This is Michael Pilla. He tried to scam me out of over $1000. This is the story behind it.
The Story
On Thursday, April 25th, 2013, I was involved in an accident on Route 128 southbound by exit 17. An individual changed lanes without looking and sideswiped my vehicle. There was no denting to my car, just scratches that were deep enough that they could not be buffed out and required re-painting of the affected areas.
I met Michael Pilla on Saturday, April 27th. I was at the Prestige Car Wash in Canton, MA. I was vaccuuming out my car as he pulled up in a jeep that had been plastidipped. I was interested in getting my own car plastidipped so I struck up a conversation with Michael. I asked if he did it himself (as kits are available to do this on your own) of if he had someone do it for him. Michael informed me that he does it for people and that he worked at Canton Auto Body. He also fed me some story about being part owner or partner. Michael tells me that if I throw the shop the body work, he will do the plastidip on my car for $150. I go home and do some brief checking and see that he posts on the Canton Auto Body facebook page, once including a message about "our shop truck" which indicated to me that he was indeed employeed there. I further confirmed this from a posting he made on a plastidip forum, seen here
Thursday, May 2nd, I had my car inspected by Progressive. They gave me a check after the appraisal was done. I got in touch with Michael and he said that he could meet me at the Enterprise rental agency where I was going to pick up my car. After collecting some of my things out of the car I hand him the key, estimate and a check. I ask the address of the shop to confirm and save in my phone. He gave me the address of Canton Auto Body. I was told my car would be done Saturday.
Saturday I called Michael at 1207. He doesn't answer and his cell phone isn't setup for voicemail. I get a phonecall back at 1210. I don't recall the exact conversation, but the short version is that my car isn't done, hasn't been started, and he hasn't been able to get in touch with Progressive to have a supplemental inspection performed. I'm annoyed at the mild inconvenience at this point, though not concerned.
Monday, May 6th, I place outgoing calls to Michael at 1020 and 1150. Both go unanswered. At 1329 I email the Progressive claims rep about getting in touch with Michael. At 1331 I receive an email response from the claims rep asking for the shop information. 1335 I reply with that information and a minute later I get a reply letting me know that he has not received a call from Michael to setup a time to have the adjuster come out and look at my car.
Wednesday, May 8th. I missed a call from Michael at 1320. I returned the calls at 1331 and 1715. Both unanswered. No voicemail could be left since Michael does not have voicemail setup on his cell phone.
Thursday, May 9th, the adjuster who is doing the supplemental calls to let me know he is trying to meet up with Michael at Canton Auto Body. The adjuster speaks to someone at the shop, they tell him that they know knothing about it. The adjuster eventually got in touch with Michael and the car was at the shop and the supplemental was done. I assume all is well at this point. Adjuster calls me back and tells me the work should be done late the follwing week to early the week after.
Sunday, May 12th, I call Micheal at 1741. I don't recall the conversation in its entirety, but I believe it is related to asking him to paint match a small part I bought to replace a broken one on my car. I called on the 15th at 1617 letting him know I had the part to drop off to him. I got no answer.
Thursday, May 16th, I called Michael at 1618 and 1720. I called in a response to the following text message. The parts he is reffering to is a small plastic piece that I wanted to have painted to match the body of my car from an incident where I scraped my bumper on my garage doorway. click images for larger versions
Friday is a new day. Lets see if I get any good news.
click images for larger versions
This is the first time I get a confirmation of sorts from Michael of when my car will be done. The reason he refers to looking at land and to give him a few is because I called him at 1603 and he did not pick up, he replied via text. He mentioned when we spoke before that he would be looking at land in Wrentham. Prior to this, at 1557, I had a missed call from Micahel. He did not leave a voicemail. I returned the call at the same time and it went unanswered.
Sunday, May 19th
This text goes unanswered.
Monday, May 20th
This text goes unanswered.
Tuesday, May 21
This text goes unanswered.
At this point I call Canton Auto Body to find out what is going on. Canton Auto Body does not have my car. Michael Pilla does not work for them. The person who answered the phone suggested I call the police. I don't have a great feeling about things at this point.
