growop technologies - buyer beware

[miltonchitlin]

I have a security advisory concerning growop technologies. They do business under growop tech, growop technologies ltd.

The founder of the company was a decent guy, he partnered with a Morgan Stanley banker who offered to take the company to IPO. When they went IPO the Morgan Stanley guy never gave the actual founder his shares of the company, he accused him of stealing and kick him out. The Morgan Stanley guy puts the company in the wife's name, as he is on disability from Morgan Stanley and doesn't want Morgan to know about his business ventures. Growop techology ltd builds 53 foot trailers for marijuana cultivation.

John bought such a trailer. He is a bit of a lunatic I must admit. He put $20k down and was contracted to pay the balance after his first harvest. The trailer price is right at $80k.

First off growop was a couple weeks late delivering the trailer, but they didn't postpone the harvest dates in the contract. John grew out a decent grow, but the week before harvest he received notice the balance payment was due. He thought he would financially be able to pay the trailer off in about 3 weeks, after monetizing the harvest, and he ignored the notice.

Growop technologies repossessed the trailer 2 days before harvest, in the middle of the night, with a crew from growop and a tow truck. They harvested the bud and sold it. I know this from talking with John first hand.

I drove by growop tech and noticed 2 more trailers in their yard. I hear second hand they repossessed these trailers also. Also they've repossessed every trailer they've ever sold.

Most of you would never consider buying one of these trailers I know. But if you are considering purchasing one the original owner of growop technologies is operating with a better track record under the moniker growbots. I must disclose i was under contract with growop technology and discovered the details of their scam. I've done no work for them since this incident with John in November, but the details were just recently revealed to me.

 

[paladin420]

Was this in Cali??Sounds like a good lawsuit in a legal state. I had seen those trailers,thought you must b nuts to do this that way.Guess I was right!! thanks for the heads up.

 

[miltonchitlin]

Ya well I don't think court proceedings is what john has in mind, unfortunately.

Grow op also imported a ton of digital ballasts, exactly like the e*** ones you find. During a meeting with grow op I informed them that the importing of the China made ballasts would hamper their reputation, they should purchase American equipment and put Americans to work. I told the growop owner he was a 'stupid fucker' if he thought this product would have better than a 30% failure rate.

To understand how I was able to know this you have to understand the China electronics market. Electronic IC's and components are built in multi-billion dollar factories. Chips are so expensive to make that only companies like Sony, Samsung and large manufactures can afford the dies and such. They order electronic parts far exceeding there actual demand, knowing a portion of the parts are going to be defective. They then sell the rejected parts to markets that exist only in China. These parts are real cheap, you may think you're getting a bargain. If you sort the chips and find the best lot numbers your product can turn out okay.

Grow op simply didn't listen. After 2 months the grow op technology digital ballasts have a 30% failure rate, just as I predicted without even looking at the product. Their ballast components inside are covered in epoxy. Grow op advertised this was for cooling, I asked them not to do that. The epoxy is there so you can not see the lot numbers of the components. This way the factory in China doesn't have to deal with an order that states 'we want 100 ballasts but we won't accept lot number XXXX - XXXY on the component C5 Capacitor'. The epoxy is there simply to cover lot numbers, sometime China factories will also sand off the silkscreen letters on top of the chip for this same purpose.

You can get a decent product from China, you just have to be ready to reject a shit load of product and have a guy on your team that speaks their language.

 

[supermanlives]

wow

 

[paladin420]

Ya well I don't think court proceedings is what john has in mind, unfortunately.

Grow op also imported a ton of digital ballasts, exactly like the e*** ones you find. During a meeting with grow op I informed them that the importing of the China made ballasts would hamper their reputation, they should purchase American equipment and put Americans to work. I told the growop owner he was a 'stupid fucker' if he thought this product would have better than a 30% failure rate.

To understand how I was able to know this you have to understand the China electronics market. Electronic IC's and components are built in multi-billion dollar factories. Chips are so expensive to make that only companies like Sony, Samsung and large manufactures can afford the dies and such. They order electronic parts far exceeding there actual demand, knowing a portion of the parts are going to be defective. They then sell the rejected parts to markets that exist only in China. These parts are real cheap, you may think you're getting a bargain. If you sort the chips and find the best lot numbers your product can turn out okay.

Grow op simply didn't listen. After 2 months the grow op technology digital ballasts have a 30% failure rate, just as I predicted without even looking at the product. Their ballast components inside are covered in epoxy. Grow op advertised this was for cooling, I asked them not to do that. The epoxy is there so you can not see the lot numbers of the components. This way the factory in China doesn't have to deal with an order that states 'we want 100 ballasts but we won't accept lot number XXXX - XXXY on the component C5 Capacitor'. The epoxy is there simply to cover lot numbers, sometime China factories will also sand off the silkscreen letters on top of the chip for this same purpose.

You can get a decent product from China, you just have to be ready to reject a shit load of product and have a guy on your team that speaks their language.

Thanks!! havin the same quailty issues with hydro equipment.I keep tellin people its cheaper on ebaaaay for a freakin reason!!

 

[Lazyman]

Fuck that man, if I had one of those things the guy trying to reposess it would find himself triggering a rather large explosion that would vaporize the trailer and everyone around it. I'm not saying you don't gotta be careful when reading and signing contracts, but one of these days they're gonna try to repo something from the wrong cat, and then there won't even be a company anymore.

