dealer complaints

Understood. Money can do strange things to people.

 

I know I'm in the dark about a few things... especially when it comes to however or whatever Michael Cassini did to cozy up with Ferrari big wigs. I'm pretty sure that in my previous post I stated I had no idea what Rosso360 meant when he said that the big Ferrari people were burned. What does all that mean, anyway? Piero and macassini were hanging out? They were taking trips together? They attended trade shows with one another? They went to Christmas Mass? What???

I have never had the pleasure of meeting Piero but I will say this. If he (or anyone for that matter) considered Micahel Cassini to be on his list of friends or colleagues then I hope to never have the displeasure of meeting him or having to spend any sort of significant time in his company. I would feel the same way if you were Enzo's kid or if you were the attendant at the car wash.

<DISCLAIMER ON>

Mr. P. Ferrari... I'm sorry someone decided to drag you into this little soap opera. From what I read about you at Millionaire.com you seem to be a decent guy. I am in no way trying to make any sort of claim or testimonial about you, your personal character or your choice in friends.

<DISCLAIMER OFF>

In regards to me sounding incredibly insensitive towards "people" who were hurt by Cassini... please don't sell me short. What about mortified and disgusted? Insensitive really doesn't say how strongly I feel about anyone that gave Cassini the time of day or called him a friend. As far as I am concerned, whatever repercussions any former/current friend of Michael Cassini is experiencing are well-deserved and not nearly painful enough.

The key word there is "people". Banks, law firms, corporations, etc., are just business machines that look at numbers, loan applications, proposals, whatever. I do feel bad for those types of entities that got ripped off but hey they're big kids and I'm sure they have better safeguards in place now. It's the "people" or "persons" that I feel absolutely no remorse, sorrow or sympathy for.

Any "people" or "person" that chose to befriend the little maggot got to see him on a personal level. They chose to spend their own time with him. They obseved the horrid way in which he conducted himself and still made the decision that he was worth their time. Perhaps they decided that since he was tossing around some $$$ he was worth hanging around even though he was a jerk. Perhaps they were jerks too and as a result felt comfortable with him. Who knows... either way those people ought to feel ashamed but my guess is they would do the same thing the next time some little twerp like macassini comes around so why waste your time there? I honestly can't say who I am least impressed by... someone who is dazzled by a big spending asshat or someone who thinks rude, arrogant jerks are cool.

I must say there was a moment last year when I thought perhaps I had gone too far with this guy. That maybe I was being too quick to judge and perhaps I should of kept my big mouth/typing fingers shut. About a week or 2 into this festive little thread (10/04), he had called me on the phone and told me what was what. He said he had friends in the local car/bike world that I knew, etc., and I better watch myself or me and my reputation were going down, he warned. Got all sorts of PM's and personal emails saying the same and lots more.

Next time I saw macassini in person was at the Seattle motorcycle show (12/04) and lo and behold there he was arm-in-arm with one his good friends (who was someone I knew from the car/bike world) who also happens to be someone who has posted here. I can remember the smug little smiles on both of their faces as they pretended to make polite small talk with me and all the while they clearly could not get enough of one another. I can only imagine the shucking and jiving and other sorts of hijinks that went on back at the macassini lair as they regaled themselves with how ridiculous and surprised I looked to see macassini with a tried and true respected member of the Fchat world. Surely they must of gotten great enjoyment exchanging stories about how irritating I had been and how, now that they had each other, all that was behind them.

I suppose that is a really long winded way of saying that I am glad I sound really insensitive to people that were hurt by this ass. They brought it on themselves and now they should deal with it. Bummer for them but no sympathy here... sorry.

 

I was told that P. Ferrari knew him, and he as treated as an important customer at Ferrari, as well as other companies. My information comes from someone who was close to him in business for a while.

Ok, I understand.

 

Never knew Cassini, and only met you once at one of the pre-drive GTG. From your posts, I think you have made it real clear that you don't like the guy, as your posts and attacks on other members that knew him are down right bitter.

