Dozens of customers allege car detailer held vehicles to ransom (2024)

Alleged victims of a 'dodgy' car detailer have claimed their vehicles were held ransom for huge additional payments on works that never happened.

The owner of Sam the Man Car Care,Sam Baravelli, 34, trusted to touch up the dream cars of of customers has instead been accused of using their vehicles as a way to extort them from more cash.

Dozens of customers allege Mr Baravelli held their car for weeks longer than expected and charged exorbitant amounts - with some claiming they got them back in a worse state.

Mr Baravelli was arrested by police last Tuesday after Consumer Affairs Victoria warned the public from taking their business to Sam the Man in January.

Police towed away a dozen allegedly stolen vehicles from Baravelli's car shop in Footscray, inner-west Melbourne, before charging him with 33 counts each ofcar theft and obtaining property by deception.

One of those allegedly affected by Bavarelli was 19-year-old apprentice mechanic, Josh Williams, who said his Nissan SkylineR34 was trashed by the car detailer.

What was supposed to be a four week job quickly ballooned out to an almost two month project which wound up costing Mr Williams all of his savings, $17,194.50.

After spending all of his money and still not getting his car back, Mr Williams took issues into his own hands and found the car at the business in a horrific condition.

'All of the paint protection has been taken off it, there's quite a few more scratches than were originally there,' he told A Current Affair.

'My interior's absolutely trashed. There's stains everywhere.

'(Baravelli) said there's more to be done, I told him I wouldn't pay for it ... If I stopped paying him, he wouldn't give me my car back.

'In a way I was being held ransom and my car was the bait.'

Consumer Affairs Victoria director Nicole Rich warned the public of taking their business to Sam the Man after receiving over 70 complaints from members of the public.

'Not only were there breaches of consumer law, but there was also just potentially outright theft of vehicles occurring,' she said.

'We were very worried about Sam the Man Car Care based on the reports we were receiving from Victorian consumers about what was going on and I formed the view we needed to warn the public as a matter of urgency.'

The watchdog's warning alleged Mr Barravelli made 'false or misleading representations as to the price of his services (and) increasing the initial quote'.

'(Sam the Man allegedly)failed to carry out services within the agreed upon time or within a reasonable period of time and returned consumers' vehicles with further damage while the vehicle remained in Sam the Man's possession.'

The warning also claimed that on three occasions, cars left with Sam the Man weren't returned to their owners.

Victoria Police allege the scam was much broader and involved him holding 'onto customers' vehicles for unreasonably long periods and refused to return them until they paid a substantially higher fee than initially agreed'.

'(Baravelli allegedly) requested payment for services he did not carry out, and also drove customers' cars for personal use'.

Police will also allege he continued to take customer's cars and issue quotes after being evicted from the shop.

However, Mr Baravelli said there was more to the story and that customers just didn't understand how he worked.

'I've tried to explain it as best I can because I feel like I owe the community a bit,' Baravelli told the program while being arrested.

'I never had the intention of taking anyone's car to do anything.

'All of the cars that are in there have had work done ... they've had work done on the road.'

He has since been bailed and set to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on June 20.

A woman from South Melbourne, 45, is also expected to be charged with theft of a motor vehicle and obtain property by deception.

Police have urged anyone with information regarding the alleged scam to come forward as investigations remain ongoing.