Report Scammers on Pinkbike HERE *Read 1st Post* then contact captainbringdown directly

PB Forum :: Scams & Stolen Bikes
Report Scammers on Pinkbike HERE *Read 1st Post* then contact captainbringdown directly
Author Message
flag sewer-rat
Posted: Dec 1, 2020 at 8:08 Quote
Jenkinstoby wrote:
WARNING
Do not buy from Scotttrails (UK)

The bike he sold me was bad value and literally too dangerous to cycle. Requires new axel, bearings and had been bodged together with non standard parts.

He doesn't reply to messages either.

You have been warned.


Thanks Kinny for this thread. Toby

Got a link to the advert buddy? He’s sold a lot on here looking at his profile
flag captainbringdown
Mod
Posted: Dec 1, 2020 at 9:59 Quote
JonnyTheWeasel wrote:
kinny-pb wrote:
JonnyTheWeasel wrote:
Seems legit.... https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2940723/

Member since 2010. Price is close to the retail price and he states 'local pickup only.'

No red flags for me, unless you know something I don't?

Hopefully a moderator can check out his profile anyway.

Screen shot from a website is a red flag for me....
I messaged him suggesting he update the ad with original pictures, agree with the history comment
flag captainbringdown
Mod
Posted: Dec 1, 2020 at 10:04 Quote
sewer-rat wrote:
Jenkinstoby wrote:
WARNING
Do not buy from Scotttrails (UK)

The bike he sold me was bad value and literally too dangerous to cycle. Requires new axel, bearings and had been bodged together with non standard parts.

He doesn't reply to messages either.

You have been warned.


Thanks Kinny for this thread. Toby

Got a link to the advert buddy? He’s sold a lot on here looking at his profile

Sent you a note, the email was buried in the inbox
flag JonnyTheWeasel
Posted: Dec 1, 2020 at 10:05 Quote
isaacschmidt wrote:
JonnyTheWeasel wrote:
kinny-pb wrote:


Member since 2010. Price is close to the retail price and he states 'local pickup only.'

No red flags for me, unless you know something I don't?

Hopefully a moderator can check out his profile anyway.

Screen shot from a website is a red flag for me....
I messaged him suggesting he update the ad with original pictures, agree with the history comment

Nice one!
flag rosemarywheel
Posted: Dec 1, 2020 at 20:40 Quote
Hey guys,

I don't think this guy will be a problem anymore because he or someone else deleted his account but I am pretty sure he was a scammer. Photos tell all!

P.S. I should also say that I should not have let the conversation go as long as I did, bad form on my fault but I didn't stop myself as I didn't see the harm... I hope you find it amusing at least. Anyway, officially this is here as an example of some sketchy conversation a potenial scammer may have with you... Enjoy, and I really did mean it about the chocolate!

https://www.pinkbike.com/u/rosemarywheel/album/Scams/

I hopoe this isn't considered an unneccesary post, I apoligize if it's a waste of space. Thanks! Rosewheel
flag Cubs5412
Posted: Dec 4, 2020 at 17:33 Quote
Ive got a possible scammer:

gualberto

Has asked to email him multiple times, not me personally, but on other peoples posts.
flag stumpjumper-2926
O+
Posted: Dec 5, 2020 at 8:18 Quote
I am being scammed right now by seller

Nathan-Mizener

https://www.pinkbike.com/u/Nathan-Mizener/

I purchased the following wheelset from him:

