Ripped off and Displeased by Rivenjim

reef-newbie-11305 · #1 12/27/2006, 02:22 PM

I must say that I am a disappointed reefer with the fact that I bought a 70w mh from a seller on here and never received it. I paid him for it and he claims to have mailed it to me over 2 weeks ago. Kinda new at this buying online from such a large community such as reef central, I had no idea that I was going to be done this way.

You can follow the link below for details:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=987242

Then I also find this link thanks to someone else who believes that they bought the same light.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...owtopic=104393

I guess this is a lesson for me and I hope this happens to no one else. He now wants to turn things around on me and say "how does he know that I didn't get the light and am trying to rip him off" (what a joke).

Well, I didn't get what I paid for or a refund, so I'm out of it. I certainly won't buy from him again and hope others are causious as well. Judge for yourself.

mbbuna · #2 12/27/2006, 03:42 PM

looks like he sold it twice, 12-5 on RC and 12-7 on Nano. nice guy

reef-newbie-11305 · #3 12/27/2006, 04:05 PM

yep, real nice guy (not!)
Just hope others are careful.

jmcmahon66 · #4 12/27/2006, 08:35 PM

There is a lot of bad selling going on in RC recently. I am still ticked off by my experience with Lam Nuygen for ripping me off of a $600 set of micros and chalices. I have also been edited by the mods for ripping this guy a new one. I would suggest that RC install a small measure of control to stop this from happening repeatedly. Perhaps a seller cannot post another sale item until there is a resolution of an ongoing dispute? I think it is irresponsible to have such a hands off approach. Just my 2 Abes.
Joe

reef-newbie-11305 · #5 12/27/2006, 09:05 PM

Well my problem has not been resolved and don't know exactly whats going to happen. He's going on with things, don't know how many others he sold it too or even if it was sold at all (just posted for sale) but it looks as though it was at least sold to me and 1 other person.

I hope this kind of thing doesn't happen often around here. I generally believe that most people transact good business on here. As I said before, I just hope that no one else has this kind of thing happen to them.

Although my problem is not resolved, I still have faith in the system. The same guy that got me, will get he's someday.

What goes around, comes around!

Illuminati · #6 12/27/2006, 09:12 PM

How did you pay? File a dispute with either paypal or your credit card company!

:Edit: Never mind, saw you sent him a cashiers check.

dkh0331 · #7 12/28/2006, 06:16 AM

1) Ask for proof that it was indeed shipped.
2) Lacking any evidence that it was shipped, place a call to their towns local police department.

HTH

David

jmcmahon66 · #8 12/28/2006, 09:06 AM

I agree with dkh0331. Some proof has to exist of shipping and if he cannot provide that he is commiting mail fraud. I had this happen on ebay once, and I did call the local police in Oregon where the guy lived. He was prosecuted and ordered by the court to repay damages or serve some time. Since he could not repay I think he did some time. He also did it to 19 other people as well.
HTH

VikeBron · #9 12/30/2006, 03:06 AM

In my limited experience on buying online... First rule of thumb....never.....ever......agree to a purchase when the seller is demanding a cashiers check or money order. That will help a little from the onset. Pay with cc/paypal and be diligent and do not put up with bs stories, ie......the dog ate my homework etc. File a claim within the alotted time from your cc/paypal account. Shady sellers feed buyers excuses til the claim process has passed.
Sorry about your experience....and yours too Joe. The majority of people here are good and honest and will usually do whats right.

smiller · #10 12/31/2006, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jmcmahon66
There is a lot of bad selling going on in RC recently. I am still ticked off by my experience with Lam Nuygen for ripping me off of a $600 set of micros and chalices. I have also been edited by the mods for ripping this guy a new one. I would suggest that RC install a small measure of control to stop this from happening repeatedly. Perhaps a seller cannot post another sale item until there is a resolution of an ongoing dispute? I think it is irresponsible to have such a hands off approach. Just my 2 Abes.
Joe

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...85#post8860885

Cosmo^Kramer · #11 01/04/2007, 10:12 PM

I just want to add to VikeBron's post.Don't ever send money western union either

ReeferMonkey · #12 01/09/2007, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by VikeBron
In my limited experience on buying online... First rule of thumb....never.....ever......agree to a purchase when the seller is demanding a cashiers check or money order. That will help a little from the onset. Pay with cc/paypal and be diligent and do not put up with bs stories, ie......the dog ate my homework etc. File a claim within the alotted time from your cc/paypal account. Shady sellers feed buyers excuses til the claim process has passed.
Sorry about your experience....and yours too Joe. The majority of people here are good and honest and will usually do whats right.

This is not very good advice - paypal will do little to help you out. A USPS money order is the best buyer protection, as anyone who cheats you is committing mail fraud and the postal inspectors take their job very seriously.

