Thank you for taking the time to respond to this Gizmo, it is however a pity that once again your explanation is filled with excuses, seeking sympathy and looking for reasons to blame someone else, in this case it’s Peter.
To provide further context to some of the responses around why this has only surfaced now and questioning the validity of my facts provided - As mentioned previously, a recent discussion occurred on another group whereby Gizmo openly accused another fanatic’s integrity, I merely said to Gizmo that he’s accusations are still better than mechanics that strip off parts from their customers cars without their knowledge.
Gizmo promptly left the group and I said that I won’t discuss this issue further in he’s absence as he wouldn’t have an opportunity to state his case.
The discussion stopped there and Gizmo then contacted me privately to discuss the matter whereby I responded by saying that he shouldn’t point a finger when there’s 4 pointing back at him.
I subsequently left it at that only to receive a message from Peter where Gizmo is accusing me of blackmail and that Peter should speak to his boy (quite respectful of him considering that he stole from me but nonetheless, since then I’ve also been referred to as F**ker by Gizmo so not surprised).
I then continued to explain the events that occurred to Peter, please note this was following Gizmo’s request to Peter to do so.
I’d also like to address the point around why I didn’t raise this issue on the forum back in 2015 when it occurred - I consider myself as God fearing, not perfect, not religious and by no means a saint.
Based on this I felt that my experience was merely a learning for me and I wouldn’t want to take bread off anyone’s table by slandering Gizmo on a public platform, I still tried to find excuses and reasons in my mind that could perhaps have drove him to do the things he did.
I made peace with it and I’m thankful that I eventually learnt from this and if ever I was asked to specifically refer someone to Gizmo I would respond by saying be cautious in your dealings.
I honestly have no grudge against Gizmo even though his actions are distasteful, I felt more bad for the relative and many customers that I previously referred to him.
To provide further insight on Ridwaan’s case - Ridwaan is approaching 60yrs of age, self employed, spends around 12-16hrs a day on the road to provide for his family. He purchased the car with the intention to eventually hand it over to he’s son upon his graduation, I felt responsible for what had occurred as I know their circumstance and I even offered to pay for his repairs.
To date neither I or Ridwaan have been offered any financial remuneration from Gizmo to remedy his actions, to date the only remediation offered and completed was an hours labour on one of my cars at the time where he had a part required for an Aircon fix.
To conclude, this issue raised it’s head once again when Gizmo started accusing me of blackmail, swearing and questioning my version of what occurred.
Furthermore, Peter only got involved at Gizmo’s request to pass a message to me.
Happy to answer anything further from anyone to provide the clarity required on this matter and based on the responses I am glad that this has eventually surfaced, I wish I had raised it sooner in the hope of saving another fanatic from experiencing the same.