Bad Dealings with Michael Correa - Please Read
#1
02-23-2009, 06:16 AM
Bad Dealings with Michael Correa - Please Read
Recently, I entered into a business transaction with Michael Correa for the purchase of one customized 2004 BMW M3. Originally I had contacted him by email to discuss price and purchase of this car, to which he referred me to his eBay auction. Understand this was an auction with NO RESERVE and the starting bid being $34,000 and the buy it now price being $40,000. When I made my offer to him, he told me he wanted at least $36,000 for the car. I questioned him saying that if $36,000 was the lowest he would go then why have the starting price at $34,000. Anyways, he urged me to buy it through the auction, though it was agreed that if I bought it for $36,000 shipping would be included. The eBay auction ended with me winning after 4 bids (3 of which were mine) for an amazing price of $36,100. Hmmm seemed a little fishy that only one person bid other then me, and they bid the price up to the EXACT amount he said he wanted for the car. So, basically I called it a Fixed Auction, and started to wonder how this guy practiced business. I never said anything about it to eBay because it didn’t seem that important at the time since I already agreed before the auction to purchase the car at $36,000 which included shipping. Immediately he demands payment, yet not a single action has been done on the car other then me winning the bid on eBay.
The car was described as have NOTHING wrong with it except the front wheels weren’t true (completely round). I took his word for it, because 1) he seemed like a stand up guy and 2) reading things about him made it seem like he was a stand up guy. Later I find out he is just a slick used car salesman saying anything to make the sale and get the money. So we work on arrangements on delivery. Originally, the car was to be delivered to me, which was changed after he put a nice little clause in the Bill Of Sale stating “to nearest delivery port”. When I asked him about this I was assured that it was within 20 minutes and he wasn’t sure of the name of the city but it started with a ‘G‘. Ok, so because of this I stated that it must mean Gulfport, MS because that is 20 minutes away and starts with a ‘G‘. About a week goes by and he states the shipping arrangements are done and the car will be delivered to Gretna, LA which is 2 hours away (not 20 minutes). I was like wait, you told me it was 20 minutes not 2 hours, and he said they must have changed the port of delivery. Funny, I called them and they told me they don’t change the port of delivery, the ports are basically static. Plus I find it funny how he told me it started with a ‘G’ and Gretna, starts with a ‘G’ and it just so happened to change to ANOTHER city with a G name? What are the coincidences?
Ok, so I basically say to him Gretna is 2 hours away, please change it to Pensacola, FL which is only 1.5 hours away. He did and now we are set for shipping. Again, I am getting this bad feeling about this guy, but he is slick enough to talk me into believing him and making me think he is really a good seller, which I found out is a lie.
Now he demands payment again. I say to him that normally I see the car before I buy it and because of the time and the distance that isn’t possible, so in good faith I agree with him to DOUBLE my down payment, and then the remainder of the funds will be placed in an Escrow.com account. All of this was done right away, and he agreed to the Escrow.com terms of the sale and release of funds. A problem now arouse where Mr. Correa started to become worried because he had 1500 dollars of my money and 34,100 in an Escrow.com account, why I have no idea, since he verified it all and agreed. Though all this was done, this so called “professional” as he stated started posting bad comments on the internet, though not saying my name immediately but later he did, though he could easily see the money and though NOTHING on my part varied, even he kept changing things as things progressed.
I thought I was the buyer. Since when do they say the seller is always right. I mean who goes and buys from a store that tell people their buyers are problems and such. I mean don’t you think if someone wants to sell something they would do what it took? What’s even worse is all this is going on WHILE the money is in the escrow account. Many false promises were made that he didn’t hold too, and he even went as far as to tell me I would be getting bonuses with the car that he was sending with the car. None of which were done. He also agreed to have the front of the car Plastic wrapped so it wouldn’t be damaged in shipping. That wasn’t done either. So he promises many things but then doesn’t do them.
