Seeking for opinion on dishonest seller

[lotus1109]

Hi everyone, this is my first time creating a thread at here, do correct me if I had posted the wrong section.

Recently (October), I bought a KMAC2 from a guy (akujiwa @ gh, kyrmian @ local forum) who lives in Australia, I had paid him via paypal and this is the proof.
*link removed*
After that he gave me a lot of excuses like (busy for university assignments, final examinations, not able to find appropriate box and foams to cover the kmac etc etc). I used to chat with him at local forum and hence I trusted him, later on he told me that he will be coming to Malaysia which is my country on December and he will send kmac to me during that time. Therefore I agree with him.

Now it is December and I tried to pm him at local forum and he never replied me, I knew that he didn't his gh id akujiwa for long time and he always borrowed his friends' id which is Desheol & Rendom, therefore I pmed them and they said that they couldn't contact him as well...
I am totally lost now and all I wanted is my money or kmac back, I am just a student and they are my hard-earned money from my part time job.

May I know what kind of action can I take to get back my thing?
PayPal transaction was made at October and it already exceeds 45 days therefore I couldn't make dispute thread at PayPal.
Someone please help me! 
And sorry Desheol & Rendom, didn't mean to destroy your image, I just need some helps.......

Thanks

Mod edit: please refrain from posting other users' personal information publicly on this forum.

Last Update - 30 December 2013
I had received my money back, even though it is not full amount. I actually paid for 409usd instead of 390usd because of the paypal fee, I know this is reasonable because seller wanna get back the exact amount he offers but I seriously think that this is ridiculously unfair to buyer to pay for this fee if the seller is not able to make it and refund, so yes he refunded me exactly 390usd so I have only 372usd in my paypal account. I totally lost 37usd, 3 months of time and my little wish of owning a kmac2 (yes, I have been dreaming of owning one since I have my first mkb and some influence from friends).

Now I hope that he will see this message and send me the compesation again (which I think that it won't happen anymore but at least I tried), basically I treat this loss as the lesson of the year. Do not trust anyone even though he is being friendly and good to you when you talk about money.

and about his issue, I seriously has no idea what is the problem he has gone through like what Rendom said, sob stories at taiwan / something to deal with hospital, I seriously has no idea what is he talking about?
UNLESS Facebook is full of lies, from what I can see from his Facebook, he updated his status with location showed Melbourne, Australlia recently and he even has time to share some jokes or video to his friends @ Facebook. Besides that, I have his dota2 steam id as well, if any of you know dota2, there is a website called dotabuff.com which track player's matches and performance, it clearly shows that he was still playing dota recently and not just a game but A LOT. So I have no idea why is he not going to deal with me personally but using Rendom. This is seriously irresponsible or MAYBE HE IS LENDING HIS FRIEND'S DOTA2 ID AGAIN? I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT AND I AM TOTALLY DISSAPPOINTED TO HIM.

Lastly, I would like to apology to the real user of Rendom & Desheol again. This issue has nothing related to them and I was lost during that time.
Thank you for helping me out.
Thanks anyone who gave advise and some supports to me.
Thanks and sorry for leaving akujiwa's personal information initially.

[noisyturtle]

You need to pee urine into his mother's mouth. This is a good solution to the issue.

[lotus1109]

May I know are that any Gh members from Australia? I accidentally found his fb and his uni, I wish someone can find him for me.

[Tym]

Rowdy is an Aussie, Elrick is also. I wouldn't just pressure them though. Be nice, ask if they can help. (They're nice guys) and they might be able to. But these guys arn't bounty hunters, don't expect them to be, just incase they happen to know who you are talking about.

Also akujiwa hasn't been active here for 10 days, he may have stepped away from the scene for Christmas

Unless he is in Malaysia now? Thus why he isn't online. It is still technically december, so maybe don't get too worried yet? Maybe in the mail.

[phoenix1234]

I'm sorry to hear that.
I just used the search function and saw some disputed threads between other users and akujiwa in the past.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41098.0
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=42566.0

Did you try to contact him via email?

[Belfong]

I'm sorry to hear that.
I just used the search function and saw some disputed threads between other users and akujiwa in the past.

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41098.0
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=42566.0

Did you try to contact him via email?

