# Anthony Maietta took my money and never delivered my frame.



## Frith (Oct 3, 2002)

That's about as simply stated as can be.

Around Christmas 2010 He had an ebay auction advertising the chance to buy one of 10 frames. It got a bit of coverage on these forums because it was such a good deal. $1300 for an ENVE fork CK headset and frame built by a reputable builder.
Communication was good at first and he estimated that I would have my frame by End of summer 2011.

Some of those frames from that auction were built and delivered as evidenced by activity on Tony's website. At some point though, his output became noticeably diminished.

Fall of 2011 came and past without much communication. I did send an email asking for an update on the timeline but didn't get a response. I wasn't too concerned at first because I wasn't in a position to build the frame up and couldn't ride it in the winter anyway.

I decided to wait until after Christmas and contact him again. In february 2012 I sent him two emails asking for an update and finally got a response from him offering a refund and an explanation (his situation had changed and he wasn't focused on building frames any more.) I should have taken this offer but in the email he also offered the option of carrying on the agreement. In a follow up email I was assured by him that I would have my frame by the end of 2012 and I agreed to this new timeline.

At some point in the spring of 2012 he posted a message on his website saying he was no longer building frames and had refunded all his existing customers. I was a little surprised by this as I'd obviously not been refunded.

Here is a thread on velocipede salon (a frame builders forum) discussing his departure from the industry. anthony maietta atmo - In it he is praised for the professional manner in which he handled this situation. Reading that makes my blood boil a little I have to admit.

I sent Tony two emails in March 2012 asking for clarification and neither were met with a response. 

I tried again to email him in June 2012 and still got no response.

I saw him come online on gtalk and tried to contact him a few times that way but was ignored.

Most recently I sent an email to all three of his known email addresses including his work email and haven't received a response.

I really don't know where to go from here but I'd like it to be known publicly that my experience with him is not in keeping with his reputation for being an honest business person.

If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears.


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## Lifelover (Jul 8, 2004)

I think some of the builders over at the V Salon stepped in and help deliver frames to some of the folks he screwed but I suspect they had paid full price. Sachs pretty much predicted his failure when the ebay auction was live.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Based on your post over there getting that thread locked up, I suspect you are screwed.<o></o>


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## suhacycles (Jan 1, 2010)

I take it you have documentation and the amount you lost is less than a lawyer's fee?


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

that's quite the love-in that went on over at V Salon. OP you don't say how much you lost, though I guess the full price was $1300? I don't understand putting down any more than say 10% as a retainer for something that hasn't been built yet. If you want to feel better try reading the "desperado" thread. http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bikes-frames-forks/beware-desperado-250560.html


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## Peter P. (Dec 30, 2006)

bikerjulio said:


> that's quite the love-in that went on over at V Salon. OP you don't say how much you lost, though I guess the full price was $1300? I don't understand putting down any more than say 10% as a retainer for something that hasn't been built yet. If you want to feel better try reading the "desperado" thread. http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bikes-frames-forks/beware-desperado-250560.html


The "catch" with Tony Maietta's special offer was you had to pay in full in advance. I hate to say it but I think I was the one that started the thread pointing out the "sweet" deal.


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## Kristatos (Jan 10, 2008)

Frith said:


> If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears.


Small claims court? If he is in a different county or state you may need to check with your county court to find out if they'd have jurisdiction. Since he took money from you online, and you didn't walk into his shop, you may be able to sue in your local county superior court. I'd check your court website and try to find out if you have an option there.


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## Frith (Oct 3, 2002)

I paid him exactly $1299.00. The cost of winning the auction. Airing this publicly came after a lot of consideration from me. I can't tell you how much I hate being "that guy" I've been on these forums for 10 years and the only reason I voice this now is that I feel you are my community.

His community supported him when he stopped building. I'm hoping mine supports me now.


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

My thought for now is to wait a week or so and see if there is any effort to contact you. If he is as nice and honorable as everyone says, then one would think that he would try to make this right.

Obviously he got into financial difficulties. Bankrupt?

Doesn't preclude you from investigating the small claims options in the meantime, but if he'd declared bankruptcy you are probably not able to go after him that way.


