A Message From Aero Leather USA

[Jack Burton]

Again...just to be sure everyone understands....it appears that there has been a filing. I cannot tell for sure without speaking to the administrator.

AF

If you're talking about that "1" that shows up on the Lexington County, SC public index search, I don't think that means anything. All searches show that "1".

It appears as though Mark has disconnected his telephone now. What a jerk.

 

[ButteMT61]

It may have been disconnected for him. He may be in Aruba by now...

 

[Atticus Finch]

If you're talking about that "1" that shows up on the Lexington County, SC public index search, I don't think that means anything. All searches show that "1".

Ummmm....no....that isn't what I'm talking about.

AF

 

[DJH]

Just a quick update from me, Mark seemed to have disapeared soon after sending me the email about refunds being sent.

Taking Holly's advice, I spoke with the eBay people who basically said that since this is past their 45 day period they couldn't help - despite what eBay in the UK had said.

The eBay lady suggested filing a case with the Internet Crime Complaint Center - I can't see this doing much good, but if it makes life more difficult for Mark it might be worth it.

 

[Jim Brown]

Internet Crime Complaint Center? sounds made up.


is it me or was this just a ponzi scheme?

new money comes in, a few orders get filled, especially to those vocal, while most money stays in pocket....

I wish everyone the best of luck on getting money's back or getting justice.

 

[jlanderson]

Internet Crime Complaint Center? sounds made up.


is it me or was this just a ponzi scheme?

new money comes in, a few orders get filled, especially to those vocal, while most money stays in pocket....

I wish everyone the best of luck on getting money's back or getting justice.

Technically, you're right ... he was conducting a retail Ponzi scheme. And I can see how, possibly, it got started. Depth of the recession, orders slow dramatically, he slows processing some of the orders with Scotland hoping things pick up. But the don't. The really criminal part of it all, is that he continued to accept orders AFTER Scotland put him on hold in December when he became seriously late. Those are the orders ... like mine ... that will get him trouble big time as he had no intention of forwarding the jacket orders to Scotland.

And yeah, his phone is cut off. Just tried to call again. C'mon Mark, man up and do the right thing.

 

[hpalapdog]

Mark was an official stockist of Aero, in that he bought from us to re-sell. As he only ever intended to sell Aero jackets, and no other brands we allowed him to use the name, in the same way Aero Japan do. He should never have been describing himself as an agent, or rep for us, in fact there should have been details in his descriptions explaining he was simply a retail outlet for Aero.
Holly

For a decade Mark described himself as
"My name is Mark Moye and I am the factory representative here in the U.S.A. for Aero Leather Clothing Co., Galashiels, Scotland. Opened in the spring of 2000 ..."
It's right there on his Ebay store page. His bay name is aeroleatherusa as his email address. A while back he used to post on forums like this with the aero name. No other business name was used. The distinction you are using may not be legally valid ?

 

[Brando11]

Life is messy, folks. Who knows what difficulties this guy was going through that caused this situation. The truth will come out in time and we'll all know what happened.

In the meantime, I originally found out about Aero from those of you on this forum that spoke so highly of this company. I must say, based on everything I've seen here over the past few weeks, that you were absolutely right. This is a rare company. I'm happy to support them.

Best-
-Brando

 

[feltfan]

It may have been disconnected for him. He may be in Aruba by now...

Technically, you're right ... he was conducting a retail Ponzi scheme.

I think Mark can make up his losses with libel lawsuits... I know people are upset, but let's try to refrain from
the accusations. It's just as possible he did not run his business well and screwed up big time or had some
other personal issue.

Can we stick to the facts for the moment? The more hard information we share, the more we can figure out what happened
and be effective at addressing the issue.

 

[dr.velociraptor]

I think Mark can make up his losses with libel lawsuits... I know people are upset, but let's try to refrain from
the accusations. It's just as possible he did not run his business well and screwed up big time or had some
other personal issue.

Can we stick to the facts for the moment? The more hard information we share, the more we can figure out what happened
and be effective at addressing the issue.

Easy to say for a guy who didn't lose $2000 and been jerked around for years like some of the people here...

From the facts we've received here Mark has taken either deposits or full payments from over 80 people and either not put the order into Aero at all or not paid Aero for the jacket. He has since disconnected his phone, not once responded to this thread, not refunded anyone, and closed his eBay store. That's a fraud well into the tens of thousands of dollars that went on for years.

Libel my shoe, he has no case for libel against anyone.

 

[pattonfan]

I'm out $837.50, but I'm only mad at myself. Disappointed in Mr. Moye, but I knew better. eBay's Buyer Protection policy was well known by me, but I still bit on an auction that was 3 to 6 months out. Stupid, stupid, stupid. And I probably won't even learn...

 

[ButteMT61]

I think Mark can make up his losses with libel lawsuits... I know people are upset, but let's try to refrain from the accusations. It's just as possible he did not run his business well and screwed up big time or had some other personal issue. Can we stick to the facts for the moment? The more hard information we share, the more we can figure out what happenedand be effective at addressing the issue.

Had you read the body of my posts on this subject, you'd know where I stand. Like others, I'm p*ssed, but for different reasons. Leave it at that.