 

[eyes]

youll find almost everything is made in china.every ballast ive come across has the resin on the circuit boards as well.They say its to keep dust and moisture out and that very well may be true.But i also believe it leads to components running hotter as well.I always thought they did it so you wouldnt be able to copy there circuitry.Which ballast are the higher quality chinese components,i dunno.Im currently with galaxy and had a 400 crap out on me.Not that im complaining bout it too hard though.

I believe the companies buy them in big lots knowing there going to have a certain amount of failure.Thats real shady with the trailer repossession and all.Stuff like that really ticks me off that people have to sink below and ruin a fellow grower for $.

 

[trichrider]

no fellow growers were harmed in the making of these accusations.

they were low life corporate dickweeds.

 

[Tdot]

damn thats pretty shady on the companys side seeing as they delivered the trailer late. sounds like the guy mabey shouldnt of ignored the notice and let the company know what was going on.

 

[rick shaw]

Sorry about your friends misfortune. What the story is really about is a contract,a delivery delay and a failure to respond to payment notice.

Was there a clause in the contract regarding delivery. How about a repossession clause.
More importantly,what was your friend thinking when he let a $60,000 note become due and he couldn't contact them,if it was me I'd give you twenty four hours to call,then I call the goon squad to repo.

 

[RedRain]

wow if what you speak is true,

karmas a bitch

 

[robbiedublu]

What idiots buy these things for 80K? What idiot doesn't secure his 80k trailer so it can't be hauled away by whoever in the middle of the night? If the company could steal it, anyone could steal it.

 

[growshopfrank]

What is it the repo guys say "if you payed your payment I wouldn't be here" As an adult when you sign a contract you are legally bound and if you miss payments they take their shit back

 

[robbiedublu]

What is it the repo guys say "if you payed your payment I wouldn't be here" As an adult when you sign a contract you are legally bound and if you miss payments they take their shit back

Legally, just like all big companies do things, right? If you don't make your payment on your television, for instance, can the finance company break into your house in the middle of the night and take it? NO! They have to go to court and get an order. Is this thing titled through the DMV? I guess maybe that could make a difference but they still have to do it legally, not just steal it in the middle of the night with all of its contents still in it. Thats just not how things works. If it was me, i'd just go steal it back and hide it somewhere. Actually I would have made sure they didn't know where it was in the first place.

 

[303hydro]

The guy I used to deal with at Grow Op opened a different company as a wholesale distributor called DL Wholesale. The digital ballasts that Grow-Op sold ( bright green )were actually some of the best cheapo digital ballasts I have ever seen. I know someone who has been running over 20 of them since August of last year with no issues. I would never buy a cheapo ballast, but I was impressed because you usually see a 10% failure rate with the cheap a$$ stuff.

 

[supermanlives]

sounds like a good scam. wire in a gps in the unit and repo at will

 

[Tactician]

Wire in a canister of bear spray or some other irritant and have it controlled with a cellphone and if someone steals the trailer, activate the canister and spray everything. They'll need hazmat suits to enter the trailer.

 

[Marshall]

Is this thing titled through the DMV? I guess maybe that could make a difference but they still have to do it legally, not just steal it in the middle of the night with all of its contents still in it. Thats just not how things works.

I knew someone in the repo business and I just had a conversation a few days ago with a former LEO now Bail/Recovery agent about repos

yes trailers are titled through DMV. they have plates too. Hell I think a mobile home can be repoed as well.

a finance company can repo a vehicle when they want. no court order. They can take it from your work, home or in the parking lot when you go the grocery store. day or night, 24/7 They cannot enter a garage or cut a locked gate. If you sit in the vehicle they can not tow it. If the cops come, its a breach of the peace and the repo company must leave w/o the vehicle. There are some other tid bits. Laws may vary state to state.

It doesnt matter whats in the vehicle, books, clothes, your kids baby seat, firearms etc. They will repo it. Anything attached like radio, speakers,wheels etc are now part of the car. other items should be returned to you if you go to the lot and pick them up. All the hardware is attached to the trailer, and part of the trailer. I am sure the contract lists all the equipment as part of the trailer. the only non attached item may be the plants. Are you ballzy enough to call the cops or sue him over the plants?



Shady company

But the buyer should have paid attention. When ordering the trailer, he should have made the due date XX days from delivery, not a hard date. He should have argued when the trailer was late. He should have called the guy after the late notice.

And he never should have had the trailer delivered to his final spot. he should have had it delivered elsewhere, then had someone else move it to the final spot.

He should have had better security around a trailer full of MJ plants


the seller should have known harvest was postponed and made more attempts to arrange payment before repo

 

[Dr. Buddington]

Man, thats messed up. Just goes to show that buying stuff that you can't afford, more often than not, results in an unpleasant situation.

 

[darby crash]

Legally, just like all big companies do things, right? If you don't make your payment on your television, for instance, can the finance company break into your house in the middle of the night and take it? NO! They have to go to court and get an order. Is this thing titled through the DMV? I guess maybe that could make a difference but they still have to do it legally, not just steal it in the middle of the night with all of its contents still in it. Thats just not how things works. If it was me, i'd just go steal it back and hide it somewhere. Actually I would have made sure they didn't know where it was in the first place.

Why should the finance co have to go and get a court order? Until you make enough payments its legally theirs. And once they repo it you can still cure the default if you wish. Or if you have enough money.