SCAMMER ALERT! BUYER BEWARE (LUCAS SIMMONS)

Didn't really want to write this post but I feel the community should be on the alert for a possible scammer (Lucas S). I will be attacking my exchanges and photos that I have gathered, along with a background/summary of the situation.

Background: The post below was put up by Lucas Simmons, who was offering the bindings at a screaming deal. After negotiating a price with quick and swift communication he suggested Venmo or Cash App (first red flag), after seeing this I dug into his account a little and saw that he had just joined a few days ago and had no interactions with the site what so every until this post (second red flag). I told him I wouldn't be using any form of payment other than PayPal with fees (which I would cover) and he didn't seem to have a problem with creating an account (good sign). After all was said and done and the money was sent I didn't hear from him for a day or two. After multiple "feeler" emails just trying to touch base, he claimed to have been out of service and was getting it in the mail. After another day, and another email, he claimed to have shipped it through UPS and to have lost the paperwork in his truck... Another few days went by and he claimed the ETA was for last Thursday, to which I waited and no package arrived. I then signed up for MyChoice on UPS to see if anything was expected to arrive in the next two weeks and showed nothing. This that he claimed (on Thursday) that I had either gotten a refund or Paypal took the money because of lack of activity? To which I sent him my activity history to prove I did no such thing and that once again, I would appreciate a tracking number. After no response I warned him once again (to no avail) and have now started the process of opening a case with PayPal to get my money back. Below will be our email transcripts (personal info blocked out), his account, and the original post.

I have been buying and selling items on this site for years and knew this was a bit fishy to start. I encourage EVERYONE to use Paypal with fees to protect yourself even on the simplest of purchases. I am hoping PayPal will honor the information I kept and return my money. If not, not much else I can do. I have given this dude many opportunities to send me a tracking number and he is just beating around the bush. If he ever did, or the bindings randomly show up at my door, I have absolutely no problem dropping the case with PP and deleting this post. I would assume other prominent buyers on this forum would agree, this case seems really fishy, and I am taking the appropriate steps to protect my purchase.

(I apologize for the novel of a post)

Here is the original post (he has deleted it since)

thanks for sharing this.  i was in contact with him on these bindings as well and it seemed fishy to me, but i did not follow through.

seemed like once I contact him, the post(s) disappeared.

I thought those smelled fishy the minute I read "need these gone ASAP."

In general avoid buying from someone who just created an account.

crag cat wrote: In general avoid buying from someone who just created an account.

This. To me, it just isn’t worth buying gear from someone with little history on the site. I check that before ever making an offer or negotiating on a item

Ha!
I bought these too.
Looks like I need to open a case. Glad I did f&f

anthony salomon wrote: Ha!
I bought these too.
Looks like I need to open a case. Glad I did f&f

If you did f&f (Friends and Family) then you're out of luck, no buyer protection there.

I’m still waiting on a set of quickdraws from Lucas. Surprise surprise. Can’t temember how I paid. I used Venmo but unsure of the method.
Last email was on Fri when he said package was out but he’d lost the tracking #. 

I noticed he was trying to sell a rope a few days back. I started to realize something was off when I saw a post from him looking to buy a rope and draws only a week before he posted a set of draws for sale. I also noticed the FS post where I responded was deleted that evening after I paid. 

I misspoke. I paid the other way.
What a bummer though. Bad karma on that guy

We’ll see where this goes. Here’s the latest response. Maybe the guy will man up. Maybe not. 

Layne Zuelke wrote: We’ll see where this goes. Here’s the latest response. Maybe the guy will man up. Maybe not. 

Replying at all is actually kinda rare. Interesting

I was in touch with him about buying a rope...I paid for buyer protection. He then tried convincing me that I needed to confirm receipt of the item before he sent it, saying that otherwise the funds would be frozen and he needed the money to afford the shipping... I told him to issue a refund so that I could try sending it 'as a friend', but at this point I was sketched out and intended to just bail once he did so. Once he refunded I just stopped contact. Good to know I was correct in doing so, I felt like a bit of an ass for it but he seemed sketchy and I opted to trust my spidey senses.

Moral of the story: Use buyer protection! Especially for people that are new to the forum / selling.

I hope y'all that got burned get your money back. What an absolute jerk, I hope he gets what's coming to him.

I got the same response.

“I’m sorry man I’m working on getting your money back I’ve fucked up and have dealt with my problems in the wrong way I except that you put my name out there again I’m sorry”

and this is another reason why to *NOT* delete your threads after everything is sold but rather we (the buyers) need to post "good feedback" for sellers who do what they say. I am certainly not 100% on this but I try to always post a "good seller" post on a sellers thread, even if everything is already sold, so that people like myself can go back into their posting history and see if they're reputable or not. I certainly tend towards reg paypal but I'll def do F&F if i have bought from someone before or I have seen them around here often enough. As DBS mentioned, pretty much always worth the extra 2-3 bucks when dealing with a new seller, especially when you can't verify them from old postings.

Hey admin fella, can we get a buyer/seller rating system for our profiles to cut down on this sort of thing?

Edit to add, I’ve never had a problem on these forums, I read through enough to recognize the names of who I’m dealing with. But I’ve definitely almost thought about doing deals on a sketch post. It’d be good for the community

WELL DAMN!! I’m happy I went through the effort to post about this little fucker. Happy that he’s exposed and I surely hope that anyone else in the same boat as me are able to get their money back! If any admins are following this threat, is there an ability to ban his account? I’m sure he’ll make another but worth getting his out of here.

I also highly agree with the rating system. Go to pbnation.com with paintball gear and they have a great system for feedback they had worked for YEARS! I trust the climbing community much more than the paintball community, but enough is enough from people like “Lucas”

Thanks for posting this, people need to know there are scammers everywhere online. I learned the hard way a few years ago on another forum and lost a few hundred bucks. Always use PayPal even with people who have legit comment histories. You never know when USPS will lose a package and the seller decides it’s not their problem. 

Bumping just for warning others. I will keep people posted regarding my experience with the PayPal Case. Iv escalated the case and they are giving him 10 days for a response (which id expect none) 

I’ve opened a case with Venmo as well but doubt I’ll see any results.