Absolutely I realize it. But, that doesn't change what needs to be done. Once we have judgment, then there are ways to collect or at least make life difficult enough that make the legal system go full circle.

 

I'm pretty sure Vadim has assets. He's not unemployed and he does not live on the street.

He owns a house. He owns a S600. Unless he's filed bankruptcy, you're good to go with a judgment against him.

Small claims is the easiest, cheapest, and most effective way to go if he owes you $7500 or less.

I would suggest everyone who got robbed by Vadim to get together and file your small claim lawsuits together, but as separate actions. That way, you can get the hearings all on the SAME DAY, SAME TIME, with the SAME JUDGE. That would be a mind blower! You can't have a better case than to have a bunch of victims walk in with the same cases together!!

 

That is a great idea. The judge will hear case after case with the same story and then the same excuse on what happened and why the money was not paid or work done..

 

Sounds like a scumbag.
Next thing you know this Vadim guy will go to one of his victims houses and disrespect their whole family! while overnighting parts from Japan, while drift.

 

Good luck with your pursuit of Vadim. I can tell you that from personal experience you do have a case against him, especially if you have kept all of your receipts. I can also tell you that if you choose the small claims route, it's all up to the judge's decision and even if you have your facts in order, the judge's personal opinion is all that matters.

 

Count me in please... I am yet another one who have been burned by Mr. Vadim . THese are my posts :

https://mbworld.org/forums/w210-amg/...dezyn-vrp.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/performan...must-read.html

if there is anyone who needs me to tell him my real story or copy them on my numerous emails to Vadim and help in any way, I am ready...PM me or email m e directly at max@maxwerks.com or call me at 305-318-6902. I will pursue legal actions against Vadim if it is the last thing I do!

Max

 

Not only is he NOT UNEMPLOYED but in fact working or few $10K+ modding projects for members here in our forum.. there are at least two that I am aware of !!!!

 

At least FIVE months I have given him , of patience, courtesy, and support to his situation ... what did I get for that ? NOTHING.. ZERO....
He hasnt even TRIED to make ANYTHING right, not even partially!!!
There are people who deserve patience and understanding, who would in fact appreciate and respect it , realize their responsibility and at least start to make amends.. but there are also people who mistake patience and understanding as weakness, and simply take advantage of that... so far and five months later.. I have sen nothing from him except the latter !!

He is so good and will make amends , and " Get around to it " ... why doesnt he show the decency and be a man and post on the very same forum where several people are posting about him ??? Why is he hiding ?? or is there anyone who thinks that he doesnt know of these posts ???

Sorry, this is not directed at you .. but I have in fact been contacted by few members telling me to give him some time and he will come through with my refund... sorry to say .. he disappointed them as well as me !!!

 

While your sentiment is appreciated, please refrain from the name calling. We all know what we are dealing with and this thread is not intended to vent (anymore) but rather to stop the nonsense.

 

Guys, MBforever is a cool cat and simply trying to be the sound of reason. Mo, bro, this is a special case. This is personal and insulting. It isn't the same as when I had issues with Creative / RennTech. That was miscommunication and I was as much to blame as they were.

You and the ones that don't see this as a special case need to understand the efforts that have been made by those owed to get this resolved but it simply hasn't happened. To add to the pain, the behavior (in our opinion) has continued. By NOT taking action, I would be enabling the situation.

As Mo mentioned, some have tried their own routes. I only know of one and he won his judgment but has no recourse to collect. His only chanc at collecting is for Vadim to continue this cycle and possibly make enout to pay his legal debts. Unfortunately, we intend to stop that income and freeze what he has already taken.

Everyone's emails are appreciated, including the offers of help. We are all big boys and it is nice to see more and more of you treating this as you would a non-internet deal. If the local shop screwed you, you'd take action. There is nothing different here...

 

Please keep your posts to opinions. Facts are facts and need to now be gathered. Your in for sure!!

 

I understand your position and completely feel your frustration. I am by no means defending (or supporting) Vadim as I don't know all the details of many of these situations (although I heard a lot about them). I have dealt with Vadim in the past and my experience was positive. Over the past few years, I've heard some positive and some negative from a variety of people, but seems like recently things have been going downhill fast.... I sincerely hope you guys are able to resolve this and get your money back.

 

Jangy, have you tried maybe working out a deal to get some money in the form of parts? You can then sell the parts and recover some cash. I know of a couple of people that have gone that route and had some success.

Again, I am not trying to defend Vadim, I'm just trying to help some of the members that are out a lot of money to recover some back.... hopefully more suggestions will come through....

 

Your sentiment is appreciated and respected, and ordinarily this is the route that I prefer ... " Normally " ..and thats exactly what I have done since October of last year!! BUT there has to be something reciprocated .
I never jumped to conclusions back in October when I started wondering about where my parts were.. I simply posted on my group asking if anyone knows his email address since he stopped responding to me .. al of the sudden I get a barrage of people saying good luck seeing your money back !! I chose to be reserved and give him the benefit of the doubt and I said to myself that the last year was hard on everyone let me excercise some patience and compassion, and as long as Vadim is responding at least via email I will be patient...even though I got nothing but words from him.

When I get him ' MONTHS , later telling me " I have to reorder you parts " when $990 of my order was for an ECU reprogramming, something he never did and never cost him a dime" yet he completely ignores my repeated request for a refund at least for that portion.... that says one thing and one thing only.. and mind I .. I have been asking him at least to acknowledge that part of the refund , back in December 18, 2009 , and I will be patient... " Vadim just give me your word that I will get at least part back and I will be happy to wait" , all got was dancing around words and avoiding the subject. I still chose to wait and not post anything since December till now.. I thought if he is trying to get back on his feet , let me give him a chance... still NOTHING.

