Viewing feedback for: Vincent7
Email: [email protected]
Last Visited: July 07, 2011
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deepseablue65
Samba Member
Joined: October 14, 2009
Posts: 1
Location: San Diego
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 Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 6:37 pm Post subject: Vincent7 / vangirljen - [email protected] - Hal |
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This guy is a scammer. I bought a Westy from him over a month ago and it is still in the shop. I tried to communicate with him, on several occasions especially when the van was having several major issues when i was driving it home. I tried to undo what had happened. He said he would make it right and did not. Instead later said, that he was advised to not communicate with me anymore. I took it to a Westy mechanic and he said that this guy wronged me as well. I am in the legal process now he has not herd the last from me yet. I just do not want anyone else to gut taken by this guy. He has a add almost identical to the one for my van, it even has the same paint and trim? He puts nice curtains and paneling in them and gets big money, trust me it is not worth it. this is the worst transaction i have ever been involved with. This guy is all about money, he uses flowery words and is very slick. Beware!!!! I have already spent thousands more and have yet to enjoy the van.
Also uses:
vangirljen - [email protected]
vangirljen - [email protected]
vangirljen - [email protected] |
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damurphy
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2009
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 6:02 pm Post subject: Re: Vincent7 - [email protected] |
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| deepseablue65 wrote: |
| This guy is a scammer....This guy is all about money, he uses flowery words and is very slick. Beware!!!! I have already spent thousands more and have yet to enjoy the van. |
Vincent/Hal is a Vanagon flipper for profit. He does the least possible to these Vanagons just to make a sale and have his big payday. He focuses on the cosmetic and neglects the functional and mechanical aspects. He buys one for cheap, does some interior decorating, and puts it up for sale with a big flowery write-up. He makes a large profit which allows him to buy another and do the same thing all over again to his next victim. Vincent/Hal is a selfish boy. He profits at the expense of others.
I had exactly the same experience as the previous poster. Vincent/Hal egregiously misrepresented the condition of the vehicle that I purchased from him in June. He lied about his ownership, maintenance, and repairs of the vehicle. When I say "lied" I do not mean that maybe what he said could be open to interpretation. No. He flat-out lied to me on numerous occasions.
For instance, I asked him if he were to keep the vehicle, what more would he do to it - what more does it need – what repairs have not been done – what’s left in the restoration process? He replied, "Nothing. Everything has been done that could possibly need doing. It’s in perfect shape". Sadly, I found out that Vincent/Hal put some lipstick on this pig and did nothing to ensure the mechanical and functional integrity of the vehicle. It looks good in the pictures, but it was not road-ready, camping ready, or legal when I bought it.
Here's an abbreviated list of some of the things that Vincent/Hal left for me to pay for on top of the steep purchase price that he collected from me:
- The brake pedal has very low pressure and the brakes have a strong pulsation. I have to pump the brakes to stop. I've had to put on new rear shoes and the front pads are next. Vincent /Hal represented the brakes as working perfectly. I don't know what all brake work is required to get them so that there is proper pressure at the pedal and the pulsation stops.
- The rear wheels were causing a loud roar. I had to listen to that all the way home 1000 miles and then I had to pay $400 for parts and labor for bearings, etc. I had to pay that right off the bat after paying Vincent/Hal his price. Vincent/Hal became very quiet and unresponsive when I suggested that he cover this repair and all of the expense for these things I've listed here. He’s stickin’ by his story that all of this must of happened right after I bought it.
- The tires have severe curb rash from someone bashing into the curb for years. Of course, you guessed it, Vincent/Hal told me that the vehicle has new tires with all the tread left. There was never a mention of the sidewall damage. I guess he just forgot.
- The rear hatch struts are shot - new ones are on order for $45. My $45, not Vincent/Hal's. He thinks it's unfortunate that so many things have broken AFTER I bought the vehicle from him.
- The submersible water pump in the water tank was broken and hadn't worked in years. Vincent/Hal knew that. Vincent/Hal didn't tell me that. I had to find out myself, order the $26 pump, pay for shipping, and replace it myself in my "perfect condition", nothing more needed, turnkey, beautiful, “not a project car”, fully restored, good as new, ready to camp in Westy Vanagon.
