rob osprey
New member
- Joined
- 18 Sep 2019
- Messages
- 12
NEGATIVE REVIEW
Apologies for not posting sooner on this, I couldn't as I hadn't been paid in full. I now have so here's the text of the Google review that I just updated.
** Scam Alert **
Be VERY wary dealing with Specialist Cars of Malton Limited. In October 2018 I paid top price (£235,000) when I bought what was supposed to be an immaculate, fully original and fully restored 1972 Porsche 911 2.4S. This is what Specialist Cars of Malton advertised the car as. As a kid I'd always wanted to own a 911 the same age as me, and this was me fulfilling a lifelong dream at the ripe age of 49. How the dream went sour....
I was assured by John Hawkins (the owner) that all the restoration work was conducted in-house at Specialist Cars of Malton to a very high standard and this was "the best classic 911 2.4S he'd ever seen or sold". Impulsively and without an inspection I took him at his word. Shortly after taking delivery of the car I experienced a few minor running issues. I live on the south coast, so rather than take back to the dealer I took it to a classic Porsche specialist local to me. They quickly and sadly informed me that what I'd bought was absolutely NOT an original restored 911 2.4S.
It was in actual fact a parts-bin frankenstein re-creation of lots of different 911 cars, from different years, from different models and not a particularly well put together one at that. They gave me a very long list of issues and inconsistencies which was too long to read, some of which actually made the car dangerous to use. I immediately informed John Hawkins about this. Initially he tried to fob it off as "nonsense" and to reassure me, but he could not ignore the experts who really had nothing to gain by only telling me the truth. Eventually John Hawkins said "OK, I see where you are coming from, I'll take the car back and refund you". This was in November 2018.
Since then John Hawkins and his lawyer Mark Jones of Gordons LLP have done nothing but mess me about, promising to pay and then missing every deadline they agreed. Despite many false promises I am yet to receive my payment of £235k, Specialist Cars of Malton and Gordons Solicitors citing "poor cashflow" as the reason I cannot be paid. I have in writing that I will be paid in full on 8th March 2019. If this happens then (and only then) will I remove this review. Until I am paid in full this review stays to prevent others trusting Mr Hawkins and falling into the same trap. If I could give a zero star review I would.
UPDATE 18.9.19 - Since not receiving a penny, I had to instruct debt collectors to recover my losses. Thankfully today the car was finally collected and I've been repaid in full. But the cost to me in time, effort, worry and my cashflow has been significant. If you choose to deal with John Hawkins or Specialist Cars of Malton - good luck to you. My experience couldn't have been worse.
Apologies for not posting sooner on this, I couldn't as I hadn't been paid in full. I now have so here's the text of the Google review that I just updated.
** Scam Alert **
Be VERY wary dealing with Specialist Cars of Malton Limited. In October 2018 I paid top price (£235,000) when I bought what was supposed to be an immaculate, fully original and fully restored 1972 Porsche 911 2.4S. This is what Specialist Cars of Malton advertised the car as. As a kid I'd always wanted to own a 911 the same age as me, and this was me fulfilling a lifelong dream at the ripe age of 49. How the dream went sour....
I was assured by John Hawkins (the owner) that all the restoration work was conducted in-house at Specialist Cars of Malton to a very high standard and this was "the best classic 911 2.4S he'd ever seen or sold". Impulsively and without an inspection I took him at his word. Shortly after taking delivery of the car I experienced a few minor running issues. I live on the south coast, so rather than take back to the dealer I took it to a classic Porsche specialist local to me. They quickly and sadly informed me that what I'd bought was absolutely NOT an original restored 911 2.4S.
It was in actual fact a parts-bin frankenstein re-creation of lots of different 911 cars, from different years, from different models and not a particularly well put together one at that. They gave me a very long list of issues and inconsistencies which was too long to read, some of which actually made the car dangerous to use. I immediately informed John Hawkins about this. Initially he tried to fob it off as "nonsense" and to reassure me, but he could not ignore the experts who really had nothing to gain by only telling me the truth. Eventually John Hawkins said "OK, I see where you are coming from, I'll take the car back and refund you". This was in November 2018.
Since then John Hawkins and his lawyer Mark Jones of Gordons LLP have done nothing but mess me about, promising to pay and then missing every deadline they agreed. Despite many false promises I am yet to receive my payment of £235k, Specialist Cars of Malton and Gordons Solicitors citing "poor cashflow" as the reason I cannot be paid. I have in writing that I will be paid in full on 8th March 2019. If this happens then (and only then) will I remove this review. Until I am paid in full this review stays to prevent others trusting Mr Hawkins and falling into the same trap. If I could give a zero star review I would.
UPDATE 18.9.19 - Since not receiving a penny, I had to instruct debt collectors to recover my losses. Thankfully today the car was finally collected and I've been repaid in full. But the cost to me in time, effort, worry and my cashflow has been significant. If you choose to deal with John Hawkins or Specialist Cars of Malton - good luck to you. My experience couldn't have been worse.