Martin O
Posted: 17 Jun 2013, 16:48Just a heads up, Martin O is selling on ebay under another name FREEDOM POWERCHAIRS be careful. 
WheelchairDriver
Powerchair, Mobility Vehicles & Disability Message Board
http://www.wheelchairdriver.com:80/board/
Martin O
http://www.wheelchairdriver.com:80/board/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3347
Page 1 of 3
Posted: 17 Jun 2013, 16:48Re: Martin O
Posted: 17 Jun 2013, 17:46That's his newest new "charitable" company... Same as before, but without all the people chasing refunds?
Re: Martin O
Posted: 17 Jun 2013, 20:21Burgerman wrote:That's his newest new "charitable" company... Same as before, but without all the people chasing refunds?
You uk fellas should report to the local authorities about EMO...he´s dangersous !!
Re: Martin O
Posted: 17 Jun 2013, 22:29who is Martin O? Heard him being mentioned a few times on here
Re: Martin O
Posted: 17 Jun 2013, 23:10O DIABO,,, 
Re: Martin O
Posted: 18 Jun 2013, 06:48PowerHungry wrote:who is Martin O? Heard him being mentioned a few times on here
He is apparently a con artist of sorts.... He has run a series of businesses that offered various chair rebuilding / repair services, particularly offering to rebuild / recondition F55's and make them into a BM2 variant (He wouldn't do the frame cut that makes the BM3) His adds were very polished, and promised a great deal - all new / reconditioned parts, high build quality, and so on.
He used to be a member here, and posted a lot of relatively helpful posts, however we have had many current and former members who are very unhappy with the work that he did for them...
Among the current members, Nandol is a particularly notable example. The chair that Nandol ordered took MUCH longer to deliver than promised, and what was delivered is a collection of damaged and mismatched parts, put together improperly and with lots of really problematic hardware. Nandol has had several mechanical failures on the chair, many of which have stranded him, and IIRC one that even caused him personal injury when he was thrown from the chair....
Not sure just what the trigger was, but it seemed like just a matter of a few weeks time when Martin went from being a respected member of the Forum to being completely unwelcome - He is no longer a member, but I don't know whether BM gave him the boot or he quit...
Bottom line as far as we are concerned here is that he is not a person that is good to deal with, and we try to keep an eye out for his "New" buisnesses in order to avoid dealing with him. As a public service, we also try to warn others about his past history of bad dealings.
ex-Gooserider
Re: Martin O
Posted: 18 Jun 2013, 16:05That was the politically correct way of saying it. 
Re: Martin O
Posted: 18 Jun 2013, 21:08Sheng-ji, Alec, Joey, Nandol, and redandwhite makes 6 on this forum to my knowledge - there maybe others.
30, 000+ UK pounds total?
That is an awful lot of dissatisfaction.
LC
30, 000+ UK pounds total?
That is an awful lot of dissatisfaction.
LC
Re: Martin O
Posted: 04 Jan 2014, 13:40I think I was partly the trigger for his demise on these forums, I contacted him as he seemed perfectly respectable and helpful to buy a custom made chair from him. He replied with the most obfuscated answers, once he heard what my condition was he started to prey on an aspect of it which may make me difficult to understand by saying that I wasn't making sense etc. Fortunately I knew that the emails I sent were precise and clear because my brother sent them. When he started doing that I literally cut contact with him.
I decided to build my own chair and went hunting on ebay for a second hand one. I find one listed, a green one for a reasonable price and I snapped it up. Too late did I realise that Value$foru or whatever he was calling his ebay account was based in Brighton, same as Martin O Refurbisher and he was calling himself here and probably warranted further investigation before buying. Well I had a chair on the way but I started to investigate anyway. I discovered a number of worrying signs that this ebay account was not all it seemed. He at the time claimed to be a "legal aid lawyer", though legal aid has had no dealings with any lawyer by his name. He claimed to be a charity yet no charity was registered in his name or at the address he claimed his workshop was at. The nail was in the coffin when he contacted me through ebay trying to sell me "extras". Do you want it powdercoated in black, do you want it fully refurbished do you want x y and z. The costs were extortionate so I clearly and precisely declined. I want the chair in the photo for the price I paid, I insisted. The messaged confirmed my worst suspicion however, they were clearly from Martin O Refurbisher, his unique way of treating his customers with confusing and unclear statements was shining through.
Well, whatever, I wasn't asking him to do any work, simply arrange his specialist courier to pick up the chair and drop it off at my address.
