April, 2008
Once Upon A Time there was a man who loved cars. He was also a successful
businessman that for years imported products from around the world. One
day, he found he needed a new dump truck, and decided he could get one from
China for under $10,000. "Impossible" said everyone. After two
years of research, work, and ALOT of money, Wuzheng NA was born, and this
man became the first person to ever legally import Chinese vehicles into
the United States for road use.
Now, as this man began
importing more and more trucks, he found that he had room in the containers
for something small.....hmmmm...small electric cars! So Spark-EV was born,
and this man became the first to import Chinese Low-Speed vehicles into the
United States, the Flybo / 6000ZK.
More models followed - The
Metropolis, the Quiet, the Transporter, and although all sold exceptionally
well, they were all low-speed vehicles. Time to go full speed. So
this man hired an Italian designer, designed the engineering himself, and
the Comet was born. The Panda, Zotye, DFM-7 followed, and all was well..
Well, perhaps not all - Spark-EV
was run by this man on a shoestring, both by choice and by necessity. Being
self-employed since he was 13 years old, he was taught not to spend money
recklessly. The computers & paperwork were in a home office. The
manufacturing was completed in a local warehouse. Since there were to be
distributors, let them have the nice offices & showrooms, things are
running smoothly just like this, thank you very much.
So One Day, a
few distributors ordered and paid for cars, one from Arkansas, one from
Texas. The Arkansas dealer was sent two vehicles for their grand opening
for free, since they were having an imminent grand-opening and needed
something on the showroom floor (you can see our cars on their home page
pictures). The Arkansas distributors, however, began to grow impatient with
the time taken to deliver the cars they ordered/paid for, and decided to
visit the man's operations (This man's office was his home, remember)
On the morning of their un-announced
visit the Arkansas distributors, saying this as kindly as
possible, went stark, raving mad. Whatever they were expecting, it was not
an office being run out of a home. The GOOD news was that their cars were
in the Port of Newark, in a 40 foot container, so all was well. The man
provided the Arkansas distributors with all the paperwork required to go
see the cars for themselves.
Instead of confirming the existence
& delivery of their vehicles, the Arkansas distributors
visited the local police department. "It MUST be a scam, he has an
office in his house!" The man then visited the police department to
explain, and also give the same paperwork to the Wilson Boro Chief of Police so he could
confirm the existence of the vehicles, where they were, etc.
The next thing the man knew, he
was being arrested for Theft by Deception. While attempting to post bail,
the local police came and seized all the equipment and paperwork required
for the man to import or take delivery of vehicles. The Arkansas
distributors then contacted the Texas distributor, and advised "it's a
scam, he has an office in his house!" Both distributors demanded full
refunds.
The problem the man had was so simple,
nobody seems to understand it - All the money was sent to
China for cars. Without the seized paperwork and equipment, no cars can be
imported, no deliveries can be made, no cars can be sold. No money can be
made.
For three months now this
man has begged on a daily basis for the return of his paperwork and
equipment so he could sell vehicles that were rotting away in port to pay
people back. The police department won't even return phone calls. As of
today, the man found, all vehicles that reached port have been seized to
pay storage / container fees. All orders in China have been canceled. "Refund"
is not a word the Chinese understand. It is now, alas, all gone.
For all those that supported this
effort This man sincerely, from the bottom of his heart, thanks
you. The business is gone, the money is gone, the cars are gone, the house
with the home office is gone. The dream of an affordable electric vehicle
from this man is gone.
Who killed the electric car? You,
David, Roger, Rick and Dick. Roger, for being the keyboard commando who
never took a chance of your own, David, for not waiting three more days,
Rick, for blindly listening to others without checking things out yourself,
and Dick, who should have retired already, for not asking any questions
when investigating this matter.
UPDATE - 7/2/2008 This
man received a letter today from a law firm, demanding that he "Cease
and Desist From This Conduct" (This Web Page) which they consider to
be "defamatory, malicious, untrue" etc. This man has posted
nothing of the sort, so the webpage stays. (So there IS a positive in
having lost everything and having nothing!)
UPDATE
– 5/29/2009 Fifteen months of time, the complete ruination of his name,
his business, his future. The loss
of his family, friends, and his children.
All of this needed to happen before someone actually picked up the
phone & called the Port of Newark, as well as the shipping company, to
find out – the cars were there all along. Just like the man said they were. A
simple phone call that should have been made 15 months ago.
This page will get very interesting in
the next month or so.
Vindication2009@hotmail.com
