Sold My Rascal Scooter

The Rascal I sold.

I was contacted by a lady here in Fullerton, who'd see my ad on Craigslist and the one I'd just put on EBay. She sent her husband and her daughter, who said she did the maintenance for her mother. They looked it over and the daughter sat in it and drove it, before the lady's husband made me an offer. We dickered a bit before reaching a sum that satisfied us both. He came by a couple days later and paid me before hopping on the Rascal and driving it about a mile and a half home. I knew if I waited long enough someone who really needed it would buy it, and while I sold it for less than I hoped, I'd started at 1800.00, which was roughly half retail, I had dropped to 1200.00 in the last ads and sold it to them for less, but they paid what they could afford and a person who needs it got a great scooter that hopefully will last her a long time. So I'm happy. 

Lee Murray

My Demo Scooter Still For Sale - 2 1/2 Years Down The Road

Apparently no one wants a deal on a to all intents and purposes new Rascal 306. I bought it as a new demo when rascal folded in 2011, it had been used as a demo once, a guy I met on 1st moving to Calif. actually the owner of the rental agency where rented a car, was thinking about starting to rent scooters. He's located across Harbor Blvd from Disneyland, and he kept seeing tourists who'd rented Pride scooters from another business tip over in the middle of Harbor. At least that's what he told me.
I explained to him that the Rascal 600B 3 wheel was almost incapable of tipping over because of the way it's designed. Rascal moved the tip wheels forward to where they're next to the front wheel and made them bigger. When it turns too fast or is on an uneven surface the tip wheel on that side touches down and it becomes a 4 wheeler. Now, I told him, it's not impossible to tip, but in a year and a half or so selling them to the VA I never saw one tip over, and in the beginning when demoing to the VA I offered 20.00 to anyone who could tip it and some really tried, but no one got 20.00. Unfortunately he turned out to be a flake, lots of talk no action, and Rascal went toes up a couple weeks after the demo.
Unfortunately as you can tell from the title, I still have it. The good news is I don't have to carry my laundry to the washing machines and I have a comfortable seat while I read and wait.
I have had at least a couple dozen, mostly from craigslist, offer lowballs of 3-400. thinking I'm going to give it away, not even one came to check it out and see if it fits.
I'm asking less than the retail (3900) a lot less, but I'm not giving it away. Right now it's sitting in my studio apt, in the way, the handlebar is a great place to hang a jacket, but there it'll stay until I get the reasonable price, or I need it for myself, which isn't impossible either, but not yet. I'll only sell at any price, to someone that comes here to Fullerton, and tries it out to make sure it works for them.
If someone reading this could use it, comment or email an inquiry.
FYI my job has kept me from posting on either blog as much as I'd like, so I want to thank those who keep coming back, I really appreciate it.

Lee

More On Batteries

Just wanted to add a note. If you ride your scooter, or power chair every day, plug it in to charge when you're done, every time. This extends the life of the batteries. These are sealed lead acid batteries and unlike many things you can't shorten their life by charging. If you aren't using it, as I used to tell Veterans when delivering, plug it in once a week overnight, this will keep it charged and protect the batteries.
Once I had a scooter on loan at the Bath, NY VA and they didn't charge it for more than a year. When I picked it up, after pushing it a 1/4 mile back to my van and getting it home, I charged the batteries over a week and they wouldn't charge, just swelled up and got fat. The moral is if you want to protect the batteries and you're using your scooter or powerchair infrequently or not at all plug it in and charge it at leeast once a week, if using it every day charge it overnight every time.

Lee Murray

Service For Rascal Owners In UpState NY

I've had several people in NY  who have Rascals that I delivered or sold ask where can they get service. Keep in mind they may not service Rascal anymore or they may charge more now, but I know they were Rascal service centers when I was back there. Here they are:

In the Syracuse NY area, I know he's covered from Cooperstown to Bath so in Central NY call and ask he may be able to help.   George Gratton  315 638 1489

In the Albany/Schenectady area and up the Northway and into the Aderondacks is Mario at Adaptive Equip. 518 747 4815 He's in Fort Edwards...

