Ghostdancer scam or just taken for a mug

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akinadan79

akinadan79

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Before I start this thread I would just like to point out that I'm not some pikey knob head who's just out to cause trouble, I'm a relatively chilled out, hard working family man that has lost a considerable amunt of money trusting the wrong people. please read on.....



Ever imported a car from japan?
(I'll be interested in your opinion on this one:)


​


Question 1:

What would you do if you paid a UK based company £14,200 up front for a car in January 2008 and in April 2010 you had neither the car that you paid for or your money refunded?

Question 2:

What would you do if you had been forced to spend £5000+ on legal fees in an attempt to resolve the situation only to fall foul to the fraudulent gutless c**ts trick?

Question 3:

What would you do if the company refused to repay the money to you and instead opted to fold the business owing more than £100,000+

Question 4:

But wait....I said that the company have gone bankrupt.... so why would they move to new premises and operate under a different (but very similar) name? How the fuck can they afford to have two pro spec drift cars built and imported from overseas and have two world class professional drivers (Luke Fink & James Deane) driving the company cars, advertising the company name (a company that doesn't exist anymore!) and more to the point, how the fuck can they afford 70k money transfers to the US?

Just so happens that I have the answers

Allow me to explain:


This bit you all know........

Once upon a time there was a guy who lived in Japan, called Rick (aka Ghostdancer) and he liked to sell cars. Now Rick had connections with all sorts of people in Japan, UK and the US, including DRIVING SPORTS; who we know are a Japanese company that build cars, lots of cars in fact for lots of people.
Rick (Ghostdancer) had a tendency to use the DRIVING SPORTS company name, as well as his own, to advertise and sell cars.
Not slating DRIVING SPORT but you'll see where I'm going with this especially if you've been stung before.
I'll show you an example shortly (NOTE: Full advert available)

SCAN0001.jpg
http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/SCAN0001.jpg


This bit you might not know.......

There was another guy, who lived in the UK, called Julian Barnes (likes to think of himself as a bit of an Eddie fucking Jordan of the drift world). Now Julian Barnes had a car importing company called SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS.
A genuine guy? Wouldn't fuck you over when his business was suffering financially....fucking really!

Certainly not the type of guy who would fuck over a sqauddie who got injured in Iraq in '06 and opted to import a car with his PAX compensation money???



*** Unfortunately for this guy he fucked with the wrong callsign. I played the long game and built up 2 1/2 years of solid proof and evidence including e-mails, letters, photographs, pictures, legal documentation, video and it's all here ready to go.......in a nut shell buddy......YOU BE FUCKED.....FUBAR!!!! ***


NOT WANTING TO RESORT TO CHILDISH PLAYGROUND THREATS BUT JUST TO MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR, YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO SCRAPE TOGETHER SOME SCROATS TO COME AROUND AND HAVE A POP BUT I GUARANTEE MY BOYS ARE BIGGER THAN YOURS....YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!


From the beginning:
​
NOTE TO ANY ARSE KISSING 'YEAH WILL' TYPES ON HERE WHO WANT TO JUMP TO HIS DEFENCE:

I HAVE ORIGINAL E-MAILS, SOFT COPIES, HARD COPIES AND SCANNED COPIES OF EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF CORRESPONDENCE THAT I'M VERY WILLING TO LET ANYBODY SCRUTINISE IF THEY THINK THAT ANYTHING THAT I STATE IS NOT FACT.​

​
25th December '06: Injured in Iraq and CASEVAC'd to Germany/UK for emergency operation. Permanant disability as a result.

November/December '07: PAX compensation awarded for the injuries sustaind so decides to buy a car.

30th December '07: Eventually find an advert on Pistonheads by Rick (Ghostdancer) advertising a "MONSTER 600BHP WIDEBODY RX-7 (1995)" via DRIVING SPORTS in Japan. E-mails sent but no reply.