As an outsider, I think for you to bunch everyone who had associated with him all together for whatever reason, is a lot too extrem. Of course, do whatever you want and whatever makes you feel better, but at least try to understand this, just like others said, he was a con man, a con man is suppose to be able to hide his true nature. Unlike others, you had dealed with him on a business level, I would imagine that had something to do with you being able to figure him out much earlier than others. As most of the others probably just associated with him on a very casual and social bases, which I am sure he was very charming or a sort, charming as a con man suppose to be.

If anything at all, remember that we all make mistakes. I suppose you have never ever hangout with the wrong crowds, never been misguided, both during childhood and adulthood. I know that I have, and I have learned from those experiences. I am sure that Cassini's past associates all learn something from this experiences as well, and perhaps gain a little more insight to themselves, good or bad.

It sounds like you had formed some friendships with other FCA-NW members in the past, but because of Cassini, you had grown apart. If these friendships ever meant anything to you, it would appear to be healthier if you were to be able to get pass this Cassini thing and start over. Remember, there is nothing worse than someone else rubbing it in, as in the good old "I told you so" sort of crap thrown at you. I am sure your friends would appreciate it.

Why am I saying all these? You must be wondering why the **ck does this guy care? If you will, I will tell you why. I have been a member of FCA-NW for a long time now (10+ years), but because of school, I was AWOL for a while. While I was in Seattle, I have met and got to know a lot of great people in the club. A lot of them no longer attend events for one reason or another, and I can honestly say that I miss the old gang. Since I have been back, I have found it difficult to become part of the club again for whatever reason. Thus I have attended less and less events or GTG, of course lack of free time also has a lot to do with it as well. Anyway, my point is, friendships are something to be treasured. My father once told me, friends forgive friends, that's what friends do. All that I said are mere observations and suggestions, they are not judgements. And of course, you are a grown adult, you decide if you want to stay the course and continue to isolate and dissassociate yourself within the club, or you can re-forge the friendships that you had made before and make it stronger than ever.

Best of luck to you.

 

<As an outsider, I think for you to bunch everyone who had associated with him all together for whatever reason, is a lot too extrem>

Actually, the only people I am bunching together are the people that called him a friend. If you were his landlord, his banker, his car salesperson, his real estate agent, his manicurist or the like then I feel sorry that you had to tolerate the man for whatever period of time you did. However, if you spent any amount of personal time with him on any sort of friendship/compadre level then I would hope to never cross paths with you again.

For what it's worth, I felt this way about macassini and his groupies before he got busted by the feds. Of the very small group of people that I knew to be running around with him, none of them were really my friends to begin with so to be perfectly blunt I'm not feeling a great deal of loss here. As far as I know, the total number of folks who call themselves NW Fchatters as well as a former/current friend of Michael Cassini numbered more than 1 but less than 5. I suppose it speaks volumes about a group of people that so few of them actually believed any of the mealy-mouthed rhetoric that spewed from his vocal cords.



<It sounds like you had formed some friendships with other FCA-NW members in the past, but because of Cassini, you had grown apart>

Dr. Phil... thats it! We have been growing apart and that must be why.

Sorry, just kidding. In all seriousness I'd like to think that anyone I met from the FCA-NW and was what I consider to be a friend is still my friend regardless of whatever feelings/opinions I have about scoutmaster Cassini and any of his former understudies. If I am mistaken and in fact there are those that would no longer like me to call them their friend as a result of my making my feelings/opinions on this little matter known then so be it.



<Remember, there is nothing worse than someone else rubbing it in, as in the good old "I told you so" sort of crap thrown at you. I am sure your friends would appreciate it.>

Well, I'm not "rubbing it in" or doing an "I told you so" to any of my friends so I'm not quite sure what you mean. Any "rubbing in" or the like that I may be guilty of is only in response to those who may have wanted to throw fruit-filled baked goods in my general direction since I was unaware that macassini was a standup guy. Is that completely non-sensical? Read this thread all the way through and that will clear things up.



<I suppose you have never ever hangout with the wrong crowds, never been misguided, both during childhood and adulthood>

Of course that has happened to me as well. What I can say is I never needed the feds to show up or start asking questions for me to suspect that something wasn't right with someone.




