shopapmc - Not sure what's going on

[deadwood83]

I am starting to have some misgivings about shopapmc. On April 10 I ordered and submitted payment for a Lifan KPM200.


Here's the timeline so far:
4/10 - Received shipping quote and estimated delivery window of 2 days + pickup day.
4/10 - Placed order, paid for order.
4/10 - Followed up with Don to make sure all information was correct.
4/13 - I selected the wrong color (no available) and Don corrected the order information after a brief email exchange.
4/15 - Money is withdrawn from my account.
4/16 - Order goes into processing
4/20 - Asked if an ETA is available, was told they need to check with payment preprocessor and I would have an email that night or the next AM with details.
4/21 - After no email, I followed up.

4/21 - Don says one batch of 3 payments (incl mine) has been held for verification, he suspects due to, ". They will not tell us at this time the name of the person but I believe they are making this call due to the customer has a unusual name. " and that they have not had this happen before (threads on this forum tell me otherwise). I am also told that they submitted more payments after which went through without a problem.
4/21 - I Consult with my brother (for whom the bike is a birthday/Christmas gift). He is OK with waiting. I let Don know that we can wait a bit.
4/22 - Dear Mr. [Redacted],
Thank You very much and I will stay followed up on it.
Now - No updates.


There is a rather concerning thread (http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=18486) from back in 2018 with what sounds a bit similar. I think it took ~4 months for that user. I saw a more recent thread with a 6 day delay, but we are well past that point now.



I know Jerry has had good experiences, though they were some years back. SO, please share your experiences with shopapmc. I really want this all to work out (and have some riding season left after the bike arrives.)



Help me Chinariders Kenobi, you[r] [experience is] my [primary] hope.

[2LZ]

I hope this is a temporary glitch. That said, Don has been either stellar and awesome to work with or then there was the concerning thread you mentioned. History dictates his performance swings like a pendulum.
My uneducated guess would be that the supply chain has been sorely interrupted and he may be having a hard time getting bikes to ship. I may be wrong but I'm not sure if he has "stock", as opposed to just being a drop shipper.
Maybe someone has more info.

[culcune]

I should be more proactive and steer people to a reputable dealer; I know the owner of Kronik Racing who I met when I moved back to California for approx. 18 months starting in January 2018. He recently picked up Lifan, displaying the KPMini 150 on his site. I still keep in touch with him and inquired if he will sell bikes from Lifan not on his site as I have been eyeballing the X-Pect 200, but have really been growing more fond of the KPM200. He said he would have no problem doing so, considering American Lifan is about an hour or so away from Kronik's shop in Simi Valley, CA. Not sure if he would be drop-shipping the bikes, or picking them up and shipping them out of Kronik, but again, with him visiting Boom's HQ somewhere down that way (near Lifan) quite often, as well as Icebear's HQ, if there was any issues with shipping a KPM, he could easily stop by and figure out what is wrong in person. I hope you can get a refund now, and I can see if Pete can get you a KPM.

[duck9191]

When i bought my storm last year from him my payment got delayed too. Is he still using amazon checkout?

[deadwood83]

I should be more proactive and steer people to a reputable dealer; I know the owner of Kronik Racing who I met when I moved back to California for approx. 18 months starting in January 2018. He recently picked up Lifan, displaying the KPMini 150 on his site. I still keep in touch with him and inquired if he will sell bikes from Lifan not on his site as I have been eyeballing the X-Pect 200, but have really been growing more fond of the KPM200. He said he would have no problem doing so, considering American Lifan is about an hour or so away from Kronik's shop in Simi Valley, CA. Not sure if he would be drop-shipping the bikes, or picking them up and shipping them out of Kronik, but again, with him visiting Boom's HQ somewhere down that way (near Lifan) quite often, as well as Icebear's HQ, if there was any issues with shipping a KPM, he could easily stop by and figure out what is wrong in person. I hope you can get a refund now, and I can see if Pete can get you a KPM.