1st Jauary '08: The same car is seen advertised on ebay for sale by UK based company SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS at the same time. "MAZDA RX7 WIDE BODY 600BHP WITH NEW ENGINE REBUILD" stating that the car was a 1995 model registered on 1st February 1995. The same car being advertised by two seperate companies at the same time, hhmmn? Best dig a bit deeper. Emails sent to SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS and reply received. E-mail also sent to Stephen Hemsley SKAY Ltd (who the car was built for

http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/SCAN0001.jpg

http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/SCAN0010.jpg

http://i1034.photobucket.com/albums/a430/azineakinadan79/SCAN0011.jpg



NOTE: I'll come back to this point later!)

Quote from Julian Barnes e-mail: "Hi, the guy who is advertising this car on pistonheads has no right advertising the car and is a con man, this vehicle is owned by my agent in Japan and is legit, look at my feed back.

The shipping will be extra but it should be around £1000 landed in this country, including taxes and ready to go on top of 'Buy it Now' price.

I have a container leaving next week and can be shipped then, please do not worry about sending money, I know it is a large amount and there are a lot of con men out there but we are not one of them and provide a great service.

The car has done less than 1000 miles since rebuild and is in perfect shape guaranteed as I know this car personally.

Even though the engines are 1300 it equate to a 2.6 because of the way it is designed, hope this helps you make up your mind many thanks Julian. PS. also we are based in the Uk with Uk bank account and are a VAT registerd company"

I win the ebay auction using the Buy it Now option for £12,500.

Within the hour I recieve.

"Hi, you can do a direct bank transfer to this account.

NATWEST bank Lydney
acc:*************
SC:*****

you can transfer £12500 to this account and pay £1000 when it arrives etc"


That night I received an e-mail stating that the car will be delivered to Southampton via container 'I bring all the top end stuff that way'

(I'm again told that all taxes, shipping transport and MOT etc will be complete. I'm told the container will take 35 days and basically that in 6 weeks I should see the car).
I'm also told that the car has been built to 'a top standard with no stone left unturned' and basically that the sooner he got the money, the sooner I would get the car.
​
 

2nd January '08: I recieved an e-mail from Stephen Hemsley.

QUOTE: " Nice to hear from you and can understand your concern. The authorised UK seller is definately Mr Julian Barnes of SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS.
It only came to my attention the end of December that the car was even advertised on pistonheads (without my permission). Have been in touch with PH to have car removed but probably due to New Year holiday, it is still listed. I hope this helps you and if I can be of any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact either myself or Julian at Severnside
Best regards Stephen Hemsley, Managing Director, SKAY Ltd"

I then contacted Julian Barnes at SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS and arranged a time for me to go down there in person and hand over a bankers draft for £12,500 to pay for the car.

4th January '08: I recieve an e-mail from Julian Barnes offering a set of carbon fibre door card for £450 (later £465), I accept (though the price later goes up to £500) but I still accept and take the cash down in person to SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS.


5th January '08: I ask Julian to ask Stephen if he can get a set of leather seats fitted as well.

1st February '08: Julian offers me a set of leather BRIDE seats to be fitted in Japan for £500 each, I accept.

12th February '08: Julian e-mails to say that the seats are in and the car is ready to be shipped, though the price of the seats is now £1200. He also acknowledges reciept of the £500 cash for the door cards.

22nd February '08: I recieve an e-mail to say that the seats have eventually arrived.

23rd February '08: I'm told that the car will be shipped on the 8th March '08.

24th April '08: Recieved an e-mail from Julian stating that the car has been shipped, the delay was due to a wait for other parts. My car woud be in the container with 'his' PS13. I'm told the shiping costs will be more expensive, however I'm working in the US at this point so arrange for payment of £1200 to be paid direct into the SEVRNSIDE IMPORTS account.

12th May '08: I tried to track down the whereabouts of the car but I am told by Julian that it shipped 2 weeks previous.

4th June '08: I recieve an e-mail stating that this is the frst time that he has used containers (strange 'cos I thought he 'always sent the top end stuff that way'?)
I'm also told that we lost 6 week waiting for the seats to arrive and that is the reason for the delay.