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2932968/

The carbon wheels wheels were advertised in “excellent condition” and “true”. Upon arrival, i found 2 bent spokes, 3 stripped spoke nipples, 5-6 loose spokes (80-100% detensioned), and most importantly stress cracks in the carbon fiber rims around 21 out of the 28 spoke holes!. All of this damage was on the rear wheel. I had a professional mechanic look at the wheels, and he confirmed that they are in far less than excellent condition, and that the cracks in the rims a are potential structural problem that could cause an immediate failure. He advised to get a refund immediately. I contacted the seller, be he suggested that since i was in possession of the wheels for 5 days before i mentioned the problem, i could have done the damage. I was initially out of town when the package arrived. He refused my request for a full refund and simply offered to pay a small amount of extra money towards the spoke repairs. I found this to be unacceptable, as the cracks cannot be fixed and i paid for wheels that were advertised in excellent condition. I requested a full refund of the $950.00 that i paid and if the seller wants the wheels back, he needs to provide a prepaid shipping label. The seller declined. I am waiting on paypal to hopefully resolve. but do not buy anything from this scammer! I have many photos of the wheels and a video.
flag Nathan-Mizener
Posted: Dec 5, 2020 at 12:43 Quote
Hello everyone, my name is Nathan Mizener (UN: Nathan-Mizener). I am responding to Derek Stroh (UN: stumpjumper-2926, read above), who is accusing me of scamming/selling him damaged carbon wheels in which did not match the condition I described in my ad. Below is the response that I supplied PayPal, who per Mr. Stroh request, is now conducting an investigation. I stand by this response here too.

"Mr. Stroh took ownership of the wheels (Roval Traverse SL Fattie 29 14Cool on Friday, November 27, at 12:26pm. This was confirmed and can be confirmed by UPS tracking number (1Z37X131033594106Cool (picture linked), as well as text communication with Mr. Stroh (picture linked).

In another text message with Mr. Stroh on Monday, November 30th, at 6:40pm, he reconfirmed that he had the wheels and that they were in expected condition in a text that read, “The wheels look great. Installing them Wednesday! Thanks again!” (picture linked).

On Tuesday, December 1st, at 9:01pm, over 5 days into Mr. Stroh possession of the wheels, Mr. Stroh then claimed in a series of text messages that he was no longer satisfied with the condition of the wheels, and was potentially going to send them back to me, expecting a full refund and payment for shipping. Mr. Stroh sent pictures of the damage to the wheels, and these pictures do not aline with what the wheels looked liked when they left my possession, and his claims do not aline with this text from Monday, November 30th, at 6:40pm claiming in an exact quote that, “The wheels look great. Installing them Wednesday! Thanks again!” (picture linked).

After being in his possession for over 5 full days at the time of his initial complaint, I don’t think it is responsible of me to honor his full refund, or pay for the return shipping needed, as I don’t know for sure what he has or has not done with the wheels at this point. His story changed from being very satisfied with the wheels and confirming that they were in expected, and again to exactly quote Mr. Stroh himself, “great” condition, to claiming damage that was not present at the sale of the wheels.

I then tried to come to a resolution with Mr. Stroh via text message and phone call. My first offer to Mr. Stroh was to offer him money to have the round spoke nipples and bent spoke fixed. Spoke nipples and spokes are relatively cheap to fix (cents for both nipples and spokes, and bike shops will commonly charge anywhere between $5 to $25 to install. This would also take care of any and all loose spokes/wheel truing that Mr. Stroh mentioned in his complaint). I sympathized with Mr. Stroh, in that if I damaged something that I had just bought for a relatively large some sum of money, I would be very upset. In wanting to again diffuse this situation quickly and keep in good standing with a member cycling community, I would have and still would be happy to issue him the money to repair the wheel in this aspect. He rejected this offer, as stated in his claim.

As for his proposed “cracking” that he sees in the wheel, this is again more damage that does not reflect the condition in which the wheels were sold. Having had multiple sets of carbon fiber wheels that I've used extensively, including this exact same brand, model, and trim, I have never seen or had this happen ever in my use. I was equally curious as to how these “cracks” came to be, and if they were in fact a structural issue.

I would also like to note that it comes of no surprise that the “professional” that Mr. Stroh consulted would suggest that Mr. Stroh shouldn’t have bought the wheels. As indicated to me via text message, Mr. Stroh went a local bike shop to have the wheels looked at. It is common practice in the bike industry and among particularly local bike shops to discourage individuals from buying used product online, as these transactions represent sales that a local bike shop could have made but did not. At the end of the day, it is the goal of a bike shop to make money by selling products like wheels, so rightfully so many do their best to steer individuals away from anything that does not support them making a sale.