Anyone cares to verify my payment to him, numerous emails, paypal receipt, invoice from him, I will be more than happy to provide that .

 

This sounds like falls under criminal law due to the apparent fraud. Of course, you would have to follow civil law prcedures to get a recovery. Has anyone contacted the authorities ragarding these matters? There has got to be an up and coming DA that would love to persue this if it is as it seems.

 

Yeah Mo, we tried. I didn't even want some of the parts I accepted just because I knew it was that or nothing.

Here is the thing Mo. I am not looking to recoup my losses. I am looking to right a wrong and stop a pattern that should have been stopped long ago.

I NEVER expect to see another penny from this. BUT, I will block any person trying to pay him (enable him). He built his Benz rep on here on the backs of the same mebers that are owed. Is it fair that he uses that rep now to get large sums of money from clients willing to take that risk? My reply is no. What about the people that he walked on to get into that position?

My question to you, Mo is this. Has VADIM reached out to correct the pattern? Why are we the ones expected to "compromise"? At this stage, I have sent his information to my brother and they are doing all of the investigations needed to come up with the best game plan. The ball is not just rolling but unattended.....From a legal perspective, Vadim has a single chance to COMPLY with each demand letter that he is faced with. His response has been to simply ask for something (like a call or whatever) and not to comply. unfortunately, a reply to a final demand letter is not exactly an option. The lack of a legit response only indicates a desire NOT to address the concerns.

 

Please keep that talk quiet. It is a subject that I am not able to delve into right now. Lets not focus on the HOWS but on the object. We intend to stop a cycle of members getting burned. That's it. How that happens should be speculation and opinion only. I ask anyone involved / interested in the actions to NOT make any statements.

 

max bro, please. This is a forum, not a court room. there is no need for you to "prove" or divulge anything here. The point of the thread was for those of us that care to come together and it is working. Mo is just playing devil's advocate. Honestly, we can't blame the average member here for being somewhat shocked. We stayed loyal to Vadim for a while and the bad news really trickled out so this is a bit new to many. We know it has been going on over the past 2 years or so but not everyone knows that.

BTW, wait until you hear some SHO stories

 

Allright ... keep me posted as to what is needed from me.

 

Will do. Please email me the abridged version with timeline for now, please. You will be contacted shorty. Thanks!

 

That is what bothers me most.... there doesn't seem to be an effort from Vadim's side to correct this despite his initial reputation as a stand-up guy Most of the compromise is coming from the other side and not from Vadim's side

Jangy, I agree with you that this cycle needs to stop or be stopped. I salute your efforts in taking a stand and helping others. And again, I don't think what he has done is right on any level regardless of the excuses especially that some people have waited as long as 2 years (Rick) for a refund, but I was just trying to offer some suggestions in case it was worth while for some.

Another thing you guys may want to try is maybe work out a payment plan or some type of contract for payment over time if things don't work out

 

My post is missing......ha. But sorry to hear all the guys that have been wronged. A solution can be attained professionally. Good Luck again

 

What Vadim has done is a derivative of the Ponzi scheme. Although I can't say that his initial intentions were to defraud, but that business went sour and he decided to take what he can. Essentially, what he ultimately did was used the positive reputation and trust that he attained over the years from members. And sold himself on that, then decided to bail and jump ship with the funds and not deliver once he was paid. The way to execute this is different from the Ponzi scheme, but the concept was the same. Do you guys remember CyberRebate? It was ran by a 25-year CEO (also a lawyer) who milked his victim for millions! Did you guys ever wonder why Vadim had his "Summer blow out in 2009?" He posted awesome prices but inquiries regarding his ad generated ADDITIONAL discounts to those who were "lured" by the ad. I wonder if anyone ever received their products from that "blow out sale."

This mess with Vadim is very simple. All of the people who are owed money need to get together and file their legal actions in small claims in Orange County, CA. The same group should file a joint complaint with the OC District Attorneys office as well. Civily, it's a slam dunk case. I'm sure those who have paid Vadim have receipts or transaction records of the same. The claim can only be defensible by Vadim if he can prove that he sent you the goods -- we know he cannot prove this.

For those who are "out of state," just know that you don't have to physically be in CA to file the claim, you just need to appear for the small claims hearing. I'm sure someone on this board who is local to the Orange County area would volunteer to take on the coordinating activities to get all your lawsuits filed. If no local body comes forward, I'd be ***** to assist. I can hire a legal service to do all the filing for everyone at one time.

Everything that's needed up front is the filing fee from the court, filing fee for the legal service, and fee to serve Vadim with the lawsuit. That should be less than $150 altogether. Next step? Appear at trial and blow Vadim out of the water!

 

yes, I feel bad for everyone that got their money taken. I hope you all can get this resolved with as little hair pulling as possible.

 

This doesn't sound like a situation where you're going to get class certification; there are too many different situations which vary with each person. You guys will have to file individually.

In Florida, if I were wronged in the manner that many of you were, I'd file a suit (not in small claims) for civil theft, conversion, fraud, and there are other causes of action. If you prevail on civil theft, you're entitled to treble damages and attorneys' fees. While I'm talking about Florida, I'm sure that California has something similar.

My .02.