- Half of the instrument panel lights are out, the clock is broken, and the speedometer/odometer is dead. The door switches for the dome light were all broken and fried. The tap lights that he installed with 2 sided tap fell off and broke. The cigarette lighter does not work. The passenger side mirror will not stay in position. On and on and on.
- Various blinker, brake, running lights, etc were out when I took possession. The Rt front blinker socket was rusted out completely and had no chance of working at all. The license plate socket and the Lt rear running light sockets were also shot. The headlights were full of water and had to be replaced. He simply lied about everything being in perfect working order. He never even had a safety inspection performed on this vehicle. I incurred a lot of extra expense and time and effort simply to get this vehicle through inspection. And I’m a long way from getting this vehicle to the condition that Vincent/Hal represented it and that I thought I was paying for.
- Vincent/Hal never even registered the vehicle or had the title in his name. The prior owners' names were on the title. It was nearly impossible to get this thing legal without being able to contact the legal owner. That's how Vincent/Hal rolls.
- Vincent/Hal told me that he replaced the fuel lines. He lied. They are 27 years old. The vehicle that he sold me has the same fuel line issues that most old Vanagons do. The lines are rotten and cracked and could easily start a fire. The gas tank releases strong fumes when you fill up. It needs to be resealed. The thing also jerks and sputters and dies due to the fuel filter issues. None of this was disclosed even when Vincent/Hal was asked about the fuel system. He just lied and said that it's perfect and said that he replaced the fuel lines.
- The windshield has two chips in it and needs replacing. This was not disclosed and no photos were taken of them. Now I get to buy a new windshield before the cracks begin to run. Silly me for assuming that Vincent/Hal’s fully restored vehicle had an intact windshield.
- The battery wouldn't hold a charge and needed to be replaced immediately. There is still a voltage leak causing the battery to run down constantly and quickly killing the new battery that I bought. That cost me $68 additional dollars and if I don’t find the short, I’ll have to buy another one soon.
- The radio antenna cable was cut so no radio stations came in. He told me that he received radio stations without a problem and I must not be close to any radio stations. When I bought a new antenna to replace the old one and I traced the antenna line, I found that the old antenna lead had been CUT! That's a good example of Vincent/Hal's lying for profit game.
- The horn hadn't worked in years. I had to buy a new one and install it just to pass inspection. Of course that wasn't disclosed and of course that causes it to fail every state's safety inspection. I guess that's why Vincent/Hal didn't bother with a safety inspection. He would have had to put a working horn on. That would have cost him money. It makes more sense to Vincent/Hal to not tell anyone and then have someone else pay for it.
- The windshield washer nozzles were clogged and worthless. A 1000 desert highway trip with no functioning windshield washer is awful. Vincent/Hal didn’t have to make that drive though, so it wasn’t worth addressing prior to the sale.
- The skylight was sheared off and the resulting hole patched with Plexiglas. Water comes in when it rains. You would think that a leaky roof is something that a buyer should be told. Vincent/Hal doesn't think that he should bother mentioning it. Of course, if he did mention it, he might not make the sale or get his inflated price. That's probably why he doesn't mention these things. Someone should ask him.
- The air conditioner compressor ceased on the drive home. He specifically touted the AC as exceptional in his ad on The Samba. Apparently the AC was recharged and propped up just long enough to sell. It blew out completely the next day while I was crossing the desert on my way home. Vincent/Hal said that it was an accident of timing that the AC blew out AFTER the sale to me - just a bad break for me.
- It has a very bad overheating problem. It overheated repeatedly on the drive home from AZ. The coolant tank had a big hole in it too and required replacing. In fact, many of the hoses are on the verge of rupture and the entire cooling system needs to be flushed and serviced. The radiator fan works sometimes, sometimes it doesn’t. There was not a mention of any of this is Vincent/Hal's ornate prose ad, nor during our phone conversations, nor in person.
