Carman34L has got $575 and I've got nothing :-(
 

As the title reads, on April 10th I sent Carman34L $575 via PayPal for the skimmer in this thread:
[url=http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=9710700#post9710700]http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=9710700#post9710700[/URL]
but now, over 2 month later, I've come out empty handed.

I thought that the skimmer was a solid deal and so I PMed him about it. He gave me his phone number and I PayPal-ed him the 500 bucks while I was on the phone with him, plus an additional 75 to cover the shipping - I would cover the difference if it ending up costing more. He said the skimmer would go out in the next three days.

I kept getting promises that the skimmer was going to be shipped out every time I that I e-mailed or called him. He told me that he was having some personal issues and so I made a point of being patient, polite and understanding. I said that there wasn't a great hurry yet and that there are obviously more important things in life than a skimmer. And so I waited more with contact here and there.

I spoke with him over the phone about three weeks ago and I said that I would really like to get the skimmer so I can replumb my tank with it and chiller at the same time before the hot weather arrives with summer. He told me that it was already shipped but that he didn't have the tracking number on him. He offered to e-mail me the tracking number as soon as he got home but I said that it was fine as long as the skimmer was definately shipped.

That was three weeks ago and I haven't heard from him since. He doesn't answer the phone, respond to my voicemails, reply to my e-mails or to my PMs.

I have a lot of sympathy for whatever problems that he is having but I can't just let go of $575 dollars. I just can't believe that he can't even just pick up the phone instead of voice mailing me.

Personally, I try to be decent and I would be ashamed of even thinking about stealing a dollar from someone, much less $575. I know that people work too hard for their money just to take it from them and I worked hard for that $575 just the same. I'm definately not rolling in the dough and not having that money means that I can't buy another skimmer for a while.

He seemed like such a genuinely nice person, so I am a bit shocked by this. While I wish him the best with any problems he's having, I'm going to make every effort to recoup my money. Any suggestions as to how to go about this would be appreciated immensely. If I don't hear from him tomorrow, as I told him in my last voice mail, I'm going to get the ball rolling with PayPal and beyond. While PayPal is probably a dead end as I doubt that he left the money in his account, I'm thinking of looking into contacting the local law enforcement and asking some lawyer and law enforcement friends if they have any ideas as to what I could do.

So for me: Once bitten, twice shy. While I know that there are many decent people here on RC, I've learned my lesson never to make any exchanges unless they are in person.

did you use credit card? if so call the credit card company and tell them what happened usually they refund the money. File a dispute with paypal but that is iffy cause he has to have the money in his account for them to get it back. Also if you know where he lives call the local cops and report the theft. Usually when cops show up people come up with the money or he merchandise. Sorry to hear about this.

good luck with paypal..they are worthless IMO when it comes to getting money back. like stated above, unless the seller has funds in his account, there is nothing they can do. they will make him provide proof of shipment however. so he will have to supply them a VALID tracking # if you open a dispute. i just went through this a few months ago.

its even worse with livestock...the seller can send you a box of dead stuff, with a tracking # and paypal will do NOTHING to recover your funds...that was my problem.

Nope, I had the funds drawn directly from my bank account. I wanted to be a nice guy and not use a credit card so his PayPal fees would be lower. I even offered to mail him a check to avoid the fees all together....all a bit naive of me in retrospect.

I tried to file a dispute with PayPal, but it's past the 45 day limit.

PayPal says:

"Thank you for registering your complaint about this transaction. Unfortunately, this type of transaction is not eligible for PayPal dispute resolution. We encourage you to continue to work directly with your seller, as we have found that many misunderstandings reach amicable solutions through communication."

I would try to resolve it if I could actually communicate with the seller.

I shouldn't have waited so long, but he seemed genuine and I really thought that he shipped it last time I spoke to him which was probably just before that 45 day mark.

Any ideas of what to do next? Call the police dept. in his town? I think I should see if a lawyer friend of mine has suggestions. I also vaguely remember reading something about a guy getting some results by filing a mail fraud claim.

i would contact the PD in his area and the post office for mail fraud....im sure you have his address, so a nice little visit from his local PD might scare him enough to make good.

