Idiot arrested at the shop today...

[v8klla]

This whole thing started yesterday when a guy called me looking for a supercharger for his '93 Firebird. I find a distributor that carries it and tell him I can have it for him next day. I also asked him at this point for some money down, and he replied that his wallet was just stolen and he had lost his credit card. Anyways, I want to make the sale so I place the order hoping he would come in today and pick it up. Oh, he came in alright...

I get a call this morning from some guy claiming to be from Bank of America. He says he's calling for this guy, in order to verify funds and place them on hold for this purchase from me. Sounded shady the whole time, not like a bank rep at all. So I ask for an 800 number, which he gives me. Obviously I called back and its some recording for a military base or something. At this point the flags are going up everywhere, he has no credit card and some sketchy guy calls me to verify funds (isn't that normally the other way around). So I do some checking and find out that the cell phone number he is using doesn't match his name. I also couldn't find any info on his name or address online. Then he calls me and tells me he is trying to get off of work at the Hennepin County Police Department! He had some sirens on in the background, and said he was reporting to a domestic violence call! Apparently his sargent let him off early shortly after that and he informed me he was on his way. It was at this point I got the police involved...

The first thing the cops tell me is not to tip him off, they want to catch him red handed. I agree to call them when he arrives to pick up the parts. When he shows up I ask him how he wants to pay. He tells me check, and asked if I had spoke to anyone. At this point I'm still playing around with him until I get the actual check to give to the police. So I show him the parts, talk some more and he finally gives me the check. It wet, torn, and has my name written on masking tape in the "to" field! I put it in the cash box and ask him to call Bank of America so I can verify over the phone again as I "lost" the authorization code. He makes some call and pretends to be on the phone with the bank, in the meantime I call the police and tell them "their product has arrived and they can pick it up anytime." Within a few minutes the guy is hancuffed and in the back of a squad car...

Turns out it was his check, but he had no money in his account! I decide to press charged for non-sufficient funds as it seems he has done this in the past. I feel bad for the guy, but he tried to steal over $3000 from me! This world is just ridiculous sometimes...

So the moral of the story is, we are no longer accepting personal checks!

[Pimpin Dsmstyle]

Smart choice. Anyone who has a check has a check card Good thing he didn't get away with it!

[YiNYaNg]

OWNAGE!

Gotta do cash straight up like me or either verifiable funds.
Good catch!

[niterydr]

I just don't accept checks with masking tape on them .


Good catch!!

[Jakey]

Originally Posted by v8klla

So the moral of the story is, we are no longer accepting personal checks!

Good choice. Be careful with credit cards as well as you can get fucked over by them quite easily.

[dsm95gsxer]

Wow! At least you had the satisfaction of catching him in the act and not getting screwed.

[Super Bleeder!!]

when i get back outta the slammer im coming back fur ma damn s/c!

[Halon]

I know at LSE I usually pay with a personal check, because I don't carry cash, and I think they have to pay a fee for using cards. So I usually give them a check. But they know that my shit's not going to bounce!

[craig]

i wouldnt take checks either way to easy to get scammed on them good decision

[Pimpin Dsmstyle]

Originally Posted by craig

i wouldnt take checks either way to easy to get scammed on them good decision

Wow you made one sentence out of three without even using any capitalization or punctuation! CHAMP STATUS FOR YOU!

I think taking checks from people you've known well for years should be alright. Brandon is pretty well known by everyone from my understanding so that's pretty reasonable. Randoms? No thanks. It's nice that most of the shops have some sort of relationship with their customers around here. It's a pretty well knit community in my opinion.

[Hoffer00]

There is only two ways to roll plastic or cash.

[Swifty1638]

...Or grills.

-A. Swift

[turbotalon1g]

So you want this $3k S/C, but u don't have $$$ for it right now?
-well i can get it next day, so why don't u just call me when u get ur shit sorted. cool cool. later.
Look this check has tape on it, it'll be fine.

I think that maybe you are working too hard.

Also if a brown guy comes in the shop ordering new turbo, NOS, etc.
and he uses a credit card, if his ID has a white guy on it, i say let him slide.

Also what time are you open till tomorrow? j/k

Way to stick it to that fuck.

[Shotgun!]

Great story man, I'm glad that it worked out for ya. Will you have to pay a restocking fee on the s/c?

[sleepydsm]

Hahah owned. Good job.

[A//// Guy]

Did he have a mullet? Haha

Wow that is a messed up story, Im cant beleive that he thought masking tape on a check would work? wtf

[Goat Blower]

I've had a few winners try to buy a car with a starter check where they wrote in their name at the top. I don't think so, come back with cash, which of course never happened. I take checks in some rare instances and it's usually from someone older with a check number well above 5000. I usually also have them show me their account balance online, since every bank does that now. Cashier's check or credit card is usually the way to go on purchases over $500, but cc fees are spendy and you still have to watch out for bad cashier's checks.

[Hoffer00]

If you are selling how hard is it to go to the bank together. He writes the check out to himself. He gets you cash from the teller you give title. You deposit money in the Atm.

[Thor06]

Damn, good call on getting the police involved.

[Halon]

Originally Posted by Goat Blower

I've had a few winners try to buy a car with a starter check where they wrote in their name at the top. I don't think so, come back with cash, which of course never happened. I take checks in some rare instances and it's usually from someone older with a check number well above 5000. I usually also have them show me their account balance online, since every bank does that now. Cashier's check or credit card is usually the way to go on purchases over $500, but cc fees are spendy and you still have to watch out for bad cashier's checks.

But in some rare cases, you have real ballers stop in and buy a car with a money roll worth a few g's!! That's how I roll!!