Anybody know STW member Watsontony?

If anybody knows him in real life please point him to this thread or ask him to contact me.

There is something troubling about this sale thread:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-renthal-fat-bars-780-wide38mm-rise-new-40-posted-need-gone

It seems that at least two users have paid for the bars that Tony put up for sale; myself and ‘exupmonkey’. Tony has accepted paypal payments from both of us on Thursday and informed us both that the bars would be posted on Friday morning. Since then neither of us have had contact from Tony and he’s not answering any emails, obviously no sign of the bars in the post yet either.

I’m still pretty hopeful that all of this has been an oversight on Tony’s part, so if you know him please ask him to sort this out. Cheers.

Looks like a regular poster, check out his Forum activity, so probably on oversight I would say

He’s a regular poster on here, it wouldn’t take much to track him down if need be

Ok, it doesn’t look good

Banned on Pinkbike[/url]

IF that’s the same bloke…

I had a quick look at his forum ‘history’ before the deal so had no reservations about buying from him. It’s the lack of communication that’s of most concern tbh.

EDIT: Ah, that PB link doesn’t bode well! Cheers for the heads up, certainly seems like the same bloke.

The banning on pinkbike is because of dodgy buying/selling. That it looks like he’s done it on two forums is a worry. I’ve pm’d the bloke on pinkbike in case they have his details but its doubtful

If you want to get his IP address, contact a chap on pinkbike called psyclist who is the scams mod. He can sort you out with the details (although you have to get the 5-0 involved)

Hmm. I’m giving it a couple of days..

Thanks Flange, if you hear anything back please post it here.

Seems odd to try and rip people off with such a low value item though (£30 bars), although there’s no indication of what he’s been selling on PB.

As above – got a reply and they can’t give me the IP but will give it to you if you contact the police and get a crime number (due to DPA). It’s a hassle for £30, depends on how pissed off you are.

Well its two lots of £30 and a £15 for me

Thanks for that Flange.

£75 still seems a pathetic amount to commit fraud when he could have advertised something more valuable like a frame/forks and had a greater amount in one go? I suppose small amounts do add up and don’t cause much suspicion though. I’m wondering if he’s had his computer/accounts hacked?

He hasn’t been active on here for five days, around the time he advertised the ‘Zocchi forks and other stuff. The forks are now for sale here..

Ebay linky

I really should do some work…

Your efforts are appreciated flange, cheers.

The ebay ad tallies with a house address in Blackburn that has come from a forum user who has bought and recieved from Tony in the past. That forum user also mentioned that his comms were poor so theres still hope I suppose.

Well Steve, hopefully it is just a case of bad comms, mind you, it would be interesting to see how he splits the Flatbars in two :-)(unless he has two sets that is!

Ive heard from somebody over on PB who has sold items to Tony and can confirm that he lives in Blackburn. No phone number though unfortunately. Tony has been running 2 accounts on PB, both have been suspended.

Andy, not looking great at the moment is it!

Indeed not!

Guys, seriously.

Calm the **** down! It’s been less than 3 working days!

I don’t know tony personally, but from what he posts on here he seems a genuine guy, who iirc has commented on what manner of things he would do to a scammer, were he to lay hands on someone who had wronged him. He posts tons on here and has done for months so either he’s playing a very long game for £60, or y’all need to hang fire for a bit of clarification.

Set pitchforks to stand by. And tony, if you are reading this, you had better not let me down!!!

Tom, i’m proper calm I promise. I’m holding out hope that he’ll still come good.

No hysteria here either Tom but there is anecdotal evidence that would perhaps warrant phaser being set to destroy.

I’d agree Tom, but it’s the fact his pink bike profiles have been suspended for the same thing. He’s also got various other login names on some motorbike forums with a different email address. He certainly looks a bit dodgy at the moment…

PP Gift?

Your point is? What we have here, on the face of it and until proven otherwise, is some member of the mountain biking community, stealing from others in the same community! Whether payment was by paypal gift, cheque, postal order etc is surely irrelevant.

that is a thoroughly well planned out and executed crime..

9 months and 38 pages of posting history all leading up the the crime of the century..

he sucks us all in, gains our trust.. painstakingly logging on every evening for a chat, all the while knowing that one day soon the right moment will come for him to strike..

The big payoff… all that hard work rewarded and he can retire and live off his £75 on some beach in the Bahamas

I reckon he’s probably fell off his bike at the weekend or got the shits or something.. maybe he’s lost his smartphone while he was out on the lash and can’t log on..?

Here is hoping (losing the phone, not crashing…..yet). He has already been banned from Pinkbike for dodgy dealing, have you factored that into your theory? I still believe there will be a simple explanation.

pinkbike schminkbike.. what kind of name is that for a website exactly..?

good luck though.. I just think it’s a weird kind of crime to commit

Well, we don’t know the circumstances around the pinkbike ban do we, it could be a very similar case to this one with a single complaint, or it could be months of abuse, we just don’t know…

As Yunki said, would be a very odd turn of events for a regular poster like that to suddenly attempt to pull a fast one for such a small sum.

Could be you both paid, and he emailed you both back not realising you’d both paid for the same item. I’ve actually done that one myself in the distant past when I had several things for sale at the same price and received multiple payments of the same amount, then realised after reading emails I’d apparently sold the same thing twice when I thought they were for different items. Factor that in with the sudden abrupt end to his postings and could be a lost phone or something…

I know on the face of it it looks grim but give the chap time to respond before you lynch him.

Whether payment was by paypal gift, cheque, postal order etc is surely irrelevant.

One method will allow you to pull the plug and try and recover your money.

FYI – previous FS threads had mobile number listed, obviously no guarantee its still his number but you could try and give him a ring and see if you can sort it out?

previous FS with mob number

Assuming pay pal gift used?

@ mantastic-You assume wrong in my case. It’s not about the money, its the principle (if in fact it is a scam, yet to be fully confirmed I suppose).
@amedias- thanks for phone number info, I noticed the number yesterday and the number cannot be connected! There are three of us still waiting for either contact or goods, its not just a mix up between two potential purchasers of one item.
@mikesmith- yes mate, I am aware of that but as I sais, its the principle.
I’m still hopeful of a reasonable resolution here, but, given that this forum is frequented by some lowlife, it’s only reasonable for us three to feel that this situation is just a wee bit stinky, time will tell. Cheers all.

When regular forum contributors have been named-and-shamed for this kind of thing in the past it’s usually turned out that they’be had a bit of a funny turn.

Fingers crossed all is well with Mr Tony and that everyone gets their money and or goods.

I sent a paypal gift. I weighed up the risk- long term poster, low value item and sent payment as a gift (even though Tony didn’t specify a gift payment) as I have done in countless transactions before. If it works out that I loose that money, the only thing I will feel is sorry for Tony- he obviously has issues of greater importance than taking my 30 quid. Please don’t start the ‘told you so’ posts, they’re getting as tiresome as the endless wheel debates.

As I said above, I’m still hopeful that this will be resolved properly.

was worth a shot on the mobile number!

Fingers crossed it all turns out OK in the end for all involved.

Well guess what arrived in the post this morning!!

**** all?

horses head, half a flat bar, threats, court summons, cmon the suspense is killing me!!

did the other bloke get his bars too?

Two bills, a flyer from the ‘golden river’ and as befits these times of austerity the horses head has been down sized to that of a donkey………oh, and bugger all fatbars! Time for positive thought is over for me, I’ve been had!

Ive not been home so cant check.

a flyer from the ‘golden river’

Is that one of those ladies that offers specialist entertainment?