Unfortunately, I don't know his address. Paypal only gives me his name since I sent him a payment. I have his name, cell phone, and the town he lives in. I don't know if that's enough or not, but I'll certainly try.

Don't worry, if he has a utility or phone in his name at all, the police can find him in about 10 seconds.

Call the local pd and explain, I have had luck this way in the past.

no way!!

I got a phone call from him that he's been away on work out of the country for the past month and that the package must've been sent to the wrong address.

I hope this gets sorted out when he gets back this weekend.

That sounds like a load of bologna to me. If he sent the package via UPS or FED-ex, they would've returned the box to the original sender.

What does he do that he leaves the country for a month at a time? Sounds like he took a vacation with your money.

I'm certainly skeptical as well. I'm going to see how it pans out this weekend, otherwise I'll be calling the local PD to see what I can do.

I could just be a sap but he certainly does sound genuine. Perhaps I need to get more in touch with my cynical, take no sh-t New Yorker roots, ;-).

Where in NYC are you Acropooper, and what stores would you recommend in manhattan for live stock?

I moved back from Hawaii a few months ago, and just got my tank cycling this past weekend.

(not to change the subject)

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10165338#post10165338 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aznlmpulse [/i]
[B]Where in NYC are you Acropooper, and what stores would you recommend in manhattan for live stock?
[/B][/QUOTE]
This is a feedback forum. Feel free to start a thread in the appropriate forum or to PM him about this. Thanks.:)

I've seen a case where the local pd were able to get the money back from someone, i wish i still knew the thread on here, its been referenced frequently. Go with the PD, it sounds like its your only option, and dont fall for the nice guy act, this guy is spending your money!

I would contact the seller and tell them they have 24hrs to PayPal the $575 back to YOU. Tell them once the "already shipped" skimmer shows up, you'll be glad to resend the money back into their account.

If they do not agree to do this, then you will go to the PD on the 25th hour. Period.

i hate that about people...

hope you get your skimmer...

Since you do have the guys name and phone number one thing to pick up his address is to do a reverse phone number lookup.

This can be done on [url]www.whitepages.com,[/url] it may or may not work but if it is a home phone it can very possibly give you a physical address with which you can supply to the local PD. Though they should be able to find it easily, it will give you a bit mroe credability as well as the information for yourself.

But I agree no tracking number and no contact for over a month is BS. My wife purchased something from a website using her bank card a couple of months ago and was actually able to get the money back. They had her do a few things but the money was eventually refunded. The best thing to do though is always transfer funds to a PayPal account and use e-mail for contacting if at all possable. Then you can forward this info to them along with a dispute, and NEVER let the dispute time run out. If you haven't gotten your order within 30 days dispute no matter how nice the guy seems.


It also looks like his profile may give you another address to contact at. He is linking to a website which is based in White Bear Lake, MN. More than likely this is a way of advertising a business he either owns or has intrest in. [url]http://www.mailingprinting.com/[/url] In case he reads and removes that info. And he is hosting with rackspace.com not that that will do you much good. A whois does not return any registration info.

Just call the bank and tell them you want to dispute the charge and ask for a charge back, tell them you did not receive the item..They will put the money back into your account.

I've heard from the seller twice. He said that he is coming back to the US today. He also said the package was shipped back to him because the shipping label fell off, but that he wasn't in the country and didn't have any means of communication to find out.

So I'm going to give it the weekend and then I'm going to call the PD and my bank. The bank allows 6 months to make a claim.

I saw that link to a business in his profile before. I kept the contact info off of that website just in case. I also did a reverse number look up, which gave me the town he lives in but that's it.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Run his name through [url=http://www.zabasearch.com]ZabaSearch[/URL] . That should get you his address.

just curious how you made out?

Yeah let us know what happens. I think he should give you a discount if he does send it out.

oops double post

paypal is a piece of &^%$ IMO when trying to get your money back or dispute.

Call your bank dispute thru them.