Handtools from Germany MIA?

[drummerdimitri]

So after having placed a total of 6 orders from their website, I still have two pending orders amounting to 576.13$ that have been placed almost 6 months ago now and have not yet shipped.

I've been unable to contact Michael Scholven who seems to be running the one man show over there as he has been ignoring my emails for months now and no one ever seems to pick up the phone over there even though I've tried calling every day at different times for over 10 days in a row!

I was promised that my two open orders would be shipped in mid September (last email I received from him was on the 11th) but alas, the status of my orders have not changed and I've still to receive any of them.

My experience with HFG has been absolutely horrible thus far and I was wondering if anyone was able to contact this company or have an order shipped in the past month or so as that would indicate whether or not this negligence from their end has any malicious intent towards me personally.

My last email to them was regarding the cancellation of both orders and unsurprisingly, I haven't received any confirmation of this so far.

I've run out of ways to contact this company and I'm not sure if I'll ever get my items or refund back at this point and that makes me extremely frustrated and angry!

 

[drtyler]

HFG was fairly active posting on Facebook every few days, but that seems to have stopped a few weeks ago. If he's not answering the phone or responding to emails, I'm not sure what else you can do. That stinks, and its a shame you are having to deal with it.

If you purchased with credit card, you might be able to get the charges reversed?

 

[drummerdimitri]

HFG was fairly active posting on Facebook every few days, but that seems to have stopped a few weeks ago. If he's not answering the phone or responding to emails, I'm not sure what else you can do. That stinks, and its a shame you are having to deal with it.

If you purchased with credit card, you might be able to get the charges reversed?

I will contact my bank to see if that can be done yes but in the meantime, I'd like to hear other people's experiences with HFG in the past couple of months.

 

[mdrawde]

I placed an order on the 7th of August, and it shipped on the 9th of August.

 

[jensputzier]

Is there anyone here who bought from HFG NA LLC in Miami (Michael Scholven) directly or through Amazon marketplace and did not receive their tools or did not get his money back?

 

[dukefx]

What exactly did you order? I've had some bad luck with tool orders, especially with USAG stuff from Mr. Worker where you can order, but then you get a message a while later that the African kid who is supposed to mine the ore that will be used to make that tool is yet to be born. There are some things that are sometimes hard to get. It is indeed strange that your messages and phone calls get ignored. I have absolutely no experience with HFG as I'm European and *usually* have an easier time getting my hands on European made stuff and I don't need to resort to sites like HFG.

 

[zootmancars]

Is there anyone here who bought from HFG NA LLC in Miami (Michael Scholven) directly or through Amazon marketplace and did not receive their tools or did not get his money back?

I ordered some tools in October and after contacting him in December, was promised they would ship in January. June is half-way over, no tools, no contact nor response. I had ordered in the past with no problems and very quick shipping. needless to say, I'm very dissapointed.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Sounds like somebody trying to breadcrumb their customers long enough that they can't dispute the charges anymore. Thanks for the warning, haven't used this vendor and never will now. Hope they go to jail for fraud.

 

[oldschoolcraft]

Sounds like somebody trying to breadcrumb their customers long enough that they can't dispute the charges anymore. Thanks for the warning, haven't used this vendor and never will now. Hope they go to jail for fraud.

I have a rule of thumb on prepaying for things that can take a while to arrive. If the allowable dispute period is less than prepaying for it, then I generally won't do it.

If the allowable dispute period is longer than the estimated delivery, then after they miss the window, I politely let them know that for my protection they need to refund the charge, and initiate a new charge (to reset my dispute time frame) or if they dont, I intend to dispute the charge within the allowed time frame.

It costs them money to refund you and have you re-place the same order, but if they missed the deadline, that's on them, and it's only fair for them to eat that cost. The alternative is you waive your dispute rights which is not fair to you, and you aren't the one who has failed up to this point in the transaction so you shouldn't be the one to incur the costs.

