My Audiogon experience

fishbones
fishbones Posts: 947
edited December 2010 in The Clubhouse
My first purchase/trade on Audiogon seems to be going to the dogs!

I was going to purchase an Anthem tube Pre1L from a seller on A'gon and he became interested in my Cary tube pre that I was going to be listing. He decided that he wanted to try the Cary out and trade me mine for his, which they were the same value. We exchanged many emails about conditions of units, pics and generally working out the logistics of the trade. Communication was excellent. We agreed upon a certain day in the afternoon, to send them both out at the same time with email proof of a picture of the unit in the box of that day's newspaper on top of it, plus the tracking number, so we each felt comfortable. Perfect, right?

Well, that day was Monday. I did exactly what I was supposed to do. Sent it out Monday, emailed proof of everything with tracking number exactly as we agreed, spent a ton of money doing it cause it went to Canada. He has never sent me proof of anything. Has not responded to any of my emails. And I left a phone message with him this morning with nary a call - 5 days after when he was supposed to email me proof of sendoff. He had 1 negative feedback from a seller and all positive from buyers when I agreed to purchase. Now another negative feedback happened while our deal was going down. I have put my shipment on hold in Canada so it doesn't deliver to the guy til I here from him or til I decide he is scamming me and spend another ton of money shipping it back to myself. What the hell is wrong with people?!! Should I stay away from A'gon???
..... ><////(*>
Post edited by fishbones on
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Comments

  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,492
    edited December 2010
    Scammers are everywhere, but Audiogon is one of the safer places.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited December 2010
    Even if they have plenty of positive feedback, do not deal with anyone on Agon with a negative. I'm glad you were able to put the delivery on hold. If you're able to have it sent back to you, do so and move on.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited December 2010
    Get that puppy back and be happy when you do--shine that seller/buyer on.
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • megasat16
    megasat16 Posts: 3,521
    edited December 2010
    fishbones wrote: »
    My first purchase/trade on Audiogon seems to be going to the dogs!

    I was going to purchase an Anthem tube Pre1L from a seller on A'gon and he became interested in my Cary tube pre that I was going to be listing. He decided that he wanted to try the Cary out and trade me mine for his, which they were the same value. We exchanged many emails about conditions of units, pics and generally working out the logistics of the trade. Communication was excellent. We agreed upon a certain day in the afternoon, to send them both out at the same time with email proof of a picture of the unit in the box of that day's newspaper on top of it, plus the tracking number, so we each felt comfortable. Perfect, right?

    Well, that day was Monday. I did exactly what I was supposed to do. Sent it out Monday, emailed proof of everything with tracking number exactly as we agreed, spent a ton of money doing it cause it went to Canada. He has never sent me proof of anything. Has not responded to any of my emails. And I left a phone message with him this morning with nary a call - 5 days after when he was supposed to email me proof of sendoff. He had 1 negative feedback from a seller and all positive from buyers when I agreed to purchase. Now another negative feedback happened while our deal was going down. I have put my shipment on hold in Canada so it doesn't deliver to the guy til I here from him or til I decide he is scamming me and spend another ton of money shipping it back to myself. What the hell is wrong with people?!! Should I stay away from A'gon???

    I would never ever never ever send anything to anyone outside of the border for a trade.

    Even trading in the same country isn't such a good idea unless both parties are local.

    Instead of trading, just do a straight buy and sell and you'll save yourself a ton of troubles later.

    The other guy may be a scammer but may be not. It'll be insult to him if he just have some other kind of emergency surfaces recently.

    But it's a safe bet to ask FedEx / UPS to hold the shipment at the border till you hear from him.

    Audiogon is quite a safe place provided you don't send money order to anyone. Just use PayPal or Credit Cards whenever you can. I will not buy anything from anyone who accepts Money Order only as payment. It's 50% chance of trouble spelled out in bold.
    Trying out Different Audio Cables is a Religious Affair. You don't discuss it with anyone. :redface::biggrin:
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  • fishbones
    fishbones Posts: 947
    edited December 2010
    Lasareath wrote: »
    And I'll make a website www.Audiogondonotbuyfromlist.com LOL

    Good idea!


    I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt (probably being too nice) and wait til Monday evening. Maybe his computer broke? Maybe he's in the hospital? If I haven't heard from him by Monday eve, I'll send it back to myself, wipe the dust off my pants and start over. Luckily my wife has been dealing with FedEx for many years from work and knew it was possible to do things like hold and cancel shipments while in route. I would have never known it and would've just thought I was screwed.