In Norwich there's Jack Parker at Park n Go 607 335 1336  or 607 334 2413

In western NY located in Bath there's  Everything Medical 607 776 8000

If you have a lift these guys also service them but here's Freedom Lift too  800 755 2856

They all good and also service other scooters and powerchairs like Pride, Amigo, Golden, etc. just call and ask


Lee Murray

                           

Rascal Scooter Still for Sale - For Sure

I posted awhile back that I was thinking of selling the new demo scooter that I bought after Rascal went out of business last year. Well I've decided that I need the cash more than the scooter. All I'm using it for is to drive my laundry 100 ft or so down the long hallway to the laundry room and having a great seat to sit in and read while the washer and dryer work. But, there are people out there that really need it more and need a good deal too. Money's getting tight, and I need the cash, as much as one of you needs a good scooter at a good price. It's an effectively new scooter just used for one demo.  If you need a Rascal and  you can have it shipped to you or have someone you know pick it up as soon as your payment clears  that's ok, but truthfully I still prefer to sell it to someone local in Southern Calif., who can come check it out for themselves, ride it, and I can make sure it fits and they know how to do everything. List price was 3900. but I got a deal which I'm passing on. I have it on Craigs list @ 1800. or best offer, used, no warranty. If that's too much for you,  and you desperately need a scooter, or you know someone who does, come take a look if you can and make me an offer. A reasonable offer. I'll work with you as much as I can.  Contact me at the email address leroy.murray.48@gmail.com

Lee Murray

New Owner of Rascal Scooters????

Just read on-line in a forum that an owner looking for service was told to call the new owner of Rascal for service. The post was dated 12/12.  I'll post more information as I get it. I googled but found no information yet.

Lee Murray

Answer To Question: How Do I Wire A Scooter Lift In My Car?

Add caption

I've had several people contact me about lifts that they bought used, or were moving, to be installed in their cars or vans to load their scooters or powerchairs. The main question was how to wire the lifts. It's, as I remember, comparatively easy. The first thing is, never, never, wire your lift into the trailer connector, the cigarette lighter, the taillights, or any other way that connects it to the vehicles electrical system. The reason we were given is that if this rule isn't followed and there was a short, it could create any number of problems up to a fire in the vehicle. This is unlikely, but why chance it.
When I dated a girl I worked with in the late 70's, on our first date we went to see the premier of Star Wars in Santa Ana. As we stood in line outside waiting, we saw smoke coming from a Cadillac in the parking lot. Soon the car was blazing, flames everywhere, the police and fire dept showed up. By the time we got out of the movie, all that was left was a blackened hulk, gutted, sitting on the bare wheels, over melted asphalt. It's not pretty, don't wire into the electrical system.
The way the instructions say to do it is: open the hood, and using the coil of wire, connect the wire with the fuse to the positive terminal of the battery. Connect the ground wire to a ground in the engine compartment. They recommend running the wire from the back, through the vehicle under the carpet, through the firewall, and connecting to the battery/ground.  I installed one lift, an outside trunk lift on my first Astro van. I followed the instructions except instead of running the power harness through the van and firewall I ran it under the van, from the battery, down along the frame on the drivers side up high wiretied to the fuel line. Thinking if the fuel line is protected by the frame, so is the power harness. I turned left at the rear crossmember, running the harness across the van inside the crossmember, and then back on the frame passenger side to the rear bumper. I wound the wires around the bumper mount and then up behind the bumper and through the corner of the door so it was inside the van where I wiretied it leaving the end long enough to go back out the door to connect to the lift when I used it. I used it like this for two years or so with no problems.
All the lifts, are wired pretty much the same. But some, those inside the vehicle have to be run under the carpet and through the fiorewall, those outside can be run along the frame as I did. Just make sure however you do it, the wires are protected, up where the won't be damaged, wrap a short piece of rubber or hose around where there're sharp corners or metal, and they may be damaged or shorted. Use lots of wire ties to hold them in place as needed, wire ties are cheap, cheaper than a new lift or car.
Good luck, any questions ask and if I know the answer I'll get back to you.

