White Van Man

Jstas

How many or you have seen the White Van Man? He always has a "great deal on some awesome speakers that his boss said he had to get rid of before he got back to the warehouse"?

I had an encounter with one outside of a local Blockbuster over the weekend with my my future cousin-in-law. The guy pulled up as we were walking into the Blockbuster and was shouting to get our attention. I told my cousin to just ignore him and keep walking. So the guy shouts to his passenger "Look at him trying to act like he can't hear me!" So I turned and shouted "It's called 'I'm trying to ignore you, you thundering moron!" and walked inside Blockbuster.

While inside, my cousin asks, why I was trying to ignore him. Since he is only 15 I can understand how he can't see the scam a mile away. I was thinking about this all weekend and I wondered how many other people have seen the white van man and if anyone had actually stopped to speak with them.

Reasons not to talk to White Van Man:
1.) His stuff is probably hot. You don't want to get involved with that.

2.) It's a scam and it's probably covering up another scam. I've heard White Van Man ask for an address so they could "...come by and drop the speakers off." I even told one guy "Hey, if you want to get robbed, go ahead and give him your address. Otherwise I'd think twice."

3.) If you encourage him, he'll keep it up.

4.) You aren't getting what you are paying for. I saw a White Van Man down by where a friend used to work. He was trying to pass off a pair of old RCA speaker cabinets loaded with Radio Shack replacement drivers for guitar amps and TV's as Paradigm towers. The only thing Paradigm about them was the speaker grilles.

5.) The White Van Man is no different that the Home Boyz Shopping Network and nobody in their right mind would buy from them so why should you buy from the White Van Man?

6.) In most states, possession of stolen property qualifies as an accessory to the crime and punishable by law. Meaning, if you buy stolen property and found to be in possession of said stolen property, you can be in just as much trouble as the guy who stole the stuff to begin with.

7.) If you do business with White Van Man, you, your family and your possessions are jeopardized. It's really not worth the "awesome deal on a set of speakers."

So please, for those of you who haven't met the White Van Man yet, stear clear they are loaded with nothing but trouble. For those of you who have met White Van Man, well, you should know by now.

RuSsMaN

I've been approached twice.

It never was 'stolen' goods, just bottom of the barrel, el-cheapo chinese drivers, in a thin cab. They usually try to use a name 'similar' to something you might recognize. Acoustic Response vs Acoustic research for example.

The line I've gotten both times was to the order of 'We just finished an install at a club, and they over-ordered. I need to ditch these extra speakers cheap, and quick.'

A lie, yes, but nothing illegal involved - outside of perhaps not collecting Sales tax.

Cheers,
Russ

Strong Bad

I've had a few encounters with these guys.

One time a few years back I said screw it and went to see what he had. It was some low grade speakers he was trying to pawn off as hi-end models. I just flat out told him..."Who the hell you trying to fool! This stolen garbage can't even remotely come close to what I have at home!" Then I just turned and walked away while he tried desperately to change my mind.

My next encounter was actually last summer. The white van pulls up next to my car and some guy starts yelling at me to pull over in the parking lot up ahead because they have some audio equipment from the company they work for to unload. It's "Overstock Equipment" they've been "Authorized" to sell for dirt cheap.

Uh huh...yeah right! I just sped off!

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

wtf are yall talking about? clue in the clueless here plz

Jstas

I don't understand what you don't understand?


It's all right there. A guy in a <insert any color here> van pulls up to you in a parking lot or next to you on a road and wants you to either pull over or walk over and take a look at the junk he is trying to pass off as stereo equipment and wants to sell you. They aren't worth your time at all and probably alot more trouble that most people think.

madmax

I think they buy them for $25 (about what the boxes are worth) and sell as many as they can for $100. If they were stolen they would probably be selling brand names. I had two friends buy them. Talk about cheap! The sound was horrible.
madmax

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

What if.....its a black van? or a blue van? is it alwayz white? is it the same guy? where has this 'white' van man been? ok...im bored now....

Shizelbs

I must say, I have never been approached by, nor heard of the white van man before. Friends have never reported this mythical creature either.

Jstas

What if.....its a black van? or a blue van? is it alwayz white? is it the same guy? where has this 'white' van man been? ok...im bored now....

It can be any color. You are just being a jerk to be a jerk. It just happens that I have never seen them in anything but a white van.

I must say, I have never been approached by, nor heard of the white van man before. Friends have never reported this mythical creature either.

Just because you haven't seen doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

porter1173

The white van is no myth. When I lived in Tucson, they bugged me and my friends all the time. This was about 5 years ago.

Justin

RuSsMaN

http://www.scamshield.com/Feature.asp?id=1

http://pub42.ezboard.com/faudioforum83468frm1.showMessage?topicID=179.topic

-Rooster

Shizelbs

Oh, don't take me the wrong way, I am sure they exist, just saying that I have never heard of it before. Thats all. Not any doubt coming from me.

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

god almighty...people cant take a joke...cmon--LIGHTEN UP! sarcasim is high upon me...sorry if i offended u

sterling bug

seen this a couple times and was always a white van with a couple of morons inside.

woodyjacobs

Me too. Twice in the past decade in parking lots in Raleigh N.C. And both times a guy trying to sell "brand new AR's" for cheap. The boxes said "Acoustic Response". Sounds like Russ's guys.
And the van was indeed white.

MxStYlEpOlKmAn

Tell them to come down to concord.....Then tell them to catch up to my dad and try to cheat him! lol! that'll be the last man they cheat in their life! HAHAHAHAHA!

madmax

The funny thing is they don't really cheat you. They make you believe you are cheating someone else by paying $100 for a $1000 pair of speakers. In reality you probably got what you paid for. The 3 or 4 times I've seen them they have always been in a white van. They caught me 3 times coming out of an audio store and once at the mall. If you get a chance at least look at what they have and give them a hard time about it. It can be a blast. Tell them you want some book shelves. That annoys them to no end because they go for the idea that people will pay more for something big. Tell them you would fork over $500 if only they had the small ones! Ha ha!
madmax

dthomps

Yeah I remember these guys. Not in a white van though, it was a white pickup. I actually really wanted these- My dad was inside Magnolia hifi buying some speakers when my friend and I walked across the street for a Slurpee and they drove up and offered us some "Paradine" (Or something) speakers and said they were installing speakers at a movie theater just being finished on the other end of town. They said that the company they had picked them up from must have accidentially given then doubles of what they ordered and showed me a suspicious brochure (Not the kind of thing a movie theater orders out of, big photos and prominent hugely inflated prices...) and said they could give me some towers for like $250 or something (not that I have seen a movie theater with towers, either). I told them to hold on and I would get my dad. He was inside auditioning, and we didnt come out for hours. He wouldnt have been had, but I was only like 15 and it would have been like taking candy from a baby!