Shame that this happened but is imagine more of this would happened as GH and mechanical keyboard became more popular. I know that trades are probably at your own risk but perhaps GH can put some guidelines to help new people. I don't have a ready answer and I know there was some ratings being used before but is there a way?

[ideus]

I am very sorry to hear about your issue.

Please do not get me wrong, but the guidelines that apply to businesses in general also apply here. We are friendly, but we take business seriously, no matter the amount. Some conditions may be acceptable, but we should not accept those that may leave us with no protection at all. In the case you referred, if you had paid for the S&H I think it would be best to ask the seller to send the board as agreed, and not to wait many weeks and run out of time covered for claiming at paypal. However, by now it is only a lesson to be learned for all of us. To insist in contacting the seller seems the only logic way to go. I hope you can contact him and get what you paid for.

[Belfong]

Does Pay Pal cover non-US buyers? In his case, sellers is also non-US. I'm not sure what are the T&Cs.

[SpAmRaY]

Rowdy is an Aussie, Elrick is also. I wouldn't just pressure them though. Be nice, ask if they can help. (They're nice guys) and they might be able to. But these guys arn't bounty hunters, don't expect them to be, just incase they happen to know who you are talking about.

Also akujiwa hasn't been active here for 10 days, he may have stepped away from the scene for Christmas

Unless he is in Malaysia now? Thus why he isn't online. It is still technically december, so maybe don't get too worried yet? Maybe in the mail.

GH bounty hunters..... might be something to do if we can get those shotguns back.

[demik]

Find him. Go to him. Stab him in the ****.

[WinterIsle]

If someone in Australia is able to help find out this guy and settle thing peacefully:
1. Get the KMAC ship to Lotus
or
2. Get him payback the money to Lotus

I will reward him accordingly, by paying 20usd. Not sure if this fee is enough since I'm not rich either.
Just helping out

[YongJK]

If someone in Australia is able to help find out this guy and settle thing peacefully:
1. Get the KMAC ship to Lotus
or
2. Get him payback the money to Lotus

I will reward him accordingly, by paying 20usd. Not sure if this fee is enough since I'm not rich either.
Just helping out

I could not do anything to help my friend but in case the dude/KMAC is able to find out, I will top up another $20 to the guy.

Worse come to worst I could just offer free assembly of custom keyboard for him.

I don't like to see scam cases around especially in community-based hobby. You want to con please just go con other bigger business outside.
Moreover, the total cost of transaction is more or less equal to 50% of monthly salary of fresh degree grad in here Malaysia.

[lotus1109]

Thanks for your comforts and suggestions, I really appreciate it and I must admit making this happen is part of my fault because I don't know that pp won't investigate the case when it exceeds 45 days.

Besides that, thanks WinterIsle and YongJK for being so supportive, I really appreciate

[lotus1109]

If anyone is at Melbourne, Australia now, please drop me a message if you wanna help me! Thanks!

[tuxsavvy]

I have been lurking on this thread for a bit but everytime I read this thread it makes me shake my head (and my fist) at the seller. 45 days is definitely way too long to wait for just a keyboard if the seller had clear intentions to sell it. If the seller is a keyboard maker for instance and has a bit of (good) reputation for making keyboards that is another story but 45 days when he/she already has the keyboard and not particularly doing anything with it let alone not even telling their potential buyer (points to OP) that he/she is going away for holidays, no exact dates or locations. Going to Malaysia doesn't exactly cut it because Malaysia is not some small town.

Sure, it is December now but it is the last few days of December. By now had it been me, and if I were to wait till January and not hear any further replies from the seller I would most likely be annoyed.

There are definitely a few more Aussies on the forum but none that I personally know of are in Melbourne.

45 days to tell that this seller is some university student whom is busy with exams and cannot find the packing box, etc just tells me nothing more than the seller not building up a good rapport with their buyer. By the end of December if there are no further response from the seller. I would personally start posting threads questioning the reliability of the seller and then doing my bid to reveal everything about the seller. Sure that may not earn you your money back or your KMAC but at least it would have been clear that you probably got scammed.

Sorry to hear about this story and also sorry to say this is really disgusting how you paid large amount of money for a keyboard only to hear all these reasons before the seller decides to visit Malaysia (and to not ask any information on how to contact you or find out ways to deliver the keyboard to you). Who knows if the seller is actually visiting Malaysia or is that just something to sweeten up the story a bit.

