Bad Experience With PeakBoost
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 283
Likes: 1
From: Virginia (2 up 2 down)
I filed a consumer complaint with the arizona attorney general and with the virginia attorney general. I also contacted visa directly and filed a claim with them as well as a claim with my bank. I am also in the process of filling a civil suit against him and that will be completed on monday. All I wanted were my parts. I dont know what I am gonna do with my s2000 if I dont get my money back or my parts because it is stripped and built for boost :-(
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 283
Likes: 1
From: Virginia (2 up 2 down)
Long post warning: This is what I went though to get my money claim started. At the end I listed other options I have explored that you may or may not know about or can help a claim if you have opened one.
I have information that may help some people out. Both of my banks use visa cards so dont know if this is true for all companies. If you did pay for a product or service from peakboost or anywhere else for that matter and you never received what you paid for you can file a claim and get all or some of your money back even if it has been over 6 months. I've been on the phone with my banks and credit card company (also visa) for the past week just gathering information. I paid for my kit on January 8th with two different debit cards from two different banks and both of my claims have been accepted and filled.
Bank of America is one of the banks and when I called and told them what happened they took the claim right away and the fact that a paid nine months ago wasnt even mentioned by the service rep. I thought since my payment was so long ago that it would affect my claim so naturally I had to ask and when I did ask they told me it didnt matter if it were nine months or nine days ago because the date didnt really affect this type of claim. The next day they put the exact amount of money my claim is into my account so I could "get by" while they fight for me.
My other bank wasnt so easy; they are a smaller local bank around the area I grew up. The first time I called them they said they cant take a claim after 90 days and that there was nothing they could do. The second time I called them they said their policy is 90 days with debit cards and 6 months with credit cards. Before I called back a third time I called visa directly to see if they could take my claim directly instead of my bank and they told me that they cant because my bank issued me the card not them and that my bank had to start the process since they have all my account information but they would back my bank as soon as they received the claim. Also visa said that if you receive a card though a bank the amount of time you have to file a claim was up to the bank that issues the card. I asked if there was anything I can do since I was already on the phone with them and they told me to file a complaint with visa about peakboost and that should help the strength of any claim I file with my bank. After knowing this I called back for a third time and I asked to speak with the branch manager and after telling her the entire story and that I already talked to visa and told her that visa would back the claim if she would file it she put me on hold and came back about 10 mins later and said no problem; I just had to fill out some paper work. She actually did call visa while I was on hold and saw that I filed a complaint.
So now both banks have claims filed under visa to try and get my money back. I called Bank of America back to get more information on my claim and how the claim process works in general. I had a lot of questions and they were more than happy to answer them with no hesitation. The rep had an answer for everything and never had to put me on hold to "find out" an answer. I told the reps there could be a possibility that the company may be closing or filing for bankruptcy. I asked if I do win my claim (fingers crossed) but during the process (which can take up to 90 days unfortunately) the company closes or goes bankrupt will I still get my money back? To my surprise she said yes even if the company closes or goes bankrupt, as long as the claim was filed before it will not affect me getting my money back because the claim money comes straight from their bank and not from their account. I dont remember the exact process but I do remember that my bank and visa go straight to the merchant bank with the claim then the merchant bank contacts peakboost about the claim. Peakboost will then have an opportunity to defend their actions, next my bank will contact me if they need or want more proof on my part (which I have plenty of). If I win the money goes to my bank directly from the merchant bank, then the merchant bank will either take the money out of the businesses account if they have it or it will be added to the businesses debt.
If peakboost doesn't respond or ignores the claim then I automatically win or he can fight it and submit proof that he shipped everything I paid for which he hasnt and admitted to already. Remember the claim is specific to paying for parts that were never received. I dont see how he can fight it but we'll see what he does. Being that my order was placed and paid for on January 8th with a shipping date of February 26th I dont see see how peakboost could beat this claim, especially since it even states all of that on my invoice from them. Getting the claim approved was the hardest part.
Other ways to help......
Record phone conversations for proof. In 38 states (arizona is one) only one party has to know the conversation is being recorded for it to be used in legal proceedings.