 

[zootmancars]

Thanks for you responses. I will, of course be a little more cautious in the future. HFG had a lot of stuff on YouTube and had a good reputation as far as I could see. I ordered some items maybe a year before this and they arrived quickly and had some nice discount coupons and stickers and the like. I was very happy and didn't hesitate at all to place this order. When I saw it hadn't shipped by December, I got a little worried and contacted them. I heard nothing until January (too late to dispute) but I believed Michael and thought he would make good on it. I contact him every now and then and of course, get no response. He even has it set up on the website so you can't contact about a problem, but you can about shipping on a new order (I tried this too, no response) so it looks like they are still at least taking money. Just be careful guys.

 

[jensputzier]

I was not going to post negative reviews about a competitor but as far as I know from some of his customers who turned to me he runs a fraudulent operation. He owes me 5k Euro plus legal fees and the same to one of the leading German tool companies and he took appr. 10k US$ from three customers in the USA and Australia who will probably never see their money or tools. I know Michael personally for a decade and I always thought of him to be a good guy which is why I sold him tools in December which he never paid for.

 

[jensputzier]

Hope they go to jail for fraud.

This is a one man operation with two companies, one in Germany and one in Miami, USA. If you are in the USA you will have practical difficulties to go against him in Germany. I also assume the German company might go bankrupt eventually. A US customer who bought from the US company could go against that one and end the operation in the US.

 

[zootmancars]

How does he keep the website going and obviously taking orders? I would think we had internet fraud laws that would shut him down. It's a shame as he seemed like a nice guy. I guess that's essential for being a good con-man.

 

[cherrybomb]

In the past I had ordered from HFG about 3 times,450 or so dollars,they were great responding and shipping,great prices on Stahwille. This past spring,ordered over 200 dollars.They immediately charged my card.After about 2 weeks,I smelled a rat.Sent 3 each e-mails to the both mails on the German site.My wife sent on her phone,still no response.We contacted our charge card customer service,they called us,they put the letter of the law on HFG,German site,our card got credited,and finally they e-mailed us and said order cancelled. They had,a great business model,I use to believe,never again!I reordered from Amazon,two days later had my stuff.Consumers have rights,our card did well

 

[cherrybomb]

I don't know,but isn't their a consumer time that an order has to be acknowledged, whether its back ordered,filled,shipped or cancelled?

 

[jensputzier]

How does he keep the website going and obviously taking orders? I would think we had internet fraud laws that would shut him down. It's a shame as he seemed like a nice guy. I guess that's essential for being a good con-man.

As long as no customer actually takes legal action, nothing will happen.

 

[jensputzier]

I don't know,but isn't their a consumer time that an order has to be acknowledged, whether its back ordered,filled,shipped or cancelled?

Well it's good service to inform your customer about the order. It happens sometimes that you have tools in your store that the manufacturer discontinued without communicating or other things happen. Then you inform your customer right away, apologize and find a way to solve the situation to the best of your customer.

 

[bonneyman]

With the energy crunch that's hit Germany this past year manufacturing has taken a huge hit. Anything made in Germany is going to be increasingly hard to come by. Car parts, tools, chemicals, etc. If it were me I'd diversify and have a selection of tools from different COO's just to be safe.

 

[jensputzier]

With the energy crunch that's hit Germany this past year manufacturing has taken a huge hit. Anything made in Germany is going to be increasingly hard to come by. Car parts, tools, chemicals, etc. If it were me I'd diversify and have a selection of tools from different COO's just to be safe.

I live in Germany and own a manufacturing company in addition to the tool online shop. I know what you mean but it is not as critical as it seems to you.

 

[cherrybomb]

This thread,although painful to those that lost large amounts of money,may prevent those who were looking at purchasing from HFG.

 

[drummerdimitri]

I never got to finish the story and figured it is worth getting to the bottom of it.

So I decided to contact my bank and file a fraud complaint with Visa. My bank told me not to get my hopes up as it had been months since the transaction but I decided to proceed any way.

A month later, they refunded the paid amount and I received a call from Mr. Douchebag personally notifying me that my orders have been cancelled and apologizing for not having had the time to process my orders because of logistics reasons the fact that he was understaffed.

At least I got my money back and I hope others can benefit from my terrible experience.

 

[jensputzier]

because of logistics reasons the fact that he was understaffed.

