I was hoping not to have to bring up my difficulty with Windward again, but something has happenedrquiresI ask for the rennlist Communities help. I apologize to anyone who has tired of these posts.
To quickly summerize I sent a certfied check to Windward inOctober to purchasea strut bar and PSS9s.I did notpay credit card(huge mistake( since I was refinancing my mortgage and did not want to show more debt. I sent the fnds certified and overnight because I was told they had the parts and i wanted the funds to clear quickly. After numerous requests over two months without getting the PSS9s (i did recieve the strut bar) they stopped returning my calls altoether. That is when I first posted on Rennlist in mid December wondering if anyone had talked with them. I thought they might have gone out of business. Over 100 messages later I am in the same position. --No PSS9 and no refund.
I initially also made my post to warn others. Only then did I findout how many of you had similar experiences. I realize to make any progress I need to handle this in small claims court - a bit dificult for me being in south Florida. I post today because of what I consider the worst thing they have done so far.
back in Decmeber I wrote to the Vermont Consumer Assistance Department asking for their help. They sent out two letters that went unanswered. The third which is a bit stronger went out in late Feb. I recieved a copy of that letter plus a copy of Windward's reply.
I had just returned from a trip to Orlando( up and back same day about 200 miles each way) and read the letter from Windward to The Vermont Consumer Agency. While I refuse to quote some of the language in the letter I will sumerize it's content.

1)They claim I refused their offer of a refund "and allow lengthy backorder" _why in heavens name would I refuse a refund and wait for a lenghty backorder? Makes no sense. They are lying.
2)They claim my "demeanor has deteriorated to the level of threats,profanity and overall profesional approach". I have never cursed or even raised my voice to these people. I have rarely been able to talk to them. I have left over 100 messages. Let them produce One that supports this lie.
3)They have said i have made "homophobic insults" to a member of their staff. This one deserves no reply.
4) they say I called the "entire state of Vermont "abunch of maple-syrup sucking *******." This also deserves no response, but isobviously their way of trying to influence the Vermont Consumer agency what a "bad guy "I am.
5) they claim hey will never do business with me again - finally one we can agree on.
6)because I refused their refund offer they have "prepaid the system"(PSS9 and thus I can no longer get a refund.-unbelievable!
7)I have " a U.S.representitive of the PorscheClub of America who was forced to ask Mr. Wechsler to not contact him again after an entire series of phone calls." I have NEVER spoken to Mr Bobbit(PCA pres). I have emailed him twice describing the problem and explaining I don't expect he can help me but he can prevent others from have a similar experience by refusing furthur adds from Windward.
8)I am not sure what this means but as nasty as this letter has been I offer some comic relief. Speaking of me "Occasionally we do get people whose personality type would be bettersuited to the boardrooms of the 80's in companies sponsoring hostile takeovers and the chopping up of successfull organizations for fun and profit." - Hugh?

There is more but I guess you now have the idea. This letter was very upsetting and had me up most of the night. I thought about just throwing in the towel, but I am not going to let them abuse me. I am going to take them to court and I ask of any of you who have had problems with Windward(either purchase or just their overall attitude) please email what happened so I might support that my problem is not an isolated instance. My email address is mjumpshot@aol.com.
I have had to purchase new rear tires because of a long standing alignmentproblem (which is one of the reasons I wanted the PSS9s so quickly, so i could have the car aligned. I can no longer wait so i will be buying a set of PSS9s from a reputible company soon. Once agin thank you for reading what most seem like an intolerably long post.
Mike W P.S. Buy the way they also are going to sue me because of my ""slandering our name on a global level via internet forums."

 

Although I have never learned the hard way, I will always buy from "reputable" places or someplace I can physically go to for products.

I will never purchase anything from Windward.

Good luck with your situation.

 

Sorry about your problem Mike. I assume you still do not have your PSS9s or your strut bar. If not, I would put your documentation togther, in an orderly manner, go to a lawyer who should write a letter to the Vermont Attourney General with documentation and support with a certified copy to Windward.

Then hire a local lawyer to sue. If you prevail, you should attorneys fees.

Hope you get your products someday.