Small Claims Court: Filing against a business in another state:
Generally if you want to file a small claim against someone you have to file your claim in the state that the defendant lives but when you want to file against a business the rules are a little different. First of since peakboost is a LLC you are filing a claim against Peakboost LLC not the person who owns it, LLC's make it so the owner/operator is not held liable for the businesses debts . Here are some reasons that let you file claims in your state against business located in other states. If the business you want to file a claim against does business in your state then you can file a claim against them in your state. You may have to prove they do business in your state and it should be to hard to prove. If you live in VA, MD, or SC you can file against Peakboost just because peakboost is a dealer to several shops in each state therefore he does business in your state. Also if a written or verbal contract was made or signed in the state you live in you can file in your state as well. If you receive an invoice from a business via email then make a payment from the state you live in or ordering products over the phone then paying over the phone from the state you live in (that actually counts, there is even case law on it). Generally the place the payment is made from is where the contract is signed. Also the Statute of frauds requires sales for goods over $500 to be in writing. So an invoice can be considered a contract and payment is our signature and since the invoice has a shipment date the fact that the goods were not delivered is a breach of contract and considered fraud (there is case law on this too). Thanks mainly to electronic signatures act, case law, new laws being made because of the internet age how much business is being done via the internet it doesnt take much to be a signed legal document. The fraud leads to another issue. When a LLC business such as peakboost commits fraud by accepting money and not shipping out products the owner can then be sued as an individual in your state. Small claims laws make it very possible to file claims in your home state against businesses located in other states as long as you can prove one of the above, you just have to do the research and file the paper work correctly. Most small claims laws are the same across all states but some are different. I hope this helps anyone that thought small claims court is not an option because of the distance.
I have information that may help some people out. Both of my banks use visa cards so dont know if this is true for all companies. If you did pay for a product or service from peakboost or anywhere else for that matter and you never received what you paid for you can file a claim and get all or some of your money back even if it has been over 6 months. I've been on the phone with my banks and credit card company (also visa) for the past week just gathering information. I paid for my kit on January 8th with two different debit cards from two different banks and both of my claims have been accepted and filled.
Bank of America is one of the banks and when I called and told them what happened they took the claim right away and the fact that a paid nine months ago wasnt even mentioned by the service rep. I thought since my payment was so long ago that it would affect my claim so naturally I had to ask and when I did ask they told me it didnt matter if it were nine months or nine days ago because the date didnt really affect this type of claim. The next day they put the exact amount of money my claim is into my account so I could "get by" while they fight for me.
My other bank wasnt so easy; they are a smaller local bank around the area I grew up. The first time I called them they said they cant take a claim after 90 days and that there was nothing they could do. The second time I called them they said their policy is 90 days with debit cards and 6 months with credit cards. Before I called back a third time I called visa directly to see if they could take my claim directly instead of my bank and they told me that they cant because my bank issued me the card not them and that my bank had to start the process since they have all my account information but they would back my bank as soon as they received the claim. Also visa said that if you receive a card though a bank the amount of time you have to file a claim was up to the bank that issues the card. I asked if there was anything I can do since I was already on the phone with them and they told me to file a complaint with visa about peakboost and that should help the strength of any claim I file with my bank. After knowing this I called back for a third time and I asked to speak with the branch manager and after telling her the entire story and that I already talked to visa and told her that visa would back the claim if she would file it she put me on hold and came back about 10 mins later and said no problem; I just had to fill out some paper work. She actually did call visa while I was on hold and saw that I filed a complaint.
So now both banks have claims filed under visa to try and get my money back. I called Bank of America back to get more information on my claim and how the claim process works in general. I had a lot of questions and they were more than happy to answer them with no hesitation. The rep had an answer for everything and never had to put me on hold to "find out" an answer. I told the reps there could be a possibility that the company may be closing or filing for bankruptcy. I asked if I do win my claim (fingers crossed) but during the process (which can take up to 90 days unfortunately) the company closes or goes bankrupt will I still get my money back? To my surprise she said yes even if the company closes or goes bankrupt, as long as the claim was filed before it will not affect me getting my money back because the claim money comes straight from their bank and not from their account. I dont remember the exact process but I do remember that my bank and visa go straight to the merchant bank with the claim then the merchant bank contacts peakboost about the claim. Peakboost will then have an opportunity to defend their actions, next my bank will contact me if they need or want more proof on my part (which I have plenty of). If I win the money goes to my bank directly from the merchant bank, then the merchant bank will either take the money out of the businesses account if they have it or it will be added to the businesses debt.
