NOTE: AUG12/04: please read summary at bottom of this thread

i am worried that i may have been scammed.

i answered this ad in the classifieds:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=934522

and purchased the blitz rims using paypal on july 27th, and an additional payment on july 28th because he asked me to cover the 3% paypal fees. over a week has passed because he needed to payment to clear into his bank account, which was supposed to have been july 31st (saturday) at the earliest. he finally confirmed the transfer of funds from paypal to his bank account in his last email on august 3rd (tuesday), and asked me again to confirm my shipping address. since then i've lost contact and i haven't seen any shipping proof.

before i made the transaction i had asked around for vouches on this board and got positive responses, and his paypal account was verified, but now i am getting concerned.

that's when i did a search in the archives of honda-tech and found this:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=898401

i contacted Micro and he says that they are his wheels, but they are still sitting at his home and still for sale. but he knows who turbocivic22 is and said he would try and contact him... but what did i buy??? if the pics are borrowed, then what am i getting?

to add to the confusion, turbocivic22's profile says his name is paul sing. but after i made my paypal payment, paypal's listing for his account has his name as vincent dela fuente. he drives a white eg hatch with an h22a turbo drivetrain. he is from new jersey.

i would appreciate any help, information, or recommendations of course of action from fellow listmembers here. i didn't want to jump to conclusions but after seeing micro's ad and contacting him i feeling screwed





Modified by Benjamin Tang at 1:52 PM 8/12/2004

 

that sucks..bump for you...

 

latest update... as the story now goes, yes it's the same set of wheels, but turbocivic22 was helping him sell them while micro was out of town and reposted them in a different ad without micro knowing so there were 2 ads running in tandem with micro's original being older and dead.

... but still no shipping confirmation. hopefully everything is going to be okay. please stay tuned...

please note: i'm not trying to ruin anyone's reputation here... just trying to cover my bases just in case.


Modified by Benjamin Tang at 6:29 AM 8/6/2004

 

day 9... according to paypal i've got 20 days to file a fraud claim.

 

Just might as well file claim now.

 

does ne1 know the toll-free phone number for paypal? i remember they had one but i'm having trouble finding it on their website.

 

Ben, how do you feel screwed after contacting me? Have i not answered every single one of your emails and give you my word that you aren't being scammed? Even though this is my freind you're dealing with, and not me, this deal is between you and him. I was selling the wheels for him, because if you can see his profile, he's been a member for almost two years, with 66 posts. So in actuality... by throwing my name into the mix, people will doubt my selling/buying ability.

You will get your wheels, garaunteed. If you file a claim through Paypal, you're going to regret having to explain to them in a couple of days (how long it will take for your wheels to be shipped to you) that the claim is bogus, and you weren't getting ripped to begin with.

Don't worry so much, i'm not about to let my H-T name get shat on because you feel that in one week from payment, the shipment should've been at your house. Have some patience dude, he had to wait for the paypal to clear in his account so he can pay for the shipping though his bank account.

You can continue emailing me some moe if yuo want, Ben... and i will continue answering all the Q's

 

micro... maybe it's my poor wording of my posts here that have caused some misunderstanding.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">please note: i'm not trying to ruin anyone's reputation here... just trying to cover my bases just in case. </TD></TR></TABLE>

as i had stated above, i'm not trying to discredit anyone. in fact, i felt better after contacting u, and u have been more than forthcoming in keeping me informed. it's turbocivic22 that i am concerned about. without u answering my questions, i would still be here totally clueless.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ben, how do you feel screwed after contacting me? Have i not answered every single one of your emails and give you my word that you aren't being scammed? </TD></TR></TABLE>

sorry i didn't mean to say u were screwing me (again poor wording on my part)... at the time it appeared like someone was recycling pics from your ad for another... it wasn't until after talking to u that i now know it was actually the same set, but one ad was older than the other.... argh so confusing

i have pm's and emails dating back to when i first paid for them monday july 26th saying he was going to start packing them up.... then the next day he said paypal fees were extra, which he didn't mention beforehand, so i went ahead and paid for that as well on the 27th... it went to saturday... then monday, and then finally august 10th tuesday in his last email that the money was in his bank account and asked for my shipping address one more time. after that.... nothing. not a single thing. which led me to u (thank god) and now here.

