The company AMX Engamesment and specifically its founder, Stephanus Vermeulen, terminated our business contract without my consent. They ceased development of the game project I hired them for and refused to return the $6000 I gave them to start the project.
I also have a judgement against Stephanus Vermeulen in small claims court for $8300 concerning another matter where he broke an agreement.
My company hired the services of AMX Engamesment to build a game App for iOS and Android. After signing a contract with them and investing $6000 into the project, work began on the App. It was a back end profit deal of which his company would get 25% revenue from the game.
After meeting the founder, Stephanus Vermeulen, we soon became friends as well as business partners. Shortly after, he asked if he could stay on my boat in exchange for paying the slip fee. He also asked for a loan of $1000, which he would pay back $2000 if I did it. I obliged to both without any contract as I trusted him.
After two weeks, he said he liked the boat so much that he would buy it for $25000, when money he was expecting flowed into his business. After a handshake and agreement he would buy the boat, once again trusting him, he began to undertake work on the boat, which indicated to me he was the owner. He had ripped up the boats carpet and replaced with Home Depot stick on tiles, (these are not suitable for the marine environment). These cheap plastic tiles were lifting as he had left residue glue on the floor. He stuck these tiles over carpet on the side walls with liquid nails and on polished aluminum in the kitchen, which ruined both surfaces. He tore out a teak cabinet and left the pieces outside, only to deteriorate in the sun and rain. He also stuck these tiles on the aft deck which ruined the floors gel coat. He also removed and disposed of the boats curtains.
I said nothing about what he was doing to the boat and him ignoring all its electrical and mechanical systems, as he made an agreement with me to buy it. So it was essentially his boat. Also, having a business contract seemed to me a concrete foundation for a trustworthy partnership in any aspect.
After five months of living on my boat, Steph Vermeulen moved out as the money he was expecting had arrived. He said he was in Philadelphia to claim this financial investment for company. I now felt comfortable he would buy the boat and pay back my loan.
The boat needed urgent attention to get it moved from the marina that was closing down. A seized rudder, marine life stuck to the underside of the hull, from lack of cleaning and an inoperable engine, prevented it from moving. All of these things occurred whilst he was staying on the boat. After repeated attempts to contact him regarding buying the boat, he said he was too busy with his business, to deal with this situation. One email I did receive from him stated that: “My intention was to buy the boat when my financial situation allowed it”. Apart from this, the question was repeatedly avoided. I had to assume he was backing out of the deal and I ran out of time to move the boat. The title was still in my name, so it was my responsibility.
After the boat was moved to another marina, I again asked if he was buying the boat and this question was systematically ignored. Since it was now clear to me he wasn’t buying the boat, I told him he was a tenant and had neither my consent or the right to undertake the work he did inside the boat. The work he did caused problems and required me to; Replace the entire flooring, repaint the aft deck, replace the teak cabinet, replace the curtains and undertake expensive mechanical work. There was still no response.
I then became concerned not only with paying for the boats repairs, but if I would ever see the money from a personal loan. When asked if he would pay them, he proceeded to tell me that his company had spent so much money on the game, ie our business contract, that he didn’t feel he owed me any money. In fact, he said I actually owed him money from his company’s investment in the game and threatened legal action if his company didn’t get back their return of investment. Nowhere in our contract did it state I would have to pay more money as the game developed. Also, I neither consented or was consulted about this “apparent extra investment”.
Using our business investment as an excuse not to pay for boat repairs and personal loan, was the point I realized I was in trouble. The situation had now spilled over into our business contract. He sent back all the incomplete game files and told me he was terminating our business agreement without ever consulting me. Upon repeated attempts to contact him to try and salvage my investment in the game and prevent terminating the contract, he ignored them and one of his co- founders was the only person available to handle the matter. He refused to return my initial investment and even $1000 I paid extra for marketing which of course hadn’t been done.
I had no option, but to sign the termination agreement as he had sent back the game files and refused to complete the game. In the initial contract, he had also put in a clause stating that any disputes would only be settled in Amsterdam, where his other office was. Of course, flying to Amsterdam wasn’t an option for me.
With financial loss from his actions on the business, I now focused on compensation from small claims court for the personal loan and boat. Again, Stephanus ignored all contact from me and his co-founder relayed messages. His excuse now, for not paying the small claim, ie boat and personal loan, was that I had signed a termination agreement for our business, which also covered any personal agreements. What!?
After numerous attempts to serve him, I won the judgement against him in small claims court for $8300. He was a no show in court, but tried to have the location changed to Amsterdam. The judge was astounded and said he had never seen this type of action in his career and that I hadn’t heard the end of this guy. Following the judgement , I was not surprised that he once again ignored any attempt to settle his debt.
The game files they did send, were unusable and I had to hire another company to start building the game from scratch.
This was my unfortunate experience with Stephanus Vermeulen and his company AMX Engamesment. With broken contracts and personal agreements, I am out a total of $14300. I am currently spending more time and money trying to claim my judgement against him in small claims court.