Ok, now that was 1 month ago. Have I received the car yet? No. Has it finally been shipped yes, but only after a month. In shipping the shipper stated a crack was found (along with other issues in the body of the car) and remember this was stated to be a perfect car except for the front wheels. I call Michael Correa on this and he said he would do what he could to make it up, either by paying for the damage to be fixed or something else. Finally he states he will pay to have the car shipped to my house, instead of the Pensacola port first, (which was the original agreement anyways) as opposed to paying to fix it. I agree to it and think all is fine. A day or so passes and now he comes back to say he would do it ONLY if the money was released from escrow before the car arrived. Again constantly demanding the money. With reservations, I agree with this thinking that this guy is still a stand up guy, or so it appeared. Also understand that still during this time he is saying some not so nice things about me on the internet and threatening me over email, text, and phone calls. He kept saying how he was bending over backwards for me to sell this car, and I actually responded that isn’t that what a seller does to sell something, to please the customer within reason? Yet all this time it was me being forced to please him. So, reluctantly I release fund even though it especially states in the Escrow.com contract that the funds would be released after I received the car and had 2 days to inspect it and accept it. So, again because he was slick in what he was doing. I released the funds and text him when will he reroute the car. This is when suddenly the Mr. Correa, who was always calling me and always texting me, miraculously had phone trouble and was not able to be contact via phone or mail. Then when he did get in touch with me he told me that the shipper had to call him back with the details. And of course, that call never came and Mr. Correa never followed up on it or continued on. Why should he? He had the money, and he didn’t care anymore. So I took it upon myself to call the shipper. Amazingly enough, I was able to speak to someone right away that told me immediately without having to be called back that they could not reroute the car like Michael stated. So I told him what I found out and stated not to reroute it, and just send me the check he talked about sending me originally. This is when suddenly he didn’t respond back at all. He had my money and he obviously didn’t care about anything he needed to do or about the sale or the customer. All this after he conned and connived his way to making me believe he want to do everything he could to benefit this sale and make it a good experience, even extending friendship and support after the sale, which now I find was a complete falsification.
To this date he is in breach of contract, since I have not received any faxes, email or postal mail about the Bill Of Sale, and other further documents he agreed to provide. I have tried contacting him one last time before the authorities and my attorney are contacted.
In the end, I should have been aware of the intentions of a sneaky underhanded person like Micheal Correa. I know buyer beware and I basically let this happen to me yet I think it is right if I let others know just in case they get mixed up with Mr Correa in any dealings.
The car was described as have NOTHING wrong with it except the front wheels weren’t true (completely round). I took his word for it, because 1) he seemed like a stand up guy and 2) reading things about him made it seem like he was a stand up guy. Later I find out he is just a slick used car salesman saying anything to make the sale and get the money. So we work on arrangements on delivery. Originally, the car was to be delivered to me, which was changed after he put a nice little clause in the Bill Of Sale stating “to nearest delivery port”. When I asked him about this I was assured that it was within 20 minutes and he wasn’t sure of the name of the city but it started with a ‘G‘. Ok, so because of this I stated that it must mean Gulfport, MS because that is 20 minutes away and starts with a ‘G‘. About a week goes by and he states the shipping arrangements are done and the car will be delivered to Gretna, LA which is 2 hours away (not 20 minutes). I was like wait, you told me it was 20 minutes not 2 hours, and he said they must have changed the port of delivery. Funny, I called them and they told me they don’t change the port of delivery, the ports are basically static. Plus I find it funny how he told me it started with a ‘G’ and Gretna, starts with a ‘G’ and it just so happened to change to ANOTHER city with a G name? What are the coincidences?
Ok, so I basically say to him Gretna is 2 hours away, please change it to Pensacola, FL which is only 1.5 hours away. He did and now we are set for shipping. Again, I am getting this bad feeling about this guy, but he is slick enough to talk me into believing him and making me think he is really a good seller, which I found out is a lie.
Now he demands payment again. I say to him that normally I see the car before I buy it and because of the time and the distance that isn’t possible, so in good faith I agree with him to DOUBLE my down payment, and then the remainder of the funds will be placed in an Escrow.com account. All of this was done right away, and he agreed to the Escrow.com terms of the sale and release of funds. A problem now arouse where Mr. Correa started to become worried because he had 1500 dollars of my money and 34,100 in an Escrow.com account, why I have no idea, since he verified it all and agreed. Though all this was done, this so called “professional” as he stated started posting bad comments on the internet, though not saying my name immediately but later he did, though he could easily see the money and though NOTHING on my part varied, even he kept changing things as things progressed.
I thought I was the buyer. Since when do they say the seller is always right. I mean who goes and buys from a store that tell people their buyers are problems and such. I mean don’t you think if someone wants to sell something they would do what it took? What’s even worse is all this is going on WHILE the money is in the escrow account. Many false promises were made that he didn’t hold too, and he even went as far as to tell me I would be getting bonuses with the car that he was sending with the car. None of which were done. He also agreed to have the front of the car Plastic wrapped so it wouldn’t be damaged in shipping. That wasn’t done either. So he promises many things but then doesn’t do them.