Lee Murray

Introducing the Directors of the VA Division - Kathy Bower and Gabe Andre




Kathy Bower

  Kathy Bower was the first Director of the VA Div.  She developed it, and grew it from the beginning. She brought all of us aboard, helped us open the accounts, developed the BPA contracts in each VISN that got my sales to 6-700k/yr before the lowbid VA contract in '04, along with everybody else, some of who were selling over a million dollars a year. She managed the Div., traveled around the country, working with all of us, and still hosted an annual meeting for the div each year, as well as training for the VA employees once to several times each year. Kathy was the VA Division to many of us.
She brought Gabe aboard from Executive Sales, and I don't know if it was official but he seemed to be her second in command. She was promoted to VP of the VA Div. To a large degree it was Kathy that made us successful. I for one was very sorry to see her leave in '07.

Gabe Andre

Gabe Andre was the Director of the VA Div. after Kathy left the company in '07. He had been my Area Mngr. previously as well as filling other positions at the same time, all of which I don't remember. What I do remember is he made my job easier, he was always on the go. I'd be surprised if he was home more than a couple days a month. As I said above he seemed to be Cathy's second in command. He was handling many projects like the VA training. If you needed help, just call Gabe. In many ways between Cathy and Gabe you'd get what you needed to make sales. When Kathy left, he was the natural one to take over for her. In most ways not that much changed except he got busier. He was still my Area Mngr. so I saw him but not as frequently, the good news was that I had my territory in control, and so it didn't hurt. I thought he did a great job taking over the Div. and leading it. Gabe was to a large degree the one that kept us successful after Kathy left and he took over.

These pictures were taken at the '03 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. Both of them did a fantastic job, bringing many talented salespeople together as a team, and making it possible for us to sell effectively and profitably. It wasn't our fault or theirs that the VA Div., and Rascal are no longer there.

You Need New Batteries - Is It Expensive?

Yes, it can be, after all batteries are expensive, but it doesn't have to be that bad. When I first started with Rascal in 1998, they were charging something like $288. for a set. Now that is expensive. In the last Rascal price list it says for 32 amp battery, the std scooter battery, I don't know if this is single or set price since I never sold any, $249.99, and a 40 amp upgrade is priced at $739.97. Now THAT"S expensive. A battery pack for the Autogo is 299.99. For the Autogo you're pretty well locked in.
From the beginning, I always advised not to buy new scooter batteries from Rascal. You can get the same thing 32 amp or 40 amp for a longer charge/more power deep cycle sealed battery, lead acid is what Rascal used for better life, at Battery Warehouse, Sears, Walmart, etc. just about anyplace that sells batteries. Just write down the information or take one with you to match. They're about the same size a a riding mower battery. They MUST be deep cycle. From what I've seen buying them this way: From Battery Mart  Link to Battery  runs $64.95 ea.

 Product Description: 

12 Volt 35 Ah AGM Sealed

Lead Acid Battery

This battery is a replacement for:

Optiway Technology 1700FS, Optiway Technology 1700SP, Optiway Technology 1704FS, BP33-12S, BP35-12S, CFM12V33, Craftmatic Coach 3 Mobility Scooter, DCS-33, DG12-32, EP33-12, GT160S5, LC-L12V33AP, LC-LA1233P, NP-33, PC12330, PS-12350, Pride TSS300, U1-34, UB12350, UB-U1, UPS12-140

Brand New First Quality Factory Direct

Deep Cycle Sealed Maintenance Free

The valve regulated, spill-proof construction of this battery allows trouble-free, safe operation in any position. There is no need to add electrolyte, as gases generated during charging are recombined in a unique "oxygen cycle".

Long Service Life

A dependable service life can be expected under normal operating conditions.

Long Shelf Life

Low self-discharge rate allows for storage of fully charged batteries for longer periods of time before charging is required. Lower storage temperatures will further extend shelf life.

Wide Operating Temperature Range

May be discharged over a temperature range of -40°C to +60°C (-40°F to +140°F), and charged at temperatures ranging from -20°C to +50°C (4°F to +122°F).

