MK5 Golf GTI
All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: galaxie500 on February 24, 2012, 08:35:33 am
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Hi All
I hope this serves as a salutary lesson although most will agree I've been rather stupid.
A kind Mk5golfgti member answered my recent wanted ad for a set of Xenon's for my Ed30. I'd already been through the process of buying from 2 sellers only to be thwarted at the last hurdle when the first seller and then the second managed to damage the lights whilst packing them up to dispatch them. In the 2nd case the seller returned my money immediately, whilst no money had changed hands in the first case.
Thinking I must be cursed, i left the Xenon quest for a few weeks only to have a reply pointing me to an ad on Pistonheads for a set of Xenons. They were in Scotland and Andrew wanted £450.00. The ad had a phone number and an email link. I was away working so i emailed Andrew in Scotland and not hearing anything back texted the next day. Andrew texted back promptly saying they were still available. I asked for some photos of the lamps, and after a little confusion because of Blackberry v iPhone picture messaging, saw a set of reasonable Xenons complete with ballasts and bulbs etc. Andrew said they were in good condition and the only reason he was selling was he had damaged his R32 front end and was breaking the car. Fair enough I thought.
I offered Andrew £400 and he countered with £420 including dispatching the lights, which I thought wasn't bad. He said he couldn't take Paypal so could I send it to a Bank Account. I was a little concerned but I asked for a postal address which he gave me. The bank account wasn't in his name - the alarm bells rang again but he assured me the account was his brother in law's as he had lost his bank card.
I really should have seen the warning signs here but I sent the money to the account 'Andrew' gave me and waited for a response. After chasing him again he eventually responded saying the money was in the bank and he was sorting out the delivery. I telephoned him again asking for the delivery company and tracking number which he said he'd get me.
I didn't hear from him again.
I texted him asking for a refund (ha ha) and he was legally obliged to fulfil his side of the contract we'd made. I then sent another message that I'd have no alternative to hand the matter to the police.
I spoke with the Pistonheads Classified advertising Manager hoping to trace Andrew through their records - but the ad was a FREE AD where Pistonnheads take no details from the seller as they don't pay for placing the ad including pictures. No comeback for the buyer, easy money for the unscrupulous thieves out there.
The Pistonheads guy said they'd ban 'Andrew' from the site - and an hour later I received the biggest kick in the head - an email from Pistonheads entitled:
"URGENT WARNING: 'VW golf xenon headlights' (3645155)
Hi,
Our records show that you recently replied to the advert 'vw golf xenon head lights' (3645155) on PistonHeads.
This advert has since been removed as we have reason to believe that it may not be genuine.
We strongly recommend that you ignore any contact from the 'seller' and under no circumstances transfer any money.
For more information please see our fraud warnings page: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/warnings.asp or http://www.vstag.co.uk
Sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
Thank you for using our site and best of luck finding your new car.
Regards,
The PistonHeads Team
The email I'm presuming was a system generated one after I spoke with them and they banned the seller.
I've learnt my lesson. If something seems a little dubious, its because it most probably IS dubious and one should follow one's instincts. If a deal seems too good to be true, its because it is. WALK AWAY!
There is a huge market in 2nd hand car parts in the UK more often sold by honest traders. Unfortunately, there's a number of people like Andrew who exploit the unsuspecting (like me). Don't be caught out.
PR
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Absolutely gutted for you mate, people like this 'Andrew' need tracking down and dispatching...... :fighting:
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sorry to hear of your experiences mate. I guess its a good reminder to us all why its always best to use Paypal for transferring funds / making purchases on places like gumtree/pistonheads.
If the seller asks to deposit money direct into an account or send as paypal gift, its best to walk away.
Rich
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Did you contact police, what did they say? You would think a bank acct number would provide some leads.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
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Did you contact police, what did they say? You would think a bank acct number would provide some leads
+1
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That sucks I feel for you there has been quite a few fake/scam sellers lately, over on edition a few have been spoken about
Can we name and shame these people and keep a record of there contact details etc so we can all check before buying from people ?
