Dolphin Automotive Pompano Florida - Joel, Tony, Vinny, Michelle, Linda Lies, car not as described, never returns calls, hard to contact, now out of business it appears Pompano Beach Florida

This is to help anyone lately who had the misfortune of dealing online with Dolphin automotive.

I too had problems...but nothing major so far. Repairs had to be made to my vehicle to make it run properly...something major that I noticed from the start. Of course they wanted it to all go away but I persisted. Long story short - they did it at their expense but the timing was long and arduous. So far there is no mechanics lien on my car but time will tell.
My current problem with them is that I do not have a bill of sale (I do have my copies of receipts of payment). I do not have the title and I do not have tags. Nothing, Nada ! My temporary tag expires in a few days so I tried to call them to find out why. I bought the car last October ! It was today, thanks to this site, that I started to figure something was up. I was told the tags would be here last week. I then started my sleuthing...

Update: I called a neighbour of theirs in the warehouse area (thanks mapquest). He said the police were there and closed them down last week. He would not elaborate except to say many of the cars were taken away and no-one has been around much...if at all.

I then called Vinny - a good guy who worked there as errand runner and polisher, etc. He no longer works there as of a few days ago and of course he doesn't know what is going on there. He was not the boss. Tony was apparently. I never met Tony although I was at the shop many times and made dozens of calls over the last few months wondering about when my car would be ready. I began to think he may be the Remington Steele of Dolphin automotive.

I then called the police (954-786-4201) in Pompano who sent me on to the attorney general's office (954-715-4600) who then sent me on to the Department of highways (850-617-3001)...yada yada yada...follow the trail of pas-em-off-to someone else. I did manage to talk with a lovely woman at the DMV for tags and registration (850-617-2000) who said first that this was a legal matter and to get a lawyer. Yikes ! Dollar signs ! Then she asked a supervisor and came back to me with what I hoped was better news. We'll see tomorrow when I do what she said.

She came back to give me further directions - go to get verification that the dealship is out of business. It is from the DMV (Dep't of motor vehicles) Compliance examiner...get a letter on their letterhead stating the facts about the dealer being gone. I have to go to the local office in person (a few days delay and 20 miles away), take my proof of purchase and a form downloaded from www.hsmv.state.fl.us . There are lots of forms there so look for one that suits your needs. Once all is done I have to copy everything and send it off to Tallahassee - and a fee of $29.75. then the real costs start - maybe upwards of $275.00 more for tags, license , forms, registration...etc. All this was to be paid for by the seller. Not in this case apparently.

Now, I bought this car through an ad on ebay...I thought. It turns out I bought it after ebay because the first seller did not take the car. I was second in line and bought it - I really wanted it. So, ebay is not involved...nor is their fraud department. Lesson: make sure your seller keeps it an ebay sale - not an after sale. So what if it costs them more.

My advice, call all of the numbers I posted earlier. Then perhaps call Charlie Crist's office - the governor.

Do some searches online for government help - especially if they took oyur money and did not deliver the goods. Everyone else - beware of these scammers. I think ebay should be concerned with these operators and help even the people who didn't actually close the deal on ebay's site. These jerks give online shopping a really bad rap. Prosecute them to the hilt !

Ebay we need your professional help !

Post more here on this continuing saga.

Joe
Boca Raton, Florida
U.S.A.