I call Michael at 1535. The conversation lasts 5m49s. He mentioned that he broke some body clips when taking parts off my car and needed to order replacements. He told me that this would not come out of my pocket since it was his fault that it happened. I voice my concerns about the car not getting done. He said because I had been patient that he was going to do the dip for free. I asked when my car would be done. He told me Friday afternoon. I asked if the dip work would be done by then too. He said it would. I ask him to please keep me in the loop if anything changes.
About 1 hour later, this conversation took place via text message
click images for larger version
Thursday May 23
I missed a phone call from the progressive adjuster at 1712. I check my voicemail and the message states that Michael was now waiting for some moulding and that my car would not be done until Tuesday or Wednesday. The voicemail also states that Progressive is putting a stop payment on the rental and that Michael will be covering the rental car. I call Michael back at 1719 to discuss this with him. He now has voicemail setup on his phone. I leave him a message asking what is going on and wanted to know why I wasn't called about the delay like we previously talked about. I also mentioned that since he would be covering the rental I would assume he want the car finished as quick as possible so he wouldn't have to cover that cost. I don't receive a call back from him.
Friday, May 24
0924 Since Michaels voicemail now says his business hours are betwene 9am and 5pm I call and leave a message asking him to call me back. I follow that up with a text message to call me. 1002 I receive a response saying "Give me 10 min" to which I reply "ok" 1025 I do not receive a call from Michael, so I called him. No answer. 1031 I receive a call back from Michael. I asked about my car being done today. He told me no and that he spoke to my insurance company (he actually spoke to the insurance company of the person who hit me) and that they work wouldn't be done until Tuesday or Wednesday. He said that he couldn't paint my car in the rain. I made a comment about painting the car outdoors at which point he became offended and angry. I didn't understand what was going on. He mentioned that you can't paint a car in the rain because of the humidity would cause issues with the paint and that he wasn't painting outdoors. I didn't understand why the rain mattered and asked that he explain to me why it did. I said that I wasn't an expert and that he should have explained why it couldn't be painted. He apologized for getting upset. I then asked for access to my car to see the progress and grab some things out of it. He said that he could do that but would need a couple hours. 1338 I place a call to Michael. No answer. I leave a voicemail asking for an update as to when I can get access to my car. 1400 I stop at Bank of America to see if my check to Michael had been cashed. It had been, same day I gave it to him. 1504 I place a call to Michael. Calls are going straight to voicemail. I leave a voicemail reminding him it is now 3pm and I haven't heard back about getting access to my car.
I am unsure of what time, but I stopped by Canton Auto Body to talk to the owner to find out what is going on. After I explain to him that Michael is still using his name to conduct business, he calls Michael and leaves a voicemail. The voicemail states that if he does not receive a call back in 30 minutes he is sending the police and me to his house. I ask for Michaels address so that if I have to call the police, they know where to go. Marcello refuses to give me the address. I accept that. I ask why Michael was fired from the shop and Marcello commented that he was trouble. Often not showing up to work and often not communicating what he was doing. All of which I was experiencing now. At this point, I now want my car back to have the work done somewhere else.
After some help from my brother, I am able to find an address for Michael. I make the decision to go there and see if my vehicle is there so I can recover it. We decide to stop at the Franklin police department and alert them of our (Me, my brother and my wife) presence. I explain to them what is going on. The dispatcher informed me that I didn't need a police officer to go with me if I was just going with the intent of being civil. They cautioned me that if I was aksed to leave, I should do so and that if they (residents) called the police that I should stay put and wait for the police to arrive.
I arrive at the house and knock on the front door. An elderly woman answers who later identifies herself as Michaels grandmother. I politely introduce myself and explain the situation. She hasn't seen Michael and doesn't know where he is. She also commented that she hadn't seen my vehicle. I ask her to have Michael contact me as soon as he can. I never entered the house. I remained on the front steps the entire time. The front door was fully opened and the glass storm door was cracked open a little, presumably so I could be heard better.
1727 I place a call to Michael (still going straight to voicemail) and tell him that I want my car returned to me tonight. I state that if I do not hear back from him that will be reporting the car stolen to my town's police department. I didn't know if I could even do that, but, I figured visiting them and finding out wouldn't be a bad idea. 1745 I receive a call from Michael. He is claming his phone was dead and that he was in RI all day in a realtors office trying to close on a house. I am suspicious that his phone is working 20 minutes after I visited his home. He is irate and screaming at me about showing up to a family members house. Due to a seemingly bad connection and environmental noise (it was raining pretty heavily) I couldn't hear everything he was saying. Here is what I took away from the conversation.