Anthony C., you seem to be a pretty decent fellow and I can understand how someone who never had the distinct pleasure of being in the company of Mr. Cassini might think I was being overly harsh and judgemental towards his former/current peers. Perhaps in other people's opinion I am as well but I can say with certainty that more than a few people within this community feel as I do. Thats a fact, Jack, and, in my opinion, the fact that I am the one verbalizing these thoughts on this forum has more to do with other peoples desire to keep their thoughts and opinions to themselves for fear of coming across as unfeeling bastards. That seems to be a fear I don't have, for whatever reason.

Best of luck to you too, Anthony C.

Hey, am I over-analyzing or does that seem really, really final? Like, one of us is going somewhere never to be heard or seen from again. Thats not you, I hope, since I didn't have any immediate plans to vacate.

 

Ditto that, Tyson. Nothing like spending your good buddies money that he (ultimately) stole from you, me and them too. I sure hope it felt good for them while it lasted. Oh well, at least they got to showcase their true colors while macassini was on the loose.

There really isn't anything akin to a good old case of loan fraud, exotic cars and shallow people to make good copy, is there?

 

We are devoting all together too much time and effort on this weasel. It certainly is a case of "coulda, shoulda, woulda" for most of us to find a way out of dealing with him.

All I can say personally is that I came away from a brokered deal buying a car from him (as Jeffrey Leavitt) feeling uneasy about his ethics, honesty, and integrity. I really only thought it was just eccentricities at that point however, and not something so bold as a life/business built on a pile of lies. Mea culpa, and perhaps I should have voiced (there's that "shoulda"!) my concerns a bit wider.

Dan

 

Entertaining, none the less.

 

Kie,

I guess you are the "perfect" person.

Working with someone doesn't make you a friend. This guy claimed "friendships" to others where they were not...but he would hang around people long enough to make it look like it. (Looking back...He did this, ALOT). i.e. A lot of people I know were at the bike show...how do you know he (and this other person) didnt just bump into each other ?..or more like it, Jeff saw him and "tagged" along to make it LOOK like what you saw. Jeff claimed to be friends with a LOT of people and he would go up to these people and make small talk...I know, because I saw him talk to Piero Ferrari and he introduced me to him and his wife (Twice). It looked like Jeff was more than a customer...and it was mindblowing. But, If I was in your shoes, I would probably draw the same conclusions...(of course, I wouldn't beat the story in the ground like you, but whatever) Associatiations, does not equate automatically equate to friendships. I cant say I can call everyone I worked with a friend. It almost seems you are replaying part of his "con". This guy completely (looking back) blew way out of proportion his so called "friendships". I was played...I am not proud of it. And I am not going to call myself a "victim", I hate that. No one put a gun to my head to be associated with this guy. I am not going to go into the detail of I got tied up with him, but I can tell you that it started in a complete Business situation, that validated his "MSFT" past years ago...before (like you said) he was "throwing money around". My other connection to him was with a very respected member of the community. Kie, you would be blown away to know the circles this guy was able to move around in and how well he did it...But alas, its easy to sit in the armchair and throw darts at this situation from a far. The guy had more MSFT stuff than the CEO (badges, shirts, parking passes) and he was at the campus all the time. (soo he said) He made it look amazing and yep, fooled a lot of people...except you Kie.

I dont know why you are so hung up on this. Your first few post... OK...but its now it seems to be getting out of hand. We all know how the story ends. One guy is in jail, and anyone associated with him has to not only deal with the experience, they have you read about you pounding it around a few more times. My only read here is now everyone knows that Kie is the perfect person, void of ever associating with a con. You Da' man!

Here is your cookie.

How about judging all of those women who got tied up with Ted Bundy...or those fools who worked for Enron...or anyone who bought internet stocks in the dotcom days. I'm sure whatever the calamity there was/is/will be, you saw it coming.

You took your shots...now let it be.

We GOT it.

 

<We GOT it>

No, you didn't/don't "get it". I think quite a few people "got it" or are now "getting it" but you clearly are not one of them.

Heres why. When the heat started coming down on your buddy, I thought, jeez, Shelbys gotta feel pretty silly right about now. After all, Shelby took it upon himself to defend 'ol macassini right here in a public forum. Shelby publicly told another Fchatter (that would be me) to stop hurting macassini's feelings because hey, he was a standup guy. I believe this is your quote earlier on in this thread, right? 10/08/04 I think it was:


<Kie "rhymes with Pie

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wish I had one to throw at you.

