CrimsonBikes, a bicycle shop in Cambridge, Mass., was forced into involuntary bankruptcy after several parties joined to levy a group lawsuit, Boston.com reported. SmartEtailing, which sets up online stores for bike retailers, sued CrimsonBikes in January for telling customers to ask their credit card companies for refunds for undelivered bikes. An updated suit was filed in May, and alleges that CrimsonBikes owes SmartEtailing over $800,000, which includes almost $700,000 that SmartEtailing paid in customer refunds. According to Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN), in March two other parties joined SmartEtailing in filing for an involuntary chapter 7 bankruptcy petition against CrimsonBikes: a non-profit developer that CrimsonBikes allegedly owes more than $200,000 and a customer who says he paid $1,061 for a bike he never received. The shop’s landlord also alleges CrimsonBikes owes about $700,000 in back rent.