Michael said he is not finishing the work. I will have my car back tonight. I ask the address where I can pick it up and he refuses to give it to me. He said that he will drop it off at my house and when he got there that "we would have words". He also mentions that his grandfather almost shot me.
I'm not one to dwell on the what-ifs of life. If his grandfather shot me, I would have had to deal with the situation. He didn't, so, I put it out of my mind. My wife and brother however, could not. Coupled with the "we would have words" statement and the statement he made saying "my grandfather almost shot you" and his irate demeanor, it was cause for concern. I am urged to call the Franklin police department and report it. They make note of it, but say there is nothing that they can do about it. We all agrees it is best to stop and speak to the Stoughton police.
1755 a text conversation occurs between Michael and I. I start to see a pattern developing here. He gets irate and then aplogizes shortly after. This isn't the first time. click images for larger version
Earlier in the day I was told it would be a couple hours. Now he is stating that he told me that it would be end of day. He never said end of day until now. Regardless, 1755 is past end of normal business hours and what would be considered end of day.
I stop by the Stoughton police department to inform them of the situation. I am told that no actual threats were made against me, so there is nothing I can do. I am also told that because I voluntarily gave my vehicle that no crime had been committed. I am more concerned about the fact that Michael, now of questionable mental stability, may have access to his grandfathers firearms, and in that state I omit that I gave Michael my vehicle under the impression he was working for Canton Auto Body. I am told it is a civil matter and would have to be handled by the courts. Officer Doyle suggests that Michael deliver the car to the Stoughton police department as a neutral ground. I agree that is acceptable. Officer Doyle calls Michael and leaves a message. We leave and go home and await some contact from Michael.
I call Michael after receiving this message. I note the tone in his voice is more calmed down and he is civil. He instructs me to read the text message I just sent him and then call him back. I told him that I already had. I sympathize with his loss. He aplogizes for being irate. He insists he still wants to do the work because he feels bad. I made it clear that he obviously has some personal issues to deal with. I tell him that I think it is better that I take my car and money from the insurance company and have the work done somewhere else while he handles his personal issues. I again ask for the address to come pick up my car and ask whether I need to bring a tow truck with me or can I drive it out on my own. He told me he needed a few minutes to get some things together and would call me back with the information and hung up. His behavior is unsettling to say the least
The next series of text messages came into my phone way out of order. I have cropped them so they appear in the correct order in the interest of not confusing the reader.
That was the last message I received from Michael. He did not call me to discuss the pickup of my vehicle. I thought it best that given his dramatic changes in demeanor to not contact him.
Saturday, May 25
I visited the Stoughton police department and spoke to officer Doyle again. I informed him that in my concern of any potential threats that may have been visiting me last night that I omitted an important bit of information. That bit of information was that I gave my vehicle to Michael with the understanding that he worked for Canton Auto Body. I informed officer Doyle that I spoke with the owner of Canton Auto Body and made him aware that Michael was fired from Canton Auto Body about 3 weeks ago. Officer Doyle said that didn't change anything, that this was still a civil matter. Officer Doyle suggested that judging by the description of Michaels behavior that he could be bi-polar and could possibly be a drug addict. Naturally, I have no proof of this. It was recommended to me that I cease contact and proceed to go through the court system to get my property and money back.
Tuesday, May 28
I arrive at the Stoughton district court at 0855. I proceed to the civil clerks office to file a claim as instructed by officer Doyle. The clerks are not sure how to assist me as the value of my vehicle exceeds what can be sued for in small claims ($7000). I ask to speak to the Stoughton prosecutor. Hadn't arrived yet, so I spoke to the Canton prosecutor. After explaining the situation to him he mentions that this sounds like a case of larceny by false pretenses. I am able to meet with the Stoughton prosecutor, and the Canton prosecutor has filled him in a little bit. I explain some parts of the story to him. The Stoughton prosecutor mentioned that he believed there was case law about a car being held hostage like this. He makes a call to confirm that, then calls Michael. I don't recall the entire message that was left on his voicemail but it basically asked Michael to call him back and see about returning my vehicle witout involving the courts. I also heard the words mechanics lein mentioned. The prosecutor mentioned that if Michael was in individual working on his own, and not owning a licensed shop or working for a licensed shop, he could not place a mechanics lein on my vehicle (not to mention he would have had to gone to court to get one and I think I would have been notified).