    Just wondered from Polkies if this was a common thing, or a rare thing on that site since it was my first experience...
    ..... ><////(*>
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  • fishbones
    fishbones Posts: 947
    edited December 2010
    megasat16 wrote: »
    Audiogon is quite a safe place provided you don't send money order to anyone. Just use PayPal or Credit Cards whenever you can. I will not buy anything from anyone who accepts Money Order only as payment. It's 50% chance of trouble spelled out in bold.

    Interesting you say that James. The guy originally only accepted Money Order for payment. I told him my money was in Paypal from another unit I sold. He said he didn't like PP because of all the fees they charge. Then he came up with the trade idea. He seemed great to deal with in the beginning, which is the only reason why I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. It's all a learning experience I guess...

    Sidenote: If this deal falls through, which it probably will...I'd be worried to negative feedback him, cause he might try to do it back to me?
    ..... ><////(*>
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited December 2010
    Maybe something happened to him. Give it another week. Not much you can do right now anyway other than look for stuff about him on the internet. If he had a lot of feedback and now all of a sudden things went bad then that would be sort of odd. If only a few feedbacks I'd be more worried.
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • WagnerRC
    WagnerRC Posts: 2,155
    edited December 2010
    Sorry to hear about this. I 've had all positive transactions. I hope this turns out ok for you.


    Is this Billythekid?
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,492
    edited December 2010
    Yes, it is Billythekid and from reading his feedback I would have that piece sent back ASAP. The guy is a loser.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • WagnerRC
    WagnerRC Posts: 2,155
    edited December 2010
    His feedback does not look good. I agree. I hate thieves.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,492
    edited December 2010
    Just checked....he is "No longer a registered user"

    http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/searchm.pl?0&1&pfindmemb
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,492
    edited December 2010
    Fishbones, one other thing. Do not report to Audiogon that you were involved in a trade situation with this guy as they seriously frown on that type of thing.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • blueboxer
    blueboxer Posts: 621
    edited December 2010
    I have had great luck on audiogon, but also only use paypal and straight purchases. I usually try to sale stuff here first, the polkie discount is always appreciated and usually comes close to balancing out with the lack of fees. That being said, I still browse the gon daily and use it whenever I am curious to try something out.
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  • leroyjr1
    leroyjr1 Posts: 8,785
    edited December 2010
    I'd just have them send it back and count your blessings.
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  • decal
    decal Posts: 3,205
    edited December 2010
    Why did you feel the need to call your thread "Audiogon trouble...." ? It gives the impression that they had something to do with your dilemma. This one's on you sir,plain and simple.I truely hope you get you goods back,but don't count on it.
    If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money.
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,219
    edited December 2010
    I have had great dealings on the gon!! Even bought a Jolida JD9A without any pics talked to the owner, unit was better then discribed. Had trouble with one of the tubes that was sent with it and the guy sent me a new set of tubes!!!

    I love the gon!!

    Hope all works out for you and you get your gear back..

    I remember when I joined here and I sent money and my crossovers to Ben to do my upgrades and I was like man this guy could really screw me I know nothing about this guy and even my wife said losing the money is one thing but what will you do if you don't get your parts back for your speakers!! I was like I dunno..lol
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  • fossy
    fossy Posts: 1,378
    edited December 2010
    Hope it works out for you. Sounds like a scammer fo shore. Good that you could put it on hold.He"s probably wondering where his free stuff is.
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  • fishbones
    fishbones Posts: 947
    edited December 2010
    Holy Crap! He's not even a member anymore? :eek:

    Well I'm done with this creep. Thanks F1 for the HUGE heads up. I wouldn't have thought of that, or even known you could look that up? And, I won't bring any of it up to A'gon if you think they would frown on the whole deal (wasn't trying to swindel them out of anything - thought it was an honest transaction). If his membership is cancelled, I won't have to worry about giving feedback anyway to protect others.

    I just called FedEx, and they are shipping it back to me! Yay, my unit is saved! :biggrin: ...I have to say that FedEx made it soooo easy to stop this and save my unit while being en-route, that I don't think I would ever use anyone else besides them again! It was a 10 second phone call to hold it, and a 10 second phone call to cancell and re-route it. So easy, and professional.

    As far as the heading...I'll ask Kenneth if he can change the heading so it doesn't look bad for A'gon. It wasn't my intention at all. Glad to hear others have had positive experiences with A'gon...cause they have some beautiful stuff on there.

    I'm chalking it up to a learning experience and moving on. I am usually so careful of scammers, but buying this stuff is a little different than I'm used to. Thanks all you guys for the help, you have been lifesavers (gear-savers)!!!

