Buying without guarantee...or not? • The Dodge Challenger Message Board

by **rockanimal** » 25 Nov 2009 22:44

Yes that's the question. I just got ripped off by a famous scammer here in Sweden. I payed him and he disappears, never sent me anything. Of course I didn't know of him but now when I dig a little deeper it seems that people pop up here and there to tell their stories of being ripped off by him too.

Anyway, there is a guy in the U.S. (Candlambert Rose, mailadress says Terry Rose) who contacted me about parts I need and he said he could sell me those. Fair price and almost nothing for shipping to Sweden. (BTW, if you're reading this Candlambert/Terry, NO OFFENSE, I just don't wanna get ripped off twice)

I have only seen pictures of his (?) car and it looks great, so I'm wondering why he wants to sell it in parts (it's a Plum crazy 1970 RT/SE) and if he has pictures of the actual parts which he doesn't have, only the car pictures I already recieved.

So my question is: is there a way of getting stuff from a private person WITHOUT having to pay through Paypal in advance?

/Robert

PS. The stuff I'm looking for is a rear valance (non-RT), rear seat belts & SE door carpet piece with reflector

by **dave-r** » 26 Nov 2009 9:14

No way is any seller going to send you anything unless they have the money in advance for sure.

As a buyer you will get ripped off now and again. But it is MUCH more common for sellers to get ripped off.

You either have to trust the person you are dealing with or buy from a company using your credit card so that you can get your money back if it does go wrong.

I was ripped off by one of the guys on here a few years ago when I trusted him to pay me for an original radio for his rare Hemi Challenger with T/A shaker. He has not been on here since. This was a repectable (I thought) guy with money. I cannot afford to loose money like that. I struggle to even keep my car. But arseholes like that are by far in the minority thank God.

by **patrick** » 26 Nov 2009 9:28

Never, ever do it, unless you completely trust the sourse. :nod:

This is: NO SHIT!!!!!! :!:

by **Goldenblack440** » 26 Nov 2009 10:20

That was a bad luck story Rockanimal. You said he is/was a scam artist in Sweden, but he sent you the parts from the US? Not sure what you mean there. Or do you mean he is in the US but has ripped off others in Sweden? anyway, yes unfortunately it is a situation of trust, and using your intuition. I think he was using that Plum Crazy car as 'bait'. I doubt whether it is even his car!

I have bought and sold hundreds of things, mostly Mopar related and only been ripped off twice in about 20 years. The last one was a nasty guy in Florida, and it was through ebay as well. Ebay/Paypal didn't do the right thing either so they are just as much to blame, luckily it was only $170 - the guy got my item and his money back -i got nothing.

By the way, i have an Non-RT rear valance (from a 71) that is for sale at the moment. I only want $50 (about US $ 4 8 ) for it, but i dread to think what postage would be to Sweden, although it is not really that heavy.

by **Jon** » 26 Nov 2009 15:30

Guess I have been pretty lucky so far. I once bought an item on eBay (rear bumper guards) which were all bent up. Definitely not as advertised "ready for chrome or paint".

I sent the guy a polite e-mail and he refunded my Pay Pal account (less shipping) and said to just keep them. The seller was listed as 100% positive feedback so I guess he didn't want to mess that up.

by **drewcrane** » 26 Nov 2009 15:40

i purchased some tail lights for my toyota and the guy never sent them, i used paypal ,and they didnt do anything all they could do was suspend his account, so i dont trust anybody i dont know :frown:

by **rockanimal** » 26 Nov 2009 21:25

Goldenblack. What I meant was that I already, last month, got ripped off by a guy in Sweden. Paid and got nothing.

After that I have this new guy from the US (with the plum crazy RT/SE) who has basically the same parts I need but I don't feel 100% about the deal. I can't get any pictures, only short emails where to send money.

I'm giving it second thoughts...

And thanks for your thoughts about this, everybody.

/Robert

by **dave-r** » 26 Nov 2009 21:48

Any doubts at all just walk away from the deal. :nod:

by **Goldenblack440** » 27 Nov 2009 13:23

OK, understand now ! That second guy sounds a bit sus - i don't think i'd be going ahead with that one, especially if the shipping price seems to low. Go onto www.usps.com and work out the postage yourself for the parts. You should be able to guess the dimensions and weight, or ask him what the box weighs etc. If it is too big for the post office, it would have to go by UPS, Bax Global, FedEx etc. And they are expensive.

by **rockanimal** » 29 Nov 2009 22:48

Yeah, I'm gonna send another mail and ask gently about the whole thing. But $10 to ship a rear valance to Sweden from the US...he must have good connections in the postoffice!

by **Goldenblack440** » 30 Nov 2009 14:21

$10...! yeah, right! The alarm bells would definitely be ringing with me. Even $100 would be reasonable -its not the weight so much as the cubic size and length. Maybe he forgot a zero ?

Then again, i got a whole carpet (thick plush pile too) shipped by USPS to Australia for only $99. I was very pleased with that. So maybe $60-75 for a valance to Europe?