OK first let’s start with the obvious question.
Why would a Miami based company have a Vespa in Arizona, Shaq's new home?
The simple answer that is where our GPS partners are located. The long version would involve thirty two hours of driving through the vast territory of Florida and its curved highway system, a three state sprint through the recovering "Gulf of Mexico" with its small towns and cities and slipping into Phoenix at night as the sun was setting. So let’s get to how the Vespa got to Phoenix in the first place...
The obvious question, "how did your Vespa end up in Phx?"
I had a vision of a GPS based system that would allow members to use access cards vs. keys. I knew this system, as I saw it in my head, did not exist and I wanted to know how much of the system could be built with off the shelf applications. Could I really make this happen? Is this even possible? And is it cost effective? I researched the net for info on GPS devices that are small enough to fit into a Vespa or could even be used with a Vespa scooter. After almost 3 months on the internet searching around for answers and numerous calls I discovered a small company in Az. that had a device small enough to fit into the Vespa. I called and spoke to the then owner, heads of various dept., and the resident "Guru" on whether their system could work for our application. We decided that more testing would be needed and the best way to get that done was to have a Vespa on site to "tinker" with! I leapt at the chance to have a company that was showing so much enthusiasm for our vision, work on a solution that would help us scale up our services as we grew.
Could I build a system around this device with the companies help?
The company then arranged to have the Vespa picked up and shipped to their main location in Phoenix Az. (which has a special place in my heart as they city I learned how to run a business from the ground up with a direct sales company). The team’s enthusiasm always matched ours and they moved fast with development, testing, and coding the API (the language that allows systems to talk to each other) well almost!
Monkey wrenches come in all sizes!
At some point before we got down to the "nuts and bolts" of the actual API and what was expected we hit a function issue that could be a major "gremlin." Long story short, the device was draining juice from the battery and the Vespa would not be able to start within a couple days! So we halted all talks until the "Guru's" could figure out how we could work around this issue...
The sky is falling!
The state of Arizona receiving over 300 complaints via the BBB of Phoenix was investigating the owners for 38 counts of violations of Conspiracy, Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud and Transactional Money Laundering which caused 3,000 victims to lose a total of approximately $6 million dollars (you can read the details of our nightmare in more details following the link)..
AYFKM!
Once we found this out (we found out the weekend before they were sentenced) we scrambled to find a way to get back our Vespa. We made numerous calls to schedule the Vespa for shipment but an uneasy feeling came over us when the price of shipping it went from $200 to $300 to $700 in a matter of days! With our options limited by mistrust we serviced the company truck, checked the tire pressure, filled up the gas tank and drove 36 hrs to AZ from Miami... On our way (we left on Friday night) we spoke by phone to the office over the weekend then suddenly nothing! When we pull up to the office Monday night turns out the office is closed! No one picking up the phone lights off, nothing...With few options left for the night and after 12 hrs of straight driving we decide dinner and some sleep is in order, we can always come back in the morning when the office should be open
Tues. morning and the office are still not open and people are not picking up the phone. What do we do? Luckily we checked the leasing office to see if they had any info on the company or when the doors would be open. "They shut down yesterday (Monday) and high tailed it out of here with their tails between their legs!" or something like that was said. Flabbergasted and confused we pleaded our case to the owner/manager of the property (luckily the office was located in an office park, ironically the same office park I worked out of, in fact the exact same office address I just never put two and two together to realize it was the same location I spent a year in). The company had 6 offices 4 connected together and 2 separated by a wall. When we walked in it was like a scene out of "Boiler room" the movie with Ben Affleck working for scam brokers (simplified version see the movie).
Boiler room!!!
The scene was unreal one room had 5 shredders in it and paper scraps were everywhere! Bags of shredded documents piled to the ceiling and computers ripped from the walls and desk, chairs strew everywhere, and in general the place looked like someone (s) left in a hurry!!! We ran from section to section room to room trying to locate our Vespa with no luck. After a quick search of the main section we persuaded the manager and the property assistant to open the last set of offices...
There to our right was our Vespa in the last office tucked against the wall and safe but how do we get the manager to release it to us without a big legal battle? "If you can provide proof you own it I MIGHT release it to you." It has always been "company policy" to leave a copy of all registration and ownership papers on the Vespa's, and this was no different. I opened the storage unit and there was a copy of the registration and my OLD business card stapled to the registration, oh what joy! But will he release the Vespa to us, the company no longer exists and they still own him rent!
Thank goodness there are still business people who are honest and fair, he copied my license, business card, and the registration and released the Vespa to us with no further hassles. It seems that people who gave money to this company in hopes of becoming a distributor would parade through his office every day for info on where the company has disappeared to.
So what did we learn?
We are currently searching for a new GPS provider but will limit our involvement to "work for hire" and we will require proof of reliability, and ask more questions since we know what questions to ask now
Ironic Twist
By way of the internet I have discovered that the company has since changed its name and is doing the same exact thing it was doing before, just under a different name. Wonders never cease at the depravity of some people to make a fast buck.
Check out this latest news story and make up your own mind on this company and then drop me a note!
Horizon Technology / ISkyUSA / Millennium Plus
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