VikeBron · #13 01/12/2007, 12:26 PM

Yea right. They cannot even get the mail delivery right and you would rather entrust an overworked fraud investigator to try and get your $50 back when he has 100s of cases that are 10x that amount. Sorry dude, I would rather go through the hasstles of Paypal and my own cc than rely on someone else for my $. Comes from owning small businesses for 20+ years.
But you can keep sending money orders to PO boxes and see how well you fare. Good luck.

ReeferMonkey · #14 01/12/2007, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VikeBron
Yea right. They cannot even get the mail delivery right and you would rather entrust an overworked fraud investigator to try and get your $50 back when he has 100s of cases that are 10x that amount. Sorry dude, I would rather go through the hasstles of Paypal and my own cc than rely on someone else for my $. Comes from owning small businesses for 20+ years.
But you can keep sending money orders to PO boxes and see how well you fare. Good luck.

I know far more people that have been burned sending money via PayPal. I do agree that the best way to run PP transactions is off of a credit card but not everyone does this. Disputing a charge is the only thing that will ever get you out of a bad situation, PP won't help you at all. I've bought and sold items exceeding $5K using USPSMO and never had a problem, but hey, whatever works for you.

Who said anything about sending money to PO Boxes?

VikeBron · #15 01/12/2007, 12:48 PM

If someones address is a po box and you are using USPS money orders, then that is where your money order will go. What are the odds of getting anyone caught then? I agree, the cc route is the best way to do it. If someone is not willing to do the due dilligence on a bad deal, they should not be purchasing anything online. That is what the scumbags who rip people off rely on. My cc is the only way I use Paypal. One phone call and my $ is back. I have never had my cc refuse a chargeback.

ReeferMonkey · #16 01/12/2007, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VikeBron
If someones address is a po box and you are using USPS money orders, then that is where your money order will go. What are the odds of getting anyone caught then? I agree, the cc route is the best way to do it. If someone is not willing to do the due dilligence on a bad deal, they should not be purchasing anything online. That is what the scumbags who rip people off rely on. My cc is the only way I use Paypal. One phone call and my $ is back. I have never had my cc refuse a chargeback.

LOL I understand how the postal system works but in several years of buying and selling I've only ever dealt with sellers directly.

reef-newbie-11305 · #17 01/14/2007, 04:54 PM

I didn't send the money order to a PO Box, but it seem that it really doesn't matter where I sent it, cause he's not responding to any request and I feel royally ripped (if you know what I mean). I've learned to be a lot more leary of buying on here now. No protection at all. I guess I have no one to blam for this but myself. No help to be found, but I hope that no one else falls pray to this guy.

the address he gave me was:

POSTING PERSONAL INFORMATION IS NOT ALLOWED. Let's just say he lives in Chicago.

Steve
RC Mod

dbarker · #18 01/14/2007, 08:54 PM

If you have proof that your item was mailed, if using UPS, you can file a claim. I had bought corals off the bay, they were poorly packed and arrived broken and very cold. My claim was handled very professionally and I recieved almost the full purchase price.

Good luck, it's a learning experience. I have also learned a very expensive lesson buying from Aquacon!

Debbie

ERICinFL · #19 01/16/2007, 03:19 PM

One would think, if shipping something like that, the shipper would get a tracking number or proof of delivery.

reef-newbie-11305 · #20 01/16/2007, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ERICinFL
One would think, if shipping something like that, the shipper would get a tracking number or proof of delivery.

I agree, you would think that wouldn't you? but nope, he just would say, I don't know why you haven't received it, give it a few more days, or give it a couple more days its the holidays and you know how slow the mail is. (yeah, right... real slow!)

He had no tracking number because he didn't send anything out.

JokerGirl · #21 01/17/2007, 10:01 AM

I got scammed out of $150 right before Christmas by someone on Yahoo auctions. Yahoo won't do ANYTHING about it, and I paid with a money order. I called the NYC police commisioner, and got contacted backa few days ago by a detective. They are actually working at trying to find this *****.

At this point I don't care about my money, I just want him to do some time!

duongtony · #22 01/17/2007, 01:51 PM

Did you guys use Paypal?

lpkirby · #23 01/18/2007, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by duongtony
Did you guys use Paypal?

No he sent a cashiers check...

reef-newbie-11305 · #24 01/19/2007, 12:35 PM

I know that there is nothing that we can do about stuff like this, I just want everyone else to be careful and try to avoid the hard lesson that I just learned. I enjoy this hobby and always trying to learn something new about it, but that was not something I had counted on as a learning experience. But as they say, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. So with that outlook it'll only get better.

Thanks goes out to all who replied with concern for I now know that you can't trust every aspect in this hobby. That was a low, but live and learn.

Be careful out there, my fellow reefers