RideNow Powersports of Ocala Deceptive, Dishonest and Extortive Business Practices Ocala FL

We brought a motorcycle in for a simple estimate on minor damage to rear wheel after being bumped by a car at a red light.  We were ripped off by them years ago for thousands of dollars when they were under different name and heard they were under new ownership so thought we'd take a chance, figuring that little harm could come from a simple estimate.  We were shocked by what happened.

The estimate for what we expected to be a rim and tire turned out to be coincidentally just short of the value of the bike and included all kinds of things from all over the bike.  The bike was in perfect working condition when we brought it in to them.  When trying to discuss with the service manager, Lance, the possibility of trading the bike in to them on a new bike, he became hostile and threatening, stating that we couldn't have the bike back unless we let him do all of the repairs he had listed on the estimate.  After pointing out how ridiculous it was to refuse to give us our bike back, he threatened that if we did not let them do the service work, he would personally contact the insurance company and tell them that the estimate he submitted was in error and that there was nothing wrong with the bike in order to prevent them from paying on the claim.  Discussions with the general manager, Lyle Cramper, involved patronizing suggestions that I must have misinterpreted the hostility and clear and explicit threats rather than a serious interest that a their service manager may be engaging in deceptive, dishonest and illegal practices.

Finally, when we eventually did arrive to retrieve the motorcycle, they tried to give it back to us disassembled and inoperable in apparent retaliation.  Due to the level of hostility and threats, we're uncertain as to what else they may have done to the bike, but are concerned enough that we feel the need to have the bike inspected before we attempt to operate it.  The response that we got to our objections over what they had done to the bike in returning it inoperable and disassembled was that since we weren't letting them do the service work, it's our problem, even though the bike was fully assembled and operational when they received it. 

I'm not an attorney, but I'm fairly certain that it is illegal to refuse to return a vehicle to an owner in an attempt to force or intimidate them into agreeing to service work.  It is also probably illegal to attempt to falsify an insurance claim in retaliation for not agreeing to bogus service work.  Making these kinds of threats in the presence of other staff members seems to imply that this is generally accepted as a means of dealing with customers here.

What is perplexing about this whole thing, aside from the obvious audacity toward dishonesty and extortive tactics, is that it would have been much more to their financial advantage to take the bike and the insurance money as a trade in on a new bike sale.  The value of the bike and the insurance money was nearly equal to the price of the bike we were wanting to purchase that they would have been making the sale on.  They are apparently so comfortable with these kind of practices that they're not even taking the time to think about what they're doing before launching off into lying and intimidation.  What they did was not only illegal and dishonest, it was pretty stupid from a business perspective so we're left scratching our heads about the whole thing.

Several years ago, when the shop was supposedly under different ownership, we brought a bike that we purchased brand new from them in for the last scheduled service and they refused to return the bike, which was essentially in brand new condition, unless we paid them the serveice fee plus the cost of replacing alll of the major engine components, which they claimed were all worn and damaged all of a sudden.  The bike had been meticulously cared for and we had brought the bike to them for all of the previous recommended services according to the manufacturers recommendations.  Essentially, they extorted several thousand dollars from us under the threat of replacing the parts in my perfectly maintained bike with a bunch of worn and damaged parts.  This is the first time we've decided to have anything service related done there believeing that it was a different business now.  We were wrong.