I have since proceeded to have the image that Mr. Stroh sent me of this proposed “cracking” looked at by professional, in this case both an engineer at West Virginia University who has worked with the material of carbon fiber extensively, and a bike shop mechanic who has been in the industry for over 20 years and dealt with many carbon fiber failures, exclusively bike related. From the image, both agreed that this proposed “cracking” was not to the actual carbon fiber's themselves, or the structural units that give the wheel its integrity, but rather the clear paint coat over top of the fibers to give the wheel a glossy aesthetic finish. This clearcoat again does not give the wheels any structural integrity, and is purely aesthetic. Therefore, it could be inferred that there is no inherent risk for structural failure from his image. Also again, Mr. Stroh’s “professional” that he consulted was not able to say for sure that it was a structural sign of failure. To quote Mr. Stroh’s text on December 2, 4:19pm (picture linked) he said, “He cannot 100% state that the cracks are in the carbon, as it is possible that they are in the clear coat…”. Of course from an image alone, or even only visually examining the wheel, no one can be 100% sure without in fact testing the wheel with proper equipment, but if this was an issue that Mr. Stroh felt did not match the described condition of the wheels, or one that he was uncomfortable with, it should've been his first reaction to point it out immediately upon receiving the wheels and inspecting them thoroughly. It would make sense though that he did not do this or claim this upon receiving the wheels, as the wheels did not have these “cracks” when they left my possession, and this was again reflected in Mr. Stroh’s text excerpt on Monday, November 30th, at 6:40pm, claiming that, “The wheels look great.” (Picture linked).

This initial offer did not satisfy Mr. Stroh, so after much thought and deliberation, I offered Mr. Stroh a second offer in hopes to again defuse the situation early before it escalated. Mr. Stroh in his above claim failed to indicate that I extended a second offer in an attempt to remedy the situation. After hearing the professional opinions that I gathered on Mr. Stroh’s proposed “cracking” to the wheel, and seeing the other things that he claimed to be unhappy about regarding the spokes and spoke nipples on the wheel, I was and am convinced that I could take the wheels back in their current state (current state reflected by the photographs of damage that Mr. Stroh sent to me via text message), and bring them back to rideable or sellable condition once again, or relatively close to the condition in which they left my possession. My offer via text message to Mr. Stroh read exactly as follows (picture linked):

“Hey Derek, after much thought, I’m willing to offer you one final attempt to see if this situation can be remedied before it has to escalate to something that will drag on much further, than either of us want.

If you still feel like a refund is what you want, then you can ship the wheels back to me at your expense. I already paid $25 dollars to get them to you, so I think it is more than fair that per your request to send them back, you pay for your desired shipping. Upon receiving the wheels back to me, I will in a timely manner fully inspect the wheels. If I deem the wheels in a good enough condition that I can ride or sell them again, which from your initial pictures that you sent to me I believe this to be the case, I will refund you via PayPal $922.15. This is the amount of money I actually received after PayPal took out their service fee of 3% from the $950 you originally paid me. If you need screenshots that this is in fact the amount of money I received from the transaction, I am more than happy to supply you with those.

Again after much thought and frankly some lost sleep, I firmly believe this is the most responsible, fair, and legitimate way to do this. This is my best and final offer. I do not, as I’m sure you don’t either, want this to escalate any further. I do not feel there is any need to involve PayPal, Pinkbike, or anyone else this. Should you not except, you do have the right to purse things further and open a case, but remember there is always two sides to every story, and that I will do all that I need to protect myself and my reputation. Again, I think this is an absolute worst case scenario, and I don’t want to put you or me through that whole process.

I hope this find you well, and that this will be a solution that satisfies both parties, as I’m ready to put this frustration behind us with no hard feelings.

