In the end you are correct. If people have been informed and still continue to purchase NE products, they have nothing to complain about.

However, there is more that can be and is being done. As every kit that NE sells can potentially cause injury to me (and you and everyone else) personally, I will not back down as long as NE is in business selling what I believe to be unsafe products.

 

Hey, they didn't offer ME new spacers. Can't they tell I'm unhappy? If they want to send some, I'll re-evaluate their skills, but would never use anything they produced. And I'll be keeping my vintage and unused NE kit for a long, long time.

BTW r0cky, for legal reasons, I urge you not to return any of your parts to NE. Otherwise known as returning the evidence.

 

Classic TROLL! The mind games continue. Unbelievable.

 

I noticed that Hanna's site now says patent pending on at least one of his slider designs. He doesn't have the 4Runner sliders up there, so I don't know if those are included. Anyway, hopefully that will put an end to what's his name's rip-off schemes for sliders.

 

I should have checked the mail yesterday. The reply from WA state arrived. I now have a copy of the NE application to form an LLC. The people executing the LLC were Ian S. Neeld, Ryan Cloud, and Anthony Krueger. No one else is listed. This was dated 7/15/2004. The owner status could have changed since then.

Tracy, it appears you were never an owner. And even if they did eventually give you shares of the company, that would not make you an owner. So you were neither an owner nor an officer. You were, in effect, an employee. As such, no liability should flow down to you.

I assume you did not get paid cash for your work and that the offer of shares in the company was for compensation for your website, marketing, and customer service efforts. This isn't unusual and happens all the time. However, since you have apparently received neither cash nor shares, you may have a cause of action against NE. The only minor snag is that there wasn't a written agreement. That can work for you as well as against you. Mostly I would think it would work for you. As I said before, no one would expect you to work for free.

I urge you to gather up as much data as you can about the time and materials you put into NE. Anything at all to do with you modifying your truck. You paying full price for the NE kit as well as buying new rims and tires. Everything. Especially though, the time spent making the web sites (I know there were two versions of the website) and the time spent on the forums and through email marketing and acting as customer service. Also, don't forget the time and materials you used to put together the write ups for the lifts. Those came directly from you, so I assume you paid for the copying and mailing.

I'd be willing to bet that the total amount -- especially the time spent -- would be enough to make it worth it for a lawyer to take on your case and get what you are owed by NE.

There are some other options with regards to legal action that I'll be going into soon.

 

Hey folks--

I posted in another thread my refund request to NE and their amusing response.

Today I sent a followup with a harsher tone.

I got an instant response, though it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

I've already pulled my relocs out, and I'm about to replace the NE spacers with Daystar's 1" leveling kit, which will raise the front 1" from how it sits in this photo of my truck with big tires and no lift. I've seen a photo or two of rigs with this kit, but none are clear enough to really form an impression about whether it will appear to sag in the back, level or not. Any suggestions?

Here is my latest writeup of my NE experience. It will receive updates throughout the saga.

 

You can also try nitrousenterprises@hotmail.com.

 

You are not listed at all on the certificate of formation, which is all I received. If someone were to go after NE legally, they would go after the persons mentioned there. Also, each of the individuals printed and signed their own names. So if you didn't sign anything personally, then they forged your signature. If you'd like, I can make a photocopy and mail it to you. I'd just take a photo and post it, but I'm currently without a camera.

There is still the outstanding issue of how you were to be paid for your work. You didn't work for free. There can be an operating agreement that dictates all of this. It's a good practice to have one, which is why I doubt that NE has one. Anyway, this would also dictate what happens when someone pulls out of the company. However, they can't write one up after the fact and then apply it to you.

Bottom line is that you are entitled to compensation for work performed. I again urge you to add it all up. You may be surprised at how much time you worked for them and how much they owe you.

 

NE is blowing smoke up... and the contradictions are coming fast and furious. As a third party, I can only get this information one little piece at a time and can only make a judgement on the pieces received.

1. You are not listed at all on the Certificate of Formation dated 7/15/2004.

2. You may be listed elsewhere, either in other documents filed with the state or in other internal documents. Obviously, I cannot get any internal documents. I'll call the state department again on Monday and see if they have anything else available.

3. In the original Certificate of formation, it has separate signatures from each of the three individuals. You have stated previously that you never signed anything. If they updated this document and submitted that update to the state with your signature, then they forged your signature.

4. If you did not, in fact, sign anything and they submitted ANY document to the state with your signature, then they forged your signature. HOT DAMN, we may have something there. You can bet I'll be in touch with the state department to get any/everything on NE. Any document filed with the state should be available to the public. If it is, I'll get it.

5. Any internal documents not filed with the state are, obviously, out of reach (for the moment).

However, none of this really matters. According to you, you never signed anything, never saw their articles of incorporation or operating agreement, and were never clear about your status. In fact, it sounds as if you are still not clear about your status. I kind of doubt whether you were ever listed as anything at all, but we may never know. However, EMPLOYEES ARE NEVER LISTED IN ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OR OPERATING AGREEMENTS. Why would they be?

In any case, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION FOR YOUR WORK. It is incorrect to say that, " as a manager, I receive no payment, and can have all my shares in the company taken from me and given to others.". NO, NO, NO!

"NE Management" can put whatever they like in their internal documents. Those documents still have to abide by the laws of the land. Anything going against the law will be deemed as null and void.

Paying someone in shares of a company is common. However, when this is done, there must be an agreement -- an agreement which is AGREED to by all parties (which is why it is called an agreement). The agreement would list the specific reasons how shares may be taken back. If you never saw the agreement and never signed the agreement then you never agreed to the agreement.

