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  #1  
Old 10/07/2007, 08:27 PM
dlsmith21 dlsmith21 is offline
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da1jewfish...what a crook !!!

I was hoping that I would never have to post in this forum but here I am unfortunately.

I bought a used 72" light from da1jewfish and, by his advertisement, it was in working order but had a couple minor flaws.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1182689

(hope the thread link works)

What I received was a light that had the internal wires cut, a fan that does not work, and needs to be completely redone so as to not catch fire. When I first contacted him he said there was no way it was like that as he had tested it. I want to know how someone can test to see if it works when there are NO WIRES !?!?!?! He also said 3 of the 5 led lights worked but there are 6 and 5 work. In addition he said the fan worked fine. It just sits there and hums. This guy no more plugged this thing in than I am going to sprout wings and fly. I sent him pictures showing the damage and he said that someone at the shipping place must have sabotaged it after he left it for mailing. That part really caught me off guard. I guess he thought I was born at night on a turnip truck. He said he would refund me $100 to be fair. That all I paid was shipping. WHY would I pay $75 for a light that is going to cost as much to fix as buy new ??? He has refunded me the $100 and I filed a paypal dispute. I don't know if it will help me get the remainder of my money but it is worth a shot.

I just wanted to warn others that this guy is a real piece of work. Steer clear or you might be the next one out of $$$ but the fine new owner of worthless merchandise. Darn shame people like this are on RC when there are so many trying to legitimately sell their used stuff.
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  #2  
Old 10/08/2007, 02:06 PM
dlsmith21 dlsmith21 is offline
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Just to add a little to how bad this guy ripped me off. I know NOTHING about aquarium lighting. I turn them on, turn them off, change bulbs every 8 months or so. That's it. So when I took the light apart I had no idea what to look for. Well the owner of my LFS did know. I took it there today to see what he could do for me in trying to salvage it. He said the guy cut the ballasts out. That was the reason the wires weren't attached. So now I have a light that isn't even worth the $25 I said the guy could keep. I am in disbelief that someone could be this bad of a thief. People like him should be banned from ever selling anything on RC again.

da1jewfish, I hope you are happy with what you did. Just remember that karma is a you know what and you will get back what you do 10 fold.
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  #3  
Old 10/08/2007, 03:02 PM
smiller smiller is offline
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Have you informed him of this and has he responded to it?
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The Tribal Wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that:

"When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."
  #4  
Old 10/08/2007, 03:11 PM
dlsmith21 dlsmith21 is offline
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Yes, through multiple pm's and emails. Paypal said too bad on the last $75 so I want him to refund it. I have all the pm's where I told him about the problems and he just brushed them aside. Told me I was getting back only $100 and if I didn't like that I could take it up with paypal. Guess he already knew what the verdict would be with them. I just don't want anyone else to get ripped off. There is no way possible he could not have known the light was junk. How can you turn on a light and check with no ballasts?

So yes to both questions. Except his response was definitely NOT one of a truthful seller. More of one sitting back happy he has $75 in his pocket and I have scrap metal.
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Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm....Winston Churchill
  #5  
Old 10/08/2007, 03:12 PM
smiller smiller is offline
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Send me a copy of his emails if you still have them.


smiller@reefcentral.com


Let me know here when you do since your PM will get stuck in my pending file.
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Steve


The Tribal Wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that:

"When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."
  #6  
Old 10/08/2007, 03:20 PM
dlsmith21 dlsmith21 is offline
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I just sent you the email copies but am unsure how to send you the pm's.
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  #7  
Old 10/08/2007, 03:23 PM
smiller smiller is offline
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You can copy and paste them to an email, if you know how to do that.
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Steve


The Tribal Wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that:

