BCM Community
Bus Discussion => Bus Topics ( click here for quick start! ) => Topic started by: Swadian on December 18, 2017, 09:22:07 AM
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Anyone have an opinion on buying a coach from Mike Kadletz for IFTA/IRP service?
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Google him,,, Lots of info on him,,
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Google him,,, Lots of info on him,,
Why so many negative things about him? He seemed all right when I met him and took the unit for a drive.
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Maybe there's so many negative reports out there because they just want him to look bad or fake opinions. Take it for what it is worth to you.
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LOL knowing Mike for 20+ years it could be a good or a bad deal just be sure to dot your i's and cross your t's he can be slippery at times
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Be careful. Very careful.
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Be careful. Very careful.
You should probably listen to Gary. After all, he bought the magazine and this message board from Mike.
With all of that info on him, don't worry. Probably fake news ;D :D ;D
I take this to say you have been warned.
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How is he going to get slippery on me? What if I just want to buy the coach, pay him, drive it home?
Or do things start getting complicated when deposits and paint work are involved?
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Don't believe everything he tells you about a bus he may have for sale and his warranty stops at the end of his driveway. And his driveway is pretty short. ;)
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Be careful. Very careful.
Yes, I will second that. Remember, he is a salesman.
Merle.
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Open the back doors to make sure there is still an engine in there, Check tires date code and see if they're the same ones you looked at originally . Especially if he speaks Russian to you, Just saying :o ::)
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Open the back doors to make sure there is still an engine in there, Check tires date code and see if they're the same ones you looked at originally . Especially if he speaks Russian to you, Just saying :o ::)
WILCO
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He is selling buses on eBay under USBUS and has 100%
good feedback, but he has ripped off a lot of people off in the past. I don't understand how he is selling seated buses in CA with non-compliant 2stroke Detroit Diesels.
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He is selling buses on eBay under USBUS and has 100%
good feedback, but he has ripped off a lot of people off in the past. I don't understand how he is selling seated buses in CA with non-compliant 2stroke Detroit Diesels.
That is the 4th name change I have seen him selling buses under on E bay
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Swadian, aren’t you the same guy involved in a go fund me to start a charter service? Looking for bus inspections a few places around the country and places to park coaches? Did you guys get the charter service going? If the guys are warning you about Mike, do indeed listen to them especially if you are thinking of using said coach in a money making charter service.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Swadian, aren’t you the same guy involved in a go fund me to start a charter service? Looking for bus inspections a few places around the country and places to park coaches? Did you guys get the charter service going? If the guys are warning you about Mike, do indeed listen to them especially if you are thinking of using said coach in a money making charter service.
We don't run charters, we run timetabled service, but yeah, I'm spooked out now. He goes by USBUS now?
Edit: I can't find a "USBUS" on eBay Member Search but did find a "hwybus", "heybus", and "hwbus". Are those all him? All I know of him is "hwybus".
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My mistake, it is hwybus
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Swadian, aren’t you the same guy involved in a go fund me to start a charter service? Looking for bus inspections a few places around the country and places to park coaches? Did you guys get the charter service going? If the guys are warning you about Mike, do indeed listen to them especially if you are thinking of using said coach in a money making charter service.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
or spending money that isn't yours...that could get...prickly....
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or spending money that isn't yours...that could get...prickly....
Hey, you directing that at me?!
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Hey, you directing that at me?!
sort of...if i was spending money that wasn't all mine, and responsible to others, based on the insight provided here...i would be hesitant to spend it with the mentioned seller. so yeah, i guess if that's you, then yes.
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Word of advice is to do a very thorough inspection of the bus or have an independent inspection done at a third party location that either A) does not know Mike or anything about him or B) knows about him and his practices and tells you up front you have to be careful dealing with him.
I ain't saying you can't get a decent bus from Mike, but I know first hand the kind of junk he buys or is given to sell on consignment.
I have driven a bus with broken frame from FL to CA for him after he bought it dirt cheap and barely made it to his lot. No more than got home and saw it listed as a roadworthy CA bus ready for service or conversion! (no way there was time to fix it!)
I also drove a great looking bus that was eat up with rust from NJ to CA and before I got home again it was listed as a rust free CA bus! While it ran great and drove good it had NO HEAT, and was rusted very bad in all the typical spots MCI rust! (almost could have mistaken it for an Eagle with all that rust!)
Again I ain't say'n he is crooked all the time, but then again I've never seen how he sleeps.
Just remember he is a USED VEHICLE SALESMAN and has changed his seller name on EBAY and other places more several times for a reason! He has been sued multiple times over dirty deals, and that's only the ones who took it to that level many many more just gave up and wrote it off as a learning experience. A BAD AND EXPENSIVE ONE!
But that has been 8 or 9 yrs ago and he may have become a born again bus salesman that only handles buses that were only driven to the grocery store and church on sundays by some little old ladies from the local nursing home!