Time does not wait for the seller, or the scammers. It will be all too clear for one to see clearly who this person really is. 'nuff said.

[Belfong]

I think the key takeaway is the seller real name: XXXXXX. Be wary. He may use new nick but his real name, he can't change it. Might as well post his Paypal email to alert other users.

Mod edit: please refrain from posting other users' personal information publicly on this forum.

[Elrick]

Sh!t I just read your response, sorry paypal won't help you because the 45 days is gone.

Let that be a reminder to EVERYONE here on this forum never accept excuses from anyone when it comes to receiving an item.

If you accept their excuses then eventually you will get screwed as the 45 days passes.  ALWAYS make sure you launch a Paypal dispute before your 45 days are up because if the seller did send the item then it will arrive but if he didn't expect to get all your money back.

Believe it or not this place does attract rip-off merchants because there's money to be scalped from trusting souls.  Don't trust anyone unless you have already dealt with them before and know their business acumen.

Just because you see a shiny keyboard with fancy key-caps doesn't mean you will actually get it when you hand over your money.  Sorry you got ripped off by an Aussie arsehole but be aware we are a nation of convicts and expect to be ripped off when it comes to receiving anything from here.  It's in our dna  .

[Rendom]

I am the real Rendom user.

I have gotten in contacts with him. (well, not him, but "her", I would like to not reveal her relationship with him)

There were a few requests, all sent to lotus. All of which I thought were reasonable, he doesn't want his real name associated in internet, but he said you can leave his paypal account here if you want. He said that he felt ashamed and won't make a return to GH or anywhere else. desheol was furious as well, we both are going to change our account password. The only reason why he could access our account was because we were housemates, and he had access to our computer. (computer room) (not housemates anymore since December, but he still had our passwords)

All in all, he is currently in a situation which I wouldn't reveal, but it has something to do with hospital. But no sob stories, no excuse, he would like to apologize and refund Lotus.

I am currently in talk with Lotus to help settle this. I didn't like my name associated in this thread, but I don't mind helping. 

[Elrick]

All in all, he is currently in a situation which I wouldn't reveal, but it has something to do with hospital. But no sob stories, no excuse, he would like to apologize and refund Lotus.

I had broken my right arm (triple fracture in the ulna and radius at work) hence no use of the right arm at all, my writing hand was stuffed.  Yet I packaged, addressed and sent 4 items overseas to people in the UK, Serbia, Cyprus and Hong Kong, love my gf for helping me out here.

It had hurt like hell but everything got sent a week after receiving payments.  I didn't let on to the customers what had happened to me because all they are interested in is receiving their goods in a reasonable amount of time.  After they got their tracking info then my responsibility was over. 

If you take money from someone anywhere in the world you owe them the item they paid for, don't start wasting time announcing your problems to everyone because it will show your general lack of decency or honour when it comes to conducting yourself in public.  Their money is important hence you make damn sure that you deliver on what they paid for every time, no matter what's happened to you.

[Signature]

I am the real Rendom user.

I have gotten in contacts with him. (well, not him, but "her", I would like to not reveal her relationship with him)

There were a few requests, all sent to lotus. All of which I thought were reasonable, he doesn't want his real name associated in internet, but he said you can leave his paypal account here if you want. He said that he felt ashamed and won't make a return to GH or anywhere else. desheol was furious as well, we both are going to change our account password. The only reason why he could access our account was because we were housemates, and he had access to our computer. (computer room) (not housemates anymore since December, but he still had our passwords)

All in all, he is currently in a situation which I wouldn't reveal, but it has something to do with hospital. But no sob stories, no excuse, he would like to apologize and refund Lotus.

I am currently in talk with Lotus to help settle this. I didn't like my name associated in this thread, but I don't mind helping. 

Wow...

[Photoelectric]

There were a few requests, all sent to lotus. All of which I thought were reasonable, he doesn't want his real name associated in internet, but he said you can leave his paypal account here if you want. He said that he felt ashamed and won't make a return to GH or anywhere else. desheol was furious as well, we both are going to change our account password. The only reason why he could access our account was because we were housemates, and he had access to our computer. (computer room) (not housemates anymore since December, but he still had our passwords)

Was Forsythe also your roommate?

edit: cleared up.  Appears to be akuJIWA's alternative name.