Rugged Construction

The high-impact resistant battery case is made either of non-conductive ABS plastic or styrene. Large capacity batteries frequently have polypropylene cases, all of these materials impart great resistance to shock, vibration, chemicals and heat.

Specifications:

Length 7 5/8 in.

Width 5 1/8 in.

Height 7 3/16 in. including terminals

Terminal BO Group U1

BCI Group U1

Replacement for Rascal Scooters

1 Year Warranty

The moral being look around, this is true whatever scooter or powerchair you have, whether Rascal, Pride, Golden, Jazzy, whatever. None of them are difficult to change, if you can't do it, you probably have someone who's moderately handy that can. Just transfer the cables to the new batteries replace them and go.
 
Lee Murray

Electric Seat Lift

In my post about the seatpost binding making the seat difficult to turn or pull off I didn't mention it, but the same thing can happen with the electric seat lift. In the case of the ESL it's easier because you can raise the seat 5" which gives more room to work underneath it. It's comprised of two pieces the seat lift, and a "flower" that limits the turning of the seat. The flower is bolted on with a 7/16" bolt. To remove the seat take out the bolt which releases the flower and the seat should pull right off at which point you can remove the flower from the seat, put it back on the ESL replace the bolt, and lubricate the h*** out of it using white grease inside the lift, and on the top of the flower, just like with the seat post.

If you ever need to remove the lift. Remove the seat and batteries, then the 4 screws that hold the plastic to the frame. Put slack in the velcro straps that hold the batteries to make it easier to work under the plastic, it's not necessary to remove it. lift the black plastic that covers the electronics on the left side, looking from the rear toward the front, locate the two wires connected to the lift. They'll be plugged into two wires in the harness. The orange wire plugged into the orange and the black into the black, pull the connectors apart gently, so you don't break the small wires in the harness.  Tip the scooter straight up on it's bumper so it's vertical making it easier to get to the bottom. There are 4 7/16" bolts holding the lift to the frame, I use a 7/16" wrench under the plastic and a rachet/socket outside to release the nuts and screw them off, being careful not to lose the washers. Remove the bolts holding the lift, it's heavy. Now lift and draw the lift out the bottom of the frame making sure the two wires don't get caught.

When you put it back make sure the motor, the short round part, faces the rear of the scooter. Just do the reverse of above, making sure the bolts are tight. I'd double nut, or use blue loctite, or both as with the seat post. Connect the wires orange to orange and black to black. FYI Orange is the hot wire, Black is the ground.

The same process more or less works with power chairs, but there may be more involved depending on the chair due to being smaller and everything being tightly packed.

The Owner of Rascal - Mike Flowers

To many, if not most, of you Rascal owners I'd like to introduce the President and CEO, as well as one of the family owners of Rascal. Mike is the one who invented the convertible fronts that allowed changing the 4 wheel, to a 3 wheel, to a convertible PC and back in any combination. He also invented the self folding  lightweight Autogo scooters like the 555, the B fronts that made the full size 3 wheel untippable, the WeGo, and I'm sure many other products.

Mike Flowers

PS Those who need one and live locally in So. Calif. should know I still have my Demo three wheel scooter which is used but near new, used for one demo only is still for sale. If interested email me at the address in the heading of the blog.

