Do i have a chance?

[Jdcob]

I ask for your patience! I tried to only include pertinent details for whats been going on throughout this year long process.


The gist of the story is that i paid for a service through a website of a mechanic who resides in california. I am in arizona. I paid up front for him to purchase and refurbish a motorcycle. He strung me along for months. Wont refund my money, and the bike he sent me is nowhere near what we discussed. Ive sent my demand of payment, and he tried to replace the bike, but his work and his business practice is why im taking him to court, so it doesnt make sense to accept a replacement bike.

The story is below in greater detail:

I live in phoenix arizona, and ordered from an online vendor in los angeles, california for a refurbished vintage motorcycle. I made the mistake of paying up front which was supposed to have been for the vendor to purchase a 'base' and build the bike up from there. He came up with a lot of excuses to delay the completion of the project, but after a few months of nagging him, he started the work. I told him i wanted him to sign a contract, which he did, to promise the bike would have certain work done, and parts replaced. Before i knew it he was demanding the last thousand before the job was complete, to which i declined and reiterated our contract. He told me i was going to have to wait because he needed to spend my money on other bikes for other customers. I waited, but when the time came to ship the completed bike to me, he told me he didnt realize there was no title for the bike and i needed to choose another, breaching our contract of sending the bike as soon as it was complete. He found another really quick, which he offered me for weeks after, pushing me to buy it.. i declined. It was later found to be a piece of junk by a friend who did purchase it.

I told him i was tired of dealing with it and would just like a refund, but he told me he doesnt refund money. So i told him to send me a bike for what i had paid already, and more time went by. Not hearing back from him for two weeks i began to post negative reviews of him on message boards, warning people of my experience. Nothing embellished. He read some of these reviews and began to harrass me, and tell me i would receive a pile of junk if i didnt remove them. I told him i would, and i did remove the reviews.

He finally shipped me a bike, but when it arrived it wouldnt run, i called him and told him im not taking it, and he said if i didnt take it he would tell the judge he offered me a sound vehicle and provide pictures plus video. I assumed he meant he'd fix it up beforehand etc.. I had to have the bike towed home. I took pictures of the bike immediately after getting home. Couldnt get it running, i called the seller to ask him what we could do, he told me i needed to have a mechanic call him.

I brought the bike to a vintage motorcycle dealer, and asked what it needs to be mechanically sound. He told me it needed everything that the seller told me he had done to it. I got a quote of the cost of repairs(valued more than the cost of the bike) and also the mechanics professional opinion of the bike's value. He said about 300 bucks. I mailed this and a demand of payment to the seller. I received a call on the last day at 9pm for an offer of a replacement bike rather than a refund. I declined, he told me i wont get anything from my case, because the contract was for a different bike. He said he only wanted to work something out because he didnt want to deal with going to small claims court. I refused the bike because the pictures he gave me are of the same bike he was "supposedly" sending me before.

Am i grabbin at straws here? Any chance to win? I have emails throughout the whole process with phone calls and texts associated with dates, a contract for the bike we originally agreed on which he breached, and pictures with meta data of the bike the day i received it.

Do I have to sue him in california where he operates his business?

Can i use his lack of business license against him?


I appreciate the advice! Thank you for you time!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?