"When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."
  #8  
Old 10/08/2007, 03:25 PM
dlsmith21 dlsmith21 is offline
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I do. I tried forwarding to you through the My RC section. I think it worked.
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  #9  
Old 10/08/2007, 03:48 PM
dlsmith21 dlsmith21 is offline
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I tried to send you the emails and it came back as spam. I copied and pasted them to a pm and sent them on to you.
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  #10  
Old 10/08/2007, 09:34 PM
da1jewfish da1jewfish is offline
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look I did not do this. I have told you before. Why would I refund $100 if I maliciously cut your wires?? I did NOT make any money on this incidence! I lost money, $100 that I gave you back out of my pocket. I am not refunding your shipping, I lost $100 and you lost $75. I am filing a complaint with the pack n ship store, and past experience proves to be excruciatingly difficult for a refund.
I would be careful about you accusing me of malice and defamming me about untrue accusations. Relatively speaking this is petty. We were both hurt, actually me more than you and I cut my losses. I refunded you $100 as soon as I got back from vacation and that is the best I can do for you.
  #11  
Old 10/08/2007, 09:57 PM
da1jewfish da1jewfish is offline
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let me add... if I do get a refund from the pack n ship I will give the remaining $75 or whatever they give me, if they do at all.
  #12  
Old 10/08/2007, 11:20 PM
flyyyguy flyyyguy is offline
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I once had fed ex break into a box of tangs I was shipping. Cut the eyeballs clean out of every one of them. So it could happen.
  #13  
Old 10/09/2007, 05:47 AM
dlsmith21 dlsmith21 is offline
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da1jewfish, I don't even know how to respond. You made no money ? I paid for the light, the packing materials, the shipping costs. You paid for ????? $100 out of your pocket ? Well it USED to be in my pocket. Along with 75 of it's friends that you stole from me.
Sir,,,do not threaten me about speaking the TRUTH. You are lucky I did not try and pursue further charges against you in criminal court. I don't care whether you consider this "petty" or not. This was MY money. This was MY faith in you as a seller. YOU are the one defaming this board with your blatant misrepresentation. I should contact the mailing company there and let them know you are defaming them also by accusing them of cutting out the ballasts, making the fan not run and adding an extra led. And hey, they fixed a couple while they were at it. Remember ? 3 of 5 led lights work? Now 5 of 6 do.


Finally. Smiller has every email and pm you sent me. You can try and talk yourself clean and shiny in this forum all you want. It's all in the pm's.

Wait...I almost forgot something. When you go to this packing company would you please ask them HOW they got the ballasts out when the screws holding the reflector were rusted and had not been touched in forever? The grooves in the screws were caked with rust so I am assuming they did the Houdini and made them disappear?
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Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm....Winston Churchill
  #14  
Old 10/09/2007, 05:55 AM
smiller smiller is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by dlsmith21
da1jewfish, I don't even know how to respond. You made no money ? I paid for the light, the packing materials, the shipping costs. You paid for ?????
I'd like to hear an answer to this one also.

Were you using the light on a tank before you sold it or did you buy it and turn around and resell it?
__________________
Steve


The Tribal Wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that:

"When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."
  #15  
Old 10/09/2007, 02:42 PM
da1jewfish da1jewfish is offline
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STEALING YOUR MONEY??
I HAVE MADE NO MONEY ON THIS TRANSACTION. WHAT DO YOU NOT GET? let me walk you through b/c I guess its too hard to comprehend. You gave me $175, $100 covered the light, $75 went to the pack n ship which covered all of shipping, every bit of it including packing, box, etc. A 72" light fixture shipped to zip code 24450 including packing cost $72, you paid $75, so OK I AM UP $3. So, t this point I am up $103. After you told me what happened I gave you your $100 back. So would leave me with making nothing out of all this mess. I did not and would have no reason to steal the ballast or whatever else you are talking about.

You're not making any sense. Why would I cut the ballast, purposely make the fan not work, then add a led light?!?! I though that there was 5 leds and 2 were out. I corrected myself even b4 you notified me and said there are 6 and only 1 out. Why the hell would I destroy the fan (that was working), take out the ballasts and then say o I'll be nice and add an led and fix the other!!!???
Also, I have no idea where or how to get to the ballasts. If your saying that the reflector was screwed down with rusted screws and the whole caked with rust thing, how did they get it off then??? How could I have got it off?

Futhermore, this is my last correspondence with you. Unless I hear from UPS, (which will take time if I do) or you try accuse me of more bull hockey.
  #16  
Old 10/09/2007, 02:48 PM
Nanemene Nanemene is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by da1jewfish

I would be careful about you accusing me of malice and defamming me about untrue accusations. Relatively speaking this is petty. We were both hurt, actually me more than you and I cut my losses. I refunded you $100 as soon as I got back from vacation and that is the best I can do for you.

Just for the record, I have a little background in this area and I can tell you that most people coming on RC and saying "be very careful about defaming me" have no clue what the legal definition is nor what it takes to build a claim. If you're a fraudulent seller, you have no leg to stand on in court with any "he defamed me" or "he said bad things about me" claim. A lawyer would probably charge you $1000 to even touch such a case, and even then would probably hand it back to you and politely decline to represent you on it. Don't bother threatening people with "be very careful what you say about me." It's of no value.
  #17  
Old 10/09/2007, 02:57 PM
da1jewfish da1jewfish is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by smiller
I'd like to hear an answer to this one also.

Were you using the light on a tank before you sold it or did you buy it and turn around and resell it?

To answer your question, I did buy it used. I bought it for my buddy, who was able to get a metal halide setup for a little more money. So, we had no use for it. He tested it with some pc's in it, while I was there and it worked fine. This was also the reason for some confusion b/c I did not have the fixture at my house until later on in the selling steps.