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## Kristatos (Jan 10, 2008)

I'm not so sure a bankruptcy would preclude you from getting a small claims judgement. In small claims typically you are suing the person, not the business. It may make it hard to collect, since there may be creditors in line, but a judgement is not a good thing and there'd be motivation for him to pay up if he ever wanted to start another business for example.


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## Sully00 (Dec 29, 2012)

How did you pay? If PayPal I know they go after sellers who don't follow through.


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## 1948D18 (Jun 1, 2012)

Just chiming in to say I'm sorry for all your troubles. I have had several custom guitars made and I know how nerve racking it can be when you don't get your product in a timely manner, or worse, not at all.

I had one very highly esteemed guitar builder take 2 1/2 years longer past the original "deadline" for delivery. And this guy was big league. I was just very happy to get it and have the process closed. Sure doesn't help that others hold this guy up as a stand-up person when he has done this to you.

Good luck!


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

I admit this is off-topic, but concerning your 1948 D-18 (the ownership of which I'm assuming your screen name reflects) -- Reynolds or Columbus steel? Nervex or Prugnot lugs? BTW, I actually played a 1948 D-18 the other day at a local shop. Dry, yet sweet. Clear and with plenty of volume. No shortage of wear, of course.


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## 1948D18 (Jun 1, 2012)

Hi. I used to own the 1948 D-18 but no longer have it. I do own a 1967 D-28 and a 1969 D-28. As far as D-18's I have a 1957 and a 1964. Wish I still had the 1948 though. I had the same "sickness" that some here have for owning bikes. I must have run through 50 guitars in the past 10 years.


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## Peter P. (Dec 30, 2006)

It appears Tony is still up to less than ethical dealings.

Here's a recent eBay auction of his.

I've been in contact with the original owner of the frame. The story about "personal financial issues" is totally untrue, and those are the owner's words. He told me the history of the frame and it was poor quality on Tony Maietta's part that led the customer to return the frame.


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

hmmm that's a pretty poor feedback rating. 

And he uses his real name as his username.

OP, any attempt at contact from him?


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## Lifelover (Jul 8, 2004)

bikerjulio said:


> hmmm that's a pretty poor feedback rating.


And the negative feed backs are scattered all the way back to 2001 including his 2nd transaction.

Oh the company we keep.


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## Waves77 (Aug 15, 2010)

Did you try posting another thread in VS or contacting some of the mods (or Sachs) there? 

Maybe somebody could make a phone call for you.


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## bikerjulio (Jan 19, 2010)

Waves77 said:


> Did you try posting another thread in VS or contacting some of the mods (or Sachs) there?
> 
> Maybe somebody could make a phone call for you.


Don't know if you read the VS thread, but it looked like they kicked OP off as soon as he posted there about this.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

Not surprising. VS is just a mutual admiration society.


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## Waves77 (Aug 15, 2010)

bikerjulio said:


> Don't know if you read the VS thread, but it looked like they kicked OP off as soon as he posted there about this.


Just noticed. Odd since Steve Garro complained as well. Hey, it's hard to remove stuff from the internet. If I were the OP I would start a blog with AM name in the title and explain the situation, post it to a number of places.


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## Frith (Oct 3, 2002)

I messaged one of the mods after they closed the thread here is my message along with the response...

I don't intend to become a long time and trusted member of these forums. I wouldn't know where to start. My 10 years on RoadBikeReview is about all the effort I'm willing to commit to a cycling forum. I only intended to add an addendum to a thread about a builder that paints him in what I feel is a undeserved light.

That said closing the thread will protect his actions by disallowing anyone else who was ripped off by him to come forward. Feel free to take my single post with as big a grain of salt as you wish but preventing your other community members from speaking up (one already did!) is, IMO, a mistake.



Frith,

Decisions about closing threads are difficult. I personally do believe you probably have a legitimate complaint against Tony. But I am (and the other VS moderators are) uncomfortable about letting our salon become a forum for playing out this kind of contract dispute. We get even more uncomfortable when the complainant is unknown to us and our community. This kind of thing has happened before and we have reacted similarly.

So I closed the discussion. I did not remove your posting, or Steve Garro's posting that supports yours. I let those statements, and your link, stand. Folks who want to learn more can follow your link.

