PSA: Less than honest Forum dwellers

I have bought a lot and sold a bit of kit on STW over the years. I accept that there are people out there who are out to do you over, but so far I have not had any bad transactions.
I will continue to buy and sell on STW as I believe it is a good way of moving on kit I no longer need and to get little used kit for a good price.
Whenever I sell I try to give something to STW. Use a bit of common sense, get photos, look at their history and exchange a few emails to get a feeling for the seller/buyer.
Long may the forum continue!

Grim

The idea of posting feedback is great. But when I have sold bits and bobs to folk and they don’t even bother to e-mail me to let me know the part has arrived what is the likelihood of them coming here to post about the service they received?

Common sense is the way forward IMHO. Check people’s posting history, get very definite details of who they are and how you can get hold of them if it goes tits up.

peteimpreza – Member
Just so people are aware Pete Gratwick is back iwth a new username.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-xtr-m970-rings

POSTED 2 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

Avoid Peter gratwick like the plauge. Never got my ck headset and after 3 months of chasing and then finally posting on his Facebook wall to him I got a cheque.

Also how about a avoid this person thread? If you have a issue with a seller then you can add there name to the list

Not just sellers that have gone downhill IMO.

This place is now worse than SDH for Groms asking for more pics, close ups, dibs untill payday etc etc etc.

The idea of posting feedback is great. But when I have sold bits
and bobs to folk and they don’t even bother to e-mail me to let
me know the part has arrived what is the likelihood of them
coming here to post about the service they received?

Why can’t it cut both ways?

No reason not to give +/- feedback for sellers and buyers…

it won’t happen – stw would have to police it and sometimes it’s just one persons word against anothers.

I sold a part to someone on here, perfect working order nowt wrong with it sent asap as urgently needed so lost a bit more on postage. 4 weeks later bloke said he wanted a refund as it was knacked when he opened the package. Checked out his history and it seemed he had a habit of taking things apart and when he put them back together they didn’t work. Graciously he didn’t name me but I was prepared for battle. It’s not just the sellers.

Its only the negative that needs to be posted. Regular on the bike and chat forums – should be OK, regular on classifieds with no negative posts ontheir threads – likely to be OK. Newb on classifieds or negative postings – caution, danger protect yourself

Get a bad deal – post it on all the thread that person has – should put others off.

When bying simply search their sellers threads simples

A motorcycle forum I used to frequent would only alllow you to post in classifieds once you’d posted IIRC 8 posts elsewhere. Seemed to keep it as a resource for forum members rather than chancers trying to avoid eBay fees. Either that or a time embargo eg. Can only post after being a member for a week could be managed technically and would cut down on dubious ads

The forum I run doesn’t allow you to post in the classifieds unless you’re a paid up member and we have your address and paypal details. All other forms seem to be futile in all but initial protection.

Buying from Premier users on here gives a similar level of protection.

Sorry to hear about bad experiences. I’ve only bought a few things on the forum. Each time it’s been a joy dealing with STW posters.

this is sad…i joined this forum for the sole reason that everyone seemed like decent people (even with the odd forum argument) terrible thing with all these scammers about…hope they get flushed out and kicked in the groin real good… 😈

Out of all the transactions I’ve made on lots of forums, STW is the only one that’s ripped me off

OK it was only a £30 Thomson stem & yes I paid by Paypal gift but the user Duckman seems to be a regular poster so I assumed it would be ok

I was wrong, despite several emails asking for proof of postage and a timeline of events so I could work out when Royal Mail would be able to issue a refund to him no information was passed on.

Duckman told me that until he was refunded I would not receive a refund on the stem that was ‘lost in the post’ and that I could well be trying it on, even though I provided 100% positive feedback from my ebay account and my feedback thread on another forum with almost 40 positive transactions and no negative transactions

So if you’re reading this Duckman where the hell is my stem or my refund? Its been months since my last email that you didn’t reply to. You have been active on the forum since the email was sent so it’s not like you have not had access to the web or email.

Coffeeing does your forum charge for posting the ad or for a sale? STW is free.

BTW – the STW mods don’t care about the regular “traders” on the classifieds. I’ve pointed out a couple in the past and no action has been taken.

i never buy from people who only use the classifieds.

ton – Member
i never buy from people who only use the classifieds.

I only buy from Ton

4andy,or “bikedoctor” as you seem to refer to yourself as, if you email me which of your many email ads you want it sent to, I will send you a refund now that I have been re-imbursed by RM. You could have had this sooner, but if you insist on accusing me of being a thief,threatening me with outing me on here,(remember sending me an email about your pitchforks thread?)Then why should I show any goodwill towards you?