Thank you very much, Nathan Mizener”

I would like to point out that I will also continue to honor this offer as stated above, should Mr. Stroh chose to now take it. I am also more than happy to have this proposed resolution completely and fully monitored by PayPal, in which all tracking numbers, communications, transactions, and any needed photos/material are all released and discussed within the PayPal resolution center exclusively to ensure the satisfaction in a timely manner of both parties. At this point in time, Mr. Stroh has indicated to me that he has rejected this as I viable solution.

Lastly, I would like to point out the fact that I have been completely transparent and proactive to not only Mr. Stroh throughout this whole process, including attempting to find a resolution to his dissatisfaction, but also to PayPal in hopes of finding a solution to this disagreement. In this proactive attempt, I began sharing evidence with PayPal on Wednesday, December 2nd, at 10:41am, through the message center, and was later connected to a representative by the name of Lucille, in which I have discussed on the phone with and continued to share evidence with. My goal has been and still is to resolve this issue quickly, responsibly, securely, calmly, and in a manner which leaves both parties satisfied as much as possible. I will continue to comply with any request that PayPal may have in order to conduct their investigation, which I believe will come to a fair and correct conclusion. Thank you to whom every this may concern. "

If anyone has any further questions, would like the linked pictures of text messages I mentioned in my response with Mr. Stroh, evidence of tracking numbers, time stamps, more pictures of the wheels... I am happy to supply them or work with anyone as to support my claim. I will let the evidence speak for itself. I have been a member since 2016, and have an established selling history with no complaints or issues until now. To counter Mr. Stroh's claim in a polite manner, I would caution anyone selling anything to Mr. Stroh. He has certainly proved himself to be very difficult to work with. Thank you for your time to read.
flag road-psyclist
Posted: Dec 5, 2020 at 13:46 Quote
Nathan-Mizener - This is what you should be messaging to an admin to resolve between you and the other user.
flag Nathan-Mizener
Posted: Dec 5, 2020 at 20:03 Quote
kinny-pb wrote:
Nathan-Mizener - This is what you should be messaging to an admin to resolve between you and the other user.

Already done before I posted here in the forum, via messages and emails. Just wanted to be fully transparent to the community too! Thank you for the guidance though! I again have never dealt with anything like this before, so I am willing to hear any advice on how to best deal with the situation.
flag kwapik
Posted: Dec 6, 2020 at 10:18 Quote
Nathan-Mizener wrote:
If I deem the wheels in a good enough condition that I can ride or sell them again, which from your initial pictures that you sent to me I believe this to be the case, I will refund you via PayPal $922.15. This is the amount of money I actually received after PayPal took out their service fee of 3% from the $950 you originally paid me.

FYI: When you refund a payment back through Paypal - PayPal does not keep their 2.9% fee. This is also refunded. PayPal only keeps their 30 cent (.30) transaction fee.
flag road-psyclist
Posted: Dec 6, 2020 at 12:17 Quote
Nathan-Mizener wrote:
Already done before I posted here in the forum, via messages and emails. Just wanted to be fully transparent to the community too! Thank you for the guidance though! I again have never dealt with anything like this before, so I am willing to hear any advice on how to best deal with the situation.

It's between you, the other guy and PayPal now. PayPal will decide who to side with depending on the evidence and proof you both show during the dispute, as to whether he gets the refund or not.

If the wheels weren't damaged when you shipped them and you have solid proof they were in the condition as described then send that to PayPal. If not, you may have to refund him, and PayPal will ask him to return the wheels after the refund.
flag Nathan-Mizener
Posted: Dec 6, 2020 at 17:53 Quote
kwapik wrote:
Nathan-Mizener wrote:
If I deem the wheels in a good enough condition that I can ride or sell them again, which from your initial pictures that you sent to me I believe this to be the case, I will refund you via PayPal $922.15. This is the amount of money I actually received after PayPal took out their service fee of 3% from the $950 you originally paid me.

