I was linked to this from AR15.com, and I am confused about a few things. First and foremost, I will admit I was not able to complete all 90+ pages of this thread. There is simply too much nonsense and bad spelling to wade through, so I skipped ahead. In doing so, I understand I probably missed a few important aspects of what all is going on in this mess, so please bear with me.

How exactly does a business lay out this kind of custom work without any type of retainer? I mean, it defies logic that a competent business would place themselves in this sort of position, especially considering the type of clientele they serve. Its one thing to lay out this kind of work on a car that has significant value, but you're talking about $16k on a car that's barely worth $12K. I don't think there is any way, in good faith, I could forward that type of credit to anyone I didn't know extremely well, and especially not an unknown 20 year old. You place yourself at great risk doing so, and we clearly see in this thread what can happen.