White Zombie - Scammer?

Cabicular

Anyone buy anything off @white_zombie I paid for a Chi wah early February and it got lost in the post apparently

He has not responding to any attempts to try and contact him about it and the tracking number is showing a completely different parcel

I think I've been had ....

I don't want to jump to conclusions but in absence of him replying to me I have to assume the worst

joeyowen

PIIITTCHHHFFOOORRKKKSSSS

not_the_dj

Not another one  :x

Cabicular

He had two things for sale I'm just wondering if someone bought the other one and if he is ok?

TonyR

Looks like his other item was "Withdrawn" 

Cabicular

It's possible that it genuinely got lost and he's just not dealing with it very well but in the abscence of any response from him I've got concerns

not_the_dj

Which delivery service was used? 

It's common to recycle delivery numbers which often explains why sometimes tracking can show a totally different parcel...although that's usually the case for just a day, between when the order is placed with the firm and it going live on their system.

Heartfeltdawn

Is White Zombie a bloke called Johan? 

not_the_dj

Heartfeltdawn said:

Is White Zombie a bloke called Johan? 

I'm guessing you've googled the hotmail address he has in his profile here...

Cabicular

Royal Mail

I haven't done too much digging yet I just want to find out if he has had any good transactions on here

Heartfeltdawn

Indeed. So Johan from Guildford...

TonyR

It's possible but seriously how often does that happen in reality? I could well have been very lucky but in all the 12 years I've sold stuff on eBay I think I've only ever had an item go missing once.

These days I send stuff Recorded Delivery at worst and Special Delivery when an item has significant value. Had it been me selling this item and I included postage in the price I would have factored in (and sent it) Special Delivery and let you know the Tracking Number.

There is a pattern - a new member, very low fret count, no replies to messages when contacted and requesting payment through PayPal Gift, it sounds similar to the form of a certain photographer whose name cropped up here last week...

Honestly chap I hope this isn't the case and that I'm totally wrong.

not_the_dj

He doesn't have much of a history on here does he....but he was asking about an item from one of the known scammer's (ADMIN EDIT: see here) many accounts.

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/458438/#Comment_458438

TTony

Although he stated "Guildford" as his location, both the IP address that he used to register, and the last IP address that he used to login, show as being based in Portugal.

joeyowen

Did you pay via Paypal/ Paypal gift/ bank transfer ?

is it too late for a paypal claim?

Cabicular

PP gift as is the norm here

I'm normally very trusting but I guess I'll have to modify that behaviour a bit

matt1973

I have to say, IMO the whole gift payment thing should really only be considered when dealing with well established members. There's just too many scammers lurking around on forums like this one. To consider it the norm, is just leaving yourself wide open.

Compared to eBay, the 3% charge is fairly nominal if it's a smaller purchase. I would advise anyone to stump up and let PP shoulder the risk.

Either way, sorry to hear about this an I hope you get your money back or the pedal you were promised.

Branshen

I only use gift with people I have dealt with personally before or people who have a history of good deals here. I'll lump the extra 3 percent (or whatever it is) for new people on here.

Cabicular

I guess its reflecting the changing nature of the forum. Back in the musicradar days and on here I've done loads of transactions and never had an issue. Bit of a wake up call. And if it costs me £90 rather than £900 then I should see that as a bargain

TTony

matt1973 said:

I have to say, IMO the whole gift payment thing should really only be considered when dealing with well established members. There's just too many scammers lurking around on forums like this one. To consider it the norm, is just leaving yourself wide open.

I've just added a sticky to each of the main Classifieds section to that effect.

PPG was used as the default method of payment back in the early days of the forum, when we were somewhat smaller, and most people knew most people.  It was safe to use because of the closeness of the community.

As we've got bigger, we've - unfortunately - attracted some less reliable people, and so you have to think about when to use PPG, and when to be a little more careful.

Deijavoo

I'm fucking gutted that this seems to be happening more and more. I've bought on PPG here lots even with brand new members and offline via ebay.

Regular members on here from now on only I'd say which is a bloody shame all round.  :-(