- The cable to the heater valve is broken causing heat to blast into the cabin relentlessly. I had to drive across the desert in late June with the heat blasting. Also, the heater blower switch has broken and is stuck in the HIGH position. I have to pull the fuse to turn off the fan motor. Vincent/Hal must have never felt any of that heat on him or else surely he would have put that in his ad.
- The cool "custom upholstery" that he installed is not upholstery grade fabric and has already begun to fray. It's just for show just long enough for Vincent/Hal to take pictures and to get paid. Anything after that is not his problem. It's more like something that you would make a throw pillow out of or something. It's not tough enough to sit on or sleep on. The fabric isn’t even sewn together at the seams on the back cushion. It’s held around the foam by safety pins. And the “new foam” that he claims he installs in the front seats – that’s another Vincent/Hal inaccuracy. There are deep cavities and lumps under that new non-upholstery grade fabric. That’s not new foam. That’s another lie.
- The carpet that he “installed” is poorly homemade floor mats that are simply laid on top of the existing carpet. He does not replace the carpet in his flips. He lays some carpet scraps over the old carpet. You cannot see that it is not installed in the photos (and naturally, he's not going to tell you).
- The copper cabinet veneer that he put on have not been sealed so they immediately became badly tarnished. Everyone who’s ever seen a penny knows what raw copper does when you touch it or allow air to touch it. Some of the copper veneer is peeling off as well. So now I have to peal all of that back off and spend time and money on a better, reasonably long lasting solution, as opposed to what was there, which is nothing more than a prop for the photo session. The spray-paint that he used to paint interior surfaces also chips off easily. And the beautiful wood paneling that he installed is only 1/8" thick and is easily broken and damaged. It looks really nice in a picture though. It just happens to be too thin and weak for any practical level of use at all. And the rubber transition strips on the floor – they are not fastened to the floor. Vincent/Hal slops some messy glue under the strips and glues them to the floor. They don’t stay in place and the sticky glue gets all over everything including the engineered flooring.
There are many many more things like this that are too numerous to mention. I have dozens of before and after pictures of this miserable plight and will be more than happy to post them or share them with anyone who asks.
Vincent/Hal disclosed none of this to me and smiled and waved as I headed off on a 1000 trip across the desert, with AC compressor hosed, with the heat blasting, without a working radio, horn, blinkers, tail lights, or instrument panel lights. I listened to the roar of bad bearings interrupted only by an incessant window whistle and the blast of the truckers’ horns as I came into their lanes due to the passenger mirror not staying in place. My only reprieve was provided by the numous times that I was stuck on the side of the road with coolant spewing out all over the place.
Vincent/Hal is well aware that a buyer is badly disadvantaged when making a long distance purchase and it requires a special degree of trust on the buyer's part and impeccable honesty and full disclosure on the seller’s part. He is well aware of that and he's very good at exploiting it.
Vincent/Hal required a huge non-refundable deposit to hold the vehicle while I made travel arrangements for the 1000 mile trip. He does this to ensure that once the buyer makes the trip to see the vehicle, there is no way out of the deal without losing several thousand dollars and the cost of the travel.
Vincent/Hal is dishonest and hurtful to others for his own greed. Do not purchase a vehicle from him. Do not give him a deposit.
I would like to see him banned from selling on the Samba. He is a very poor representation of the quality people in the VW community.
_________________
Dave
Useless '84 Vanagon
'78 Bus
'10 CC Black (his)
'10 CC Brown (hers) |
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damurphy
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2009
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:35 am Post subject: Re: That is exactly what happened to me. |
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| deepseablue65 wrote: |
| I am glad you told me this, and i had a feeling that i was not the only one. The details that you wrote about are almost identical to what happened to me. |
Vincent/Hal has another Vanagon flip for sale right now in the classified section. This latest one is at least the 5th or 6th flip that Vincent/Hal has done. I have seen pictures from other ads on The Samba and elsewhere from previous sales. They all have very similar interior decorating.
I hope everyone checks feedback before buying from him. His ads are short on substance and thick with fluff. He doesn't even disclose the model year of the vehicle in his ad or in his videos. Once you get him on the phone to ask questions, he'll say anything to make the sale. He's very skilled at all of the typical sales tricks that suckers like me fall for.
