GT Supercars in Columbus Ohio- John Hester

Steve26 · 07-26-04, 12:36 PM

I sent John Hester $820.00 for a windshield, right door, door handles and some weather stripping. He has cashed my check and never sent anything. It has been two months and he never answers the phone or returns my calls. This guy is a scamer and not to be trusted. DON'T SEND HIM ANY $$$$.

Ron Earp · 07-26-04, 02:24 PM

I'll see what I can find out about John for you. I've spoken to him and considered him a stand up guy. He and I had a hell of a time with a fellow named George Cochran, who is definitely not to be trusted, and I figured John would never behave like George after all of that.

Lynn · 07-26-04, 03:51 PM

Stephen,

I know John very well. In fact he drove to Raleigh from Columbus to rebuild my doors on the car when the first set didn't fit. That doesn't sound like a scammer to me. He may be slow in getting back to you, but I would be utterly amazed if he was just plain ripping you off.

Chill out and let us see what we can find out. I know that is easy for me to say, since it's not my money, but I have been where you are for much longer periods of time before. Windshields can be somewhat feast or famine: when they are around they are easy to get, if not it can take a while before enough demand causes a production run.

Lynn

Ron Earp · 07-26-04, 04:24 PM

Lynn has been there and done that with a lot of this in the industry. Just hold on and see what we can scare up, I agree with Lynn, John is not the sort of guy who would rip you off.

Steve26 · 07-27-04, 01:00 PM

I thank you both for helping me with this, here is some more info that will help you see why I am feeling the way I am. I met John via the internet and we started talking. John seemed like a great guy, very helpful and easy to talk to. I told him about a shifter I had designed for my car and sold to Bob Lacey at CAV(also a very good guy) and John said he would be intrested. I sent John a shifter, he said it was awsome and wanted to buy it. We decided it would be better for both of us to trade the shifter for the front light plexiglass covers. John said it would be a few weeks before he could get the covers to me I said no problem. Shortly after this I decided I needed to replace my cracked right door and Joun had the great soultion of sending both the inner and outter pieces to me so that I could bond them in place for an exact fit. Great soultion, I decided to buy a windshield and door handles at the same time. John once again said it would take a few weeks to get the glass and to save $$ he would send all the stuff at one time. I sain great, sent him a check on 5/13 and waited. When the windshield came in John called me to ask how I wanted the masking to be, I told him and he said he would ship the stuff out withen a week! That was six weeks ago!!!! All the parts were in, whenever I called I got the machine and no return call. All the e mails I sent came back as bad address and I never once heard from John again? What would any of you think? At this point I contacted the better business b, this was a wase of time so then I contacted the Attorneys General in Ohio. That was yesterday, and here we are today. I hope this clears things up as to why I am acting the way I am, I told John I would do anything I could do to help him out and then I am treated like this.If John has a different story I would sure like to here it.At this point I would be greatful for any explanation from John.
Steve Thompson

Steve26 · 07-27-04, 01:04 PM

Wow, I was in a hurry and my spelling shows it! Sorry.

Tom_Hughes · 07-27-04, 01:48 PM

John,

Perhaps there is a forum member on the ground in Ohio close by who can do some on the ground research for you. Best bet may to have someone go knock on his front door or place of business.

Mike Dozier · 07-27-04, 06:00 PM

I don't believe John has a place of business.
He may also have moved, which would explain a lot.

FYI when I contacted Utah's Bureau of Consumer Affairs
about George (aka Kustom Metal Works) I got a form letter
stating they would keep it on file in case anyone inquires.
But clearly they had no plans to follow up on the complaint.
Sounds like Ohio BBB went to the same class.

MikeD

Steve26 · 08-06-04, 02:06 PM

Well guy's, here we are on August 6th and I still have received no parts and no response to my e mails. Has anyone heard anything from John Hester?

Ron Earp · 08-09-04, 11:19 AM

Sorry, but I have not. I tried the old number I had but it was out of service and the website is gone. I sincererly hope you haven't been screwed like I was with George. Good luck but I think you might have to pursue some legal action.