This is why the only thing that could have happened (as you might be aware of) is the theft from the shiiping location. I dropped it off, after I payed for the shipping and they told me they would pack and ship it.
  #18  
Old 10/09/2007, 03:43 PM
dlsmith21 dlsmith21 is offline
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Please forgive me but you have to be the most amazing individual I have had the unpleasant fortune to have met. What part of YOU RIPPED ME OFF aren't YOU getting????? Perhaps I should put this in terms YOU can comprehend YOU LIED!
Sorry my past post didn't make sense to you but I guess sarcasm is lost on some. You act as though YOU were the one wronged in this thing. I still want to know how you checked the bulbs ( not the led's thank you but the bulbs like you said in your advertisement) to make sure the light worked? Maybe you should go back and read this :

It works good, but I think only 3 out of the 5 moon lights work.
It does include 2 bulbs that work but there about 2 years old

Your words my friend. How did you know they worked? I am so amazed that you keep saying you did nothing wrong. Also, In my world, when a fan works it does this little thing called ROTATE/SPIN/MOVE IN SOME FASHION. Which it did not. There is no trying to accuse you of " bull hockey". You have proven you are full to the brim with it.
Everything you said about this light that was wrong actually was.
Broken leg
Led's possibly not working
It was the little things you left out that slightly angered me.
( that was sarcasm just so you know) I don't know why you did what you did but at this point I don't care. RC is the one that suffers from people like you. It makes people think twice about purchases because it could have been one of the others interested in the light and not me. I was just the stupid one that bought it.

I won't hold my breath on you "hearing" from UPS. I will take my $100 and consider this a lesson well learned. Perhaps you will also learn from this that people don't take kindly to being swindled. Whether it be $75 or $175. It all comes back around my friend.

Smiller...thank you for your attempt at resolving this matter. I do believe it has come to it's conclusion. I posted the facts of the transaction and he responded. His response speaks volumes to myself and others.
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  #19  
Old 10/09/2007, 09:52 PM
drives300 drives300 is offline
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Does anyone have a clue as to why someone would cut the ballasts out when they could have had a whole light?
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  #20  
Old 10/09/2007, 11:24 PM
Nanemene Nanemene is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by drives300
Does anyone have a clue as to why someone would cut the ballasts out when they could have had a whole light?
People who don't exist and are made up to serve as pawns in some bogus excuse do the strangest things.
  #21  
Old 10/10/2007, 07:44 AM
Growurown Growurown is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by da1jewfish
look I did not do this. I have told you before. Why would I refund $100 if I maliciously cut your wires?? I did NOT make any money on this incidence! I lost money, $100 that I gave you back out of my pocket. I am not refunding your shipping, I lost $100 and you lost $75. I am filing a complaint with the pack n ship store, and past experience proves to be excruciatingly difficult for a refund.
I would be careful about you accusing me of malice and defamming me about untrue accusations. Relatively speaking this is petty. We were both hurt, actually me more than you and I cut my losses. I refunded you $100 as soon as I got back from vacation and that is the best I can do for you.
You must have stainless steel nads to do a fellow reefer this way AND come on here and attempt to defend yourself whew.......
  #22  
Old 10/10/2007, 08:21 AM
jenajet jenajet is offline
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UPS must be different where your from cause here you don't get a tracking number or even a reciept till it's boxed and sealed.
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  #23  
Old 10/10/2007, 10:50 AM
Nanemene Nanemene is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by jenajet
UPS must be different where your from cause here you don't get a tracking number or even a reciept till it's boxed and sealed.
Sure, in *your* world. But in the world of bogus hypotheticals, you get a tracking number first, then the Pack N Ship employees--who are all both reefers and thieves--get to open your package and remove just the ballasts from your item.
  #24  
Old 10/10/2007, 02:15 PM
reefing102 reefing102 is offline
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Quote:
I did buy it used. I bought it for my buddy, who was able to get a metal halide setup for a little more money. So, we had no use for it. He tested it with some pc's in it, while I was there and it worked fine. This was also the reason for some confusion b/c I did not have the fixture at my house until later on in the selling steps.
sounds to me like he bought it then resold it without using it first or he sold it for his friend
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  #25  
Old 10/10/2007, 04:14 PM
WallyBackm WallyBackm is offline
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Why not pursue this with his local police department? This is obviously mail fraud. I would also contact the local Pack N Ship and inquire about their sales practices. I highly doubt they issue a tracking number without packaging the thing first.

Also, the chances of someone removing a ballast from a light at a pack n ship are similar to those of a midget playing in the NBA.
 

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