I was linked to this from AR15.com, and I am confused about a few things. First and foremost, I will admit I was not able to complete all 90+ pages of this thread. There is simply too much nonsense and bad spelling to wade through, so I skipped ahead. In doing so, I understand I probably missed a few important aspects of what all is going on in this mess, so please bear with me.

How exactly does a business lay out this kind of custom work without any type of retainer? I mean, it defies logic that a competent business would place themselves in this sort of position, especially considering the type of clientele they serve. Its one thing to lay out this kind of work on a car that has significant value, but you're talking about $16k on a car that's barely worth $12K. I don't think there is any way, in good faith, I could forward that type of credit to anyone I didn't know extremely well, and especially not an unknown 20 year old. You place yourself at great risk doing so, and we clearly see in this thread what can happen.

Originally Posted by Aphex View Post
Hello from ClubRSX. Just coming in to show my support and I hope the scammer gets nailed.

I must say though, I think it's pretty embarrassing that you are actually accepting donations for your mistake. I mean alot of people have been in similar situations. I have been scammed before too and never did I think about asking people for donations. Don't get me wrong, Joseph is the bad guy here, but that doesn't make it OK for you to ask for handouts. And I know the donation thing wasn't your idea, but you're obviously okay with it since it's in your first post.

Again, I'm not here to bash you. Just my $0.02. I hope everything works out in your favor.

And for the people that DID donate, I think that's really amazing of you to help a total stranger out. Makes me think the internet still has some good in it's tubes

Well several people recommended it several times before I relented. My intention was not to start this "epic" "legendary" whatever thread. It was merely to notify people that Joe had done what he did and then it blew up from there.

Also, the account is up to $773.


importguy1208 is offline Reply With Quote

not only that, but these guys are in danger of losing their shop, and falling behind seriously on personal bills. Regardless if they were silly to keep working, or whatever other motivators there were; I would help anyone out in a similiar situation with whatever I could bear at that time.. They did not ask for donations, and were reluctant at first.. The community forced this help on them..

Originally Posted by agnu View Post
Hi checking in from NC.org, Yea i have a celica, and i gotta say this whole things kinda embarrasses the celica community. I hope you guys get this Joe Dono guy good. Out of all the epic threads this one is a little bit different because of the whole donation thing. Dont get me wrong i totally support it. Its just that this kind of this sparks a new way of scamming. I mean any shop can now fake a story on a forum about a big scam and people will be willing to donate. I just think after this whole thing is over. Shops should be more responsible to let anything like this happen ever again.

Do you think I could fake Joe's history on other web sites? Or seriously incriminate myself over what? A $1,000?

This is something that people looked at, saw what was happening, read what LOTS of other people had to say on LOTS of other forums, and then due to the grave nature of the situation people felt compelled to donate.

If I had come on here saying, "Yo TR give me money, I made a big mistake and now I want you to cover my ***!" I really don't think anyone would have given me a dime.

My point in starting this thread was to alert people of Joe Dono and his scamming practices. I wasn't looking for support, I simply wanted to get the story out there. No different to me than posting an ad in the paper and just letting people know he is not to be trusted.

Am I saying that I don't think other shops might not be as honest and try to scam people out of money with bogus stories? Absolutely not, I totally believe that someone may try to pull this off but as a scam.

But I think that if anything, this thread is something that people should pay attention to and remember that there are scammers out there that can talk to you and make you feel like you are laying in bed with satin sheets and a beautiful man/woman/dog/goat whatever laying next to you when in actuality you are laying in the middle of a desert road on the hottest day of the year with no water for miles.

If anything let my mistake be a lesson to everyone that views this thread that just because it looks like a deal doesn't mean it is. Always check, double check, and triple check if need be.

I'm going to get off my soap box now.

Thanks to everyone that has contributed in any and every way possible!