Ron Earp · 08-20-04, 07:10 AM

Did you get any resolution to your situation? It is nice to hear back positive if something good happens. Ron

Jim Downard · 08-26-04, 09:46 AM

Hey guys, I live about 40 miles Southeast of Columbus, OH. I know a guy who's friend is supposed to be building GT40's. Don't know if its the same guy, but I'll check into it. Maybe it'll pan out for some good info.
Back in touch soon I hope.
Jim Downard

Steve26 · 09-08-04, 02:18 PM

Well guys here we are on September 8th and I still have not heard back from John or received any parts? Guess I'm going to have to make a trip to Ohio? I got an e mail from Mike saying he can't get a response from John as well, don't get involved with John Hester you will wish you had not.
Steve

Steve26 · 09-15-04, 12:07 PM

Well guys,
I received a call from the Attorney General informing me that they can't find John Hester! He has moved with no forwarding address, there is nothing they can do. So much for "calm down he will come through." Thanks for all the help and support?
Steve Thompson

Lynn · 09-15-04, 01:54 PM

Steve,

I am really sorry this has happened to you. I am totally flabbergasted, to say the least. All of my attempts to contact John have, obviously, failed. I can only hope, and I do believe, that someday, when he is able, he will contact you to set things right. He must have gotten into a terrible fix.

He has two young daughters and I know they are his first priority, as they should be. I can only think that he is doing what he feels he must to take care of them. All this is speculation, but I don't think I could have been that far off in my opinions of him. Not that I am trying to justify or excuse his actions because no one made me judge and jury over John.

Regards,
Lynn

mike_starling · 09-15-04, 02:30 PM

Steve,

Am sorry to hear of your plight. I've known John for about three years, and feel that he must be having some very significant problem to be acting this way. This is simply not like John at all. He has been an earnest guy who has tried to mend the offenses of others in the past.

I can't imagine that being vituperative at the moment helps very much. That being said, I hope things work out relatively quickly for everyone involved.

mike_starling · 10-06-04, 08:15 PM

John left me an e-mail note that I could pick up my clip and lower side panels at his old place of business. I did that. He had left them with the landlord (the owner of the shop next door) with instructions to release the pieces to me. I did not get a chance to see or talk to John.

John was to put flairs on the clip as part of an arrangement we worked out some time ago. He did a LOT more than just that ... he fixed a number of things that had not been well done by the original maker including finishing the filling and contouring of the upper air inlets and redoing and reinforcing the slots for the latches. He also fixed a screwup that I committed when trying to hang the clip. The work is beautifully done.

This turn of events reenforces my belief that John will work through whatever problems he has at the moment and everyone will end up a little better than whole in the process.

Bill Bayard · 10-07-04, 05:25 AM

Mike,

If you picked up your clip recently at his "old" place of

business, does that mean he has a new shop somewhere else?

Perhaps you could share John's new e-mail address,

so people can contact him regarding their missing parts?

Another long, drawn out, "KMW George" debacle, we don't need!

Hopefully, John will be able to get things straightened out

soon, and get back to finishing the monocoque.

Bill

mike_starling · 10-07-04, 08:40 AM

Bill,

I don't know if John has a new place of business. Steve has John's e-mail address as well as any phone numbers I've had. As far as I know, he is the only person with a problem outstanding.

BTW, John was probably George's most significant victim and is (I believe) directly responsible for the major problems that set John's business on to the troubled road in the first place. John did as much as he could to undo that impact on others. I know of at least two such cases. George is a real piece of work.

I think this is why Lynn and I were so surprized by the recent turn of events.

Bill Bayard · 10-07-04, 09:24 AM

Mike,

John seemed like a stand up guy, with a great future ahead of him. It'd be a damn shame if KMW George's antics put an end to John's dream of manufacturing GT40s.
I can't picture John not fulfilling his commitments either, but leaving Steve in limbo, wasn't a very good idea.
Let's hope that this is resolved soon, for all parties involved.

Bill