I think I just got scammed, what can I do about it?!?!

[tele_jas]

Heres the deal, a week and a half ago I found a Mesa Boogie Rectoverb for $650 at www.harmony-central.com and I contacted the guy via email and he replied pretty quickly and said he still had it but couldn't accept PayPal due to some bad luck with it, so I said I couldn't do it I only use paypal. He replied back later that same day and gave me some paypal information to make a payment to and said it was his brother-in-laws and he would just have him accept the money for him and write him a check and as soon as he got the payment he’d let me know when he could ship the amp, so I sent the money to “the brother-in-law”. I didn’t hear from him for 3 days after sending the payment or after several emails, I finally sent him a pretty expressive letter stating that I felt like I was being scammed and had some friends in high places (I jam with an attorney once a month) and threatened him with filing a fraud claim on him, he promptly responded and said he had been working 12 hour days and this was the first chance he had to check his email and he was legit and would get to work on getting the amp to me – he also said he’d send me a picture of the amp (after several request for a pic) so I’d know he wasn’t trying to scam me and to prove he had the amp (there were also some “wrong” details in the description I wanted him to clear up by sending a picture as well). It has now been a week since I got that last email from him saying he wasn’t scamming me and I’ve probably sent 10 emails to him.

Let me back track a bit here…. On Monday, I went ahead and filed a claim with Paypal and Tuesday night I sent both of them (the seller and brother-in-law) an email saying if I didn’t receive my money back or the amp, that I would file a fraud claim with their local law enforcement and this is over $500 so it would also be a felony.

Anyone know what else I can do to get my money back or what other steps I can take?? Or better yet, anyone live around Minneapolis, Minnesota and have a big stick and aren't afraid to use it?!?!

 

[cvansickle]

It's the stories like this one that give the legit online sellers the bad name.

That's the problem with PayPal - because the money transfer is instantaneous, it's more difficult to get money back.

IMO, 21 days is sufficient for a PayPal-based transaction to be be delivered. If you don't get your amp in three weeks from payment date, send in the law!

 

[SeasonOfPain]

Eek. That's why I don't like to use ebay, especially for big ticket items... to many deadbeats. I have a PayPal account, but only do that with people I trust.

I sold a GH-100L head over a board last year; we went through Escrow.com. Went very smoothly, I'm happy to say, but i wouldn't do another transaction without an escrow service. The steps go something like:

1. The buyer sends payment to escrow.com
2. The seller sends the merchandise to the buyer.
3. Buyer inspects merchandise, then accepts or rejects it.
4. If the merch is accepted, escrow.com sends funds to seller
5. If the merch isn't accepted, the buyer must send the merch back to the buyer within a certain period or acceptance is assumed and payment goes to seller.

 

[jong]

THat wasn't Ebay... it was Harmony Central.

I got scammed on HC by a guy named Chris in Arizona about three years ago. Short story is that it went real similar to yours, except for I talked to him on the phone a few times and sent a Money Order instead.

I ended up eating the $450.

 

[Inearthed]

I think that initially you were a little impatient, but his actions after that show was his true intentions were.

For future reference, you should never PayPal someone's friend / relative. Only PayPal the real person. This guy could've easily hijacked someone's PayPal account and is using their account as a middleman for transferring the money around. I would immediately take legal action on this.

Did you get his home address (not the PayPal one) or his phone number? How about his full name?

 

[LSCMan]

I spend a lot of time at HC, what's his moniker?

 

[tele_jas]

what's his moniker?

What the heck's a moniker????

I got two different names involved in this: Paul Just and William Wood from Minnesota. It's either two different people or one guy using different names/emails to post more stuff.

 

[LSCMan]

Moniker is your screen name, what name does he post under?


Which forum, amps, guitar jam, open jam?

 

[tele_jas]

Not sure what his moniker is?? I've only been to the forum once to see if I could find him (about a week ago), never found him. This was in the gear classified section, if you type in Rectoverb and set the date to about 40 days, his would be the first and last one listed (same amp, different names). If you hear something, it'd be great if you could let me know!? I've already gotten started with what info I've known and have found out, but the more the better.

 

[Inearthed]

Do you have a physical address for the person or a phone number? Or did you just do the transaction via e-mail / paypal?

 

[tele_jas]

I originally got a physical address for Paul Just (on Lyndale Ave), but William Wood never gave me his address. Pauls phone number was listed and I did a reverse look up on it and then I found several post on other forums by both guys, mostly William (or Wil), and they were talking about Minnesota and bands around the area.

I also enlisted some Legal help and they did a lookup from the IP addresses and other information and found out a bunch more information on them.

 

[Inearthed]

Keep us updated as to what is happening with the whole situation.

 

[Grandor]

This is making me iffy...
I bought a dual recto through HC last week.
Still to hear about delivery confimation from my end in the states.

I got pics with my name and the date in the photo, + good responses from him...
So I hope this goes down well otherwise I'm out $1100 US.

 

[tele_jas]

Got an email from PayPal today saying I had a refund pending for the entire amount of my purchase!! Looks like I may be getting my money back after constant emails and possibly help from some of you guys here!! (Maybe a little legal help too)..... Thanks to everyone for your support, I'll let you know if it goes through! They said it's a bank transfer and it'll take a few days to clear, I'm keeping my fingers crossed but not holding my breath. TJ

 

[Inearthed]

Well, it sounds like its going to work out.. Great news.

 

[MesallicA]

This is making me iffy...
I bought a dual recto through HC last week.
Still to hear about delivery confimation from my end in the states.

I got pics with my name and the date in the photo, + good responses from him...
So I hope this goes down well otherwise I'm out $1100 US.

does it end up being cheaper ordering form the states?