FYI: When you refund a payment back through Paypal - PayPal does not keep their 2.9% fee. This is also refunded. PayPal only keeps their 30 cent (.30) transaction fee.

Thank you for the response! I actually did not know this. It was my understanding that I was stuck with that fee no matter what. Hopefully this will help me come to an agreement with Mr. Stroh. Thank you!
flag K3ythd4vid
O+
Posted: Dec 11, 2020 at 8:07 Quote
SCAMMED: I have been scammed by maustin1524 (maustin1524@gmail.com)... in September 2020...

The Scam was easy enough to spot, but being my first time attempting to sell my bike here, I was too trusting & naive to listen to my gut. I followed every wrong move listed on this Forum; which I didn't read until AFTER I was scammed.

My errors:
I was contacted directly on through text.
They said that they would take care of shipping.
They sent a cashiers check... and requested that I send funds to "the shipper".
I sent the funds to "shipper" before check cleared, and it was a fake check. AND I sent the money via Paypal as "friends & family".
I made every wrong decision in this process & only have myself to blame. Each step my gut told me something was wrong, but I didn't listen.

I share this because although I am embarrassed, I learned my lesson... it was costly, but I read through the Forum advice the next time, followed the advice, and the transaction went through smoothly.

Moral of story, follow the Forum advice... or pay the consequences.
flag rosemarywheel
Posted: Dec 11, 2020 at 9:58 Quote
Hi @K3ythd4vid,

My name is Rosemarywheel.

I should have about this a while ago but I too was scammed and didn't follow the rules at all either. It was not on PinkBike, however. It was MTBR.

I was just getting into the idea that pink bike components were awesome and I happened to find a pink Ellsworth dare frame ridden at the 2007 Sea Otter Classic by April Lawyer. It was for sale for $1800 with the shock and was in excellent condition.

I contacted the guy (who's name was thomasgibson on MTBR) and he said he could hold it for me but I he would appreciate a down payment. After thinking about it (I was aware this was not done) I said yes. He wanted a $900 deposit and would hold it for up to two months I believe.

The second mistake I made was communicating by email.

The third mistake was was paying him with gift cards. Two for itunes and one for Amazon.

Anyway, long story short, I found out that the bike was actually for sale on Ebay as well and was marked sold there but TG said that was an old ad he made and it fell through so he tried it on MTB'r.

Once I figured out that it was a scam I should have either: led him on and called the police while we were negotiating or 2: just registered the gift cards to myself the minute I new it had been a ruse.

Do not trust Thomas Gibson.

I took screenshots of all of our correspondence, wrote down everything I knew about him and I also reported him to the IC3. The IC3 hasn't responded in months.

Unfortunately MTBR's message thingy for there 'contact us' thingy didn't work at all on there website even after allowing cookies so the ad is still up. I did however post a message to the ad that warns people about it.

the ad on Ebay is the legitimate one, but is about three years old. The ebay guy responded to my message and said it was sold to a guy in Germany.

I eventually lost a total of $1000 or $1100 I forget which as he was going to sell me the Fox fork as well. Frown

You are a braver man than me, @K3ythd4vid for admitting what happened to you. Now I am very careful about my buying and selling.

One thing I always do now is check what there profile looks like. I have had about 4-5 people with empty profile pages contact me about the Dual Crown I have for sale. No country of origin and usually no picture, either. They don't understand when I tell them I won't sell to them Smile

I also look at who they follow and who follows them, as they could have a bunch of 'friends' who follow each other but have no history or activity.

MTB'r ad:

https://classifieds.mtbr.com/showproduct.php?product=119541&title=ellsworth-dare-project-pink-sea-otter-classic-medium-18-in&cat=7

Ebay Ad:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ellsworth-Dare-Project-Pink-Sea-Otter-Classic-Medium-18-in-April-Lawyers-/253119169218

Listen to your gut, folks. If it feels wrong it is wrong.

Beer Rosemarywheel

 


Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv42 0.013846
Mobile Version of Website