Ok, now that was 1 month ago. Have I received the car yet? No. Has it finally been shipped yes, but only after a month. In shipping the shipper stated a crack was found (along with other issues in the body of the car) and remember this was stated to be a perfect car except for the front wheels. I call Michael Correa on this and he said he would do what he could to make it up, either by paying for the damage to be fixed or something else. Finally he states he will pay to have the car shipped to my house, instead of the Pensacola port first, (which was the original agreement anyways) as opposed to paying to fix it. I agree to it and think all is fine. A day or so passes and now he comes back to say he would do it ONLY if the money was released from escrow before the car arrived. Again constantly demanding the money. With reservations, I agree with this thinking that this guy is still a stand up guy, or so it appeared. Also understand that still during this time he is saying some not so nice things about me on the internet and threatening me over email, text, and phone calls. He kept saying how he was bending over backwards for me to sell this car, and I actually responded that isn’t that what a seller does to sell something, to please the customer within reason? Yet all this time it was me being forced to please him. So, reluctantly I release fund even though it especially states in the Escrow.com contract that the funds would be released after I received the car and had 2 days to inspect it and accept it. So, again because he was slick in what he was doing. I released the funds and text him when will he reroute the car. This is when suddenly the Mr. Correa, who was always calling me and always texting me, miraculously had phone trouble and was not able to be contact via phone or mail. Then when he did get in touch with me he told me that the shipper had to call him back with the details. And of course, that call never came and Mr. Correa never followed up on it or continued on. Why should he? He had the money, and he didn’t care anymore. So I took it upon myself to call the shipper. Amazingly enough, I was able to speak to someone right away that told me immediately without having to be called back that they could not reroute the car like Michael stated. So I told him what I found out and stated not to reroute it, and just send me the check he talked about sending me originally. This is when suddenly he didn’t respond back at all. He had my money and he obviously didn’t care about anything he needed to do or about the sale or the customer. All this after he conned and connived his way to making me believe he want to do everything he could to benefit this sale and make it a good experience, even extending friendship and support after the sale, which now I find was a complete falsification.
To this date he is in breach of contract, since I have not received any faxes, email or postal mail about the Bill Of Sale, and other further documents he agreed to provide. I have tried contacting him one last time before the authorities and my attorney are contacted.
In the end, I should have been aware of the intentions of a sneaky underhanded person like Micheal Correa. I know buyer beware and I basically let this happen to me yet I think it is right if I let others know just in case they get mixed up with Mr Correa in any dealings.
#2
02-23-2009, 07:14 AM
My retort...
OK folks...I had hoped that Mr. Bihn would not do this but he has chosen to do so.
The Ebay ad is explicit: The car is sold AS-IS and that payment is to be received within 2 business days and that shipping is the responsibilty of the buyer.
Winning bid:US $36,100.00 Get low monthly payments
Ended:Jan-20-09 08:02:04 PST
Shipping:Buyer responsible for vehicle pick-up or shipping. Vehicle shipping quote is available.
Sells to:WorldwideItem location:Annapolis, MD, United StatesHistory:4 bidsWinning bidder:jsbihn1
bid ended: 1/20/09
received funds via escrow.com: 2/20/09
I can offer a snaphot of this information if it is required.
I originally offered shipping to the closest DAS drop off as described which is where Jeff pointed out in his above post. (I told him that if he was the winner of the bid I would do this for him - I wanted to see this car!) This was not good enough for him so he asked to have it changed to Pensacola. I did what was asked. A crack was discovered during inspection and since I felt bad offered to do something for him ON TOP of what was originally agreed...something above board, this was NOT part of the deal though Jeff feels like he needs to make it that. I offered home delivery. He at that time accepted. I did indeed keep on top of Jeff to pay because I was shipping my car down to him on a $1500.00 deposit and payment was to be received in which case (he refers to the mysterious lack of communication) his procrastination and his lack of communication spurred me to get payment from Jeff. The following excuses were given:
My PC died
I am not getting your texts, weird
VM's not answered at all
I have just learned (even though I pulled it up on GOOGLE - 10 cafe's within a 15 mile radious) that there are NO internet cafe's or public internet connectivity in MS or in the local zip code area where Jeff lives....amazing.
You are damned right I was on top of him for payment! I did saran wrap the car but it is DAS's policy to remove any extra items.