If peakboost doesn't respond or ignores the claim then I automatically win or he can fight it and submit proof that he shipped everything I paid for which he hasnt and admitted to already. Remember the claim is specific to paying for parts that were never received. I dont see how he can fight it but we'll see what he does. Being that my order was placed and paid for on January 8th with a shipping date of February 26th I dont see see how peakboost could beat this claim, especially since it even states all of that on my invoice from them. Getting the claim approved was the hardest part.
Other ways to help......
Record phone conversations for proof. In 38 states (arizona is one) only one party has to know the conversation is being recorded for it to be used in legal proceedings.
Small Claims Court: Filing against a business in another state:
Generally if you want to file a small claim against someone you have to file your claim in the state that the defendant lives but when you want to file against a business the rules are a little different. First of since peakboost is a LLC you are filing a claim against Peakboost LLC not the person who owns it, LLC's make it so the owner/operator is not held liable for the businesses debts . Here are some reasons that let you file claims in your state against business located in other states. If the business you want to file a claim against does business in your state then you can file a claim against them in your state. You may have to prove they do business in your state and it should be to hard to prove. If you live in VA, MD, or SC you can file against Peakboost just because peakboost is a dealer to several shops in each state therefore he does business in your state. Also if a written or verbal contract was made or signed in the state you live in you can file in your state as well. If you receive an invoice from a business via email then make a payment from the state you live in or ordering products over the phone then paying over the phone from the state you live in (that actually counts, there is even case law on it). Generally the place the payment is made from is where the contract is signed. Also the Statute of frauds requires sales for goods over $500 to be in writing. So an invoice can be considered a contract and payment is our signature and since the invoice has a shipment date the fact that the goods were not delivered is a breach of contract and considered fraud (there is case law on this too). Thanks mainly to electronic signatures act, case law, new laws being made because of the internet age how much business is being done via the internet it doesnt take much to be a signed legal document. The fraud leads to another issue. When a LLC business such as peakboost commits fraud by accepting money and not shipping out products the owner can then be sued as an individual in your state. Small claims laws make it very possible to file claims in your home state against businesses located in other states as long as you can prove one of the above, you just have to do the research and file the paper work correctly. Most small claims laws are the same across all states but some are different. I hope this helps anyone that thought small claims court is not an option because of the distance.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,259
Likes: 0
From: Annapolis MD
This is what many told you back in AUG but I am glad you got some traction on this issue. Just so you know in the future, don't except the first answer you get from any CC company or bank. Just keep pushing your way up. Ask to speak with a manager or someone else that can help...be NICE. Even just try and call back to see if someone else is more helpful. I would do this to a point and make sure you fell your in the right which based on your post your are. Good luck.
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 7,061
Likes: 64
From: Oklahoma
Irishflame was riding the peakboost train. Supposedly friends with Ken but hasn't come forward with any information about what's going on over there.
Sooo glad I didn't buy anything from that low life pos. I hope you all get your money back and spend it on a real vendor like Mase, Ptuning, Pfab, Forged Performance
Sooo glad I didn't buy anything from that low life pos. I hope you all get your money back and spend it on a real vendor like Mase, Ptuning, Pfab, Forged Performance
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,407
Likes: 0
From: avondale AZ
Originally Posted by Suzuka_Joe,Oct 18 2010, 06:39 AM
Irishflame was riding the peakboost train. Supposedly friends with Ken but hasn't come forward with any information about what's going on over there.
Sooo glad I didn't buy anything from that low life pos. I hope you all get your money back and spend it on a real vendor like Mase, Ptuning, Pfab, Forged Performance
Sooo glad I didn't buy anything from that low life pos. I hope you all get your money back and spend it on a real vendor like Mase, Ptuning, Pfab, Forged Performance