At the same time I am at the court house, I file a small claims case against him for the $860.
At 1549 I receive a phone call from Dave Wessen, the adjuster who did the supplemental. He confirms the adjustment was done at the same address as Canton Auto Body and the supplemental was printed on-site and handed to Michael. The check was mailed to me, it is still un-cashed.
At 1558 I receive a phone call from Enterprise. They are asking about the payment on the rental. I inform them that Michael agreed to pay for the rental with Progressive. I briefly explain the situation to them regarding the body work. I ask them to work this out with Progressive and Michael. Seems like I am going to be on the hook for this as well.
Wednesday, May 29
I sent the following text requesting the return of my vehicle.
Thursday, May 30
Recieved the following texts. My request went unanswered. note in hindsight: he probably drove my car to this funeral. despite facebook checkins throughout boston during the week
It is radio silence until Monday. I, as expected, did not hear from him on Saturday.
The Beginning of the end
It is now Monday, June 3rd. At this point, I return to the Stoughton police to file a stolen vehicle report. An officer comes out to assist me with the report. I explain almost everything, I could tell that he wanted the very short version of this story which unfortunately leaves out a lot of detail that may be necessary to the report. I am told that he does not think the vehicle is stolen. The officer makes a phone call to Michael. Michael admits to the officer that the vehicle is in Keene, NH at a buddies house in his garage. I begin to wonder why my vehicle is in New Hampshire. The officer tells me that Michael intends to bring my car back today, it is being towed to Worcester. Not sure why its being towed to Worcester, but at least I might get it back today. On top of this, I am told that if the vehicle was to be reported stolen, it had to be done in Canton since that was the last place the vehicle was seen.
10 minutes or so after the officer called Michael, I start receiving text messages from him.
Not once was I told that my car would be back to me today. No phone call, no text, no messenger service, no carrier pidgeon. Nothing.
I suspect that he has done no work on my car. Accordingly, I find the $230.00 he is trying to charge me to be absolute bullshit. I decide I am going to play along, but will not be paying it once I see my car.
After about 10:30 I go to Canton to explain the story there. The officer I spoke to didn't rush me and listened to every detail I had and took notes. He eventually spoke to his sargeant who then spoke to the lieutenant in Stoughton. They agreed that if a crime had taken place, it had done so in Stoughton. Back to Stoughton I go and speak to the lieutenant. The lieutenant is very nice and gets the abridged version of my story. He goes back and speaks to the officer, and I believe Michael. He comes back and asks me for the entire story because he is getting different versions. I tell everything again. He leaves me in the interview room to go do some checking.
Some time passes, I am not sure how much. I am pretty sure it was after noon at this point, probably closer to 1400. The lieutenant comes back and talks to me about everything, lets me know what he is doing. I ask about charging him under MGL 266/29 and MGL 90/24/P. He explained why he couldn't yet be charged under 266/30 and mentioned we were close under 90/24/P. Basically since Michael said that the car was on its way back to me today, the lieutenant considered the clock ticking. I've made a demand and it needs to be met (despite me making the same demand in the presence of a different officer a week ago and not getting these results). If it is not met, Michael would be charged uner 90/24/P (unauthorized use of a motor vehicle). I'm satisfied with that. I think I either get my car back tonight, or, Michael gets charged. Either way, I'm getting my car back. Its just up to Michael whether he wants to take a felony charge.
Eventually Michael calls me to feed me some bullshit. He tells me that he is in Rhode Island closing on some land, like I give a shit about what he is doing. He does reveal a bit of information that he probably should have kept to himself. That was that my car was at his garage stored next to a CTS-V. I already know from his facebook page that his friend owns a CTS-V and lives in Keene, NH. This information comes in handy later.
Out of nowhere Michael start texting and calling me. He didn't tell me that we would be meeting up at 8pm anywhere. I had gone to sleep about 30 minutes earlier as sleep was a luxry to me at this point and I wanted to try and get as much as I could. This explains my response almost an hour later. It is also here that I find about about his "mechanics lean" on my car. From what I can find, Micheal is not a registered business and as such, he cannot file a lien on my vehicle. Not to mention, I didn't get a copy of the notice.