Could you clear something up for me as well;In your “sharpen your pitchforks thread” you stated that you emailed me on the 4th of June and I replied on the 5th,would that be one you mention above?

Its been months since my last email that you didn’t reply to.

Make your mind up

I would advise anybody who deals with you to get a signature,just to be on the safe side.

On Paypal- I hate Paypal and by extension Ebay with a passion so I’ll avoid using it at all costs. We all pay taxes so why be rinsed again when there are soo many other methods of payment (free) to use?

If you are THAT worried why are you sending money off in the first place? Common sense goes along way.

I’m not sure I’d buy off someone who will only refund lost items once RM pay for them.

As a seller, it’s my responsibility until the buyer has the item in their hands.

If I choose to use an unsigned for delivery method that’s my lookout and I’d refund if something didn’t arrive and then deal with RM afterwards.

i avoid the hassle by buying it new in the first place 🙂 🙂

I’ve only had one item go missing….years ago. RM swore blind that it had been delivered/signed for and the buyer was adamant. In this situation I explained to the buyer my position and he agreed he’d be the same (no refund until sorted). I asked for the Police to be called in and the RM area manager arranged for a cheque to be sent the next day.

Funnily this said to me there is an issue with the Portsmouth sorting/depot 😆

I’m not sure I’d buy off someone who will only refund lost items once RM pay for them.

As a seller, it’s my responsibility until the buyer has the item in their hands.

If I choose to use an unsigned for delivery method that’s my lookout and I’d refund if something didn’t arrive and then deal with RM afterwards.

I agree
Two parts to the deal – the buyer is responsible for getting the money to the seller and the seller is responsible for getting the goods to the buyer
If the money got lost in the system, would the buyer still send the goods and hope that somewhere along the line it shows up?
If something gets lost in transit the seller should refund and sort it out with the courier rather than make the buyer wait for the outcome.

wwaswas,I wouldn’t normally wait,however there were/are a few factors that made me think he was at it. This thread is about both sellers and buyers,he is my only bad stw experience in seven years.

wwaswas – Member
I’m not sure I’d buy off someone who will only refund lost items once RM pay for them.

As a seller, it’s my responsibility until the buyer has the item in their hands.

If I choose to use an unsigned for delivery method that’s my lookout and I’d refund if something didn’t arrive and then deal with RM afterwards.

Agreed. Sellers responsibility to get the goods to the buyer successfully. End of.

And aside from that I’d feel pretty pissed off if I bought something, it didn’t turn up, and I was denied either goods or money. Poor way to treat others IMO.

My last email was the one asking for a timeline and proof of postage on the 5th of June for an item I paid for on the 8th of April

“Ok, all the bumf is in my desk,I will sort out answers to your q,s tmw am,when I get to work.”

You didn’t send any of the above

I have not threatened anybody

I’ll post up the full email conversations on here later if you like

tim, does this thread mean you dont want the ipod from me any more? if not ill mebbes put it in the classifieds.

cheers

Ha this reminds me of the time I enquired about a concert ticket but raised the question ‘tbh I don’t really want go on my own’ then 4months later (after no communication from my last email asking a question) I received an email ‘so do you want the ticket’? I received online and email abuse from the seller calling me a loser and threatening to have me. Then posting exserts up on STW of the personal email but omitting the last conversation(s) where I said the billy bit and asked a question. There are some angry people out there.

Make sure you include the numerous different emails you used.Or you could sent me your details and get your money.

Avoid Peter gratwick like the plauge. Never got my ck headset and after 3 months of chasing and then finally posting on his Facebook wall to him I got a cheque.

See, there’s always two sides to every story. I’ve had no issues with Pete, pleasant to deal with, I got what I wanted / asked for / was agreed and at a price I was more than happy with. Personally, I’m not bothered if he’s a serial bike buyer / splitter. I accept that might be a (small) issue for STW but it’s shades of grey IMO. I doubt his “business empire” challenges Leisure Lakes or the like 😉

Then again I’ve never subscribed to the “favours” sort of feeling some people seem to think disposing of stuff thru’ the Classifieds on here is. Incidentally, nor do I subscribe to slipping STW anything for using the Classifieds.

