Status of Everything Attachments

[bcs001]

I’m willing to bet the farm that they wouldn’t have stayed open as long as they did without charging 100% upfront on orders with TBD production and shipping time frames.

Unintended or not, Perpetually running a business model on paid in full back orders smells too much like a a pyramid scheme to me. One way or another inevitably some folks are/were left holding empty bags of crap.

That could be the truth but don’t fail to also take into consideration what would have happened if the new factory could have been completed and put into operation as originally planned. I recall that the whole reason for the new building was to reduce lead times from months to weeks or possibly even less. I doubt their policy of prepayment would have changed but would have been less relative risk in making full prepayment and potentially put the company in more solid financial shape.

 

[tommott77]

That could be the truth but don’t fail to also take into consideration what would have happened if the new factory could have been completed and put into operation as originally planned. I recall that the whole reason for the new building was to reduce lead times from months to weeks or possibly even less. I doubt their policy of prepayment would have changed but would have been less relative risk in making full prepayment and potentially put the company in more solid financial shape.

That could be the truth but don’t fail to also take into consideration what would have happened if the new factory could have been completed and put into operation as originally planned. I recall that the whole reason for the new building was to reduce lead times from months to weeks or possibly even less. I doubt their policy of prepayment would have changed but would have been less relative risk in making full prepayment and potentially put the company in more solid financial shape.

That’s kind my point though. I don’t think prepayment was a ‘policy’ as much as the means to keep the business running that perpetuated for far too long.

I may be out of the loop somewhat on the story, or maybe everyone is, but didn’t the contractor building the factory put liens on EA for unpaid work and that may have had something to do with EA closing? If so that’s pattern of piss poor business management from the start catching up to him at the end.

 

[bcs001]

That’s kind my point though. I don’t think prepayment was a ‘policy’ as much as the means to keep the business running that perpetuated for far too long.

I may be out of the loop somewhat on the story, or maybe everyone is, but didn’t the contractor building the factory put liens on EA for unpaid work and that may have had something to do with EA closing? If so that’s pattern of piss poor business management from the start catching up to him at the end.

My recollection of the story was the county/city building dept. failed their inspection and would not issue a CO due to building code violations. Then the finger pointing started between the company and contractor eventually ending up where it still is today. I may have some of those detail wrong and if I do I'm sure someone will correct me. There is no doubt both EA and the contractor have huge amounts of money tied up in all this.

 

[mcmxi]

That's a lot of EA hype and not necessary, unless you are planning on ripping up a 4" asphalt driveway with a heavy 80hp tractor. Most people using a landplane are smart enough to buy to the horsepower rating of their tractor. It's going to take considerable effort to bend or twist the main cross tube on the average landplane while regrading a driveway or leveling a plot of land. I haven't seen many people with that complaint.
Doing it the EA way is stronger, but if something is built to handle a 50-75hp tractor. buying something that is rated to 200hp is the equivalent of buying a Charger Hellcat to do the grocery shopping on weekends.
Enough is enough, more than enough is waste.

For the record, the quotes surrounding the text indicate that I was quoting @Skagit .

Also for the record, I've seen cross members crushed and or torn on box blades with the scarifiers passing through the cross member. I'd rather have overbuilt if possible.

 

[shooterdon]

That could be the truth but don’t fail to also take into consideration what would have happened if the new factory could have been completed and put into operation as originally planned. I recall that the whole reason for the new building was to reduce lead times from months to weeks or possibly even less. I doubt their policy of prepayment would have changed but would have been less relative risk in making full prepayment and potentially put the company in more solid financial shape.

Don't forget, they were behind on taxes. They had bigger problems than getting the new factory completed. They had cash flow issues in spite of stuff being paid up front. The money was going somewhere....

Plus, a bigger facility means hiring more qualified workers and they are not just "there" for the asking.

 

[tommott77]

I’ve done my fair share of building in NC and generally the only way a project passes all the inspections leading up to and then failing a CO which cannot be remedied involve a lack of funds to finish.

Now divvying up blame from there is getting pretty far out in the weeds of conjecture, but if the fault was at the hands of Ted that’s one hell of a pattern business management he had going from start to finish.

 

[tommott77]

Don't forget, they were behind on taxes. They had bigger problems than getting the new factory completed. They had cash flow issues in spite of stuff being paid up front. The money was going somewhere....

Plus, a bigger facility means hiring more qualified workers and they are not just "there" for the asking.

Exactly, i’m worried there’s potential for this to get a lot uglier than it already is.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

It sounds like at some point the whole story will appear on the TV show "American Greed".