Lee Murray

Another Rascal Owner Contacts Me, About A Seat Problem

Suddenly I've become the go to guy for Rascal. Probably because their customer service is shut down, I don't know for sure, I haven't called, but I imagine that's the reason. By the way, my demo scooter, a new used 306B three wheeler is still for sale, check a couple posts down, end of commercial.
Yesterday a vet got in touch, he was trying to check his batteries, but couldn't get the seat off, and it was hard to turn. First the way it comes off is on the right pull the handle at the bottom, that releases the seat to turn, back, (or on the right if there is one push forward, it's pinned in the middle), and then with the seat centered pull straight up and it should pop right off. Look right under the seat in the picture, you'll see the handle in this case on both sides.  Once off look at the seat post, you'll see what we called the flower. There are two versions, on one there are four slots and on the other there are eight slots. The slots are for the end of the release handle to go into to keep the seat from turning as you drive the scooter, unless you release it by pulling back, or forward, on the handle to turn the seat.
One thing that prevents you from pulling the seat off is that it's not straight when you pull up, at a slight angle left or right, when you pull up the release bar is just off from the slot and catches the edge of the flower. The other reason, much less common is that left unlubricated the seat post on the seat, it's about 6 inches long in the plate on the bottom of the seat, starts to bind inside the seat post on the scooter. This makes it hard to turn, and can make it from difficult to impossible to pull off. This is what happened to the vet that contacted me.
What you, or your son, daughter, friend, neighbor, or last resort service center, do is hold the handle back and wiggle the seat, not easy they're heavy and awkward, up and down one side and the other. Usually sooner or later you can work them up until they finally pop free.
Occasionally though you have to use long screwdrivers or prybars between the seat base and flower and once I had one so bad I had to fiddle around between the scooter and seat taking out the bolts in the seat base to get the seat off and out of the way, then took the post apart, a real hassle, put it in a vice and finally got it apart. For this, unless you or your helper are mechanically inclined, have a service center do it, which will unfortunately be expensive and they'll probably want to sell you a new seat post, which you may need anyway depending on if you damage it too much, which I did on one. In my case I had extras, but you won't, so be careful if you can.
 Something I'm embarrassed  to admit never occurred to me then, would have been put the scooter on its rear bumper then remove the four 7/16ths bolts holding the seat post to the scooter, much easier, wish I'd thought of it. Make sure if you try this someone or something is holding the seat while you take out the bolts so it doesn't just drop away, maybe damaging something.  Also use blue locktite or double nut the bolts, or both, when you've gotten the seat post apart and you bolt it back on the scooter, I'd do both but that's just me. Actually I just realized, this won't work, because the seat will keep you from getting the plastic off and removing the batteries. Oh well another good idea that wasn't, but I'll leave it in maybe you'll think of something I haven't.
As a matter of course, pull your seat off once a year or so, or have your service center do it, and take a finger full of white grease to lubricate the inside of the seat post and the top of the flower, I always did this before delivering to a vet. If you've had binding, on the part of the post attached to the seat base, take course sandpaper wrap it around and twist it until you have bare metal, this should relieve future binding and the grease in the post should protect it, but you can also grease this part if you want to make sure. Hope this helps.

Lee Murray

Surprisingly, I keep hearing from Rascal people...

The smart ones that bought Rascals.  I don't know if I ever said it, and now I don't have to be PC anymore, I don't sell them and Rascal is gone, but in my opinion the Rascal was flat out the best, and most well thought out scooter on the market, plain and simple. If it was treated well and maintained it would last pracically forever.
If not, well there was a veteran in Syracuse years back, he's gone south to the Carolinas if he's still here at all, that had a heavy duty scooter with a 24" seat, yeah a big guy. He used to drive his Rascal to the bar, every night. Yes the VA told him not to, for all the good it did, but his wife was high up in, well you get the idea. He charged it when he thought about it, drove it off curbs, through potholes, to say the least he really abused the hell out of it, did I mention that he's a big guy? About 350-360 pounds. They used to issue him a new scooter every 12-18 months, because he was beating them to death.
But here's the point, I'd take him his new scooter, and every time his poor, abused, beaten Rascal with soft tires, cracked and broken plastic, cracked frame, once a cracked front end, would start right up and drive to my van where I'd back it up the ramp and inside. Yes, Rascals do have problems just like anything mechanical, yes there's the occasional lemon, but if you treat them right they'll usually last a long time.
Another example, when I was at the start, 98 or 99, before working full time VA.  I sold a Littlest Rascal to an elderly lady I think in her 80's who traded in a Littlest Rascal her husband had bought her before he died several years before. It was 13 years old, and looked near new. She said she used it nearly every day, charged it when she was through every day overnight, and, get this, she was sure it still had the original batteries.  I don't know, but that's what she said.