1st July '08: Recieve an e-mail from Julian stating that he's just back off holiday and that the car should be here in 'the next few weeks' as he has just received the shipping invoice. Again the 'wait' for the door cards and seats is used as an excuse for the delay.

2nd July '08: Recieve an e-mail from Julian stating that shipping cost will be approx £1400, though if he declared the full cost of the car it would be another £1500 - £2000!

4th July '08: E-mail 'just got the paperwork so won't be long now'

9th July '08: E-mail from Julian stating that the car is due in Saturday, so should be at SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS around mid week.

10th July '08: I send e-mail to confirm that the car will be running 600BHP as described, I also asked whether the car had been damaged during shipping and what registration the car was on.

24th July '08: Receive e-mail from Julian Barnes.

Quote: "The car came in perfect condition with no damage, we fully valeted it and cut and polished the paintwork she looks awesome, one thing though you must get it mapped on a dyno as RX-7's are vey funny about change and the conditions and fuel are a lot different in this country"
(Hmmn...alarm bells start ringing big time!)

Then I'm told by Julian that the car is registered on a 'K' plate (correct me if I'm wrong but that would make this particular car a 1992 model and not a 1995 model.....that's 3 years older than the car that I paid him £12,500 for 7 months previous, obviously the £1700 for door cards and seats was in addition to this)


I figured that I must have mis-heard him as it was a bad line, so decided to draw the shipping money out and take the family for a drive down to SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS at Lydney.

We arrived and straight away realised that I hadn't mis-heard him, it was a 1992 car on a 'K' plate.

-The front bumper didn't fit properly and was coming away on the passenger side

-the rear screen was cracked

-the rear Brembo's (off an F40 or F50; depending if you're talking to Ghostdancer or Julian Barnes) were actually rusty stock brakes, Brembo's front but stock rear.

-the paint was in shit state; this was denied by Julian at the time but later he admitted that it needed to be re-sprayed as he wasn't happy with it (and please jump in and call me a liar at any point 'cos I've got proof of everything fella!)

-the original paint (red) was beeming through the 'fresh' blue paint job (more pics as proof!)

-the doors wouldn't close properly and a bolt/screw dropped out of the bottom when I tried.

-When I opened the bonnet, the engine (rust aside which you expect having been on the water) just looked different.
I've got pictures and photos of both the advertised 1995 car and the delivered 1992 car and there are a lot of differences.
(Not sure if someone had swapped bits about during shipping? Regardless the pipework was visibly different in the pictures of the two cars.
(This might seem like a small detail, but by this stage remember, it's already been established that the cars are 3 years apart!)

The 3 year difference in age, differences in pictures, bodywork in shit state and rediculously long delivery time make me think that the delivered car was a poor Ghostdancer copy of the original, built to detract from the fact that the original had already been sold/shipped by Ghostdancer before the spineless prick did a runner with everyones money.

*There is a thread on the DW forum which shows that the car was built by both Ghostdancer and Stephen Hemsley of SKAY Ltd, a short time before it was initially advertised for sale on Pistonheads by Ghostdancer (link to follow)*​
 
I have copies of the registraion certificate from the DVLA which confirms that the delivered car was a 1992 model.​

Julian was challenged over this and he said that all he did with the advert was cut and paste the Ghostdancer Pistonheads advert to his own ebay advert, so therefore it wasn't his fault and that it was betwen me and Stephen Hemsley at SKAY Ltd to sort out.
I pointed out that I had bought the car off him, had given him the money after responding to his advert and therefore he was liable, especially as he had reassured me that he 'knew the car personally'.
SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS sold it to me, took my money and for what ever reason delivered a different older car. You've since re-sold it for just £5k (according to you) which was swallowed up re-doing the dodgy paintwork/body work. Stephen's been paid, you've been paid and I don't have anything apart from an empty wallet to show for it....shitbust......I trusted people and got fucking done.......SIMPLES!​



