Purchasing items from FF members and never receiving them.

[clphipps79]

I normally dont call people out but I feel this is necessary. I purchased a tach cluster from a member here named "jawa" He is a relatively new member with not many posts, but has been here a few years. I mailed this person 115 dollars in the form of a USPS money order on March 5th. After saying he received the payment. I keep getting one excuse after another about why I don't have the part. Its been 5 weeks and I still don't have anything. I'm upset, but part of that was myself being naive to the fact he wasn't a trusted member. I got caught up in the excitement of getting
my festiva and He posted the ad that very day and I responded. This is a warning and a lesson to new members that, sometimes its best to message someone else on the forum if you're interested in purchasing an expensive item. I probably wouldn't have posted this thread if it wasn't for DRDDAN encouraging me to do so. Because I don't want anyone falling into a trap with this person or anyone else that might take advantage of you. Post below is the link to the original ad I answered

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?55868-white-white-tach-cluster

Thanks guys.
Chris

[ralph89891]

Wow sorry that happened, hope you two can work something out, either get your money back or the item.

[jfd64]

It hard for me to understand a person that will operate without integrity for a measly 115 bucks.(If it is true that we all have a number i ponder what amount of money i would sell my soul for.I haven't had any reasonable offers to date lol)Had a deal going with a guy last week that took me for 400.I was trying to help a poor struggle guy help himself and it backfired on me.I do not have a viable process to hold him accountable.He did not like me pointing out he was a liar and a thief.While i do not enjoy financial lose the real tragedy is they don't realize or care what they are costing themselves.Thanks for the head up as well as you holding this person of low character to some level of accountability.

[Studebaker]

Does anybody know this guy or live near him?

David

[An Amish Woman]

Some people man.....

Since it was a money order, isn't there some way of canceling the payment?

[TominMO]

Indicators to look for: low number of posts; recent member, no location; poor communication; little interaction on the forum. None of these prove anything tho, there are plenty of good people with these characteristics too. But still. Hate to say it, but by now your money is probably gone. Hope I'm wrong and he steps up.

[radi8u]

What a bummer, dude, and good luck! I've found that there's usually a price to pay for any lessons I've learned in life, financial or otherwise. This one cost you $120

[TominMO]

Here is jawa's thread back in 2013 about having three tach clusters, which turned out to be actually in a JY! class act

[Stinsin63]

I have to jump in here guys. I recently purchased an item from a member with thousands of posts compared to my small number and waited 3 full months to receive my item. No explanation, no communication other than when I checked with them to see if my payment made it. In this case it really was no big deal and I did eventually receive it. However, I believe if you post an item whether its $1 or $500 once you have someone else's money send the purchased item IMMEDIATELY! I don't have many posts and usually don't have much to say but it has nothing to do with my integrity.

[Gomez]

It is hard to trust guys nowadays. The internet is soooo impersonal that it is actually easy to swindle people. I would say that I try to get a phone # 75% of the time when dealing on here with the bigger items. Fortunately this forum is still one of the tightest groups out there, except that we are all weird, and a bit ugly. lol

I have done a lot of dealing on here and I would say that I have only had one issue a couple years ago and that was simply the buyer didn't know what he was buying but in the end all was good I think. He was a new guy and I don't think he was back here much and it was only a $15 item, not that that made any difference. I also had a seller from out of country mislead on the condition of an item. I think that could be chalked up to a slight language barrier. "like new" doesn't mean the same in all countries I guess. LOL

[clphipps79]

Here is jawa's thread back in 2013 about having three tach clusters, which turned out to be actually in a JY! class act

I guess that thread explains alot huh? At the end of the day, regardless if its helping a person or purchasing an item, I know I didn't do anything and I can sleep at night. When you constantly take advantage of others, it may not bite you now, but you will slip up and someone may not be as accommodating as I am. The next person could really be nasty.

[fastivaca]

Perhaps it's time to add a rule to the For Sale section that requires a photo of the item including with a handwritten note indicated the user name and date. Here's a couple of the rules from the Club Protege forum for sale section...

3. If you are posting an item for sale, you MUST include an actual picture of the item, not a 'universal' picture found elsewhere. Members are required to place a piece of paper with their screen name next to the product being sold.

4. You can only sell items in your possession. Exception to this rule can only be overridden by moderators or administrators.

5. Any member who wishes to sell an item MUST have a valid location posted & visible to all other members. (validity does not entail a direct address or street name, just a city and state, or something of the sort)
*****Your location MUST be listed!******

[clphipps79]

Perhaps it's time to add a rule to the For Sale section that requires a photo of the item including with a handwritten note indicated the user name and date. Here's a couple of the rules from the Club Protege forum for sale section...

3. If you are posting an item for sale, you MUST include an actual picture of the item, not a 'universal' picture found elsewhere. Members are required to place a piece of paper with their screen name next to the product being sold.

4. You can only sell items in your possession. Exception to this rule can only be overridden by moderators or administrators.

5. Any member who wishes to sell an item MUST have a valid location posted & visible to all other members. (validity does not entail a direct address or street name, just a city and state, or something of the sort)
*****Your location MUST be listed!******

That is a good idea. At least it would, as the saying goes "keep honest people honest" and help prove someone actually had the item in question.

[rickbz28]

<removed>

[drddan]

You know, after reading all his posts, we don't need peeps like JAWA here! Is there a BAN HAMMER around?

I like the points FASTIVACA brought up in his post. More information about sellers would be a good thing.