I am going to give it 24h more before calling it off. If it takes more than two weeks from date of debit to clear an investigation then I'm not buying it. From everything I have seen here and on FB, Pete's reputation is impeccable. I would be very interested in what his pricing looks like as I doubt I will be seeing a bill of laden in the next 24h.


When i bought my storm last year from him my payment got delayed too. Is he still using amazon checkout?


Negative. Currently using electronic checks. I took the risk based on some recommendations that kept popping up here, but my faith is wavering as time goes on.

[culcune]

Call him to check on pricing. He sells his Vaders at a VERY competitive price, and recently added the Icebear CT70 clone at a very competitive price, so should give you a good price on the KPM200. Call him, but the only downside is he has been extremely busy the past few weeks, and is generally a one-man shop, so leave a message if he does not pick up. I can personally vouch for him, and have been to his shop, but like I said, he has been selling Vaders like crazy, as well as other bikes, and he personally delivers them all over the L.A. metropolitan area as well as Las Vegas, and he has been driving a lot in spite of the COVID shutdown.

[Ina Ditch]

I don't know Don I have only spoken to him on the phone and communicated by email but I don't get the vibe from him that he has any dishonest intentions. I have been trying to get a deal done with him that has had some bumps along the way but I am not worried that he is trying to steal from me. I hope it works out for us all in the end because of all the vendors out there Don and Alan with Cajun Maddogs are the only ones that give me any peace of mind that carry the bikes that interest me. I would deal with Kronik based on Culcune's opinion but Alan is a little cheaper and closer to me.
Bottom line I guess is that I believe Don is a good man having some problems and if he proves me wrong he will answer for it not me.
Good Luck to us all !!!

[deadwood83]

I don't know Don I have only spoken to him on the phone and communicated by email but I don't get the vibe from him that he has any dishonest intentions. I have been trying to get a deal done with him that has had some bumps along the way but I am not worried that he is trying to steal from me. I hope it works out for us all in the end because of all the vendors out there Don and Alan with Cajun Maddogs are the only ones that give me any peace of mind that carry the bikes that interest me. I would deal with Kronik based on Culcune's opinion but Alan is a little cheaper and closer to me.
Bottom line I guess is that I believe Don is a good man having some problems and if he proves me wrong he will answer for it not me.
Good Luck to us all !!!


Thanks Ina and everyone for sharing your thoughts. I'm trying to cover all my bases. I reached out to Pete just to see if he can get them and what the price would be just to see what's out there. Pete's answer and if/what I hear back from Don regarding the current situation will probably dictate which way I go.


I'd like to give Don my business, since his communication has been quite good. However, it gets difficult when you have seen money leave your account for a month on an in-stock item and there's nothing to show for it. :shrug:

[Ina Ditch]

Thanks Ina and everyone for sharing your thoughts. I'm trying to cover all my bases. I reached out to Pete just to see if he can get them and what the price would be just to see what's out there. Pete's answer and if/what I hear back from Don regarding the current situation will probably dictate which way I go.


I'd like to give Don my business, since his communication has been quite good. However, it gets difficult when you have seen money leave your account for a month on an in-stock item and there's nothing to show for it. :shrug:

At one point I had given up and was going to buy a TW200 but after seeing 2000 dollar bikes I just couldn't make myself get off 5 grand for it.

I didn't realize the money had changed hands, that changes things somewhat. My problem has been getting a e-check cleared. I have had to cancel 2 orders and I really like the CRP and although Don isn't the only game in town he is the one I have the most faith in and he is several hundred dollars cheaper.
At this point I am waiting to hear back from Don and if the Recons come back in stock first I will be ordering from Jeff at Peace Sports even though green is not my first choice. I am wondering what effect this pandemic is going to have on Chinese imports between now and when the brown comes back in stock so for better or worse I am hitching a ride on the first thing smokin.

