Summary: Female, veteran-owned, used heavy equipment wholesaler ends long term relationship with National Equipment Register (NER) following the purchase of a stolen backhoe that was verified by the company’s IRONcheck report that listed it as clean.
Representatives with Expert Heavy Equipment(EHE) announced today that it severed ties with National Equipment Register (NER) following the purchase of a stolen backhoe that was listed as “clean” by the company’s IRONcheck report.
“We want to share this experience in order to protect buyers of used heavy equipment and help them understand they are not protected,” said Milissa Wise, director of operations for EHE, a female, veteran-owned company.
As listed on their website, NER touts the IRONcheck report as a service intended to “Protect yourself from the risk of buying stolen equipment with IRONcheck from NER.” However, their disclaimer doesn’t guarantee their services to be accurate and takes no financial responsibility for any losses on behalf of the customer in the event the equipment is stolen.
“We requested an IRONcheck report on March 7, 2014, for a backhoe,” said Wise. “An NER analyst reported that there was a sale record and explained the machine was clear, so based on this IRONcheck report, we proceeded with the purchase of the backhoe and released the payment of $17,000.”
By May 1, 2014, EHE’s client was notified by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that serial number was checked against the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database and confirmed to be stolen.
“When I informed NER that the backhoe they deemed clean was in fact stolen and that I was out of pocket thousands of dollars, I expected the company to take responsibility for their negligence or at the very least offer concessions or an apology,” said Wise. “But instead, NER’s General Manager Ryan Shepherd emailed me to say they weren’t responsible.”
In the email Shepherd sent Wise, he explained that the IRONcheck service does not provide a guarantee for any searches and is to be used as an additional tool to mitigate risk when purchasing a piece of used equipment.
“Any consideration on our part to reimburse fees, expenses or cost of goods purchased is not a reasonable request,” said Shepherd. “We will continue to work with you both to help secure the documents you seek, but further discussion on the reimbursement point will be met with minimal response.”
Wise explained while she understands mistakes happen, she’s disappointed with NER’s response and doesn’t know how the company can claim they protect potential buyers from purchasing stolen equipment if their reports are inaccurate and they do not provide any guarantees.
“It is our responsibility to raise the level of awareness that buyers are not protected with the purchase of an IRONcheck report,” Wise said. “I am willing to share my unfortunate experience in an effort to help consumers make more informed decisions when purchasing used heavy equipment. In addition, we want reassure our clients that we take a different approach to customer service practices. Within two business days of being notified about the stolen backhoe, our client was refunded the full amount. Our first and foremost concern is our client.”
EHE has made an agreement directly with law enforcement to cross reference equipment serial numbers through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) in order to reduce the risk of purchasing stolen equipment in the future.
For more information about EHE visit www.experthe.com
