Consumer complaint received 2023-04-01
Company: Early Warning Services, LLC
State: TX
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2022, I Zelled  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX dollars for a transportation service of my motorcycle from Kansas to Texas that I never received. XXXX XXXX XXXX never fulfilled his side of the agreement and could not deliver on the service he agreed to fulfill. And I never received a refund from him for the full amount I paid. For a little backstory I bought a motorcycle from a dealership in Kansas and originally had a company called XXXX deal with the transportation of my motorcycle. The XXXX delivery driver got into an accident and was unable to deliver my motorcycle. XXXX provided a refund and the delivery driver stated that he knows a company that can haul my motorcycle for me. He stated that the owner of this company could do it for XXXX dollars but the owner requires the amount to be paid upfront but he will accept a deposit. I asked what the company name is for research purposes and he stated that the company is XXXX XXXX ( alleged company phone number is XXXX ) a towing company that has been in business for over 10 years. He said he can have the owner reach out to me. On XX/XX/2022 at XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX reached out to me from XXXX stating his name is XXXX and he is with XXXX XXXX and was told to reach out to me in regards to towing my motorcycle to Texas. I assumed he was the owner stating the previous delivery driver said the owner would reach out to me. He stated he would be able to deliver my motorcycle to Texas and would be able to pick it up the following day. Due to some issues the dealership had with the motorcycle I had to hold off on the delivery dates. I informed XXXX the motorcycle was not ready for pickup and that I will let him know when it would be available and ready to go. On XX/XX/2022, I contacted XXXX in regards to the transportation of my motorcycle. He said he would be able to do it and it would be picked up and delivered during the weekend. On XX/XX/2022, he contacted me stating he could pick it up Friday afternoon and have my motorcycle delivered on Saturday night. I agreed and asked how he would like to received payment. He asked if I had XXXX  or XXXX ( XXXX XXXX is $ XXXX @ XXXX XXXX ) but both of those methods of payment he mentioned failed. Having tried multiple times in other forms of payment I suggested Zelle and he agreed to it. Due to him not having Zelle he told me to send the money to his moms Zelle account and he would receive it from her. I agreed assuming she works with himself. On XX/XX/2022, he gave me his moms account information for Zelle, ( XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ) putting in her information I tried to send the money but it said she wasnt registered with Zelle. He stated she has it set up with XXXX  XXXX XXXX and to try to use a different phone number ( XXXX ). I informed him the same thing happened and he said to try the XXXX number again. It worked and I informed him I was able to send him XXXX dollars and I send him proof of the payments He informed me he would be able to pick up the motorcycle from the dealership around 3 or 4 and then XXXX head out to Texas and delivery the motorcycle after. On XX/XX/2022, at XXXX XXXX  he informed me he was pulling into the dealership and had gotten a call about a family issue and was unable to pick up the motorcycle. I informed him I would let the dealership know he had a family issue and was very understanding with the situation at the time. On XX/XX/2022, I contacted him checking up on him due to his family issue and asked if he had an idea of a timeframe he would be able to pick up the bike and deliver it. He said the family issue turned into an emergency so he will get back with me in a couple days about the transportation of my motorcycle. I gave him some time to deal with his family and was very understanding of it. On XX/XX/2022 I contacted him again in regards to the transportation of my motorcycle because the dealership was wondering when the motorcycle will be picked up and I was starting to get a little nervous about it as well. I never got a response from him so I contacted him the following day on XX/XX/2022 and got a response from his alleged assistant. I asked the assistant to relay my message to XXXX. After not getting any information or updates from XXXX I contacted him again on XX/XX/2022 asking if he would pick up and deliver my motorcycle because my wife and the dealership were starting to worry about the transportation of the motorcycle. I received no response from XXXX and continued to contact him the following days starting to get more nervous about the situation. On XX/XX/2022 I contacted him again requesting either the agreement be fulfilled or I want a refund of my money. He responded stating he was on an unexpected business trip to Utah and he will be back Friday and he can call his bank to issue a refund if needed. I requested that if the motorcycle isnt picked up by Saturday I will need a refund of my money. I texted him again the following day to confirm we were good for Saturday but got no response. On XX/XX/2022 after contacting XXXX to see if he was able to fulfill the agreement and him confirming he wont by giving some excuse I requested a refund telling him I need my money back. After receiving no response I contacted him again on XX/XX/2022 asking if he could just Zelle me back my money and stated he contacted his bank to send me back my money for the refund. But I sent him the money through Zelle and it was not directly with his bank. This is when I started to get anxious about maybe I was getting scammed. I stated that if I dont get the money back by Tuesday I want him to Zelle it back to me trying to be understanding of the situation. On XX/XX/2022 I contacted him again after not receiving my refund he replied saying he was sick and has called the bank and they will issue a refund. I tried to be patience and understand the situation but something seemed off. In XX/XX/2022 after being as patience as I can be I contacted him wondering where my refund is and he responded he sent a message of a time frame of 7-10 business days but I never received that message. I became more anxious about the situation and realized I was getting scammed. I then responded that there is no refund process for Zelle and that his bank isnt going to issue a refund because the money was sent through Zelle and he would need to Zelle the money back. I told him I would take all this information to the police and file fraud against him for willful misrepresentations with the intent to falsely obtain money. I never received my refund of XXXX for the service I paid for. After the incident I contacted my bank explaining what happened wondering if I could get my money back but they were unable to help. I tried to dispute the charges but they refused to help. I tried to file a fraud case with my bank as well and they were unable to assist me. After that I contacted Zelle to see if they could reverse the transaction and give me a refund but they were not helpful and unwilling to help. I even contacted the police for fraud/scam to see if they could do an investigation and help me get a refund. The police did not resolve or help with the situation. After trying those methods I contacted the FTC and the XXXX  to see if there was anything that could be done but they werent able to help. I have exhausted all my options and am now filing a complaint here in hopes I could get some assistance in this situation and hopefully get it resolved. I just want a full refund of my money and would appreciate any assistance in this situation.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation