Avoiding Scammers

Robert Cleveland wrote:

What to do after one has reached out to a seller several times by phone and email and doesn't respond to either. He misrepresented the item he was selling ,took the money and ran. He advertised the item as being a pair of Scarpa 6000's size 44 but sends a pair of 46s. In my eyes this is theft. How does one recup ones loses in this case ? 

You don’t unless you take them to small claims court. Or you can just buy from reputable sellers, preferably shops owned by local climbers. 

Robert Cleveland wrote:

What to do after one has reached out to a seller several times by phone and email and doesn't respond to either. He misrepresented the item he was selling ,took the money and ran. He advertised the item as being a pair of Scarpa 6000's size 44 but sends a pair of 46s. In my eyes this is theft. How does one recup ones loses in this case ?  

I hate to call the seller out in public yet in the mean time l don't want others to get ripped off either.

Unless you paid goods and services you're out of luck.

Robert Cleveland wrote:

What to do after one has reached out to a seller several times by phone and email and doesn't respond to either. He misrepresented the item he was selling ,took the money and ran. He advertised the item as being a pair of Scarpa 6000's size 44 but sends a pair of 46s. In my eyes this is theft. How does one recup ones loses in this case ?  

I hate to call the seller out in public yet in the mean time l don't want others to get ripped off either.

Seems like as long as the seller is active on here (i.e. you know they don't happen to be on vacation off the grid), and they aren't responding to you, you have pretty reasonable cause in this case to call them out publicly if they're ghosting you. Make sure you can substantiate your claims as needed of course.

The last time l recieved an email was May 10th 2023. Two phone calls to the seller 's residence proved unsuccessful. I paid via PAYPAL plus shipping to Canada.

I want to caution buyers to think twice before dealing with this individual.

Dominic Gonzalez Padron in Denver Co. gonza362@gmail.com.  l now have a pair of Scarpa 6000's size 46 that don't fit me. As stated earlier l was looking for a size 44s but in turn he sold me a pair of 46 and has ghosted me seen then and took the money and ran. He is on the National Ice climbing team thought he had more scruples then ripping someone off. 

Robert Cleveland wrote:

The last time l recieved an email was May 10th 2023. Two phone calls to the seller 's residence proved unsuccessful. I paid via PAYPAL plus shipping to Canada.

I want to caution buyers to think twice before dealing with this individual.

Dominic Gonzalez Padron in Denver Co. gonza362@gmail.com.  l now have a pair of Scarpa 6000's size 46 that don't fit me. As stated earlier l was looking for a size 44s but in turn he sold me a pair of 46 and has ghosted me seen then and took the money and ran. He is on the National Ice climbing team thought he had more scruples then ripping someone off. 

If you used PayPal purchase protection then getting your $$$ back should be easy. File a complaint and they'll ask for proof that you received something substantially unlike what you were told you were buying. A different shoe size that doesn't fit is definitely substantially different. 

I didn't use PayPal protection and shame on me. I did contact PayPal and they couldn't do anything thing. So l am out $653.00 US plus custom fees. Even those the seller was dishonest and misrepresented the item he was selling to make a quick buck and ran. So others beware of this seller.

Robert Cleveland wrote:

I didn't use PayPal protection and shame on me. I did contact PayPal and they couldn't do anything thing. So l am out $653.00 US plus custom fees. Even those the seller was dishonest and misrepresented the item he was selling to make a quick buck and ran. So others beware of this seller.

If you paid with a credit card through PayPal you could attempt getting them to reverse the charge. 

Andrew Rice wrote:

If you paid with a credit card through PayPal you could attempt getting them to reverse the charge. 

Indeed.  In my limited experience, CC companies are quicker and easier to deal with.  Most often they give you a preliminary credit while they investigate, and I've always had cases ruled favorably when I was in the right.  PayPal has come through the two times I needed to use protection, but the process was long and involved.  

As an additional FYI on Paypal/CC disputes, if you file a CC dispute first and also have buyer protection, you cannot later file a buyer protection claim through PayPal.  The opposite is not true however, so it's often advised to try PayPal first if you have protection and use CC chargeback as a back up plan. 

I am working with my bank to get my money back. Thank folks for assisting me with this situation. 

Matt Haupt wrote:

I just had a buyer tell me the box of cams i sent him was empty.  I don’t really see any way for me to protect myself from somebody like this.  I have the receipt from the post office, but receipts for flat rate boxes dont show the weight of the package.  If I sent him the gear and he says I didn’t, whats to do?? There is 100 dollars of insurance included in the flat rate box, but I guess i have to have an uncut unedited video of me packaging the box and giving it to the post office, paying for it etc…really not looking forward to dealing with whatever venmo is going to try to do to me about the money if he tries to do a charge back or something.  First time ive ever had any issue with a sale but man it only takes once to really sour to the whole thing

Double check your receipt- it should have the weight listed on the left right above the expected delivery date.  Agreed that this sucks.

If you have a "self-service" machine available, use that, as I believe it will list the weights on the receipt at the self service machine (or at least it does in San Luis Obispo), which is handy for the padded, flat rate envelopes, which are the best deal out there, imo.

The guy l bought the Scarpa 6000's from finally after waiting for his reply two months later finally got back to me. He asked me to send his boots back. I directed him to forward me the refund first before l sent his boots back. He screwed me over the first time by sending me a pair of 46s not the 44s he initially advertised.  I am not returning the boots till l recieve my refund first.  No need to be screwed the second time. Be aware of this seller.

Robert Cleveland wrote:

The guy l bought the Scarpa 6000's from finally after waiting for his reply two months later finally got back to me. He asked me to send his boots back. I directed him to forward me the refund first before l sent his boots back. He screwed me over the first time by sending me a pair of 46s not the 44s he initially advertised.  I am not returning the boots till l recieve my refund first.  No need to be screwed the second time. Be aware of this seller.

I wonder if USA climbing would be interested in his behavior. 

Matt Haupt wrote:

I just had a buyer tell me the box of cams i sent him was empty.  I don’t really see any way for me to protect myself from somebody like this.  I have the receipt from the post office, but receipts for flat rate boxes dont show the weight of the package.  If I sent him the gear and he says I didn’t, whats to do?? There is 100 dollars of insurance included in the flat rate box, but I guess i have to have an uncut unedited video of me packaging the box and giving it to the post office, paying for it etc…really not looking forward to dealing with whatever venmo is going to try to do to me about the money if he tries to do a charge back or something.  First time ive ever had any issue with a sale but man it only takes once to really sour to the whole thing

I had a similar situation with a couple sets of nuts I recently sent someone. He messaged me with a photo saying that the package arrived at his door step like this: completely open and empty. But the USPS tracking stated it was delivered to a "parcel locker". I wasn't really sure how to handle that situation as there is no way to know if the buyer was being honest or trying to get some free gear. He was asking me to file a claim with USPS on his behalf. He seemed like a nice guy for what its worth.

dahigdon wrote:

I had a similar situation with a couple sets of nuts I recently sent someone. He messaged me with a photo saying that the package arrived at his door step like this: completely open and empty. But the USPS tracking stated it was delivered to a "parcel locker". I wasn't really sure how to handle that situation as there is no way to know if the buyer was being honest or trying to get some free gear. He was asking me to file a claim with USPS on his behalf. He seemed like a nice guy for what its worth.

I would tend to believe the person. USPS is a shit show. I've had packages arrive extremely damaged with contents still inside but barely. 

fwiw, I tape the crap outta my packages and usually default to the Padded, Flat Rate Envelope for $10.40, even if I end up eating a bit of shipping cost, as it's worth the peace of mind when I'm only charging $6 to ship - You can literally fit anything in that envelope (double rack to 3, 46.0 shoes, etc), and it's nice & sturdy. Also comes w/ $100 insurance, so that's arguably worth the extra few bucks as well.

I'm new here I just signed up today I'm really glad to know all these thank you all

I’m a very reputable seller here on MP, and one of my buyers just messaged me saying his package never arrived, has anyone come across a solution to this issues apart from just thinking a buyer is trying to scam? I’d like to give the benefit of a doubt and not think that of them.

thanks!

Daniel Tosh wrote:

I’m a very reputable seller here on MP, and one of my buyers just messaged me saying his package never arrived, has anyone come across a solution to this issues apart from just thinking a buyer is trying to scam? I’d like to give the benefit of a doubt and not think that of them.

thanks!

Did you get tracking?  (And take a picture of the packaging with the proper address?)  Does the tracking show delivered?  If yes to the above, you're pretty well covered.  If no to either you're pretty much SOL if the buyer persues a chargeback and/or claim.

Daniel Tosh wrote:

I’m a very reputable seller here on MP, and one of my buyers just messaged me saying his package never arrived, has anyone come across a solution to this issues apart from just thinking a buyer is trying to scam? I’d like to give the benefit of a doubt and not think that of them.

thanks!

How did you ship? The issue with using USPS flat rate (which I often do) is that the USPS sometimes delivers packages to the WRONG HOUSE and marks them delivered. So I'd give the buyer the benefit of the doubt if you sense they aren't bullshitting you. I once had USPS deliver someone else's entire laptop computer to me at the wrong address (They were one street over). I just took it over and they thanked me.