;D BK ;D
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Just an FYI to anyone following this thread. If the OP asks you to help with an inspection, proceed with caution. Earlier this year, I was contacted by his partner to inspect a couple buses in MN, one of which was a 5 hour round trip drive for me. He told me a date and I gave him my price, which was to be paid in advance. That's the last I heard from him.
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Wish I had seen this back when it was posted.
Mike Kadletz is a crook and just about everything he told me about my bus and about our sales agreement was a lie. When I tried to pursue the case his family physically threatened me.
My web pages are probably the first ones you'll find if you google him. He's since moved off of every domain he was using that I've listed.
Because of my web pages, I've had numerous people contact me with either:
1) Thank goodness I saw your site - I almost bought a bus from Mike and you saved me!
or
2) I wish I'd seen your site before buying a bus from Mike. It's been a nightmare.
So - if you're buying coaches, there are lots of coaches available without resorting to someone who has a track record of ripping off multiple people.
Maybe you'll luck out. Or not. But wouldn't you rather support and buy a bus from someone who is doing an honest job of helping keep buses alive, or do you want to help someone who has hurt so many people?
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I remember overhearing Mike talking with his editor at the time (late nineties) about how Bus Conversion Magazine was a "Cash Cow". I wonder if Gary was fooled by such talk. Before anyone deals with him they should watch the George C. Scott movie "The Flim-Flam Man". ::)
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I ran into Mike the other day same old Mikey with gray hair now
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Does anyone know if he's doing business online anywhere apart from ebay, or what ebay aliases he is using now?
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I ran into Mike the other day same old Mikey with gray hair now
Well, he is keeping up with the rest of us. I did enjoy his conventions, those were positive, at least.
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Hey there is a great guy out there named Sam Walker why not try him, lol.
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;D
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Mike's businesses were a little on the shady side but he did do a lot for the self converters you have to give him credit for that
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Careful on the disparaging remarks. There are lawyers out there idling away, looking for work. Just sayin...
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That reminded me--I was watchin Netflix --West Coast Customs was converting a new MCI and needed four slideouts(about a 2012 or 2013 episode).
They sent the bus to Pennsylvania to get the slideouts installed-- a guy named *AM *AL*KER!!
I am curious whether they met their timeline--this episode didn't show their countdown clock!!
Steve
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I never had dealing with Walker but we have friends he converted a MCI for them and they love the guy
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Funny how victims are attached to their abusers...
Humans are a funny bunch, good thing we're only visiting this planet...
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
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"we're only visiting this planet..."
Larry Norman lyrics?
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I only met Mike once. New Years at the Caverns. He's a likeable scoundrel. I've got my own Mike story to tell but it will cost you some good single malt to hear it. It serves to demonstrate that in this life education always has a cost attached.
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"we're only visiting this planet..."
Larry Norman lyrics?
Well spotted!
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
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I’m going to give a different take on Mike. I bought a Moosecreek motorcabin from him 12 years ago (can’t believe it’s been that long!). I was 27 years old and dumb as a rock. I had zero days of RV experience let alone bus conversions. But my wife and I had been through a bunch of fertility stuff trying to have a baby and none of it worked so we said screw it let’s quit our jobs and go on a 6 month road trip. So we got to looking at RV’s, stumbled on bus conversions then stumbled on Mike. Next thing you know I’m driving down the 405 at rush hour without a clue of what I got myself into.
Mike helped us a lot on our road trip (as did so many here!), and he always spoke very highly of the people on this board. There were multiple times where he didn’t have to help us but he did. When we got back from our 6 month road trip there was a list of 10 or so things we wanted done/fixed. He did most of them for free. One time we happened to be in LA and one of our tires blew. He told us to come over and he’d help us out. He had someone come over and put on a used tire he had at the shop. Again didn’t charge us.
Now my experience with Mike isn’t perfect, looking back I can’t believe he put in a Chinese knock off generator that had no business being in a bus, it lasted all of a day before it overheated and died. But then he got us another free-of-charge Chinese POS generator. Why on earth he took the time to do the same stupid thing thinking it would be better the second time is beyond me, but the point is he at least tried to do it somewhat right.
I haven’t talked to him in many years, and I hope he’s continued to grow as a person and do the right thing. I like Mike and I appreciate what he did for me and my wife (and now our 2 adopted kids who love going out in the Moose!). :)
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Hey there is a great guy out there named Sam Walker why not try him, lol.
Have Not Heard that name in a long time.... LOL :o
Nick-
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Careful on the disparaging remarks. There are lawyers out there idling away, looking for work. Just sayin...
Not concerned. Everything I wrote is true and was proven in court and I have all the paperwork to show it.
If he wants to sue me over the fact that he lied to me, I'd love to see that play out.
I hear that he helped some people. It's funny that one person who is defending his help also describes getting a piece of garbage generator and having it replaced with another piece of garbage generator.
I get that's he's likeable, until you have a problem with him, but I know that he's capable of lying in order to get out of his contractual obligations, because I've seen him do it in court. In my book that is crooked.
So - there are lots of people you can work with in this world. Why bother with people like that?