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      11-22-2023, 01:42 PM   #1
BlueberryM3
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Scammed by Mode Carbon

Hey guys,

I wanted to share my recent horrible experience with Mode Carbon.

On July 24th, I ordered a Mode Carbon front lip for my e92 m3 through Extreme Power House, but I soon canceled my order as I decided to go with RW Carbon. The next day, Sam Akdemir, the “marketing director” of Mode Carbon, directly reached out to me and said he would give me his distributor discount if I continued with the purchase.

I was hesitant to proceed since he said that he only accepts Zelle, but since the email address that I was sending money to on Zelle was the official Mode Carbon company email––and I’ve bought parts from him years ago for my F82 M4 without issues––I decided to proceed.

Boy, was that a mistake.

After the 4-6 week lead time that he told me initially, I’ve been either ignored or lied to that my front lip is finished. He even sometimes messages me switching back and forth saying that it’s finished and it’s still in production. At one point, he even called me an a**hole for calling him out.

Here's a Google photos link containing screenshots of the conversation: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wrn9bhM7QfFqRFHz8

I’ve also tried reaching out to their “customer service” by calling the number on their site. Spoiler alert: It’s out of service. After researching a bit more on the internet (and finding several other posts where people ran into these issues with Mode Carbon), I found out that the business has been dissolved, but they still continue to take orders that they cannot fulfill.

I know that Mode Carbon was once a respectable company in the car community, so I’m bewildered as to how they got this bad over the past few years. My theory is that either A) Sam has gone crazy and decided to start serially scamming people or B) They sold the business to someone else who is now scamming people.

I really hope this saves someone else from making the same mistake I did. Lesson learned is never wire money to any company on the internet.

Last edited by BlueberryM3; 12-09-2023 at 08:03 AM..
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      11-22-2023, 03:24 PM   #2
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bro.... really? its almost 2024..how is this still a thing that people get taken advantage of...

I highly doubt that the person you are having a conversation with is the marketing director of Mode Carbon...take this as a lesson learned ( I hope ) .... anyone, and I mean absolutely anyone ( that you don't know personally ) ask's you for money over zelle, etransfer, crypto. etc.... posing as a business, reaching out via TEXT, is a SCAM, and if it's not, it's not worth the risk. Emails can be spoofed to say ts coming from any email you want.

They most likely have a data leak.

No legitimate business operates this way.
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      11-22-2023, 04:46 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DJiGGs View Post
bro.... really? its almost 2024..how is this still a thing that people get taken advantage of...

I highly doubt that the person you are having a conversation with is the marketing director of Mode Carbon...take this as a lesson learned ( I hope ) .... anyone, and I mean absolutely anyone ( that you don't know personally ) ask's you for money over zelle, etransfer, crypto. etc.... posing as a business, reaching out via TEXT, is a SCAM, and if it's not, it's not worth the risk. Emails can be spoofed to say ts coming from any email you want.

They most likely have a data leak.

No legitimate business operates this way.
Hey man, I agree with all your points. However I do think this is actually Mode Carbon since I received a valid QuickBooks invoice from them. That and the fact that they are not responding on either the phone number or email listed on their own website.
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      11-22-2023, 04:48 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DJiGGs View Post
bro.... really? its almost 2024..how is this still a thing that people get taken advantage of...

I highly doubt that the person you are having a conversation with is the marketing director of Mode Carbon...take this as a lesson learned ( I hope ) .... anyone, and I mean absolutely anyone ( that you don't know personally ) ask's you for money over zelle, etransfer, crypto. etc.... posing as a business, reaching out via TEXT, is a SCAM, and if it's not, it's not worth the risk. Emails can be spoofed to say ts coming from any email you want.

They most likely have a data leak.

No legitimate business operates this way.
tbh, his story aligns with this thread: https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1971240

looking externally with this as well: https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...ease-read.html

so yes, using Zelle fails the sniff test, but it seems that Mode Carbon was a legitimate business that fell apart and Sam is now a serial scammer without any intent to deliver, or his "medical care" prevented him from delivering product for a year but not accepting more orders.
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      11-22-2023, 04:50 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueberryM3 View Post
Hey man, I agree with all your points. However I do think this is actually Mode Carbon since I received a valid QuickBooks invoice from them. That and the fact that they are not responding on either the phone number or email listed on their own website.
After reading around, I could be wrong on that point that it may actually be how mode carbon operates or someone who has an in, etc…. So I hope I didn’t come across as I was blaming you.

Sorry to this has happened to you and hope your bank can correct it.
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      11-24-2023, 04:25 AM   #6
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Sam@ModeCarbon

theyre on here. this has happened in the past to others, maybe its a part thats coming in a shipment from china which theyre stalling a bit.
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      11-24-2023, 09:10 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amrazM View Post
Sam@ModeCarbon

theyre on here. this has happened in the past to others, maybe its a part thats coming in a shipment from china which theyre stalling a bit.
If that’s the case, then he should simply tell me that instead of lying to me.
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      11-26-2023, 10:27 PM   #8
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Sam used to be legit not anymore 😂
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      11-27-2023, 01:23 AM   #9
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No matter what, only time you use Zelle is in person. Otherwise, NEVER.
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      11-30-2023, 02:35 PM   #10
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Always do your due diligence. There are multiple horror stories with this company. You should see the Mercedes forums and their reputation, not pretty... Crazy.
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      12-08-2023, 10:38 AM   #11
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The sad truth about life....We are all human beings, unfortunately there are people out there, No matter the excuse or reason to why they would scam, steal, cheat and hurt their fellow man!! In the end, we have to learn from our mistakes and do our homework and research!! Sorry that it happen to you.
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      12-09-2023, 07:50 AM   #12
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Update: Sam officially blocked me on iMessage yesterday. What a coward.

I also put up a post on IG warning others and he liked the post and followed me… very strange behavior
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      12-09-2023, 03:14 PM   #13
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Sorry to hear the crap you’ve had to deal with and thanks for alerting the rest of us. Sure sounds like a strange way to run a business.
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      12-10-2023, 03:33 PM   #14
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Whoa so this is legit? Any more details?

A legit company decided it is easier to just scam funds here or there, not sure I have heard of it happen to such a big car company before
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      12-10-2023, 05:33 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donut Lord View Post
Whoa so this is legit? Any more details?

A legit company decided it is easier to just scam funds here or there, not sure I have heard of it happen to such a big car company before
Big company? Where?
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      12-10-2023, 07:09 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LOW4LYF View Post
Big company? Where?
Well known in the community I should say. I have heard of Mode Carbon for a while
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