As the Duckman / Andy exchange, above, indicates – two sides. The only (sort of) clear cut cases are the ones where someone has royally fleeced umpteen people – I can’t remember the names but there’s been a couple of well (forum) publicised situations over the years. But they’re the exception, IMO.

I don’t blame STW for not wanting to get into management and regulation of the classifieds, what a PITA. Personally I doubt there’s that much rip-off going on, certainly given the likely number of sales. Still, folks make more fuss over the limited negative experiences as it’s human nature.

Agreed. Sellers responsibility to get the goods to the buyer successfully. End of.

+1

I’ve bought quite a bit on here though, and I guess I’ve been lucky but everyone has been really good to deal with.

I agree with the above comment about it not just been the sellers. It works both ways. I sell a lot of stuff as I change bikes a lot. More often than not loosing fistfuls of money in the process. Selling stuff on here is not always good for your sanity too! Never had too many problems Plenty of time wasters on here but that’s to be expected I suppose. The odd chancer too, but again as to be expected. It only becomes a real problem when you get plain old scamers and rip of merchants selling utter crap all the time for top dollar.

Also its a funny one about the post service. The only time I had a problem with postage and the person did not get the item. I put a claim in to Royal Mail I got £4 in stamps for a 20 quid shifter! Lucky the person got the shifter after 5 weeks! Bloody Royal Mail. It seems it easier to put a claim in to them if its from ebay so I have heard as its easier to prove its market value and what not. I just use pacel2go for most thngs now anyway.

Maybe it just needs to be accessible to Premier members only?

I would tend to agree with that as it would get back closer to the ‘keen bikers’ who used to frequent the classifieds.

Problem is that there would probably be a site traffic reduction which wouldn’t be good for the site owners.

This place is now worse than SDH for Groms asking for more pics, close ups, dibs untill payday etc etc etc.

ah! It’s not just me then.

Duckman, could you please explain the factors that make you think I am ‘at it’?

If you have received a refund from Royal Mail why have you not sent me a refund until I posted in this thread?

In total I emailed you ten times from my ntlworld address and when the ntl server was down I emailed you twice from my cycledoctor email address, not exactly numerous email addresses.

Yes I have a different email in my profile, but most people do to prevent spam. My paypal is the same address as my ntlworld.com email

You have failed to reply in a reasonable time to my emails asking for a) a refund or b) details of a timeline and a proof of postage, a receipt is not a proof of postage

I have posted several wanted ad’s for similar stems on this and other forums, and bought/bidded on similar stems from ebay, none of which were suitable or a silver thomson stem since I paid for the one you advertised & I didn’t receive.

Feel free to search retrobike.co.uk for my wanted ad’s for a thomson stem, my username is andy b

Here’s my feedback from retrobike http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23774&highlight=andy+andrew

Here’s my ebay feedback http://my.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyEbay&gbh=1&CurrentPage=MyeBaySummary&ssPageName=STRK:ME:LNLK:MESUMX

You can also see item’s I’ve bidded on and bought, I just missed out on a replacement Thomson stem on ebay in the last week

You could also do a search of this forum and find I’m still looking for a silver Thomson stem, although I’ve not posted a wanted ad for one in a while as this experience has put me off buying from this forum

Now why would I still be trying to buy a Thomson stem, or something similar for my Marin to match the silver Thomson seatpost on it if the one you posted had arrived?

Anyway, if anyone wants to read the whole unedited email transcripts I’ll happily post them later as I have to pop out for an hour or two

My 2p worth,

1. £1 an Add.

2. Only people who are signed in can veiw classifieds.

3. Instant auto delete on anyone who use’s “M8” or “swap for a PSP”

4. Use ebay

I’ve been on the forum for over 10yrs.
The only person I’ve ever had an issue with is STWer lardarse or kolorworx aka [thief]Mike Clifton[/thief].

He’s probably still peddling his wares on here as a different user. So Mike Clifton of Essex – if you’re reading this – give me back my money.

thisisnotaspoon – Member

This place is now worse than SDH for Groms asking for more pics, close ups,

I find the best way to avoid this is to provide enough pics and close ups 😉 Honestly, I never get asked for this, I do ask for them a lot though since the standard of pics people provide is so often awful.

i bought the bombers from karry and guess what still no forks or replys to my 12 e-mails!
jon

Had many good experiences with classifieds on here, however,

Got done with this…

Gary Hale – manonbike – garyhale27@yahoo.co.uk , fortunately, as he had no history I paid paypal as a product payment so hoping to get some money back, had good dialogue prior to paying… thieving b’stard…