EDIT: zee, i just read your email and appreciate that u are keeping me informed. if he had only sent me the tracking numbers (which i need to process customs paperwork with UPS before it crosses the border) i wouldn't have to be here right now.

again, i'm not here to slag anyone... i had posted this before u thankfully emailed me back. the last few days have been nothing but confusing at best... that massive scam list running on this board which lists circumstances similar to what i'm going thru now... i find out afterwards the second ad for the same item. both of which still say it's still for sale... and when u emailed me back the first time, u confirmed u still had them at home and were still available.... what would u do if u were in my shoes?



Modified by Benjamin Tang at 10:55 AM 8/7/2004

 

some news... it's now friday, and i finally got my first contact from turbocivic22 with the tracking numbers i was supposed to have received last wednesday... but it was for only 2 of the wheels... i have to wait for the remaining 2 which haven't been shipped because of a miscalculation of shipping costs.... still hoping for a happy ending. stay tuned?

major for micro's help!




Modified by Benjamin Tang at 7:49 PM 8/12/2004

 

it's now tuesday aug 10th... no contact again from turbocivic22.

thankfully micro(zee) is still willing to help out. he says he's been in contact with turbocivic22 over the weekend and tells me that turbocivic22 wants me to pay the difference in shipping costs that he miscalculated before he ships the remaining 2 wheels.... is this right??? i feel like i'm being held for ransom.

turbocivic22 is supposed to contact me today with details.



Modified by Benjamin Tang at 6:55 AM 8/11/2004

 

wednesday bump... still no contact

i get my credit card statement today and of course paypal has already billed me. i don't know where i'm going to find the cash for this because the person who wanted to buy the wheels that i currently have on my car no longer wants to wait and has bought something else.




Modified by Benjamin Tang at 6:43 AM 8/11/2004

 

thursday... 2nd set of tracking numbers have been sent. ups shows delivery of 1st set tuesday at latest...

 

note: i was not charged extra for the difference in shipping costs (turbocivic22 had quoted me less than what it was supposed to be). turbocivic22 paid for it out of his own pocket.

for those im'ing me, i will update this thread once UPS delivers the items. i won't be seeing the first set until next monday, and the other set hopefully another week after that.

 

everything is turning out to be just a big confusing mixup.

for those who are reading/following this, i would appreciate if u post comments. i tried to describe the sequence of events as best as i could. with all the scams on h-t i was worried i was going to be another victim. but as of the time i'm posting this response now, everything looks like it's finally going to work out.

so in summary... i inquired about a set of wheels/tires from turbocivic22, settled on a total price including shipping, used paypal to make payment on a monday and waited a week so that the funds would clear from paypal to his bank account. 1 day after initial payment he says i have to cover for his paypal fees. not wanting any delays i went ahead and paid for that as well.

tuesday comes and money transfer is confirmed and i'm told it would be shipped out the next day. i'm asked for my shipping addy which i supply. and then i don't hear from him again.

i send some more emails asking if they had shipped, but get no replies. then another seller on h-t emails back an inquiry i had sent out awhile back about his wheels which had already been sold, but says there is a nice set of cheap rims elsewhere here. i do a search and it turns out to be micro's ad, which had the same pics as turbocivic22's ad, but with a different price. at this point i start freaking out, thinking something has gone terribly wrong (there were some scams awhile back of people posting fictional for sale ads by reusing pics from other seller ads as if it were theirs and then running off with the $$$ leaving the buyer with nothing).

i email micro hoping for an answer, then start this thread here. micro (zee) emails back saying the wheels are still for sale and sitting in his room. at this point i'm thinking "i'm so screwed". i explain what happened to zee and he says that there must have been a misunderstanding. awhile back he had posted his ad first to help turbocivic22 sell the wheels, not knowing that turbocivic22 had reposted the same ad under his own screename at a later date. zee said he would try to contact turbocivic22 and find out what is going on. later on zee tells me that they had already been shipped out.

friday arrives, and i finally get an email from turbocivic22 with tracking numbers saying he just shipped them out (what happened to wednesday?), but it's only for 2 wheels. he has miscalculated the shipping costs and didn't have enough to cover for the last 2. he would try again saturday or the following monday. monday comes and i don't hear from turbocivic22.