He will fabricate details of other buyers to create the sense of urgency on your part. He will tell you that his vehicle is in such demand that you have to put up a VERY large NON-REFUNDABLE deposit immediately. He'll lead you to believe that he has grown to love the vehicle and what a deep level of care and affection he's given it. He'll tell you tales of his trips in the beloved vehicle. He'll tell you that he's had to let her go for below value due to him losing his job and needing to make a quick sale - else he'd hang on to her for longer and get her real value. He'll tell you that once you make the purchase, you will immediately have a large amount of equity value in the vehicle. He'll tell you of make-believe maintenance and upgrades that his own loving hands have performed on his beloved lady. He will tell you to buy a one-way airline ticket so that you have no other way home than to go forward with the purchase.
Once he has your money, Vincent/Hal becomes mysteriously distant and unresponsive. If he does reply, he will further lie to you and tell you that he has had family emergencies, employment related issues, and unexpected calls to leave town. He likes to call it being "Crazy Busy". He will tell how weird it is that you are having problems with the vehicle when it worked perfectly for him. He will tell you that it's just unfortunate that so many things have gone wrong AFTER the sale and none of the issues existed prior to the sale.
Vincent/Hal also uses ambiguity to cloud his real name and address from the buyer. As I stated before, his name does not appear on the title, registration, or state inspection form. He does that for a reason.
Any potential buyers are welcome to contact me and I will share with you exact details of the mechanical problems that my purchase from Vincent/Hal has. I will show you close-up photographs that Vincent/Hal did not provide. I will share with you his insolent and arrogant emails to me when I asked for him to make this right.
I'm sure deepseablue65 will be happy to share the details of his experience with Vincent/Hal as well.
All potential buyers should be fully aware of the exact condition of their purchase and any likely expenses on top of the purchase price. If a buyer is fully aware and chooses to follow through with the purchase, that's fine.
However; Vincent/Hal works to see that his buyers do not know the true condition of his flips and he makes sure that they have no way to return the vehicle for a refund once they find out. He fully exploits the vulnerability of the long distance buyer.
The day that I flew into Flagstaff at the airport to meet Vincent/Hal, he "coincidentally" had an out of town trip planned at exactly the same time. He got on a plane and flew out of town mere minutes after sealing the deal with me. Once I got out on the highway and the thing started to fall apart, I had no way to turn around and take it back to him. He had already jetted off somewhere far away from the scene of the crime. I was stuck 1000 miles from home PUSHING my new purchase out of the road, unable to call him to come get the thing since he was long gone.
Buyer Beware! Vincent/Hal is very good at his craft. It's too bad that his craft is interior decorating and ripping nice guys off rather than properly restoring Vanagons.
_________________
Dave
Useless '84 Vanagon
'78 Bus
'10 CC Black (his)
'10 CC Brown (hers) |
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EverettB 
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Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69807
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chawhee11
Samba Member
Joined: November 12, 2011
Posts: 1
Location: indiana
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| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 1:26 pm Post subject: Hal/vangirljenn/[email protected] |
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I went through the whole process with Hal almost the actual purchase. I thought I did my due diligence until I came across this forum. I have to say he knows exactly what to say to make your concerns disappear! The van I almost bought was "The Chocovan" at this point he could not verify the rebuild on the van or the rebuilt tranny but assured me the van needed nothing and was ready to go, and he had rarely ever driven a a stronger vehicle. Just remember when you take on a 20 some year old vehicle you will hardly ever in the position where "nothing" is needed.
I can't tell you the disappointment I felt after reading this forum. Not in the fact I was not going to buy the van but in a fellow human beings willingness to take advantage of someone.
Buy smart! Please learn from my close call! |
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damurphy
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2009
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2012 1:55 pm Post subject: Re: Hal/vangirljenn/[email protected] |
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| chawhee11 wrote: |
| I went through the whole process with Hal almost the actual purchase. .... Buy smart! Please learn from my close call! |
I am extremely pleased that you escaped in time chawhee11.