[culcune]

Thanks Ina and everyone for sharing your thoughts. I'm trying to cover all my bases. I reached out to Pete just to see if he can get them and what the price would be just to see what's out there. Pete's answer and if/what I hear back from Don regarding the current situation will probably dictate which way I go.


I'd like to give Don my business, since his communication has been quite good. However, it gets difficult when you have seen money leave your account for a month on an in-stock item and there's nothing to show for it. :shrug:

I spoke to Pete the other week about your situation, and just to positively make sure he can get all the Lifan lineup even though he only shows the KPMini on his site. He said 'yes' and likes to keep his image as a 'mini' dealer since his roots were Chinese pitbikes several years back. He is trying to see if Lifan will send him a full-size bike to have in his showroom as, again, he is not known for full-size bikes, and does not want to buy one to have it sit and gather dust while he unloads container-loads of Vaders. I told him I do believe the KPM200 would be different just based on its style. He could probably explain the Don situation a bit better from a dealer's perspective--I hope I can explain what I believe Pete told me; he told me what might have happened and is going on, and it has to do with a need to buy a few bikes to get a large enough discount, and with only you ordering, he has to wait until one or more bikes are ordered by others. Your bike is in stock, but not at Don's warehouse. He may or may not (most likely WILL) lose money getting a bike to you at the price he advertises at this point, in other words. I am fairly certain he has NEVER ripped anyone off, but depending on the product, it was right around Christmas-time 201X (cannot remember the exact year) where I first heard a negative post from someone for taking weeks to get a product (maybe two Vaders which were supposed to be gifts for some guy to his fiancé, or something like that). To top it off, Vaders were notorious for having all kinds of quality-control issues, so the guy needed some warranty parts, as well. He was not a happy customer and it shocked me seeing how for a year or more straight, up to that point, EVERY member had nothing but great things to say about him. As a side note and speaking of Kronik Racing, Pete's input to Boom's headquarters and the fact that he goes there at least once or twice a week to pick up bikes and/or parts have made the Vader a pretty good deal for a $1200 motorcycle. But, if you explain to Pete your dilemma, he could probably explain it a little better why your check was cashed and why you don't have your bike.

[deadwood83]

I have asked Don for a refund. He said he will ship it USPS tracked. I Imagine with what I know of Don that this part will go very smoothly compared to ordering the bike lol.


After riding my ZS190 hellcat, my younger brother wants a KP Mini now, possibly with BBK from a CRF150F. Would take it to 210cc (and includes a new cam). Supposedly smokes the ZS190 swap per facebook groups.

[Ina Ditch]

Sorry it didn't work out so that you get the bike you ordered, I didn't either and really had my heart set on the CRP based on what I read here.

[deadwood83]

I received a click-n-ship notification May 10th from shopapmc. So far, the status has remained at "label created." Just an update. I'll touch bases tomorrow via email.

[duck9191]

The mail sucks right now. I have multiple packages that have been in transit for over a month. Few went from "lable created" to "delivered" lol. Hopefully you get it in a timely fashion.

[Jjchase212]

I know early in March, Don was using Authorize.net payment center. He was having issues with them. He sent me several transcripts of his conversations. He was hoping they would be fazed out. Knew this covid crap was going to slow things down and I started prepping and ordered bike in 1st week of February before w2s were filled out. Even with a jump start it took about 5 weeks to receive my Storm. I get a lot of shit over it through friends and family because its not Japanese and from China. I tell `em, "everything is from China". Hopefully bikes (& parts) still keep coming..... cuz I sure don't have 8 to 10 grand to make someone else happy. that's my quote. hell for that matter nor 3500 to 4500 for a Chinese bike. keep it real fellas.

[Jjchase212]

duck9191. indeed mail is snail mail at moment. don't know if they are taking time and decon everything or not and mainly most people are having items brought to house instead of going to store & risk infection. finally got that speedo like yours, just last week, didn't have the sensors/pick ups in package, now another 20 days or so before get them.