so i contact zee again. more confusion... zee says he's spoken to turbocivic22 on the weekend and he would be in contact with me to tell me i will have to pay for the mistake in shipping costs or he can't ship the remaining 2 wheels....! so i'm sitting here pretty choked, i'm out of $$$ because i had presold the wheels i'm running on now, and with all the delays the buyer backed out and bought something else, and i'm thinking i'm going to be stuck with just 2 wheels.

wednesday comes. turbocivic22 emails me the tracking number for the remaining 2 wheels, and does not ask me for extra for the shipping costs like micro had said, which is good.

it's now been 7 days since the day i was originally told they would go out and the day the second set of wheels was finally shipped, so now i'm somewhat relieved (still waiting for UPS delivery as i type this). but thursday comes and turbocivic22 emails me saying he read this and he's not happy.

was my approach wrong? did i overreact? did i do the right thing? what could have been done better?





Modified by Benjamin Tang at 11:15 AM 8/13/2004

 

Sorry bro, I don't feel your @ fault @ all, but I just think that they were peeved cause a thread like this always causes a bad image. Especiailly if Micro is doing his friend a favor by selling it for him. But I do feel that asking for extra money after a pre-determined price to pay for paypal charges or extra shipping charges is unfair. But thats my opinion.
So in the end i feel that the fault lies totally on turbocivic and micro has nothing to do with this error.
Ok disregard my comments then, it was kind of difficult to understand. So all in all everything went through just not in the time it should have. At least You didn't get scammed.


Modified by bigdoggie at 5:05 PM 8/12/2004

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bigdoggie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But I do feel that asking for extra money after a pre-determined price to pay for paypal charges or extra shipping charges is unfair. But thats my opinion. </TD></TR></TABLE>

well, turbocivic22 actually never did ask me like micro said, so maybe there was some miscommunication again or he changed his mind... i dunno. all he did was send the tracking numbers and there was no mention of asking for more $$$ to cover his shipping cost mistake.

micro is cool. he didn't have to help but he did. i'd vouch for him if asked, but i haven't bought anything from him (not sure if he would want to after what i've dragged him thru ). others had vouched for turbocivic22, which is why i went ahead with this purchase, and in the end he did come thru with the transaction... but i had no idea it would turn out like this!



Modified by Benjamin Tang at 2:57 PM 8/12/2004

 

Yeah, I don't blame you for reacting like you did. I have seen so many threads about people getting scammed, and it ******* sucks. I am glad that everything worked out for you, and I hope that nobody thinks any less of micro, because it seems that he did nothing wrong.

 

no doubt

 

i've received all the wheels. i sent them to a local repair shop to get assessed and i've been waiting for a week for a response.

if u follow the link i posted above, they were advertised as being in good condition with only one being bent/repairable.

i got news back today. it wasn't just one wheel that was bent, but 3 of them. one had a dented stainless steel lip that someone tried to fix and made worse, in which there is no way of bending back. the remaining 2 others were bent in at least 2 different areas on the inside in such a way it would cost more than their replacement value to repair. up to now i had been going with what was in the pic in the ad, which showed one bend in only one wheel.

so i'm screwed. i had thought based on what i understood from the sale, i could still replace just the one damaged wheel if it couldn't be fixed and still come out ahead. but now that is not the case... i'm left with 3 junk wheels and only 1 somewhat decent one. basically i'm left with nothing.

so in conclusion i've been scammed by turbocivic22.

i don't know what else to do




Modified by Benjamin Tang at 2:20 PM 8/26/2004

 

dude, that focking sucks. $700 for 3 crappy rims. Guess he lied when he said VERY GOOD CONDITION

 

i wish i could find a camera and take pics of these, so u would see what i'm faced with.

i'm going to try and find another wheel repair shop locally. there are only 3 in my area and the one i went to was supposedly the best in town.

 

i hope you didnt buy the rims off of just those 5 pictures that were shown...

 

well i have some small hope now... i found a shop that can fix all of them except for the one with the dinged stainless steel lip, which is not salvagable. $250/wheel.

ne1 have a spare blitz technospeed z1 in a 17" + 38 kicking around?