You mean his bank account was understuffed?

 

[jensputzier]

Konvolut von Markenwerkzeugen, ca 40000 Handwerkzeuge

Sie bieten hier auf ein Konvolut von Markenwerkzeugen der Hersteller Hazet, Knipex, Gedore,...,Konvolut von Markenwerkzeugen, ca 40000 Handwerkzeuge in Herten - Herten

www.kleinanzeigen.de

 

[zootmancars]

Contact the Nordrhein-Westfalen police to see if you can get your items back. Maybe a bit optimistic.

 

[cherrybomb]

Thats a benefit of this site,we applaud the good with good recommendations and those that grade poorly.we communicate the risk!Good stuff!,but feel for those that lost their hard earned money

 

[jensputzier]

Contact the Nordrhein-Westfalen police to see if you can get your items back. Maybe a bit optimistic.

Actually I already have a title but no leverage at the moment as the bailiff has to do the job. Selling the stuff off is no offense yet (apart from selling as a private person to sell this tax free. If he uses the money to pay me it would be OK. If he sells, takes the money and runs that might mean jail.

 

[zoff]

Hey fellas! Long time, first time.

I ordered from HFG years ago and I never had any issues. During COVID, I placed an order for a torque wrench case and I never received it and I never received a response when I inquired. It was a small order and we were going through the pandemic so I chalked it up to supply chain problems and no big deal. This past February I wanted to order the correct Hazet and Stahlwille tools for a suspension swap out on my BMW and HFG had the best price compared to anybody else in the US. I placed the order and my card was promptly charged. After two weeks, I inquired about the status of my order. Michael sent me an email apologizing for the delay and promised my parts would be shipped the following week. Three weeks later, having not received anything, I followed up with Michael about my order. I received an automated response from HFG indicating my order was "...in process!". I followed up again approximately two weeks later requesting an update and low and behold, he called my cell and left a long message apologizing for the delay and promising to get my part shipped. That was two weeks ago and I have yet to receive anything. A week ago I placed an order for the same parts with Jens and today, I received an email with a tracking number from Jens indicating my tools are on the way.

Buyer Beware, Michael Scholven of Hand Tools from Germany is a Scheisser

 

[cherrybomb]

Is a Scheisser a no good man?

 

[neophyte]

Is a Scheisser a no good man?

The term means “shi**er” and is generally used for thieves and conmen, etc.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

Just a bit of information, contacting the police (in Germany) for stuff like this is pointless, as it is an entirely civil matter. That is unless you have hard evidence of fraud being committed and can submit that when filing criminal charges. Otherwise you’re just going to get a love letter from the state attorney’s office telling you they can’t help you, after filing charges - which you could do online. If you try that at the police station, they will tell you off from the get go.

And while you can be quick calling something “fraud” it is incredible hard to proof in cases like this, which is why almost no one who is being owed money goes that route unless you have acceptable evidence. Any lawyer worth his salt will tell you not to do it, unless there is a pattern and you can proof it.

This is a civil matter that typically ends in a ‘writ of execution’ - in Germany we call it ‘title’. You then have 30 years to try and get what is owed to you by means of sending the state employed court bailiff. If the party ordered to pay does not cooperate, which in absence of having the funds to pay/ goods that can be seized/impounded, would be to sign an affidavit stating their monetarily situation and basically being considered bankrupt.

And only if that party tries to constantly evade the court ordered bailiff and does not at least sign afore mentioned affidavit, the court ordered bailiff can obtain an arrest warrant for that person - but not to ultimately pay for the debt (as would be possible if you‘re not willing or can’t pay for a fine resulting from a criminal trial) but only to force them to cooperate/ sign the affidavit at least. The latter carrying some weight as that goes on record.

You generally won’t / can’t go to jail for “debt” - unless in very specific criminal cases.

However, from obtaining the ’title’ to sending out the court ordered bailiff - all of that is pre-paid by the party that sets this in motion, fees are calculated off the value/amount that is owed.

This is just to clear a few things up. To the best of my knowledge, not a lawyer myself.

—

I’ve never heard of the shop and the owner mentioned here.

Kind regards,
Olli