[deadwood83]

Hmmmm. So I can no longer recommend Don nor vouch for his communication.


5/11: Received email from USPS about click-&-ship notification from TN to my residence. "A package with a Click-N-Ship® label created on usps.com is scheduled to be shipped on 05/12/2020. "
5/19: EMailed letting him know I hadn't seen anything in the mail, just as a heads-up in case the envelope was lost.
5/19: Was told that the item was prepared and sent at the post office itself on the 13th and he would follow-up with USPS.
5/21: Status updated to USPS received item.
5/26: Flat rate envelope delivered. Deposited refund check.
5/29: Bank issues a chargeback against the check.


I no longer have any faith in the communications I have received from Don. I have felt this way since my second email to him. I have been careful to only communicate in email so I have everything in writing. USPS shows I have a letter from my bank coming today. Once I read it, I will be opening a case with the fraud arm of my bank. I will provide my bank with the full conversation history, as well as invoice copies. I will also be opening a complaint with the BBB just so it is on record. I do not anticipate the BBB will do anything, but I realize that people frequently look to it for information on sellers.


Be safe, make sure to cover your bases.

[duck9191]

sorry to hear you are still having a run around. Its never a fun thing to have to deal with.

I would bet that his bank/cc processor hit him with a huge reserve due to covid and he can't cover it which means they will freeze processing or hold all deposits. The company i work for got hit with a $200k reserve without notice. They are putting a lot of businesses under and they couldn't care less since a lot of businesses can't cover the reserve plus operate. Supposedly we will get the $200k back, eventually.... If something like this was the case he could have been more upfront and honest with you.

[Ina Ditch]

I am so sorry to hear this. Don left me a message probably 4 weeks ago that he had fixed the problem with his bank and wells fargo and could get a bike to me but I had already ordered a recon so I didn't order from him.
I hope you get your money back and things go well from here on out.

[culcune]

I had spoken to Pete from Kronik Racing a few weeks ago, and I even mentioned this particular thread because he has picked up Lifan. He told me that dealers get discounts from suppliers (i.e. he deals with Boom/Baodiao a lot for their Vaders) when you order several bikes. However, if you have orders trickling in, you will need to hold on to them hoping that others will order the same bike, and then you submit the order all at once in order to receive a large enough discount to make money and pass on the savings. ASPCUSA always has very discounted bikes, such as the Lifans. However, those deals cannot happen unless and until they have enough orders at once. That is what I understood how some of the behind the scenes action works with some of these dealers. Other behind the scenes action among the big dealers (i.e. Powersportsmax) is kind of 'office politics' where they actually get bonus checks directly from Chinese manufacturers based on sales. Also, they have enough cash on hand where they can order and stock bikes as well. As an example, from what I understand, they bought out the remaining few dozen Lifan KPmini 150s several weeks ago. They probably did this to a few different lines of bikes. I cannot say for certain if this is how Don operates, but it made sense when Pete told me about it. I will say, Don's deals look extremely tempting, but unless several people are taking advantage of those deals, they end up being too good to be true!

[deadwood83]

I received a refund check, which was promptly dishonored by the bank. I sent emails, and received more words back, with no action. That was over a month ago.

I am sending my second certified letter with a 14 day notice (previous was delivered on the 5th) before turning this over to my state's district attorney's office and taking legal action.


I will not speculate on circumstance or motive; I only wish to keep fellow riders informed as to my specific experience.

[culcune]

Sorry to read this. One of the things we had stressed about ordering Chinese bikes when Chinariders was in its early years was to use credit cards in case of disputes. But, Don has not been able to take credit cards for a few years now.

[duck9191]

Sorry to read this. One of the things we had stressed about ordering Chinese bikes when Chinariders was in its early years was to use credit cards in case of disputes. But, Don has not been able to take credit cards for a few years now.

He did last year when I got my storm. He was using Amazon payment, had some issues then too but they were resolved. Sucks to hear that the issue couldn't be resolved quickly and easily for deadwood.