Vintage Honda CB Vintage CB Ponzi Scheme Glendale, California

Due to increased gas prices and the popularity of vintage motorcycles, I decided to purchase a motorcycle but I was leery of a private party purchase. I decided that buying a bike from a shop would be better, because I could have it serviced and the shop would be close to my residence. In October of 2011 I gave the manager (Jeremy) of Vintage Honda a $5,000 deposit to begin the build on my motorcycle. He provided me with an email confirmation of the deposit and a brief description of the build. He said it would take between 8 to 10 weeks. In December of 2011 I called to get an update on the build, he claimed that things were moving along but the bike would be ready until next year. He gave no specific date. I called again in January, still no real progress. Over the next few months he was difficult to get a hold of on the phone and he was not responding to emails. I finally got a hold of him in March and again in April. Both conversations with Jeremy resulted in him having excuse after excuse as to why the build was delayed. Every conversation with Jeremy up until July of 2012 resulted in another excuse as to why the motorcycle was not finished. At the end of July I had enough. I asked for my deposit back and Jeremy had agreed to pay me but he again provided excuse after excuse as to why he couldn't return my deposit. At this point it was clear he was running a ponzi scheme, using the money from one client to fund the shop business. 

I was so frustrated with Jeremy; I threatened to file a lawsuit unless he pays. He simply stated that I was free to do so but he has no money and no assets, so my lawsuit would be worthless.  In August I posted a poor review of Vintage Honda on Yelp while I negotiated a repayment plan with Jeremy. He was to pay me $500 a week starting Aug 31. He made one payment on Aug 31 of $500 to my surprise. After my Yelp post, I received two emails from others who had the same experience with Jeremy and there are other claims on Yelp, that state Jeremy from Vintage Honda has not delivered their motorcycles after several months. In September of 2012 Jeremy contacted me with an angry email. He stated he was unhappy with my Yelp review and that he would not make another payment until I remove my Yelp post.

I did remove my Yelp post but I have not received another payment since. 

Over the last couple of weeks I have traded a few emails with Jeremy Frombach from Vintage Honda, but he always has excuses why he cannot repay my $4,500 deposit. It has now been a year since I gave Jeremy my money and I believe I won't ever see it again. I simply want to stop his ponzi scheme and put the word out that there are still unscrupulous people who know how to steal money from others and can get away with it.