 

[jim gerken]

I have read most of this thread, and have no Dog in this race because I generally build my own attachments, but of course I'll offer another vague theory. EA has tax problems in unpaid taxes, as we saw in a post a few pages back. Here's that link again;

Customers wonder why tractor equipment company appears closed suddenly

Some customers tell Action 9 they paid thousands for tractor equipment but never received it and now it appears the company suddenly shut down.

www.wsoctv.com

Beyond this problem, AND THIS IS PURE SPECULATION based on real current events, EA may have a problem with unjustly awarded PPP "loans". There are about 31,000 IRS agents combing through the PPP loans which were forgiven. They are finding many issues. Namely, companies claimed these loans during covid and didn't actually have the employee retention issues the loans were designed to help relieve. I read of one story NOT EA COMPANY, which talked about a man who invented a few businesses out of thin air, to get these loans. That guy is going to prison. Hopefully this situation is not untangling Ted, because the penalties are very harsh.
It's interesting to look at the whole PPP program in hindsight now. They pushed it so hard, they literally had bankers calling their customer businesses to make sure they got signed up for these loans. Then a year later the loans were forgiven. Now another year later and a massive effort is underway to find and charge any abuse of the system. It's almost as if it was a designed trap. But I'm sure that's not the case.

 

[two_bit_score]

For the record, the quotes surrounding the text indicate that I was quoting @Skagit .

Also for the record, I've seen cross members crushed and or torn on box blades with the scarifiers passing through the cross member. I'd rather have overbuilt if possible.

And some people like to buy the cheapest they can get by with.

 

[two_bit_score]

But I'm sure that's not the case.

I'm not so sure.

 

[CliffordK]

That’s kind my point though. I don’t think prepayment was a ‘policy’ as much as the means to keep the business running that perpetuated for far too long.

For small purchases, payments are usually in advance. Especially if it is a rather custom build.

Larger purchases may have an up front deposit. But as the EV manufacturers are learning, they got many more deposits than actual purchases. At the same time, buyers are finding the price for the reserved vehicle was just a fantasy.

I have no problem with the concept of an up front price for an item entering the stream of custom builds.

What I'm reading is the problem that buyers paid for the attachments, and never received the product. A quite a different issue.

 

[tommott77]

For small purchases, payments are usually in advance. Especially if it is a rather custom build.

Larger purchases may have an up front deposit. But as the EV manufacturers are learning, they got many more deposits than actual purchases. At the same time, buyers are finding the price for the reserved vehicle was just a fantasy.

I have no problem with the concept of an up front price for an item entering the stream of custom builds.

What I'm reading is the problem that buyers paid for the attachments, and never received the product. A quite a different issue.

There was nothing ‘custom’ about EA products and they had been doing it as far as I can remember which is going in more than a decade. Sure, running into production delays and having some back orders from tome to time is part of running a successful business but to have your business model perpetually utilizing funds for your new order to fulfill half year old orders 100s ahead in the queue , and then hoping to have still have your funds at a later date to produce the product you paid for is nothing more than a quasi pyramid scheme whether intentional or not.

Any ethical business owner knows that’s not the way to do business. Sure, backlogs can happen upon start up for great products, but it’s the due diligence of the business owner to do everything in their power surpass that hurdle in a reasonable amount of time and at the very least have very dime of that prepaid customers’ $ accounted for. If you can’t you need to look in the mirror as to whether you have a viable business model or not because you know that running your business perpetually that way inevitably some customers will be left holding an empty bag of EA crap at the end of the day.

Ted doubled down on this business model and built a 5.5M lake front home instead of investing that towards ramping up production. Tells me everything I need to know as to what type of ‘businessman’ Ted is.

Glass-and-Steel Lakehouse in North Carolina Lists for Nearly $5.5 Million

The home has 153 panes of glass, plus an enclosed boathouse and a roof deck with a hot tub

www.mansionglobal.com

 

[ruffdog]

It sounds like Ted took his eye off the ball. Instead of the business being priority one, he was distracted. Also, the lack of sound business advice may have been absent during the latest growth of the company. I hope either he, or someone else, is able to continue with this product line. It would be a real shame if all this work would go down the drain.

 

[D&D]

My recollection of the story was the county/city building dept. failed their inspection and would not issue a CO due to building code violations. Then the finger pointing started between the company and contractor eventually ending up where it still is today. I may have some of those detail wrong and if I do I'm sure someone will correct me. There is no doubt both EA and the contractor have huge amounts of money tied up in all this.

A minor correction may be in order here.

There is no doubt both the lenders and the contractor have huge amounts of money tied up in all this.

 

[ultrarunner]

A minor correction may be in order here.

Maybe Ted’s estimate of value of his business and real estate fraudulently induced lenders to grant loans that might have otherwise gone to competitors?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Isn't a lender, lending such large sums, really responsible for ensuring the correct valuation is given? I mean, I can't walk into a bank asking for a loan, based on a $500k income, without them making me prove it

 

[airbiscuit]

They could probably show the income easily enough. The question is, did they properly book and disclose the future liabilities?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

They could probably show the income easily enough. The question is, did they properly book and disclose the future liabilities?

Like, if you were holding $300k in payments, but had not paid (anccounted for) the expense of buying the materials or paying for labor to build the product in 5 months?

 

[airbiscuit]

Like, if you already spent $300k in payments for products you haven't shipped, but have not accounted for the expense of buying the materials or paying for labor to build the product in 5 months or paying property taxes?

BTW, might 5 months of sales not shipped be even more than $300k?