/substandard/incorrect wheels replaced. If this "lynch mob" saves someone else from blindly dropping $5k on a set of wheels that they might not see in a reasonable time frame, I think it's a good thing. It's fair to let them see what's happening behind all the fancy photo shoots & videos that are selling the products.

Who sank 360 Forged? Ultimately, the business owner is responsible; this wasn't some malicious competitor out to make them look bad, as Jordan claims. I'm sure there are some competitors that are happy he's having problems, but they can't affect how quickly 360 can crank out a set of wheels, nor does a competitor have control over the quality (since they are supposedly all done in house now), .

As a business owner myself, I wonder why he didn't refund customers money and instead told them to dispute the charges? That's a real quick way to get your merchant account closed. The only answer that makes sense is that 360 Forged did not have the money to return to the customer. Where the money went is the subject of speculation, but if a large percentage of your orders are done via credit cards, it's probably a good idea to be able to accept them.

Of course you also have actual evidence of them changing the corporate name, as well as creating a DBA/fictitious name. Again, I'm only speculating at this point, but most likely that is happening to open a new merchant account with a different tax ID. Tell me why some customers paid a deposit to 360 Forged, then paid the balance to System Forged?

The other main reason is to "re-brand" the wheels & start over; it allows the product to reach a "new" customer who doesn't know anything about any problems with the last business. The customers who were burned in the past won't fall for it, but there are plenty of new ones out there who will like the product & purchase. What happens then is really up for grabs; who knows what type of business they will be in the future?
Andy...well said. In addition, it seems they have a penchant to only satisfy customers that can walk into their store...God forbid if you are out of state or out of the country.

It's a shame...
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 12:41 PM
  #7  
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as a business owner you have to take care of the customer first. Hell even times when the customer is in the fault you still have to take care of them first. Bad word of mouth moves alot faster than good.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 12:43 PM
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yeah i think letting a scammer continue to rip people off is a much better approach. people that got ripped off for 5-6k should just shut up, no one wants to know about a company that is committing fraud and lying to customers. heaven forbid someone says something about tiny, unimportant things like that. gosh, what were we thinking?? i mean it was us who are 100% responsible for ruining such a great and honest business.

shame on us!!








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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 12:56 PM
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Thank god for this Thread, i almost gave 360 forged my money.


Cheers,
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 01:40 PM
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Here we go again...

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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 02:37 PM
  #11  
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Ohh my god! I'm about to loose my mind. TRUE GREEN LAWN CARE just serviced my lawn for the third time, and billed me without my consent after I already told them three times not to do it. Then hung up on me after I called to complain.

What's happening here ? Is customer service a thing of the past ?


Well, I'm pleased to say that I got 80% of my money back from my 360 forged purchase, thanks to the credit card company. It was two charges, so a slight delay on the other one.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 03:03 PM
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Originally Posted by khelawanb
Ohh my god! I'm about to loose my mind. TRUE GREEN LAWN CARE just serviced my lawn for the third time, and billed me without my consent after I already told them three times not to do it.
We use Scotts $108 for 8 treatments and aeration and seeding in the fall
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 03:13 PM
  #13  
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Originally Posted by A Robinson
We use Scotts $108 for 8 treatments and aeration and seeding in the fall
LOL, thats great. Sorry to go off topic guys, and I will look into that Rob.

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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 04:48 PM
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Originally Posted by khelawanb
Ohh my god! I'm about to loose my mind. TRUE GREEN LAWN CARE just serviced my lawn for the third time, and billed me without my consent after I already told them three times not to do it. Then hung up on me after I called to complain.

What's happening here ? Is customer service a thing of the past ?


Well, I'm pleased to say that I got 80% of my money back from my 360 forged purchase, thanks to the credit card company. It was two charges, so a slight delay on the other one.
hey man glad you got most of it back!
at least it will help witht he pain
gl on your future projects
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 05:35 PM
  #15  
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New wheels ordered already.

If you call 360's phone num, notice that they no longer greet with 360. This is strange.



Originally Posted by Zod
hey man glad you got most of it back!
at least it will help witht he pain
gl on your future projects
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 05:38 PM
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Originally Posted by khelawanb
New wheels ordered already.

If you call 360's phone num, notice that they no longer greet with 360. This is strange.
No way dude they are fine because the original poster says so
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 06:27 PM
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I didnt say they were fine...I said I was going to drive down to their shop and speak to Jordan directly. I have a deposit in as well and want to talk man to man to the guy who everyone is saying is ripping me off. Im not endorsing nor making excuses for bad buisiness practices. I guess at the end of the day I have a hard time believing I got taken. I am so far removed from that element that I just cant accept that as an answer. Please dont mistake me for a kool-aid drinker.

Originally Posted by A Robinson
No way dude they are fine because the original poster says so
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 06:29 PM
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Originally Posted by beauphus
I have a deposit in
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 06:58 PM
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beauphus i am glad you have the luxury of being able to go to the shop, i am sure you have read the horror stories of fellow customers who dont have that luxury and either have their car on blocks or have been left waiting for months with no response from jordan.

i think you saying "you are so far removed from that element" is a little hard to believe when everyday a new customer comes forward with problems and 360 is being dropped as a sponsor from just about every site on the net. seems like you have your head in the ground and aren't accepting what seems to be reality. a good con man can always make it seem like all is well and i think that is what is going on here.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by beauphus
I didnt say they were fine...I said I was going to drive down to their shop and speak to Jordan directly. I have a deposit in as well and want to talk man to man to the guy who everyone is saying is ripping me off. Im not endorsing nor making excuses for bad buisiness practices. I guess at the end of the day I have a hard time believing I got taken. I am so far removed from that element that I just cant accept that as an answer. Please dont mistake me for a kool-aid drinker.
Realistically, you will probably be fine. Locals who have done face to face business seem to get taken care of, possibly at another buyers expense or delay, but people in Miami appear to get better treatment.

Best of luck with your purchase.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 07:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Andy0331
Realistically, you will probably be fine. Locals who have done face to face business seem to get taken care of, possibly at another buyers expense or delay, but people in Miami appear to get better treatment.

Best of luck with your purchase.
Well if this is the case then that definitely sucks. I just got a call from them saying my wheels will be ready next week. We shall see. I have lived in South Florida all my life and it hasnt been my experience that fraudsters are more cordial with locals - true con men in South Florida dont seem too picky about who they screw.
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Old Apr 6, 2009 | 07:29 PM
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Originally Posted by A Robinson
How is this funny? Why would you laugh at the fact that I could lose $$ like other board members?
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 02:35 PM
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Originally Posted by beauphus
How is this funny? Why would you laugh at the fact that I could lose $$ like other board members?
He may be laughing because you seem to be in the same position as the others who have lost money. Yet.... you remain optomistic, but you have an advantage by being locally positioned in the area of 360Forged and that is a huge factor. Good luck and keep us posted.
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Old Apr 7, 2009 | 02:42 PM
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BTW guys has MBWORLD.ORG FINALLY dropped this bozo and his rip-off company off this site? or is it politics as usual?
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Old Jun 5, 2009 | 06:56 PM
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