Lee Murray

Answer To A Service Issue - Batteries - Check, or Replace

I hadn't intended to do anymore with this blog, after Rascal closed it's doors, I was just going to let it sit here for information to those who needed it. But, I've had a number of people contact me to ask about bad batteries. One guy has gone through several sets on a near new scooter which indicates some other problem. For that you need a competent service center, which if I understand, he hasn't found yet. They were few and far between, competent I mean, to begin with. Not like when I started in 1998-99, or even 5-6 yrs ago. As far as service is concerned, to a large degree a scooter is a scooter, and it doesn't have to be a Rascal service center, unless you're dealing with a proprietary part like the rear end, but even then if you're lucky enough to find a really good service center, they can probably fix, adapt, or make it work, especially the electronics.
But anyway to batteries. For this YOU DO NOT NEED A SERVICE CENTER.  I used to tell people who asked to stay away from Rascal replacement batteries, and some of the service centers I worked with did also, buying their batteries locally. First thing, if you're having problems and you have a 600 series, if it has the aero design plastic handlebar it's a 600 series, take off the seat, pull back on the handle you release to turn the seat, on the right side, and pull straight up. The seat should come right off, set it aside. Then remove the plastic cover over the batteries and set it aside. Buy or borrow a battery tester, you can get them at almost any auto parts store. Test your batteries (both) and write down the voltage. Then plug in and charge overnight if they need it. Use the tester and check them again. Use the load switch to put a momentary load on them and see if the voltage returns where it was or goes low. Do this a couple times. If it stays up, leave the plastic off, and replace the seat, and drive it. If it turns out to be bad batteries, or one, if one hold no charge and one is good, you can just replace the bad one. Although it's better to do both at the same time as a rule. You need the same size, deep cycle, 12v 33 Ah sealed batteries. If you find with higher amperage, that's better as the charge will last longer.
To remove take the seat back off, remove the plastic if not already off, undo the Velcro strap, pull out the red and black connectors, lift the batteries out. When putting them in and out make sure they're on their sides with the poles facing out to avoid shorting on the seat post. Push the rubber boots out of the way and undo the screws holding the wires to the posts, red to red and black to black when replacing, move the wires to the new batteries and replace the screws. Just put the batteries back as they were, connectors are red to red black to black also. You can do it yourself and save the labor as well as paying less for the batteries, or have your son, daughter, friend do it if you can't, it's simple. When buying check Sears, Battery Warehouse, Walmart or any place else that sells lawn tractor size, deep cycle batteries that are at least 12v 33ah, as I said higher amps is ok your batteries charge will last longer is all.
Hope this helps.

Lee Murray

Demo Scooter for Sale...Maybe???

When Rascal closed their doors, I'd just gotten my demos. I only used one, the 3 wheel model 306B, (new name for 600B),  to do the demo for the lead I'd gotten in January the second day I was here. I asked if I could buy this demo, thinking at one point I'd need it myself. I've been keeping it in my apt which is small, and I'm feeling better, so now I'm thinking it might be better to give someone who really needs it a good deal. I will be selling it as used, with no warranty. It's also important for the buyer to know that Rascal is out of business, so they will be responsible for repairs, but it's only been used for one demo, and I drive my laundry down the hallway to the other end of the building rather than carry it. Why carry if you can ride, right? Plus it's a comfortable seat.
For info, check my posts, leave a comment or email me, the address is in the heading of this blog. The color by the way is blue, not the more common red, it's a prettier color, I think.  I will not ship it, it must be picked up here, by the person needing it, so I can make sure it fits and train the person needing it in the correct use, maint., charging, etc., just as I did for almost 14 years with veterans getting one from the VA.