Unfortunately on the day my wheelchair was to be delivered by "a specialist delivery firm" that Martin had charged £100 for, I was in hospital so my wonderful brother was there to receive it. When I returned from hospital, a chair stood in my front room charging and it looked amazing. It was very clearly not the chair I had purchased, it was not green, it has a fresh coat of black paint. Warning!!! On closer inspection, once you look past the shiny paint job, the internals, the bits that were most important to me, the bits I had paid for and were clearly described in the advert were not bolted onto that glorious frame. What was bolted on was the literally worst, cheapest, oldest and lowest quality components available.
I contacted martin and asked for him to deliver that chair I had paid for, Martin kicked up a fuss, claiming the chair in the picture didn't exist and essentially said no, you paid for a wheelchair and I delivered a wheelchair. Deal with it. I turned to the power of paypal and disputed the transaction. They pulled the money into the resolution centre. It's worth pointing out that this was my life's savings. When I came on here to warn people of Martins behaviour, he threw all his toys out of his pram and threatened to sue me. I publicly challenged him to, reiterating my claim that he was a conman. You can see the gory details on the board, though I think the origional post got deleted, search for "A public apology and retraction" to find the good stuff :/
This didn't go amazingly well for me with users of this board. Some, including Burgerman were very supportive and had already encountered problems of this sort with Martin yet had not yet seen enough to call him out on his BS. I had discovered the fact that his "non profit for charity" work was very much for profit and not for charity. This was enough for me to call him out. When I did so, he revealed that he was the one who had personally delivered the wheelchair. Which I considered an invasion of my privacy. I would not have bought the chair had I known that the seller would deliver it personally, he went to great pains to describe the speciality of the courier he used. I was also very surprised. Martin had been elsewhere on the forum helping people with their benefits citing his own personal experience with motability and his disability. He had a very expensive vehicle on the motability scheme. What was odd was that the two gentlemen who delivered my chair were caught on camera, walking down the path to my house and back up. Neither were unable to walk the hundred or so of meters along the path to my house twice, once wheeling a chair, which they lifted from the boot of a very expensive van which matched the one martin said he had on a motability scheme. A feat which would exclude him from the motability scheme, it's not for people with that level of ability.
The list of his skullduggery is growing:
Charity conman
Ebay fraudster
Benefits cheat
Dishonestly claiming to this forum to have a level of disability he does not
Anyway, eventually I got my money back, got the chair I needed it back quickly for on ebay, thanks to the wonderful people selling it being very understanding of my situation and agreeing a sale with me, removing it's listing and even offering to send it before I knew when I could pay them and that chair is fantastic and going strong, though I wish desperately that I could reprogram it.
Since all of that, I have kept half an eye on Martin. He runs a recycling firm, that was newly set up not long after he told me he was never going to sell a wheelchair again. It's website proclaims that it has been in business for generations. (Lies). My friend in Brighton popped a tracker into an old tv and gave martin a call. Said TV was picked up and we tracked it. All the way to a National Trust carpark where it had been flytipped along with a bunch of builders rubble. We contacted the national trust and helped clear it up. When we told them who did it, the warden rolled his eyes, literally. He's been seen doing this before. We gave our evidence to the local authority in Brighton and I hope it causes him pain in the future if it hasn't already.
To put it bluntly, who is martin? Martin is the most despicable kind of conman. He is neither brave or clever, he is a coward who preys on those who he considers to be too weak to put up a fight. The disabled, the environmentally aware. Most of all, he is weak. Challenge him and he trys to weasel his way out. Stand firm and he literally cries over being caught, promises never to do it again then goes and does it again when he thinks you aren't looking. I I hadn't been dealing with my son coming to terms with the same illness I have, I would have already seen that man in prison for his crimes and make no mistake, pretending to be a charity will get you locked up.
When all this came out, I did promise to steer clear of these boards as I had rubbed a lot of regulars up the wrong way, people who had only ever found this man to be helpful and a valued member of the boards. If there is no objection, now that public opinion has swung to match mine, I would like to be an active member again.
I decided to build my own chair and went hunting on ebay for a second hand one. I find one listed, a green one for a reasonable price and I snapped it up. Too late did I realise that Value$foru or whatever he was calling his ebay account was based in Brighton, same as Martin O Refurbisher and he was calling himself here and probably warranted further investigation before buying. Well I had a chair on the way but I started to investigate anyway. I discovered a number of worrying signs that this ebay account was not all it seemed. He at the time claimed to be a "legal aid lawyer", though legal aid has had no dealings with any lawyer by his name. He claimed to be a charity yet no charity was registered in his name or at the address he claimed his workshop was at. The nail was in the coffin when he contacted me through ebay trying to sell me "extras". Do you want it powdercoated in black, do you want it fully refurbished do you want x y and z. The costs were extortionate so I clearly and precisely declined. I want the chair in the photo for the price I paid, I insisted. The messaged confirmed my worst suspicion however, they were clearly from Martin O Refurbisher, his unique way of treating his customers with confusing and unclear statements was shining through.