At this time I get a call about the shipping again and now Jeff wants to move the shipping (YES, again) to a BMW dealership in MS. Again, I comply but at this point I tell him this will not happen unless you pay for the car. It isn't like he isn't going to get it, he knows it is out of state and again the BOS states that once the car is shipped that he will release funds! He SIGNED this document and again, if there are any questions I am eager to post this up for all to see. Jeff finally releases funds and as he says (I worked an 18 hour day) he didn't hear back from me (I admit it) and finally was proactive and called DAS. The information was correct as he has posted BUT he had agreed to have the car shipped to the BMW place...I told him it was either that or get a check for the amount that would have been my cost, he chose the shipping. He called me, and again, I will post up that phone call for all to hear....that this was not good enough since the car had to go to FL and then to MS. I WARNED Jeff about that happening and that it was out of my hands since the car was already out of my hands...he accepted this but still complained about the car shipping and at that point wanted to decline the shipping and now wanted money back in return. I stated to Jeff that the agreement was the above and that since he had declined it that I was going to honor the first agreement and to go pick his car up in FL and to enjoy it...
If anyone has questions about his integrity please feel free to do a simple google search on Jeff/Jeffrey Bihn and within seconds you will understand my actions.
He got a car with over 50K in mods that is extremely clean and shipping paid for by me for $36,100.00 - Who the f*ck complains about that?
If anyone has questions please PM me as I don't feel it is neccessary to post up anymore on this. Jeff, I feel sorry for you since you felt it neccessary to post this up. I asked you to just enjoy the car and move on.
Michael
The Ebay ad is explicit: The car is sold AS-IS and that payment is to be received within 2 business days and that shipping is the responsibilty of the buyer.
Winning bid:US $36,100.00 Get low monthly payments
Ended:Jan-20-09 08:02:04 PST
Shipping:Buyer responsible for vehicle pick-up or shipping. Vehicle shipping quote is available.
Sells to:WorldwideItem location:Annapolis, MD, United StatesHistory:4 bidsWinning bidder:jsbihn1
bid ended: 1/20/09
received funds via escrow.com: 2/20/09
I can offer a snaphot of this information if it is required.
I originally offered shipping to the closest DAS drop off as described which is where Jeff pointed out in his above post. (I told him that if he was the winner of the bid I would do this for him - I wanted to see this car!) This was not good enough for him so he asked to have it changed to Pensacola. I did what was asked. A crack was discovered during inspection and since I felt bad offered to do something for him ON TOP of what was originally agreed...something above board, this was NOT part of the deal though Jeff feels like he needs to make it that. I offered home delivery. He at that time accepted. I did indeed keep on top of Jeff to pay because I was shipping my car down to him on a $1500.00 deposit and payment was to be received in which case (he refers to the mysterious lack of communication) his procrastination and his lack of communication spurred me to get payment from Jeff. The following excuses were given:
My PC died
I am not getting your texts, weird
VM's not answered at all
I have just learned (even though I pulled it up on GOOGLE - 10 cafe's within a 15 mile radious) that there are NO internet cafe's or public internet connectivity in MS or in the local zip code area where Jeff lives....amazing.
You are damned right I was on top of him for payment! I did saran wrap the car but it is DAS's policy to remove any extra items.
At this time I get a call about the shipping again and now Jeff wants to move the shipping (YES, again) to a BMW dealership in MS. Again, I comply but at this point I tell him this will not happen unless you pay for the car. It isn't like he isn't going to get it, he knows it is out of state and again the BOS states that once the car is shipped that he will release funds! He SIGNED this document and again, if there are any questions I am eager to post this up for all to see. Jeff finally releases funds and as he says (I worked an 18 hour day) he didn't hear back from me (I admit it) and finally was proactive and called DAS. The information was correct as he has posted BUT he had agreed to have the car shipped to the BMW place...I told him it was either that or get a check for the amount that would have been my cost, he chose the shipping. He called me, and again, I will post up that phone call for all to hear....that this was not good enough since the car had to go to FL and then to MS. I WARNED Jeff about that happening and that it was out of my hands since the car was already out of my hands...he accepted this but still complained about the car shipping and at that point wanted to decline the shipping and now wanted money back in return. I stated to Jeff that the agreement was the above and that since he had declined it that I was going to honor the first agreement and to go pick his car up in FL and to enjoy it...
If anyone has questions about his integrity please feel free to do a simple google search on Jeff/Jeffrey Bihn and within seconds you will understand my actions.
He got a car with over 50K in mods that is extremely clean and shipping paid for by me for $36,100.00 - Who the f*ck complains about that?
If anyone has questions please PM me as I don't feel it is neccessary to post up anymore on this. Jeff, I feel sorry for you since you felt it neccessary to post this up. I asked you to just enjoy the car and move on.
Michael
#3
02-23-2009, 07:21 AM
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Delawhere?
Age: 44
Posts: 3,725
Rep Power: 228 
Both parties have had their say; the thread is now closed. If you wish to discuss it further, take it to PMs. Or hell, a telephone. I know it's old school, but some people say it's still useful.
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