I really think you may have old Tony boy by the balls here. I really do wish you'd start adding up all your hours.

 

What do you mean they gave you shares? Did you receive anything on paper? If so, do you still have it? Or did they just tell you they were giving you shares? If so, did they tell you a specific amount, or just that you had "some"?

So I gather that you have never seen or signed either an operating agreement or artiles of incorporation?

Both of these questions are kind of important. The reason is that you are entitled to compensation. The compensation can come in many forms. If it comes in the form of shares of a company, then you need to have read and signed any agreement that dictates how those shares may be taken from you. IF YOU DID NOT READ AN AGREEMENT AND DID NOT SIGN AN AGREEMENT THEN YOU DID NOT AGREE TO AN AGREEMENT.

Another reason is that the number of shares is meaningless. Say they gave you 1,000 shares. Is that a lot? I dunno. Depends on how many shares are outstanding. Your percentage ownership depends on the number of shares outstanding.

In addition, and this is key, your percentage ownership can change if the number of outstanding shares changes. Say, for example, that there were four thousand shares outstanding distributed to four people. In that case, you would have 1/4 of the total outstanding shares or 1/4 of the business. If they increased the number of outstanding shares, say to bring in a new partner, then your percentage interest in the business would drop. Because of this, the rules governing when and how new shares may be issued are usually very strict. If they are able to issue new shares without your knowledge, then you are almost definately not listed as an officer of the company. So they can use whatever words they want (using "manager" instead of "officer" for example), but the law will come back to bite them in the butt if they try to play games.

 

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mixing business and personal use in a business account! EXCELLENT!!!!! This goes a LONG way to piercing the corporate veil and making AK personally responsible for everything.

 

The only way to be certain that other people don't get screwed over or have their trucks wrecked by his parts is for him to stop making parts that wreck trucks. Whether that means he finally grows up, admits his mistakes and takes steps to remedy them or whether it means he goes out of business, either way he needs to be stopped.

From the arrogance he has shown, it is apparent to me that he is unwilling to admit even the slightest possibility that his design and manufacturing skills are less than exceptional. This 22 or so year-old college kid apparently has more skill (in his mind) than every other engineer in the automotive industry. He has been given every opportunity to make good on his past bad business practices and has chosen instead to continue putting other people's lives in danger (my opinion).

It is for this reason, that he is putting other people's lives in danger, that he must be stopped and that the effort to stop him cannot cease. I have first-hand knowledge that his products are, in my opinion, dangerous and will, given enough time, take a life. Because of this first-hand knowledge, I cannot, in good conscience, sit by and do nothing.

It would be easy to say that people have been warned. Only if they happen upon this or one of the other threads first. Not everyone, probably not many people at all, do an Internet search to see if a business is reputable before using their products.

I understand your reluctance though. A former friend is screwing people over and you just wish he’d stop and be done with it. Personally, it wouldn’t matter if it were my best friend. If my best friend were putting others lives at risk and I knew about it, I’d have to do all I could to stop it.

To answer your question though, no, you cannot have agreed to something just because someone has your SSN. You are entitled to compensation for your work. You could likely force NE and AK to give you compensation for your work and it sounds like that would come to a large sum. But you don’t have to decide right now. With a little luck and a little work, they’ll be stopped anyway.

And now, I have to get back to the “little work” part of this.

 

You were a webdesigner. You were a manager. You were an employee. You were an owner. You were a partner. He tells you what he wants you to hear at that particular moment.

So why do you believe ANYTHING this person says?

 

It is kind of funny and sad at the same time how he can't decide on what your position was. If you were a manger/owner/partner, then that raises your status and gives everything you say more weight. If you were none of the above and just an employee, then that puts more pressure on him for not paying his employees.

Poor guy.

 

spblat, yeah i have to say i am not of the lying type, but i knew that if i came to that crazy sob with the safety issue reason for a refund i may not have seen my $400 ever again. the only way to deal with liars is by lying to them. i wasn't about to kiss away that money for this loser and his company.

 

Pick one or all three and act on it to help other people avoid what people have gone through or worse and copy this to other forums.

USCPSC (US Consumer Product Safety Commission) Report unsafe products hotline:
1-800-638-2772 or info@cpsc.gov

Please fill this simple complaint form with the FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (FTC) to expedite matters as well.
CLICK-FTC COMPLAINT FORM

NHTSA Dept of Transportation investigation:
Michael J. Jordan (202)493-0576

NE is located in Washington state
Ryan Cloud and Anthony Krueger are the owners

"Dear Consumer:
...The Privacy Act prohibits our agency from identifying you to the manufacturer without your permission... Any information is entirely voluntary. There is no consequence or penalty of any kind if you do not wish to provide it... " - DOT/NHTSA

 

I hear ya. Whatever it takes. I'm sure you know I meant no harm or judgement in bringing up your case to them, since you're already free and clear.

 

All the pictures are still of their old sliders though. You would think that if "The new and redesigned NE sliders are shipping in the next couple days", they would be able to update their site with new pictures.

More likely though, they know that as soon as people see pictures, they're going to be analyzed pixel by pixel and every little flaw will be revealed. And, judging from NE's attempts at design and fabrication so far, I would expect a lot of flaws.

Part of me also wonders whether they have already gone out of business and are just goofing around trying to mess with the people who have been so critical of them.

 

Tracy, do you happen to still have pictures of your leaking shocks?

 

Thank you Tracy.

BTW, did you ever get your new lift installed? If so, did you have a chance to examine the NE spacer you said was cracking?