 

Mike,

You shouldn't let their BS tactics and mud slinging cause you to lose any sleep. Their "counter-claim" is just smoke, as you stated. Ultimately, if you can prove to the court (small claims or other) that you paid them and Windward cannot show where you actually received the product, you will receive a judgement against them. As long as they remain a going concern they will have to satisfy the judgement.

I was going to suggest to you in earlier post that you contact the local district attorney or VT State Police and pursue criminal charges against the company and it's owner. Your civil action is fine, but what they did was defraud you out of your money, the same way the traveling "roofers" with the pickup trucks go from town to town looking for a retiree to scam. Get their money and never provide the service. Same deal as you have.

Nothing will get you paid faster than a VT trooper paying them a visit to investigate a possible criminal charge.....

Good luck.

 

Drop them a line and tell them that "truth" is an absolute defense to slander. You could also tell them that if they sue you they need to get their cause of action right. Slander is oral defamation and libel is written or printed defamatory statements.

Just a little advise that I heed myself when dealing with someone I don't know. I confirm all telephone conversations with an email or better yet only deal with them thru email. When entering into agreement to spend cash with any unknown party have a written record. If it's not written down generally speaking it didn't happen; or in the alternative you're going to have difficulty establishing your case.

And or course you now know to use a credit card so if you have a problem you dispute the change and send credit card company copies of you emails.

Good luck. I suspect you'll come out fine; the company you dealt with is the big loser.

 

Mike I agree with Mike Cap, and although I am not a lawyer
I did see one played on TV, they are just throwing up crap getting
ready for the suit, they know is coming. Dont lose sleep over it.
they are just playing the legal game. With a lot of mud!
Keep your chin up buddy!!

 

Thanks for everyone's help. I am not worried about being sued. I just don't like the fact they are presenting me in such a negative fashion. All they needed to do was communicate and be straightfoward. The fact that they have made it so complicated and ugly really surprises me. All I want is the PSS9s or my money - sounds simple but obviously is not. Mike W

 

Sit back and let the lawyers, and God, handle it.

If that doesn't work then kick dat butt.

 

mike .....we are dealing with characters here with a certain diabolical know-how for gaming the system....they won't refund now because they pre-paid a supplier of theirs for your parts? what a joke...and then, to prejudice the case against you they told a government agency that you said "stuff" about Vermonters.....geez, it doesn't get any worse.....because it is so unbelievable, to any rational reader , my suggestion is that you send those letters on to Bobbitt and then distribute them to every PCA region president with a cover letter explaining what the potential risk is to anyone dealing with this outfit....

 

Besides those guys in Vermont are a bunch of
"maple sucking maggots" thats why that one town
voted to suceed and join New Hampshire, which passed by the
way.
( I was just kidding about being Maple sucking Maggots I thought
that was pretty funny!!)

 

What about Tom Martino? http://www.troubleshooter.com

 

this thread belongs on the rest of the forums

 

Mike you mean in every forum right??

 

hmmm...

It seems to me that you have MORE ammo to sue Windward for slander against you on that false written letter from them.

Do they have 'proof' of you ever saying you wouldn't take a refund? I highly doubt it. Do they have any recorded conversations of yours? I doubt it!

The burden of proof is on them.


I could be wrong on this but I think you can go to your local small claims court to file a case instead of having to go back to Vermont for this. I almost took a guy to court and was told since I was the receipient, that I could go to court in my home town. Maybe this varies from state to state?

 

Mike:

I am very sorry to see this happening to you. I had a similar experience with Windward over an RMA of some 944 turbo parts. After taking the parts back on a return, they denied the RMA, then kept my money and the parts. I had a lawyer send the usual calim letter and got no repsonse. Once I posted my story on the old "Porsche list(s)", I go a rash of similar tactics out of Windward. Since I was in California and this was all by mail, I let it go and ate the $1000-ish dollars.

Given that your situation is os similar, it is too bad that the statute of limitation has elapsed for my own "loss" or I would happliy join your fight.

The worst part of my Windward experience was the damping effect it had on my P-Car enthusiasm. Took me a couple of months to let it go.

I wish you the best of luck getting resolution !

Regards