And if someone else starts a similar thread, well, we'll see...

Good luck getting satisfaction from Maietta.

- David


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## jpfirefly (Mar 16, 2012)

According to his LinkedIn page he closed up shop in 2012. Unless he's already made the frame you're owed, you'll likely never see it and you probably need to take some legal action. His website is down as well.

Sorry about your story man, that's a major fear for anyone who puts down a huge sum on a bike (or anything else) before it's actually built.

Oh, and to reiterate what Cinelli said, VS is mostly just a bunch of builders stroking each other. Sometimes there's a good thread on there, but most of it is useless.


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## acckids (Jan 2, 2003)

bikerjulio said:


> hmmm that's a pretty poor feedback rating.
> 
> And he uses his real name as his username.


I take my Ebay rating serious and I don't even use my real name. This guy has some serious character flaws. Hope he never gets married or has kids until he deals with those issues that cause him to be deceptive.


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## larthurw (Jan 19, 2008)

I would open a PayPal claim as suggested above. The other option is if you used a credit card for PayPal, you could contact your credit card company and they would probably refund your money.


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## unterhausen (Jul 22, 2008)

acckids said:


> I take my Ebay rating serious and I don't even use my real name. This guy has some serious character flaws. Hope he never gets married or has kids until he deals with those issues that cause him to be deceptive.


He got a new job after he got married and had a kid. I suspect the new job was the precipitating event of this whole disaster. Not exactly sure where the money went though, that's something that I just don't understand. It's not like he didn't have assets, he had tons of machines and some really nice equipment. Seems like that should be sold. 

I feel somewhat conflicted about going public on a problem with a frame from working framebuilder, I think most of those can be worked out and going public with a flaw is generally more punishment than a builder deserves. But the builders that just disappear with the money can go redacted themselves. This story reflects badly on all of the lesser known framebuilders.


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## jpfirefly (Mar 16, 2012)

His position on LinkedIn is "Manufacturing Supervisor: Championship Sports Rings and Hollowware at Tiffany & Co." ... this is NOT someone who should need to steal a person's deposit on a custom frame.


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## Cinelli 82220 (Dec 2, 2010)

I'm sure Tiffany and Co would love to hear about any lack of integrity he may have displayed.

I wouldn't want someone I cannot trust managing my inventory of precious metals and cheesy gemstones.


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## Frith (Oct 3, 2002)

Let it be known that this matter was resolved by Mr. Maietta and myself. I was fully refunded in January 2016.


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## acckids (Jan 2, 2003)

I can assume he did not throw 3 yrs of interest on top. Glad you got your money back. 

I was ticked over $18 that an eBay seller delayed refunding my money on a defective part. It took him about a week. I can't imagine waiting 3 years


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## jetdog9 (Jul 12, 2007)

Did you sick the Black Rabbit of Inle on him?


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## Peter P. (Dec 30, 2006)

Frith said:


> Let it be known that this matter was resolved by Mr. Maietta and myself. I was fully refunded in January 2016.


We spoke briefly in the background some time ago; I'd gotten a full refund way back when, and offered to split it with you as I knew you were shorted.

How'd you manage to get a refund after so much time elapsed?


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## Tachycardic (Mar 31, 2013)

Posted on Velocipede Salon dated 8/13/16 from Tony himself:

Many years down the road and I return to this thread with notable regret and with an attempt to close the loop on many obvious mistakes I made. When I closed my business in the spring of 2012 the process of selling my equipment and refunding outstanding deposits (save for one that took too long to reconcile) happened all very quickly. However, I did a very poor job refunding the money paid for PF30 reamers that were never delivered. If you paid for a PF30 reamer back in the day from me and never received the product please email me ([email protected]) or call me (508.667.6188) and I would like to settle up with you to whatever amount you feel is fair. I also still have my personal PF30 reamer that was only used once and I would be happy to give it to a frame builder who could use it, free of charge. My goal is to not re-open the discussion on this topic; just to apologize and seek out those I owe an overdue refund.

Best Regards,
Tony

Perhaps he was referring to the OP?


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## Frith (Oct 3, 2002)

I think it was less me doing anything to persuade him and more to do with him just finally deciding to do the right thing. I can't really speculate on what caused that.


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