Lee Murray

Rascal Closes It's Doors

I got some unfortunate news last month. We had a conference call in which we were told by the owner of the company, Mike Flowers, that the company, due to some errors on his part, was closing it's doors, and would not be accepting new orders effective April 1. This took all of us by surprise to say the least because we all knew how good the Rascal is, and especially the fact that the new 600B is the safest scooter out there bar none. But for some reason he was apparently unable to convince the banks or lenders that we could continue providing the best and safest scooters to those that needed them. It's taken this long for me to post this bad news really because it's taken me this long to accept that it had happened. That it wasn't a mistake of some kind that would go away. It hasn't, so Goodbye Rascal, it was great knowing you and together we helped a LOT of people.
Lee Murray

Got Scooter Leads When In Calif. Not Even A Day

I've bored everyone enough talking about getting robbed in FULLERTON, CA and am sick of talking about it.

So let's talk about how I found my first two leads for scooters only having been in the state 18 hours or so. There was nothing special about it really, just keeping my ears open and hearing what I was told.

I called to rent a car and a guy came to my motel to pick me up so we could go back to their office and do the paperwoork.  As far as I knew he was nobody special, just a guy. We were chatting casually as we drove, and he asked what I did, just as he probably asks everybody. I said that I sell Rascal scooters to the VA hospitals. He started tellng me that his company is located near Disneyland and that a company down the street rents scooters to tourists, and that he sees them tip over going across the street frequently. I asked what they rent and he says Pride, and that he's been thinking about getting some Pride's also and renting them himself. At this point I find out that he's the owner of the rental company and that he might want as many as ten scooters to get started. So I spend the rest of the ride telling him about our brand new untippable 3 wheel front. That it's been tested and proven to be as stable as a 4 wheel, and that when it was rolled out to the VA's I took it to each of my VA's and as I showed it I told everybody that I had $20. that said they couldn't tip it over. I also told him that there are some big guys and gals there and some of them really tried but that NOBODY tipped over. One guy spun it in a circle as fast as it would go in the hallway, to the point that the tires slid on the waxed floor and he slammed a wall damaging the brand new drywall, but to his amazement he couldn't tip it, and he weighed upwards of 300 lbs or more. I gave him more examples and when we got tho the rental office, he gave me his card and private number and asked me to bring a demo in to show him as soon as possible. He also gave me the name and card of the company down the street that rents Pride. They're friends and he said they may also be interested as safety is a concern.

My point is that it wasn't difficult to get these leads, all I did was recognize a need and offer a solution. Which I'm sure all of us do every day. It just happened that we now have the best solution out there, and that's what I offered. Safety...

Lee Murray

Rented an office in your town that resulted in the theft of my truck with nearly everything I own 2 blocks from the Fullerton Police Dept.

I wanted to see the Fullerton Council person responsible for the area where the office was where my truck was stolen. Unable to do that, I sent the following email. I seriously doubt that it'll do any good, but at least whoever does read it will find out something about their Fullerton....


LeRoy Murray to Council


Here is what happened to me, and what I'm posting about your town of Fullerton in my blogs and all over the internet. I may have lost and probably will never get back my truck and everything, nearly, that I own, but I will be letting EVERYBODY know that Fullerton is NOT the place to move to.

Moved from upstate New York to Calif. on 1/7, to take over a sales territory for Electric Mobility Corp. selling Rascal scooters and powerchairs to the VA hospitals, which I've been doing since 1998 in upstate NY. Decided to rent an office in Fullerton at 435 W. Commonwealth Ave., partly because it was so close to the police department.

I arrived in Calif. on 1/14 after driving my truck with a 12' box and pulling a 12' Uhaul trailer 3000 miles over 7 days. I finally got here and put what was in the trailer in storage and turning in the trailer. I parked the truck, unopened since loading it in NY, at the motel I'm staying at, at Crescent and Beach, in Buena Park. I drove a rental car and the truck sat in the motel for 8 days, in Buena Park, and nobody looked at it twice. As I said I rented an office at 435 W. Commonwealth on 1/21, and picked up the key on Sat 1/22. I drove the truck, which had been sitting undisturbed in Buena Park for over a week, to the office I'd just rented, pending unloading it and moving into the office the next day Sunday 1/23. Fortunately, as it turned out I had the good sense to take my GPS and other property out of the cab prior to leaving it. I parked it in the parking lot behind the office building on Richmond Ave about 6:30p. As I said pending moving into the office Sunday.

