Can't get ahold of Jamal-188

GoingPostal · #1 07/28/2007, 06:50 AM

I bought his Sundial halide, sent him a money order three weeks ago, he recieved it and said he would let me know when it shipped. I didn't hear anything so I sent him a pm and he responded that it had shipped and since I was in OR and he was in PA it should be here within the week. First off, I'm in MN!
This was two weeks ago that he supposedly shipped out the light and it's not here. I have sent four PMs which are still unread and two emails which have not been responded too either. He has been online almost every day but has not posted. I'm not sure whether there is an issue yet, just hoping he sees this and answers. I'm not going to wait around forever for this light. I paid $250 and have nothing, if he doesn't come through within two weeks or so I am going forward with mail fraud charges, I work at the post office and have my top of the money order, delivery conformation #, receipt of shipping mo and his pms to prove I paid. Hopefully he sees this and fixes it so we can all be happy again.

raider77 · #2 07/28/2007, 09:39 PM

I think he sold this light to you and another person. Here is what I foundhttp://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1153837&highlight=Jamal188. This may explain why he thought you are in Oregon. You might not want to wait 2 weeks to file charges.

smiller · #3 07/29/2007, 06:58 AM

You might want to send this link to him.

chaffey · #4 07/29/2007, 08:48 AM

stop the payment, wait until he reply and if everything is going as planned then resend another payment.

Sometime seller wait forever to send out the stuff and they go into hibernation for a while.

GoingPostal · #5 07/29/2007, 10:20 AM

He's got several items for sale besides the light, I can't tell if that's for the same item or not. Looking through his posts he's got a history of not reading pm's and being gone on "business". I will send this link to him also.

GoingPostal · #6 07/29/2007, 02:10 PM

I sent a pm to zuzecawi from the thread linked to and he sent Jamal a check for a nitrate monitor two months ago and never got it. However, he did receive a metal halide light last week! My light! So hopefully zuzecawi will be willing to ship the light cod to me and then I would be happy, however he is still out the money with nothing to show. So, buyers do not buy anything from Jamal-188, he is not a good seller and has cut off all commucation to people who buy items as soon as he gets the money.

Jinenon · #7 08/10/2007, 05:04 PM

I encourage anyone who has had this problem to press charges. He screws everything up for everyone else that wants to sell/buy on here!!

smiller · #8 08/13/2007, 10:25 AM

FYI.....He hasn't posted since 7-7.

gtrestoration · #9 08/14/2007, 10:49 AM

Moved on?

SteveU

smiller · #10 08/14/2007, 11:37 AM

Yes, unless he gets this cleared up. He does not appear to have the desire to do so.

chaffey · #11 08/17/2007, 11:29 AM

Steve, why banned him, now it give him more reason not to respond, the buyers are also having more difficulty getting ahold of him.

ricsreef · #12 09/08/2007, 02:11 PM

I think there should be a policy on how mods can ban a seller before all disputes are closed,It does nothing but cause trouble for the buyers,how do you expect anyone to be able to get any info on this guy?From Paypal?What a joke.I will NEVER buy anything from anyone on this site.All you haft to do is post a bunch of stuff for sale and collect the money,dont answer your pm's and its done.They walk away with your hard earned money and you got nada.Sad....
I'm not trying to bash RC because it happens everywhere.
The mods have enough trouble trying to keep things straight,and probably get tired of dealing with this kind of stuff.It just seems like there should be away to hold people responsible when you let them sell/buy on your site.Is this possible? As stated no disrespect to RC,it just seems like when you ban someone it makes it harder on the customer.I have seen numerous post about this issue and seems like a copout to me.If you allow someone to sell on this site you are partially responsible,are you not?If not you should make it known to all that,when you buy from someone here you do so at your own risk,and you should get all personal info from buyer before you purchase.Just my two cents.

mhurley · #13 09/08/2007, 02:31 PM

Is there a reason you resurrected a month old thread?

Exactly how do you propose we do this?

Anyone can sign up here with any email address in the world. That's it. No physical address....no social security number....no ID verification. An email address, period.

This is one of the reasons we require people to have 50 posts and 3 months on here before they can use the selling forums. It's about all the leverage we have minus this feedback forum.

So if someone really wans to run a scam, they'll do it. If they're here to run a scam, do you think banning them is going to accomplish anything other than cut off all possible communication with the RC member?

