From an e-mail:

This is some info on Competition Accessories. Thought it might be useful for other racers to be aware of if it’s not common knowledge already:

I ordered a Shoei helmet from CA on 4/6/02. I called 2 weeks later to check on status, was told it was on backorder, would ship in a week. I called back again 5/8/02, was told to call back in a week to check on status. I tried to call several times the week of 5/14/02 and could not get through. I canceled the order via their website.

5/25/02 I received a letter saying that CA was forced to turn all of their assets over to their secured lender, and they were unable to credit anything billed prior to 4/24/02. They had billed me for the helmet on 4/16/02 (I had just received my credit card statement and hadn’t opened it yet when I got their letter).

So they never had the helmet in their hands, never shipped it, but they charged my credit card and won’t refund it — so I’m out $441. I’m in New Orleans, and they’re in Ohio — if it was closer, I’d try to get a face-to-face (I doubt they sent many letter to locals, knowing they be pretty po’d and not too much fun in person).

My credit card company, and Alan Blair with RPM are trying to get the money back. But CA is still in business today and taking orders, as far as I can tell (website operational, phones hooked up, but I still haven’t gotten through during business hours).

In hindsight, I was pretty stupid to not cancel the order as soon as they said it was backordered, and locate another supplier. And I’ll be a lot more cautious in general ordering high $ items via the mail — planning to use my local mc dealer more often and pay the extra bucks/extra time. But I didn’t give CA a second thought when I was ordering the helmet, worrying that they’d rip me off — thought they were one of the biggest around.

Thanks
Bill Way


(Editorial comment: Dispute the bill with your credit card company.)