    Yeah fossy, I'd love to see the look on his face when he doesn't get his free preamp tomorrow :biggrin:.

    Thanks again guys for your hard work! Wife is baking cookies right now and life is good again!
    ..... ><////(*>
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  • decal
    decal Posts: 3,205
    edited December 2010
    Glad to hear everything worked out for you.
    If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money.
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  • brettw22
    brettw22 Posts: 7,624
    edited December 2010
    I agree that this falls squarely on the OP for the problem. If the guy decided to not pay his taxes on the international thing, FedEx will send you the bill for payment....even if they released it to the person (I had that happen once).

    If you ever consider something REMOTELY like this in the future, it needs to be an escrow thing and even then, I would never do the international thing on that typeof situation....

    Good luck.......
    comment comment comment comment. bitchy.
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  • Polkie2009
    Polkie2009 Posts: 3,834
    edited December 2010
    I'm so glad to hear you will be able to get your gear back fishbones, sorry to hear you had to go through all of this, it's stories like this that make me sick to my stomach when it comes to buying stuff etc... online. I've used A-gon a couple of times to buy used gear and had good transactions. I've used CP a couple of times and have had great transactions:) Of course, the CP transactions were with someone who had been a member for some time and had positive feedback. NO WAY would I buy anything from someone who had only been a member for less than a week, but that's just me.
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited December 2010
    Is that thread title better?
    Regards, Ken
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  • fishbones
    fishbones Posts: 947
    edited December 2010
    Wow, your quick Ken! I just hit send on the PM for this change. Thanks a bunch!!!
    ..... ><////(*>
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited December 2010
    No problem, glad to be of help.
    Take care, Ken
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,708
    edited December 2010
    fishbones wrote: »
    Thanks F1 for the HUGE heads up.

    Don't normally hear that out of folks when these old foggies that hang around here help someone: Pretty classy, Fishbones !
    (I've moved you up 2 spots on the "Christmas Card" list; still aren't getting one, but ... you've moved up !)
    fishbones wrote:
    I'm chalking it up to a learning experience and moving on.
    Okay, maybe up one more spot for being smart.
    fishbones wrote:
    I'll ask Kenneth if he can change the heading so it doesn't look bad for A'gon.

    Okay, one more spot, but THAT'S IT !!
    Maybe Mr. K could rename it, "How to have manners" or something like that ? :smile:

    fishbones wrote:
    Thanks again guys for your hard work! Wife is baking cookies right now and life is good again!

    Although I had absolutely nothing to do with the succesful resolution of your problem, .... them cookies are sounding pretty good right about now. :smile:
    Sal Palooza
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,708
    edited December 2010
    Kenneth Swauger wrote: »
    No problem, glad to be of help.

    Uh ...... cookies ?
    Sal Palooza
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  • fishbones
    fishbones Posts: 947
    edited December 2010
    mrbigbluelight wrote: »
    Uh ...... cookies ?

    They are deeelicious! I'll FedEx you some. :wink:

    BTW, I think this is a great thread with great info so maybe some other audio-gear-buying-newb like me sees this and doesn't make a similar mistake!
    ..... ><////(*>
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  • Fongolio
    Fongolio Posts: 3,516
    edited December 2010
    fishbones wrote: »
    I have to say that FedEx made it soooo easy to stop this and save my unit!

    Hey, isn't that what John Bobbit said?

    Never mind. I'm glad you caught it before a total loss had happened.
    SDA-1C (full mods)
    Carver TFM-55
    NAD 1130 Pre-amp
    Rega Planar 3 TT/Shelter 501 MkII
    The Clamp
    Revox A77 Mk IV Dolby reel to reel
    Thorens TD160/Mission 774 arm/Stanton 881S Shibata
    Nakamichi CR7 Cassette Deck
    Rotel RCD-855 with modified tube output stage
    Cambridge Audio DACmagic Plus
    ADC Soundshaper 3 EQ
    Ben's IC's
    Nitty Gritty 1.5FI RCM
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  • DaveHo
    DaveHo Posts: 3,500
    edited December 2010
    Glad you got the shipment cancelled & will be getting the unit back.

    So, for the benefit of the rest of us, is there a speacial number at FedEx to call to cancel a shipment? Any hoops to jump through that would be helpful to know?

    -Dave
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  • fishbones
    fishbones Posts: 947
    edited December 2010
    No hoops, no red-tape, no special phone number. The number is 800-463-3339 (800-GoFedEx) - it's at the bottom of the shipping receipt when you mail from FedEx Office locations. You just call with the tracking number (also on the receipt) tell them what you want to do, and they do it.
    ..... ><////(*>
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