Hal/Vincent/Jen is a despicable, selfish predator with no place among this warm community of VW hobbyist. It appears that Everett spotted him posting under an alternate ID in order to uncouple from his exposed scamming past on here.
To update the status of the crushing catastrophe that he caused in my life - after sinking several thousand more dollars in the vehicle to bring it up to the state that he claimed it was in when I bought it, the engine BLEW. It's now a massive undriveable lump sitting in my driveway for over a year now while I still make the payments on the loan I took out to pay him. It sits serving as a monument to the disastrous experience and serves as a sour daily reminder of what a lying selfish creep Hal/Vincent/Jen really is.
_________________
Dave
Useless '84 Vanagon
'78 Bus
'10 CC Black (his)
'10 CC Brown (hers) |
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cnynhkr
Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2007
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 6:12 pm Post subject: Chocovan |
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| I almost bought the Chocovan but was advised by a friend here in Oregon not to purchase it sight unseen. The good thing for me was that someone else, perhaps sorry for him, bought it while I was getting ready to go to Santa Cruz to pick it up. Thankfully the only thing I lost was $70 to get my air miles back. The biggest red flag for me was the fact that he had no bank account... peculiar?? Until I just read this feedback on Hal I had tried to contact him both by email and telephone to no avail... peculiar again??? Doesn't sound like it at this point. Hope the guy who came up with the $18.5K on a bike isn't as disappointed as the others!! |
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damurphy
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damurphy
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Joined: June 03, 2009
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| Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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Presently Posting as:
vangirljen - [email protected] - Hal Titus
_________________
Dave
Useless '84 Vanagon
'78 Bus
'10 CC Black (his)
'10 CC Brown (hers) |
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divineright1
Samba Member
Joined: January 01, 2010
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 3:12 pm Post subject: |
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| I was just thumbing through my checkbook from 3 years ago and came across Hal Titus' name and decided to Google him and came up with the forum. I will not bother you with all the details because they have already been stated, IN SPADES! After this length of time and many thousands of dollars, the Westy I got from him is finally reliable but, I have had to redo almost everything. BEWARE! What you see online and hear about IS NOT what you will get. Shall we all get together for a road trip to where ever he may be to express our concerns in person....I'm in. |
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damurphy
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Joined: June 03, 2009
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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I'd be up for it.
Of course Hal makes sure to meet away from his home and that his real name and address are not on the title, registration, or any document associated with the sale. All you get on him is an internet presence which changes frequently - Vincent, Van Girl, etc. I think he bounces between AZ and CA.
Hal is associated with an LLC called HT Online Sales "LLC" out of Palm City Florida. I'm pretty sure he just used his 80+ year old dad's name and address to register the corp though, so that's not really much help.
As I've stated before, rather than take my family on numerous fun filled vacations in a great VW Vanagon sold to me by Hal/Vincent, I just took my family into debt. My family is left with nothing but a cob web covered heap in the driveway that I'm still making payments on. Hal couldn't care less about the HUGE burden and rift this has caused in my family.
He truly is a selfish predator hiding within a generally very kind and honest community.
_________________
Dave
Useless '84 Vanagon
'78 Bus
'10 CC Black (his)
'10 CC Brown (hers) |
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EverettB
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Joined: April 11, 2000
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damurphy
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Joined: June 03, 2009
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2014 1:14 pm Post subject: |
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There is no doubt the Vanagon in the ad quoted below is one of Hal/Vincent/Vangirl's flips. Hal Titus appears to be now masquerading as Rose Chastain. This vehicle has all the trademarks of his typical decorating.
My experience as well as others' is that this seller previously has not represented the condition or history of the vehicle truthfully and the vehicle's documents such as title, inspection, registration, etc. were not provided and/or did not have his real name or address on them. He has been unresponsive to dispute resolution after the financial transaction.
Do not purchase without an extensive mechanical inspection and without verifying legitimate ownership and contact information from the seller.
_________________
Dave
Useless '84 Vanagon
'78 Bus
'10 CC Black (his)
'10 CC Brown (hers) |
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