Ex-Suria actor turned blue car green, claims rental firm
They had rented out a blue BMW M3 and were shocked when it came back as a neon green one.
Not only that, rental company Stark Bike and Car Rental claimed the person who rented the BMW - actor-turned-loan broker Mikhail Abdul Razak, better known as Nick Mikhail - did not pay his fees.
In multiple posts on TikTok starting on Monday (July 24), the company shared a video of the repossessed vehicle and its problems with him.
"The person who rented this car is Nick Mikhail and he didn't pay the rent which is due today," Stark's staff allege.
They also say that Mr Mikhail, 44, "always had problems" with rental payments and even wrapped the car in a different colour.
The former Suria actor said in an Instagram post on Monday that he had tried to let his legal team handle the matter but had to respond.
"But I have to say something because I think this is a little too much and too childish," he said.
He also called Stark staff "hooligans" in his post.
Mr Mikhail, who is working in Malaysia, said that he went to Stark to rent a vehicle earlier this year for one year and was told that the contract was "as normal".
"I trusted you, I did not read the contract - come on guys, when we sign contracts, we don't read every single fine print."
He said that he was unaware of a clause that requires him to pay the full sum of his year-long contract - $27,000 - should he break it.
"I did not know of this. If I knew, I wouldn't sign with Stark," he said in his Instagram post.
He assumed only his deposit would be forfeit if he returned his car early.
Mr Mikhail said he rented the car for only three months.
He said that he did not read the contract and that Stark was using the contract against him.
“I feel I was cheated, I feel I was tricked into signing it,” he said.
Stark shared in other TikTok posts that they have the contract that was signed, and Mr Mikhail's thumbprint that acknowledges he has read through and understood it.
They decided to repossess the vehicle after they were blocked from "any communication" with Mr Mikhail after a message from him that he wanted to return the car.
Stark claimed that he got a friend to drive the car to them, just as rent was due.
He allegedly said that his passport was being held for investigation in Malaysia.
When Stark got back the car, they were shocked to find the blue car had become a bright green one.
They had told Mr Mikhail that he needed to return the car in the same condition it was received.
In recent Instagram Story posts, Mr Mikhail claimed that he intends to sue for "defamation, renting without proper insurance and contesting against contract terms".
"If you want to be social media gangsters, then you can do what gangsters do," he said. "I'm here waiting."
When it comes to rentals, the former TV artiste has had problems in the past too.
In September 2015, a car he rented from online classifieds site Gumtree Singapore was impounded by the Central Narcotics Bureau for investigations in a drug-related case, reported AsiaOne.
This was after he had reportedly made late payments on multiple occasions before admitting that he had sublet the car out and that it had gone missing.
Speaking with AsiaOne, a spokesperson from Stark said: "We are doing what is necessary for the public because we don't want him to do the same thing to another rental company.
"You can be an influencer, but the rules are the rules."
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