Well, whatever, I wasn't asking him to do any work, simply arrange his specialist courier to pick up the chair and drop it off at my address.
Unfortunately on the day my wheelchair was to be delivered by "a specialist delivery firm" that Martin had charged £100 for, I was in hospital so my wonderful brother was there to receive it. When I returned from hospital, a chair stood in my front room charging and it looked amazing. It was very clearly not the chair I had purchased, it was not green, it has a fresh coat of black paint. Warning!!! On closer inspection, once you look past the shiny paint job, the internals, the bits that were most important to me, the bits I had paid for and were clearly described in the advert were not bolted onto that glorious frame. What was bolted on was the literally worst, cheapest, oldest and lowest quality components available.
I contacted martin and asked for him to deliver that chair I had paid for, Martin kicked up a fuss, claiming the chair in the picture didn't exist and essentially said no, you paid for a wheelchair and I delivered a wheelchair. Deal with it. I turned to the power of paypal and disputed the transaction. They pulled the money into the resolution centre. It's worth pointing out that this was my life's savings. When I came on here to warn people of Martins behaviour, he threw all his toys out of his pram and threatened to sue me. I publicly challenged him to, reiterating my claim that he was a conman. You can see the gory details on the board, though I think the origional post got deleted, search for "A public apology and retraction" to find the good stuff :/
This didn't go amazingly well for me with users of this board. Some, including Burgerman were very supportive and had already encountered problems of this sort with Martin yet had not yet seen enough to call him out on his BS. I had discovered the fact that his "non profit for charity" work was very much for profit and not for charity. This was enough for me to call him out. When I did so, he revealed that he was the one who had personally delivered the wheelchair. Which I considered an invasion of my privacy. I would not have bought the chair had I known that the seller would deliver it personally, he went to great pains to describe the speciality of the courier he used. I was also very surprised. Martin had been elsewhere on the forum helping people with their benefits citing his own personal experience with motability and his disability. He had a very expensive vehicle on the motability scheme. What was odd was that the two gentlemen who delivered my chair were caught on camera, walking down the path to my house and back up. Neither were unable to walk the hundred or so of meters along the path to my house twice, once wheeling a chair, which they lifted from the boot of a very expensive van which matched the one martin said he had on a motability scheme. A feat which would exclude him from the motability scheme, it's not for people with that level of ability.
The list of his skullduggery is growing:
Charity conman
Ebay fraudster
Benefits cheat
Dishonestly claiming to this forum to have a level of disability he does not
Anyway, eventually I got my money back, got the chair I needed it back quickly for on ebay, thanks to the wonderful people selling it being very understanding of my situation and agreeing a sale with me, removing it's listing and even offering to send it before I knew when I could pay them and that chair is fantastic and going strong, though I wish desperately that I could reprogram it.
Since all of that, I have kept half an eye on Martin. He runs a recycling firm, that was newly set up not long after he told me he was never going to sell a wheelchair again. It's website proclaims that it has been in business for generations. (Lies). My friend in Brighton popped a tracker into an old tv and gave martin a call. Said TV was picked up and we tracked it. All the way to a National Trust carpark where it had been flytipped along with a bunch of builders rubble. We contacted the national trust and helped clear it up. When we told them who did it, the warden rolled his eyes, literally. He's been seen doing this before. We gave our evidence to the local authority in Brighton and I hope it causes him pain in the future if it hasn't already.
To put it bluntly, who is martin? Martin is the most despicable kind of conman. He is neither brave or clever, he is a coward who preys on those who he considers to be too weak to put up a fight. The disabled, the environmentally aware. Most of all, he is weak. Challenge him and he trys to weasel his way out. Stand firm and he literally cries over being caught, promises never to do it again then goes and does it again when he thinks you aren't looking. I I hadn't been dealing with my son coming to terms with the same illness I have, I would have already seen that man in prison for his crimes and make no mistake, pretending to be a charity will get you locked up.
When all this came out, I did promise to steer clear of these boards as I had rubbed a lot of regulars up the wrong way, people who had only ever found this man to be helpful and a valued member of the boards. If there is no objection, now that public opinion has swung to match mine, I would like to be an active member again.