 

[Jim Brown]

Butte not for nothing but you keep going on about the idea some posters have expressed that you received a good transaction because you post a lot here as offensive. It's pretty simple and been explained many times to you by me, Holly, and others, it's really very straight forward and doesn't reflect negatively on you at all.

You are really acting like a drama queen at this point and trying to play the pity party and you weren't even ripped off. Leave the real indignation to the people who were robbed, these threads are about them, not your woe is me pity party for no good reason.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Aero 9 months + wait, is this common?

If it was one guy I could understand but it's dozens apparently and we really didn't hear a peep about it before the lid was blown off.

To be honest, there have been quite a few threads on this board (and others, like VLJ I think i recall) where people talked about very long wait times. I thought it a bit sketchy at the time, to be honest, but didn't think much about it as I only buy vintage. if I recall correctly (and I may be just looking through some murky aether) there was quite a kerfuffle regarding people complaining about Aero wait times - threads closed, told to contact Aero USA or Aero direct - possible well-meaning attempts to protect the Aero name by bartenders here. Who knows, I may not be remembering correctly. [EDIT] It's probable that all the threads weree simply merged into the one i link to at the bottom of this post.

It stuns me that the lid was not blown earlier. This has been going on for years and apparently no-one contacted Aero proper direct and found that their order had not been passed along by "Aero" USA. [huh] Here's a thread from 2010 (one of the few remaining talking about this issue. I recall many, many more started threads), entitiled Aero 9 months + wait, is this common? There is some rather pertinent discussion in that thread, given what we now know.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?50435-Aero-9-months-wait-is-this-common&highlight=aero+wait

[EDIT] People may also be interested in this thread - Customer experiences with Aero Leather - when trying to get the historical perspective on FLoungers discussions around this topic. Though i think it does talk about wait times from both Aero proper and "Aero" USA, it's probably worth a glance:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?37930-Customer-experiences-with-Aero-Leather

 

[Baron Kurtz]

p.s. all this gibberish about mouthpieces is exactly the reason I will tell people where I get things made, and how good I think they are, but explicitly state that if they buy the same thing from the same place (like the reproduction shirts i recently had made in Hong Kong; thread in Suits), they're on their own. My recommendation or comments should not be held against me when your stuff goes tits up.

ButteMT61, HoosierDaddy, I don't understand why you in particular are being singled out; there've been an awful lot of vocal Aero fans here over the years. And no reason not to be. From the ones I've seen, they're great jackets.

It's an especially insane logic that takes the actions of an (apparent) fraudster, and has a go at non-affiliated forum members.

bk

 

[dr.velociraptor]

There is some rather pertinent discussion in that thread, given what we now know.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?50435-Aero-9-months-wait-is-this-common&highlight=aero+wait

[EDIT] People may also be interested in this thread - Customer experiences with Aero Leather - when trying to get the historical perspective on FLoungers discussions around this topic. Though i think it does talk about wait times from both Aero proper and "Aero" USA, it's probably worth a glance:

There some gems in there, the evidence was there but for some reason people ignored it. I can understand if he just started the scheme a couple months ago but to drag on a jacket build for 2+ years is just unreal:

"Now in regards to wait time for the jacket, Mark doesn't have any control over that... it's all dependent on what Aero Scotland's workload is at that time. "

Personally I agree with JLStorm that it's largely out of Mark's control. He just takes the order; they fill them.

"I get the feeling that Mark has no control over when Aero Scotland sends out his jackets. Not sure why some orders seem to take so long. I feel sorry for him being put in the middle."

"Also Jeff, I believe you are right, he has no control over when the jackets for the American consumer are shipped, but judging by the posts from our European members, I would have to say we are last."

"I have a hard time believing Mark isn't forwarding the orders to Aero in a timely fashion.
He notes he only takes so many orders per month.
That being the case, it would appear the delay is on Aero's end"

"I agree completely; from where I stand, Mark appears more the victim, and the factory the villain. "

"This subject has been up several times - and still american customers go to this fellow Mark - and moan!
When do you ever learn? Call Aero Scotland directly. Great people and great service."

 

[dr.velociraptor]

double post

 

[Atticus Finch]

Update. I spoke with the bankruptcy administrator this morning. It does not appear that anyone named Mark Moye…and no corporation known as Aero Leather USA…has filed bankruptcy in South Carolina recently enough for that filing to be relevant to transactions with Aero Leather USA after 2003 (if any). I am not able to search every Federal Bankruptcy Court to see if there has been a filing in some other jurisdiction.

I will leave it to each individual creditor here to determine the implications of this information.

AF

 

[Grayland]

Update. I spoke with the bankruptcy administrator this morning. It does not appear that anyone named Mark Moye…and no corporation known as Aero Leather USA…has filed bankruptcy in South Carolina recently enough for that filing to be relevant to transactions with Aero Leather USA after 2003 (if any). I am not able to search every Federal Bankruptcy Court to see if there has been a filing in some other jurisdiction.

I will leave it to each individual creditor here to determine the implications of this information.

AF

AF - thank you so much for looking into this. I really appreciate your efforts!

 

[Tony B]

Out of interest I just searched his address and it turns out he is/was trading from home as molini custom guitars as well, same phone number but different email so maybe another way to try to contact him to see if he is still there, pretending you are after a guitar of coarse not complaining about a leather jackets or lack thereof.