I got some help to unload what was going into the office, and we got there about 10:30a Sunday to find that MY TRUCK WAS GONE, STOLEN from the parking lot 2 blocks from the Fullerton Police Dept. in what, 15-16 HOURS? It sat undisturbed, unnoticed, over a week in Buena Park, and probably would still be, if I hadn't been so stupid as to take it to your Fullerton where it was stolen.

I called the police, and a very nice officer came, Officer Diaz, I believe. He took the information, checked to see if it had been towed. This was unlikely as it was fully loaded, and weighed a lot, but he checked. Then he filled out a stolen vehicle report.

The next day I went to the police dept to give them the license number, which I couldn't remember on Sunday, together with a list of some of the items in the truck off the top of my head, $10,000. or so of tools, 3 guitars worth $5-6,000., all my books, all my clothes, filing cabinets, records and files from my 13 years working for EMC selling to the VA's in NYS, and more. What I could think of came to nearly 35K and it wasn't everything. It was a disaster. Some of my office equip. was in the trailer and therefore in storage, but most was in the truck. Anyway as I was saying I went to the police dept to give them further info, thinking I'd see a detective, but no... I was turned over to a CADET!!! Clearly the theft of all my property together with my truck 2 blocks away from the Fullerton Police Dept was not taken seriously. The cadet grudgingly took my information, and blew me off telling me without saying it don't bother us we'll call you if we find it.

The next day, still amazed that the cadet hadn't wanted the serial numbers for the guitars, they can be traced unlike the tools, clothes, etc., I called and was connected with some girl, maybe an officer, maybe a clerk, she never said, again grudgingly she took the serial numbers. I had to ask if she knew who she was talking to before she actually looked up the case and named one of the guitars so I knew she had my case. She actually said basically don't bother us we'll call you if we find it.

A friend told me I should tell the police that the truck would be easy to recognize because the taillights and turn signals aren't working, and it has 8" round convex mirrors on both doors, one flap that hangs down behind the rear wheels is torn short, but truthfully I don't think they care, I'd just be bothering them.

Needless to say, I'm afraid of Fullerton, clearly you have a crime ridden town, if a locked commercial truck can be stolen so easily from a parking lot behind an office on your main street, 2 BLOCKS from your police department. I don't know where I'll get my office and apartment or house, I have been offered an office in the 524 Commonwealth building which I'd looked at the week before too, but frankly Fullerton scares me.

I feel that I'm doing everybody a big favor to let them know on the internet exactly what happened to me and what they may experience if they move there. If your criminals are so brazen they'll steal from next to the police, they'll steal anything anywhere.

I just thought it was fair to let you know what I'm saying and why.



LeRoy Murray

315 727-2304



http://rascalscooters.blogspot.com http://stillanotherlife.blogspot.com/

Truck Stolen? Or Towed... Update

Well, my first week in California was a doozy, first time I've ever been robbed and not only lost the truck, but everything in it. A large part of everything I own, make that owned, tools, clothes, guitars, books, on and on. It's a tramatic experience. Today I talked to the police, little hope or encouragement there. Then I spoke to my new landlord, she was very nice, I explained that I don't feel safe there, not even moved in yet and the truck and everything in it stolen. She ok'd cancelling the lease and refunding my money. So I start over. I still have some good leads for scooters, and asked Rascal to send the demo so I can get started.

It seems that it should be a goldmine out here. Great weather most of the year, lots of people, lots of people that need scooters or mobility equipment. I think the best way to look at my experience is as a test to see if I'm up to the challenge. All my friends say probably the cops will find the truck. I say yeah, empty and trashed. So I focus on moving forward, everything is gone, lost, whatever, and I'm moving forward, not back. I'll sell so many scooters, etc., that I'll need two trucks next time.

Lee Murray

Truck Stolen? Or Towed...

Went Sunday am to start moving into new office, and my truck was gone. The cops think towed for some reason, even though I had every right to park it there as a new tenant. I'm afraid it was stolen, containing virtually everything I own that wasn't in the trailer and now in storage.  Have to track down the license number for the police.

Lee Murray