Tampa Racing - ATTN: Joe Dono AKA SCP

THIS THREAD IS TO MAKE PEOPLE AWARE OF JOE DONO.

In no way am I trying to benefit from this thread. I am here to let people know what happened to me and to inform them to be careful of their future dealings with anyone that seems even a little bit off from the norm.

Sincere thanks go out to everyone who has helped.

PICTURES of said care are HERE www.JAPWorks.com

RECAP COURTESY OF CORNWALACE and ImportGuy1208

Here at TampaRacing.com, something pretty interesting/epic has happened that has actually already been aired on at least one syndicated morning show. Local shop owners, Aaron and Branden, have been scammed just over $15,000 worth of parts, material and labor on a 2004 Celica during its stay at their shop, JAP Works. The project took about 4 1/2 months, and the vehicle was expected to bring the fledgling business some needed income. Unfortunately, the person thought to be the owner of the vehicle had no intention of paying the $15,000 worth of car work.

Mr. Joe Dono (20 years old) had provided some parts over the course of the makeover of the vehicle, thus giving the impression to the shop owners that there was a possibility of payment despite concerns otherwise. Mr. Dono had also assured the shop over and over again about how his grandfather would be picking up the bill in full, and that it was a present to him for college.
Since there was money fronted for some of the initial paint job, the shop owners continued forging ahead. Mr. Dono claimed that the grandfather was very adamant about being "old school" and wanted the work to be completed in full before paying a dime. Mr. Dono was reminded repeatedly that because of the situation, the owners would have to take further risk, and invest in the project from their own personal finances. Mr. Dono had even posted in the forum where this incident was brought to light, about how he was waiting on the vehicle to be finished.
When it was finally completed Saturday August 9th, Mr. Dono requested the shop owners to just leave the car outside making sure it was washed and etc. because his mother was concerned that JAP Works was secretly a “chop shop” and she wanted to see the car. His real intentions were to simply get in the vehicle and drive off without paying. When that did not work Mr. Dono informed the shop owners that he had not signed any contract indicating that he needed to pay any further amount and that he would be taking the car regardless. What happened next has spun this thread into the epic proportions that it is delivering.

When Mr. Dono sent his mother to retrieve the vehicle, she was under the impression that he had paid for materials and that he had "sponsors" that were paying JAP Works to do the labor. Mr. Dono’s mother wanted to know why the car was taking so long because Mr. Dono had told her it was just simply getting painted. Ocala Police Officers were called to the shop by Mr. Dono’s mother where they were blatantly lied to about the situation. Once both parties had a chance to speak with the Officers, Mr. Dono and his posse was told to leave. When the mother was unable to retrieve the Celica, Mr. Dono’s girlfriend approached the shop owners and attempted to give a $60 down payment for the work, in order for them to leave with the vehicle as well as pay off the $15,000 worth of work in installments.

The shop owners were/are not having any of that. As of right now, the vehicle has been towed to an alternate location to protect any theft or destruction of the countless hours that were put into fixing the vehicle up. Mr Dono still frequents the forum, promising that he is going to get his vehicle, (without having to pay) by the end of the week, which would have been August 15th, quoting "mark my words.”

After further discussions with Mr. Dono in here, it was learned that the vehicle was financed by his grandmother, co-signed by his mother, and not actually owned by the man that refuses to pay. Things seem to still be escalating.

Tuesday, August 12th, Mr. Dono came in to the shop with an Ocala Police Officer to retrieve the vehicle without paying for it. After the owners had the Florida State Attorney speak with the officer, the officer then informed Mr. Dono that the shop owners were allowed to hold the vehicle until the bill was paid in full. Mr. Dono came back several times threatening the owners that they are going to get arrested for keeping his vehicle, all with the same result - no Celica.

As of right now, the shop owner is waiting on his mechanic's lien to come through, but, with the vehicle still being financed, there is a likelihood that the job will be paid for by the financing company. Until the financing company pursues this issue, the owners of the shop have been forced to close down indefinitely, due to the investment that was expected to come through. This is still an ongoing issue. The publicity from this seems to have spread worldwide, bringing together a large online community that was quite unexpected. This incident is becoming an internet phenomenon, partially because this is not the first time Mr. Dono has tried to scam someone.

When word of this attempt to scam JAP Works got out, several people from the community recognized Mr. Dono as the perpetrator of prior scams -- for example, taking payment on auctioned items without ever sending them, editing pictures and cropping over watermarks so that he could claim them as his own, blatantly ignoring the copyright that is legally attached to them showing ownership. It became obvious very quickly that this is not the first time Mr. Dono has scammed people. Apparently, he is a known scammer on many different forums for several other things he has stolen from those members.

Right now, there is a paypal open to donate, allowing the shop owners to re-coup their loss. All the information will be provided in the next few posts.
On a side note, Mr. Dono claims that he was struck by the JAP Works shop vehicle, a 2003 Dodge Ram, and rolled off the windshield outside the shop and then, while still on the ground, he was beaten causing a broken rib.
Had Mr. Dono been struck by the said vehicle he surely would have suffered more damage to his body, not to mention in order to “roll” off of the windshield he would have had to have gotten on top of the hood which is over four feet high. Quite a feat in anyone’s book.

END RECAP

This is my post below!

I have been working on Joe Dono's car for approximately 4 1/2 months.

The car was completely redone. Complete repaint including engine bay and pulling all glass and seals, smoothing out the interior panels and two toning them, building a custom sub enclosure and covering it in carbon fiber, custom amp racks and nitrous bottle brackets, carbon overlays on the roof and hatch, turbo install, e-manage install, custom fiberglass center console to mount gauges in, just a lot of work in general.

He showed up to pick his car up yesterday, Saturday August 9th, and was apparently planning on stealing his car without paying for anything. He told us to have the car washed and ready to go outside.

His mother, who actually is the co-signer with his grandmother for the car, was under the impression that Joe had paid for materials and that he had "sponsors" that were paying JAP Works to do the labor. She wanted to know why the car was taking so long because Joe had told her it was just getting painted. In reality he did not cover material cost and was promising to bring the very large balance in cash when the car was picked up so as not to worry about checks clearing and the like.

I'm really not sure what was going through his head thinking he was going to get the car completely modified and knowing he has NO money to pay for it.

His girlfriend offered us $60 and wanted to know if we could set-up a payment plan. SERIOUSLY? His bill is close to $16K and he wants a payment plan.

I'm sure plenty of you have either dealt with him or heard about him. He's a detailer by trade but apparently he has no self-worth and has no problem lying and deceiving anyone and everyone.

Please feel free to chime in.