James Thomas Parise Took $11,714.00 from me to rebuild an outboard motor Merritt Island Florida

Mr. Parise has been engaged in the outboard motor rebuilding business in Florida for more than 20 years.  I approached him to inquire about rebuilding an outboard motor for me.  This first discussion was on or about 12/2/2020.  He stated that he had a motor that could be rebuilt and offered to rebuild the engine for a fee.  I agreed to his price and we entered into an agreement on or about 12/6/2020.  The motor was to be rebuilt by him and delivered to my residence location in Fort Myers, Florida on or before 1/4/2021. 

No contract was ever signed with Mr Parise, no involce or work order was ever provided,  nothing.  I paid 1/2 of his fee by credit card on 12/8/2020.  I called him on about 12/20/2020 to see how he was proceeding.  He said fine but he was glad I called.  He said that he had obtained a different motor that was newer,  had less hours on it and thought I might be interested in it.  I was interested and agreed to send him an additional amount of money to account for the fact a newer motor, had a larger displacement power head, and had only 440 hours on it. This additional payment was made using other credit cards.  He stated that it would take an additional couple of weeks and I agreed to that. 

On About 1/8/2021 he called me and said that he was very busy and might have trouble making the delivery on time, but that if I could send him some additional funds he could have his workmen work overtime to get it done. I , foolishly sent him additional funds so that the job could be expedited.  By this tyme I was getting suspicious about the deal,  but I was also very emotionally invested in it.  He really won my heart with a story that his Dad was born in Duluth, Mn and had played hockey for the New York Rangers! He had to be legitimate right?  He was hockey people.  At that point,  all communication ceased with this guy.  He didn't return phone calls, never called me to let me know what was going on etc. 

On about April 10,  just before were going to leave and go north,  I gave up, and sued him in small claims court in Lee County Florida.  I also began the process of disputing the several charges he had made to 3 of my credit cards.  2 of the Card companies refunded my money immediately but one who shall remain nameless did not.  That remaining amount was not returned to me until 10/15/2021, just last week.  They refunded the money after I filed for mandatory arbitration which meant they had to go before an impartial arbitrater.  They had no case to not give the money back but tried hard to do that.  Wish I could tell you all who that company is,  but I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get the money back.  Thats beside the point anyway, this is about the Fraudster, James Thomas Parise. 

He ultimately took $11,714.00 from me and provided nothing for that money.  I am profoundly embarrased that I let this happen but want everyone to know what this criminal is capable of.  He is super smooth on the phone, very protective of releasing information that might compromise his position,  and has absolutely no regard for honesty or integrity in business.  His company name is Outboard Motor Rebuild USA,  so watch out for it.  I am so glad that I paid with my credit cards as you have 2 months to dispute a charge on a debit card,  and 6 months to file a dispute on a credit card. 

I used both and just got in under the wire on almost half of the charges, which were on my debit card.  So,  "let the buyer beware" really has a new meaning for me.  Avoid this guy!!!