Re: Martin O
Posted: 04 Jan 2014, 14:11From what I can gather, and have had plenty of contact with people NOT on this board too, your description of him is very polite and doesn't even begin to explain how evil he is...
I do think he is a kind of Walter Mitty character, and actually believes all the crap he says/claims, himself too. You got off lightly.
I do think he is a kind of Walter Mitty character, and actually believes all the crap he says/claims, himself too. You got off lightly.
Re: Martin O
Posted: 04 Jan 2014, 16:49I would also agree, as one of the ones that was somewhat supportive of Martin at the time - to my subsequent regret...
Up until Sheng-Ji's initial posts, Martin had come across as a helpful sort, and seemed to be one of the few options for a person w/o the resources to build their own to get something approximating a BM3...
There hadn't been any public negative posts about him up to that point (I did get a PM suggesting I be cautious in dealing with him - especially since I'd be doing it from the US...)
However Sheng-Ji definitely started the shattering of that illusion, and that did all of us a favor....
So I'd certainly welcome him to participate more actively.
ex-Gooserider
Up until Sheng-Ji's initial posts, Martin had come across as a helpful sort, and seemed to be one of the few options for a person w/o the resources to build their own to get something approximating a BM3...
There hadn't been any public negative posts about him up to that point (I did get a PM suggesting I be cautious in dealing with him - especially since I'd be doing it from the US...)
However Sheng-Ji definitely started the shattering of that illusion, and that did all of us a favor....
So I'd certainly welcome him to participate more actively.
ex-Gooserider
Re: Martin O
Posted: 04 Jan 2014, 19:58Con men cannot 'profit' by ripping off everyone, everywhere, every time as it would ruin their pitch - selective honesty is their whole modem operandus.
"Build up the confidence - then go for the jugular."
That's why they are called CON men.
LC
"Build up the confidence - then go for the jugular."
That's why they are called CON men.
LC
Re: Martin O
Posted: 04 Jan 2014, 22:59olá fellas...i´ll never pronounce his name again.period.
also i knew member redandwhite died last summer,rest in peace.
obrigado sheng-ji for your fight against that "evil thing "
O.T-today lunch,9 pessoas..tons of meat,starters,wine etc...for 120eur...i split 1 portion of kid ( baby goet?) with my friend António Raul sat on my right side...huge portions.
also i knew member redandwhite died last summer,rest in peace.
obrigado sheng-ji for your fight against that "evil thing "
O.T-today lunch,9 pessoas..tons of meat,starters,wine etc...for 120eur...i split 1 portion of kid ( baby goet?) with my friend António Raul sat on my right side...huge portions.
Re: Martin O
Posted: 05 Jan 2014, 02:26I notice that you seem to have claimed the bottle 
Re: Martin O
Posted: 05 Jan 2014, 10:22M------ reminds me of a local service dept. It is a fricking shame that some people think "we" are just "marks" to make a quick buck off of..
But on the other side the people of this forum are amazing. I am so appreciative of the advice I get from Bm, and Woody and all the others and I am amazed every week when I see the same questions I asked when I joined when the answers were here if I would have just read. I love how kind and outgoing Nandol is after the Hell M----- put him through. This forum is am amazing resource and it is all about something "we" need and care so much about.
Thanks Everyone and Screw Martin O!
But on the other side the people of this forum are amazing. I am so appreciative of the advice I get from Bm, and Woody and all the others and I am amazed every week when I see the same questions I asked when I joined when the answers were here if I would have just read. I love how kind and outgoing Nandol is after the Hell M----- put him through. This forum is am amazing resource and it is all about something "we" need and care so much about.
Thanks Everyone and Screw Martin O!
Re: Martin O
Posted: 05 Jan 2014, 22:04Agree with Rob, this site blows me away with the amount of information it contains, Thank You all who make it happen.
Re: Martin O
Posted: 06 Jan 2014, 16:13I agree with Rob as well. But we all sort of owe it to newcomers to beware of Martin, or what ever is his name of the day . Most of us cannot afford to make any mistakes when building or reconstructing our chair or other mobility device. Our choices are limited, very few of us are adventerous enough or have the mechanical, or physical ability to do a whole chair.
But, the assistance the other guys supply, as well as warning us against such nefarious people like Martin, is great. Just be aware that such people are lurking about, and openly informing each other about them is one of the things that makes this site different. Thanks guys.
Perhaps having a Hall of Infamy is improper, I don't really know, but conversation about that kind of person and openly naming them is simple conversation. So please keep this warning system going strong as well as the mechanical/electronic info.