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Did you contact police, what did they say? You would think a bank acct number would provide some leads
+1
+ 2 :confused:
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+3 :confused:
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+4, there are enough of them on Enay without them popping up on forums too, bring back capital punishment for scammers/thieves. :fighting:
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I think the OP has contacted the police, lets hope that some details match up and the police can go and pay him a visit. :happy2:
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Absolutely gutted for you,
Speak to your bank, if you did bank transfer, i am sure you can claim your money back, get police involved as well. It could be worse if you sent payment as paypal gift, you would have no legs to stand.
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I was the person who pointed galaxie500 in the direction of Pistonheads, I came across the xenon’s and just posted the link as I saw them a few days before. I would just like to say I have nothing to do with the seller and thought I was helping someone out when I posted the link, how wrong was I when I read this. Have exchanged a few PM’s with galaxie500 in the meantime and just hope he either gets the headlights (looking very unlikely) of his money back (Hope for your sake you do). Have you been stupid, no; you trusted someone after you had spoken to them; unfortunately this is the country we are now living in? I have bought lots of parts from members on this site and E-bay and never had any trouble. Just hope all turns out well in the end and that the Police or someone else can do something to get your money back.
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So sorry to hear about this mate,the law in this country is a joke,seeing as the money was transfered into a British bank account it would be so easy for the bank's/police to track down and get the scum responsible for this and prosecute them,but no the bank's will not release the info as to not to jepordise the cnut's privacy,make's me sick. :fighting:
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Sorry to hear that mate. I would like to think the members on this forum are a decent bunch of genuine guys. I have purchased loads of stuff from on here by directly transfering money to bank accounts and have to say that all of you i have dealt with have been genuine. As we all know there are people out there who like to think they can get away with this sort of sh1t. Lets just hope the catch the focker and cut his nuts off then hand then to the o.p. or one day the w4nker gets a taste of his own medicine.
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Gutted for you :sad1: same happened to me but on this forum, I feel your pain! I will now never bank transfer, costly learning the hard way :sick:
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Not good to hear mate :sad1:
Bank Transfer's are ok if you know the person. I've had people of this forum do Bank Transfer's to me for stuff and i've done it to others. I normally sell stuff through Paypal Gift i have no issue with someone doing normal goods as long as they pay the fee's
But if i am buying i just use Paypal ( I will pay the fee's for my own protection) if it's someone i don't know and keep copies of all correspondence until the transaction is complete and goods are received.
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Feel for you. I got some halogens off someone on here that turned out to broken inside and un-useable. Like to think the seller made a genuine mistake, but the broken pieces weren't in there so i think they were sent broken.
He sent 20quid back but i paid 150. Luckily the bulbs are good ones.
I ended up buying new ones from vw for not too much more.
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Gutted for you!
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Feel your pain, i would love a set of xenons but to me (like most) £420 is a bucket load of cash and there are to many f*cking wankers out there that take your money and run, total ****s
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Evenin' all.
I am genuinely moved by the number of chaps who've posted their feelings here; I do feel foolish for sending money to the c$%t who pretended to have a set of Xenons - he didn't have Paypal he said so a Bank transfer seemed the only option. I really should have thought more about it.
I bear no malice or ill feeling to the forum member who posted the original ad whatsoever; everyone I've had dealings with on this site has been courteous and kind and has the best interests of their fellow members in mind when suggesting tips, modifications and potential purchases. I know people really go out of their way to help others here.
So far I've contacted my bank who say they cannot do anything and I've contacted the police's Telephone Fraud department who've taken the relevant details and may get back to me although I'm not holding my breath.....
I had an address from the culprit (probably bogus) but most importantly I have a bank account name, sort code and account number but as a forum member stated, these details don't seem to excite the police into any positive action despite there being a strong lead and case to answer here. If anyone has any further advice I'd be happy to listen.
I'll keep you updated with any developments.
Thanks everyone.
galaxie500