Here is the voicemail he left me. Link if the below embedding does not work.
"Mister Devaney. Trying to get your car back to you. You're not answering. Not answering text messages. The car has a mechanics lien, that stupid little letter you sent me means absolutely dick. Don't fuck with me. Call me."
The "stupid little letter" I sent him was a 93A demand letter. You can read a copy of that letter here
I decide it would be best to stop at Stoughton PD to get someone to come with to keep the peace. At the time I get there, all officers are out on calls. I am asked to wait, then asked to text him to drop the vehicle off at Stoughton PD.
This entire conversation is difficult to comprehend. He waited nowhere near 2 hours. To top it off, he never contacted me to let me know that we were meeting that night anwyays. Fuck this guy. My next stop is the Stoughton PD in the morning to file the paperwork for a stolen car.
I go back and speak to the lieutenant. He asks me to tell him good news. I have none. He grabs the officer who spoke to me on Monday and we begin to fill out a report. Michael is charged under MGL 90/24/P. I give the officer an address in Worcester where I think my car is. He calls Worcester PD to have them check it out. I also gave him the Name and plate number of his buddy in New Hampshire. He gets the address, calls Keene PD, gets them to send a cruiser out. My car is not at either location.
The officer comes back and informs me that Michael is also be charged under MGL 266/28 (larceny of a motor vehicle) and MGL 266/30 (larceny over $250). I am content with this. And this:
Link to full police log here Link to Stoughton Patch article mentioning Michael Pilla here
I leave the police station and go back home and play the waiting game.
At 2:51 on June 5th, I get a call from Michael. I let it go to voicemail as I am not sure I am supposed to be in contact with him at this point. Listen below. Warning, audio is very low, I suggest using headphones and turn up your volume a bit. Link if the below embedding does not work.
Transcript
"So you don't show up last night and then you report it stolen today when you texted me saying we would meet up today everything was all set. I don't get you kid. give me a call when you get this."
Delusional. He's speaking like we're friends. His voice sounds somber, almost defeated. I visit the police station and let them know I got the call, asking if I should be in contact with him. They tell me no, and any subsequent contact from him could be considered a violation of MGL 268/13B (intimidation of a witness). They also inform me that they believe that they have my car. They ask me a couple questions about the night before (Tuesday) and confirm that Micheal was lying (or greatly stretching the timeline, thereby truth) about the events that took place. Michael gave them an address in Norwood. The lieutenant and officer go back into the back area of the station and I leave, assuming I will get a phone call from Norwood PD about my car.
I decided to head in the direction of Norwood. Not sure why, because I didn't know where my car was. On the way there I get a call from Stoughton PD. The officer informs me that Norwood PD is recovering my vehicle and lets me know where to pick it up. I immediately go to the shop where my car is to be towed.
After 5 weeks I finally get to see my car. Its a bit dirty as it seems to have been sitting out under a tree. nothing a carwash won't fix I think. The first thing I do is inspect the car for any additional damage. I don't see any at the time. However, due to the amount of dirt on the car, I didn't see something until after I washed it by hand about a week later. I took a picture of the odometer. Michael drove my car 423 miles. Which is interesting, since he has a suspended license. He also smoked in it. I found ash everywhere. I now have to have the car detailed.
The worst of it was the paint damage I discovered. $2700 worth. There are hundreds of paint chips on my hood, extending to my nose/bumper and fenders and including my headlights. All of this I intend to make Michael pay for.
So, in summation, don't do any business with Michael Pilla.
Be more weary of who you intend to do business with. Check references, reviews, etc.
Never hand over money to some clown in a parking lot just because you trust him at the time. Its not worth the headache.
In the end
After waiting about a year for this to go through court, I finally got some good news. First, My small claims case went in my favor. This was great news, but, I would have to hire a process server to serve him the papers to appear and answer to a magistrate. What I really needed/wanted was a restitution order. Michael repeatedly failed to show up for his court dates. I got a notification of every date and every issuance of a warrant for failure to appear. Finally, on April 18, 2014, a judge ordered Michael to pay restitution to the tune of around $4000. This covered the insurance check, the car rental, and additional damaged he caused to my car while he had it.