But, the assistance the other guys supply, as well as warning us against such nefarious people like Martin, is great. Just be aware that such people are lurking about, and openly informing each other about them is one of the things that makes this site different. Thanks guys.
Perhaps having a Hall of Infamy is improper, I don't really know, but conversation about that kind of person and openly naming them is simple conversation. So please keep this warning system going strong as well as the mechanical/electronic info.
Re: Martin O
Posted: 09 Jan 2014, 04:26I have been a member here for a good bit. I do not post much just read, but when martin came on and every time someone would post on a bm chair he would be the first to post. It was like he designed the chair, so I got the feeling something was up. and when I read what he did to nando, I lost it and told him what I thought of him, the post is on here. This board is great, great people and great research by burgerman leading the way. And sorry to say we all have to look out for martin o`s as if we do not have enough trouble in life! anyway`s Nice feast there Nando!
Re: Martin O
Posted: 09 Jan 2014, 18:46For what it's worth here is his latest wheeze/pricing structure.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Off-Road-powerchair-custom-built-to-order-Quickie-F55-based-not-Invacare-Storm-/251408570437?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Mobility_Disability_Medical_ET&hash=item3a891e5845
If this is him now, then we should perhaps remember his face.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Off-Road-powerchair-custom-built-to-order-Quickie-F55-based-not-Invacare-Storm-/251408570437?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Mobility_Disability_Medical_ET&hash=item3a891e5845
If this is him now, then we should perhaps remember his face.
Re: Martin O
Posted: 09 Jan 2014, 19:49http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Off-Road-powe ... 3a891e5845
10k for a pile of old parts badly assembled in a frankly dangerous fashion sprayed black with a can. And he is a charity???
10k for a pile of old parts badly assembled in a frankly dangerous fashion sprayed black with a can. And he is a charity???
Re: Martin O
Posted: 09 Jan 2014, 20:43http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sunrise-Medic ... 417a59e895
No ..he is not a charity... your being misdirected by the wording on the Ebay advert.
There is just an ebay "charity" donation appended to the payment process.
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/ebayforcharity/about.html
No ..he is not a charity... your being misdirected by the wording on the Ebay advert.
There is just an ebay "charity" donation appended to the payment process.
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/ebayforcharity/about.html
is the ONLY part that you need to read.100%- of the final sale price will support Freedom Powerchairs Ltd.
Re: Martin O
Posted: 09 Jan 2014, 22:08As a mobility charity, Freedom Powerchairs (registered Charity No: 1149122) is in a unique position to solve mobility problems for those who do not fit “off-the-shelf” solutions.
??
Re: Martin O
Posted: 09 Jan 2014, 22:16Your correct B.M. ...seems Freedom is a registered charity.
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/find-charities/
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/find-charities/
Re: Martin O
Posted: 10 Jan 2014, 00:24More a method of paying less tax. Or making more cash...
His price for an old wreck, made of junk, is 10k!
His price for an old wreck, made of junk, is 10k!
Re: Martin O
Posted: 10 Jan 2014, 07:40I noticed in the photos attached to the add that it appears the rear suspension or wheel mounts are sagging - IIRC didn't Nandol have a rear wheel fall off? The rear wheels are definitely splayed out at the bottom in the pix like there is a bunch of slop somewhere... (OTOH the real BM2 had some extra struts on the outsides of the motors to keep the wheels vertical...)
ex-Gooserider
ex-Gooserider
Re: Martin O
Posted: 10 Jan 2014, 22:39Right hand motor mount seems higher than the left.
LC
LC
Re: Martin O
Posted: 10 Jan 2014, 23:07sim fellas,pic shows that...in trhe reassembing ivanov didnt dismount the entire wheel and sh t happens...he never thought it could be so badly done..well,more like undone 
now after 2.000kms only have last month a half deflated tyre with loss of one of those 6? screws at center wheel....vibration?
now after 2.000kms only have last month a half deflated tyre with loss of one of those 6? screws at center wheel....vibration?
Re: Martin O
Posted: 11 Jan 2014, 11:14You need to take apart and examine to see what is wrong. Quite likely its something to do with the way its mounted, and it really needs a machined accurate hub.
Re: Martin O
Posted: 11 Jan 2014, 18:53Just looking at that picture... again, this morning, I'm looking beyond the crooked wheel. The motor to the right seems much higher than the one to the left... like the left one has come dismounted.
Re: Martin O
Posted: 11 Jan 2014, 19:13That's an old photo. It was a failed martin O wheel adapter. It was dangerous and bodged.