The guy HAS the cars....everyone but you seems to know this but you. His Turbo is one of the most "perfect" 911's anywhere. I had the pleasure of driving it a few days ago and this car pulls Gs!!!! It's Darth Vader...its a CS Killer...its awesome!!!! Mike's a standup guy.

Respectfully...Get over it.>


So that was pretty indicitive of where you stood on the matter, don't you think? Next time I had any sort of interaction with you was in person at the Seattle bike show in December '04. There you were with Micahel Cassini like brothers in arms checking out all the cool, flashy Ducatis. You two seemed to be really enjoying yourselves while you pretended to make polite small talk with me. I have to tell you, though, the smug, condescending looks each of you had for me while you made that polite small talk did not go unnoticed or forgotten for that matter.

So that was a festive time and the next thing you know 'ol macassini is getting busted by the feds. I thought, holy manure, Shelby and anyone else who called that guy a friend have some serious ass-kissing and some even more serious soul-searching to do. I must admit, the vindictive side of me that I try my best to keep at bay was somewhat eagerly awaiting the inevitable email or PM from Rosso360 that offered up some sort of apology, explanation or the like. The funny thing is nothing like that happened. Ever. No emails, no PM's, no apology. Vindictive nature or not, had that apology happened I would of graciously accepted it.

Then I thought... hmmmm. Maybe he/they (Rosso360 or anyone else who palled around with the little turd) would post something here on Fchat saying they were sorry to the local community for associating with Cassini not to mention trying to convince us how cool he was. That would of been fine with me too but gosh, wouldn't you know it, no thread or post like that from any of the former macassini-wannabees. It wasn't until someone asked in this thread who macassini was and I told what I knew about him that Rosso360 decided to post something resembling an apology or an explanation and it was a pretty lame one at that.

Why was it lame, you ask? Well, basically you say that lots of serious players got burned left and right. Banks, law firms, exotic car company executives, etc. You were just someone like them who got caught up in the 'con. I'll say this one last time. You, and anyone that called him a friend, are different than those banks, law firms, car company execs and the like. You had the chance to see him in the real world. You observed his behavior in normal everyday life and you were OK with it. You chose to spend your own personal time with him and I can only assume it is because you thought he was a swell guy or you wanted a piece of the action. So hopefully now you understand what I feel the difference is between business entities or folks who associated w/ Cassini on the surface <verses> real people in the real world who interacted with him on a personal level and called him a friend. Got it? Thats why the apology is so lame. What you should really be saying is you are sorry you are so shallow and materialistic and thats why someone like Cassini was able to make you an ally. That would be a real, genuine apology... are you familiar with those traits?

Oh but wait... you said:

<Associatiations, does not equate automatically equate to friendships. I cant say I can call everyone I worked with a friend>

Well thats sufficiently vague and ambiguous. Are you trying to tell us you didn't call him a friend? If you are, why not just say that? Do you make a habit of taking trips to Italy and posting details of said trip on the web telling us all about how much fun you had with people who aren't your friend? Do you rush to the side of people who aren't your friend and tell others that he is a "standup guy"?

By the way, 'tis a bummer that pic of you two together in Italy got erased from this thread:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38367

That was such a nice pic. If memory serves, you were crouching down together in front of maybe a 430 with grins from ear to ear. Cassini was wearing a very attractive blazer with some kind of important looking crest emblazoned on it, probably a jacket reserved only for VIP's of some very exclusive club. Perhaps you could forward me that pic for my archives?



<And I am not going to call myself a "victim", I hate that>

But you are a victim. You are a victim of your own poor choices and questionable motivations.


As far as me trying to show the world that I'm perfect... well, if someone thinks that is what I'm trying to do after reading these posts I'm sorry. I am far from it but I can say that I do put a small amount of time and effort into determining who I will call a friend.

The biggest case for my imperfection and the fact that I am painfully aware of it might be that here I sit trying to prove my point/state my case to someone who doesn't appear to have the capacity to really understand what they did wrong. Or, perhaps more importantly, what motivated them to act the way they did and choose the friends/associates they chose.

 

Kie, you win.