AMX Engamesment Reviews
The company AMX Engamesment and specifically its founder, Stephanus Vermeulen, terminated our business contract without my consent. They ceased development of the game project I hired them for and refused to return the $6000 I gave them to start the project.
I also have a judgement against Stephanus Vermeulen in small claims court for $8300 concerning another matter where he broke an agreement.
My company hired the services of AMX Engamesment to build a game App for iOS and Android. After signing a contract with them and investing $6000 into the project, work began on the App. It was a back end profit deal of which his company would get 25% revenue from the game.
After meeting the founder, Stephanus Vermeulen, we soon became friends as well as business partners. Shortly after, he asked if he could stay on my boat in exchange for paying the slip fee. He also asked for a loan of $1000, which he would pay back $2000 if I did it. I obliged to both without any contract as I trusted him.
After two weeks, he said he liked the boat so much that he would buy it for $25000, when money he was expecting flowed into his business. After a handshake and agreement he would buy the boat, once again trusting him, he began to undertake work on the boat, which indicated to me he was the owner. He had ripped up the boats carpet and replaced with Home Depot stick on tiles, (these are not suitable for the marine environment). These cheap plastic tiles were lifting as he had left residue glue on the floor. He stuck these tiles over carpet on the side walls with liquid nails and on polished aluminum in the kitchen, which ruined both surfaces. He tore out a teak cabinet and left the pieces outside, only to deteriorate in the sun and rain. He also stuck these tiles on the aft deck which ruined the floors gel coat. He also removed and disposed of the boats curtains.
I said nothing about what he was doing to the boat and him ignoring all its electrical and mechanical systems, as he made an agreement with me to buy it. So it was essentially his boat. Also, having a business contract seemed to me a concrete foundation for a trustworthy partnership in any aspect.
After five months of living on my boat, Steph Vermeulen moved out as the money he was expecting had arrived. He said he was in Philadelphia to claim this financial investment for company. I now felt comfortable he would buy the boat and pay back my loan.
The boat needed urgent attention to get it moved from the marina that was closing down. A seized rudder, marine life stuck to the underside of the hull, from lack of cleaning and an inoperable engine, prevented it from moving. All of these things occurred whilst he was staying on the boat. After repeated attempts to contact him regarding buying the boat, he said he was too busy with his business, to deal with this situation. One email I did receive from him stated that: “My intention was to buy the boat when my financial situation allowed it”. Apart from this, the question was repeatedly avoided. I had to assume he was backing out of the deal and I ran out of time to move the boat. The title was still in my name, so it was my responsibility.
After the boat was moved to another marina, I again asked if he was buying the boat and this question was systematically ignored. Since it was now clear to me he wasn’t buying the boat, I told him he was a tenant and had neither my consent or the right to undertake the work he did inside the boat. The work he did caused problems and required me to; Replace the entire flooring, repaint the aft deck, replace the teak cabinet, replace the curtains and undertake expensive mechanical work. There was still no response.
I then became concerned not only with paying for the boats repairs, but if I would ever see the money from a personal loan. When asked if he would pay them, he proceeded to tell me that his company had spent so much money on the game, ie our business contract, that he didn’t feel he owed me any money. In fact, he said I actually owed him money from his company’s investment in the game and threatened legal action if his company didn’t get back their return of investment. Nowhere in our contract did it state I would have to pay more money as the game developed. Also, I neither consented or was consulted about this “apparent extra investment”.
Using our business investment as an excuse not to pay for boat repairs and personal loan, was the point I realized I was in trouble. The situation had now spilled over into our business contract. He sent back all the incomplete game files and told me he was terminating our business agreement without ever consulting me. Upon repeated attempts to contact him to try and salvage my investment in the game and prevent terminating the contract, he ignored them and one of his co- founders was the only person available to handle the matter. He refused to return my initial investment and even $1000 I paid extra for marketing which of course hadn’t been done.
I had no option, but to sign the termination agreement as he had sent back the game files and refused to complete the game. In the initial contract, he had also put in a clause stating that any disputes would only be settled in Amsterdam, where his other office was. Of course, flying to Amsterdam wasn’t an option for me.
With financial loss from his actions on the business, I now focused on compensation from small claims court for the personal loan and boat. Again, Stephanus ignored all contact from me and his co-founder relayed messages. His excuse now, for not paying the small claim, ie boat and personal loan, was that I had signed a termination agreement for our business, which also covered any personal agreements. What!?
After numerous attempts to serve him, I won the judgement against him in small claims court for $8300. He was a no show in court, but tried to have the location changed to Amsterdam. The judge was astounded and said he had never seen this type of action in his career and that I hadn’t heard the end of this guy. Following the judgement , I was not surprised that he once again ignored any attempt to settle his debt.
The game files they did send, were unusable and I had to hire another company to start building the game from scratch.
This was my unfortunate experience with Stephanus Vermeulen and his company AMX Engamesment. With broken contracts and personal agreements, I am out a total of $14300. I am currently spending more time and money trying to claim my judgement against him in small claims court.
Oh, and we are no longer friends.