His cut and paste argument falls on it's arse because the Ghostdancer add advertises the car as YEAR: 1995
however, the SEVERNSIDE IMPORTS advert though similar, gives more detail, with the actual date of registration being more specific with year as 1995 and date of first registration as: 1st February 1995!​

Call me a bluff old traditionalist but since when did cut and paste add extra information into the correct boxes?​

Julian Barnes' fiance, Miss Karren Kinnish (we'll come back to this point later as well!) , seemed worried when my wife started asking some pressing questions about the car, she kept popping her head in and out of the lock up.
Obviously aware that the car was a 'wrong 'en'​


Unsurprisingly the car was rejected, and I demanded a refund.​

I was told by Julian Barnes that I would have to speak to his solicitior.​

This is where it gets really interesting!!!!​


(Part 2: SEVERNSIDE PULL THE C**TS TRICK!)​

To be continued...........​
 
Just to point something out, its very likely that Julian has been shafted by Rick, Kawabata of driving sports and stephen at skay, whom which, are all useless fuckers.
 
Tommy Kaira said:
Maybe Mitto, but that doesn't make it OK for him to pass that shafting on!
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true... although i do know Julian pretty well and he's always gone out of his way to help me out, so it seems odd that he'd fuck somebody over intentionally or not... two sides to each coin :nod:
 
wtf is wrong with some ppl dealing with tuning and car imports!?
Makes you hesitant to even consider giving your hard earned cash to anyone.

Hope you get want you want.
 
Interested to see what happens here, had a great weekend with the Driving Sports guys at Bihoku. Also met Stephen and got photo's of this very car when it was at Kawabata's place. Defo wasn't in a shit condition as stated!

Rick was there also and the whole Ghostdancer trouble seemed to kick off after me and the Mrs got back to Blighty.
 
Me and my bro wer also fcuked over by Rick! Stephen seemed to pick up the peices and sorted us out the bits that wer not on the car.

How ever, no one should get away with shit like this and fair fcuking play to ya!:thumbs:
 
mitto said:
true... although i do know Julian pretty well and he's always gone out of his way to help me out, so it seems odd that he'd fuck somebody over intentionally or not... two sides to each coin :nod:
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Aye but your well known in the drift scene so it's in his interest NOT to screw you over in particular.;)
 
You're right there are two sides to every story the guy had every chance to have the car he made every excuse not to have the car.

I was selling the car on behalf of Stephen fro skay Iade no money from it all the money was sent to him. By time the car had arrived you was just looking for every excuse I'n the book.

The car was perfect it was featured I'm books and magazines and was a good example.

This thread is total shit and needs to be locked down and is very slanderous and will be passed to my solicitor

you forget to mention you owed shipping costs and I kept the car for six months waiting for it to be picked up

Moderators sort this out.
 
I bought my car from Stephen@skay and got kinda shafted with it. HOWEVER I've spoken regularly with stephen and from what I'm aware he's taken Kawabata/Drving sports to court to recover money he's invested in trying to cover their mistakes (inc mine and many others cars).

@akinadan79: sorry to see someone else fucked over by this garage.
I'm going to PM you a copy of my latest update from stephen. As it a legal thing I dont think I should post it in public.
 
ouch! i hate it when people who come into a bit of money through a bad accidednt or something similar get shafted.

A mate of mine had been crushed by a car and is suffering daily from it, and its been 3 years and the case is still going on, meanwhile, he still suffering with no job (cause of disability) and no cash !

Its good this guy has so much evidence, should stand in his favour!
 
akinadan79 said:

NOT WANTING TO RESORT TO CHILDISH PLAYGROUND THREATS BUT JUST TO MAKE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR, YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO SCRAPE TOGETHER SOME SCROATS TO COME AROUND AND HAVE A POP BUT I GUARANTEE MY BOYS ARE BIGGER THAN YOURS....YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!
Click to expand...

And not being funny mate, threatening behaviour on a public forum won't help your case, if there is one of course.

*Sits and waits for both sides of the story.
 
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