You obviously still have an ax to grind so go ahead. I defended the guy...more than once, and beyond this site. I'm sure you have more salvo's to fire, so fire away. Maybe I should say "cast another stone". No one owes you an ounce of an explaination of why anyone "befriended" (Since this is what you wanted) anyone. Its not your place...and this is not the place.

I really enjoyed my time with the F-chatters...99% of you are great... but why come to a site where its ok to go way off line and make character judgements...borderline character assasination... on people you really don't know...for sport? Whatever you got out of this I hope it's working for you.

I will let you have the last word...you wont let this go. No more post from me.

360Rosso out.

 

For what its worth, Rosso, I feel for you. You got took, and I know you're feeling the pain. You and I have only briefly talked, but I respect your position, grace, and composure under what I can only guess are incredibly stressful times, and would gladly back you any time. I hope the crap that came down on you as a result of your unfortunate decisions to team with MC will go away quickly, and you can move on. I will gladly count you as someone I’m happy to associate with, as opposed to those who choose to beat a dead horse long after its death.

Why Kie feels a need to continually rant on this is beyond me. From what I read, he is out $0. Sure, he didn’t make a good sale and he’s pissed because a potential customer lied to him. Geez, like that’s the only time that ever happened. Some of the members on this board can’t count themselves as lucky as Kie, yet he continues to demonstrate a singular and boringly incredible lack of taste or restraint in bashing others.

He has certainly demonstrated his insensitivity and lack of class. As bad as MC may have been, the public flogging of this issue by Kie reaches far lower. I count this turd (Kie) as lowest on the scale of humanity and may I never send a single discretionary dollar his way. He's not welcome on my doorstep (as opposed to Rosso who has demonstrated asemblance of decency, composure, and even regret). I hope I never have the chance to be in the same room. His insensitivity, and relentless need to harp about old news is just plain tiring and childish. Go sell a damn bike and get off this board. I find you to be a waste of bandwidth. I wonder how you can possibly run a profitable retail business with your incredibly warped sense of propriety. What possible good came from your continual rants?

As DrSpalding suggested, can’t we just drop this damn issue and move on and be friends? Well, no, Kie will never be a friend. But I know those to whom his rants are aimed, and while they and I may never necessarily see eye to eye on many issues, they should at least know that I hold them no ill will for their judgments of past and look forward to seeing them in the future.

Kie: please go away. You bore me, and you’re wasting all of our time and bandwidth..

 

Not really. I know Rosso got hammered and he has paid his dues. I count him as a friend and I hope it is reciprocated on his part.

Again, I urge Kie to simply drop the ranting. I didn't bother reading any of his missive and I am certain that not many others bothered either. It's like watching a train wreck on an endless tape loop. Ok for once or twice, but it's time to cut the tape.

"And that's all I have to say about that." -- Forrest Gump

 

I thought the entire storyline playing itself out on Ferrari chat was pretty unbelievable.
Though I must agree, it's tired itself out, at this point.

 

Interesting stuff, but I think most of us that may be (?) a bit older realize that these things pass, that we all make mistakes or forgive people who do and that it is most important to have good friends and family, to be healthy and to just live happily.

I know, kum bay yah blah blah, but this stuff just doesn't matter in the end.

I think there are quite a few of the mature types on here who know of what I speak.

Let's cut them all a break and drop this for a while.

Dave

 

Finally sentenced:

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=bilked19m&date=20051119&query=cassini

7 years and 3.4 Mil

 

Yep! He&#8217;ll be a wonderful Wife to someone.

 

Unfortunately he will come out of prison in worse shape than when he went in, if it doesn't kill him first. No rehabilitation there.
I don't envy him to say the least.

 

He'll be fine. In fact, he'll probably put on a couple punds of muscle, and come back ready to kick your a**, Kie!

;-)

 

Jesus, how did this thread rear it's head again????

 

Read the recent posts and you will see.............

 

The weasel was sentenced to 7 years and $3.4 million recently.

 

Good!!!

 

and unfortunately I've met all too many people that would shake your hand and smile, and turn around and laugh at you in general. seeing them do this to others make you really wonder what they could be saying about you when you're not within earshot. it seems that two-faced people are a dime-a-dozen these days

 

Which weasel we talking about, again?

Was there a link or article on this issue?