We're not Ebay or SquareTrade. The services here are not a whole lot different than answering an ad in the Classifieds of your local newspaper. That newspaper isn't going to help you resolve a dispute either. It's buyer beware, so protect yourself.

smiller · #14 09/08/2007, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chaffey
Steve, why banned him, now it give him more reason not to respond, the buyers are also having more difficulty getting ahold of him.

Sorry, I completely missed your post until the last one. I was by no means trying to ignore you. It's kind of a no win situation for us when these things happen so I try to use my best judgment. This thread was started on 7-28. Obviously the dispute had been going on for some time at that point. He was not answering PMs from the people involved nor to me. If we don't ban him with the pages and pages of posts everyday there is the possibility that he can sneak back in and try to run another scam before anyone notices. You have to pick a time to nip it in the bud. That's what I did.

I would certainly encourage anyone dealing in a buy to get an email address from the person whom they are buying from.

ricsreef · #15 09/08/2007, 02:52 PM

I understand Mike,It seems like a lot of good people sell on here too,I am just being overly cautious I guess because I have had problems with sellers in the past myself,as for resurrecting an old post,I was simply reading through the complaints and came across this one and chose to speak my mind on the matter.If I knew how to stop the scamming I would be rich myself,The only way I could see it happening is if every seller would haft to back their items with a credit card or bank account number,but then you guys would haft to moderate that too,so I guess it's a losing battle.I'll just keep supporting my local LFS and keep my comments to myself.I wouldnt want to get banned for speaking my mind on such a touchy subject.I'll just stay away from the classifieds and stick to expanding my knowledge in the forums,as I said before no disrespect intended toward RC,and I'm sorry if you took it that way.Have a nice day.

BristlewormKing · #16 09/11/2007, 04:31 AM

One suggestion - in the future (regardless of where you make the purchase online), use PayPal - at least there is a resolution center if you do not receive an item or if there is some other problem. (I have been burned way too many times to ever use money orders again). Good luck!

sunkool · #17 09/11/2007, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BristlewormKing
One suggestion - in the future (regardless of where you make the purchase online), use PayPal - at least there is a resolution center if you do not receive an item or if there is some other problem. (I have been burned way too many times to ever use money orders again). Good luck!

Paypal won't help you if you did not make the purchase on ebay.

Mr James · #18 09/12/2007, 10:52 PM

Quote:

by sunkool
Paypal won't help you if you did not make the purchase on ebay.

Am I reading this right?? If this is not the right place, I can post new in a different spot. Are you saying that PayPal won't solve a dispute if the sale wasn't on eBay?? If that's the case, what are our options for safe transactions??

bassace · #19 09/12/2007, 11:21 PM

Use paypal funded with a credit card. That way you can do chargeback with your credit card company if paypal does not help.

chaffey · #20 09/12/2007, 11:32 PM

paypal is a joke !

Mr James · #21 09/12/2007, 11:37 PM

What are the other options Chaffey??

john rochon · #22 09/13/2007, 08:44 AM

best option is INTERACT BANKING TRANSACTION or CREDIT CARD

WinkeyWoneye · #23 09/13/2007, 09:34 AM

Just a FYI...... I bought my 72g bowfront tank from Jamal-188 with no problems about 8 months ago. Drove from NY to PA picked up the tank, paid etc. I didn't meet Jamal AKA Chris personally but I did meet his wife who seemed like a very nice person. Is it at all possible that he may have gotten confused and sent the stuff to the wrong person..... Than since getting banned wasn't able to realize/straighten out the problem?? I dunno, from talking to him on the phone and meeting his wife, he really doesnt seem like the type of person that would knowingly commit fraud. BUT than again I could be wrong....dont flame me..I'm not sticking up for what he did in any way...just trying to possibly shed some more light on the situation. I will look back in my records and see if I can find a contact number for Jamal-188 which I could send you via PM.... Let me know if you need it.
Dan

zuzecawi · #24 09/22/2007, 12:13 AM

He's by no means a "nice guy". After Postal and I tried to resolve things with Jamal for months on end, I can guarantee that this guy is neither nice nor upfront, honest, or posessing any dignity and integrity at all.

I for one, think the mods did the right thing by banning Jamal. My bank (even though it was purchased by credit card) won't pursue charges and basically the police told me to join the waiting line on filing. I'm not sure if going postal had any better luck. This guy even tried playing postal and I off of eachother to cover his own butt. Either case,

RC MODS: You guys ROCK. You have to deal with a lot of crap and you catch a lot of crap for it. I've never had a problem with how I've seen anything handled, and I stand by the position that while you can lead a horse to water, you can't make it a duck. Sometimes the only solution is the simple one... ban the offender.