[Rendom]

Who?

There were a few requests, all sent to lotus. All of which I thought were reasonable, he doesn't want his real name associated in internet, but he said you can leave his paypal account here if you want. He said that he felt ashamed and won't make a return to GH or anywhere else. desheol was furious as well, we both are going to change our account password. The only reason why he could access our account was because we were housemates, and he had access to our computer. (computer room) (not housemates anymore since December, but he still had our passwords)

Was Forsythe also your roommate?

[lotus1109]

Update
Through Rendom, akujiwa agreed to make a refund to me on Monday.
He still doesn't wanna contact me personally.
Well, let's wait and see will he do what he promised.

Thanks everyone!

[tuxsavvy]

Good to hear that it is getting sorted, glad if you actually did get paid back the full amount of money that was owed to you.

Though like I said, this just builds up a bad rapport for the seller because you don't leave a buyer waiting in limbo and without much updates.

[justnits]

let's keep our finger crossed till lotus update us with a piece of good news 

[fohat.digs]

My grandfather used to say "Son, there's just a certain number of SOBs per square mile, all over the world."

[ideus]

My grandfather used to say "Son, there's just a certain number of SOBs per square mile, all over the world."

I'd say "uncertain" number of SOBs / sq-mile.

[fohat.digs]

I'd say "uncertain" number

My grandfather was born in the 1800s.

[ideus]

I'd say "uncertain" number

My grandfather was born in the 1800s.

Wow 

[chaosstep]

I'm sorry to hear that.

I hope everything will be cleared very soon.

[Rendom]

My grandfather used to say "Son, there's just a certain number of SOBs per square mile, all over the world."

And I happened to lived with one?  But honestly, he doesn't sound like that in real life so I have no idea what happened.

UPDATE

From what I've been told, and confirmed, the transaction of 390$ has been resolved. The money has been refunded, but Lotus is actually saying it was 409$, that was what I have told her as well, but she sent 390$ instead. I was not given the access to the paypal, so I can't really say and do much at this point.

I have already tried my best to lend a hand, but he's not even in Australia, I can't go and held him back at gun point.  I don't really have contacts to him but through her.

[joneslee85]

I am glad that you finally get refunded even though *partially*. I've met few dishonest people before, for most of cases, I gave up because normal morale does not apply to these people for they know no shame in stealing others.

[joneslee85]

By the way, I also sense few scams as I received few messages expressing interests in buying my KMAC or other expensive things, even at the price that is only few dollar cheaper than buying from EK or big vendors. So please be very cautious and do not sell to whom who has less than 200 posts.

[sth]

You need to pee urine into his mother's mouth. This is a good solution to the issue.

finally some reason on this board

[lotus1109]

Last Update
I had received my money back, even though it is not full amount. I actually paid for 409usd instead of 390usd because of the paypal fee, I know this is reasonable because seller wanna get back the exact amount he offers but I seriously think that this is ridiculously unfair to buyer to pay for this fee if the seller is not able to make it and refund, so yes he refunded me exactly 390usd so I have only 372usd in my paypal account. I totally lost 37usd, 3 months of time and my little wish of owning a kmac2 (yes, I have been dreaming of owning one since I have my first mkb and some influence from friends).

Now I hope that he will see this message and send me the compesation again (which I think that it won't happen anymore but at least I tried), basically I treat this loss as the lesson of the year. Do not trust anyone even though he is being friendly and good to you when you talk about money.

and about his issue, I seriously has no idea what is the problem he has gone through like what Rendom said, sob stories at taiwan / something to deal with hospital, I seriously has no idea what is he talking about?
UNLESS Facebook is full of lies, from what I can see from his Facebook, he updated his status with location showed Melbourne, Australlia recently and he even has time to share some jokes or video to his friends @ Facebook. Besides that, I have his dota2 steam id as well, if any of you know dota2, there is a website called dotabuff.com which track player's matches and performance, it clearly shows that he was still playing dota recently and not just a game but A LOT. So I have no idea why is he not going to deal with me personally but using Rendom. This is seriously irresponsible or MAYBE HE IS LENDING HIS FRIEND'S DOTA2 ID AGAIN? I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT AND I AM TOTALLY DISSAPPOINTED TO HIM.

Lastly, I would like to apology to the real user of Rendom & Desheol again. This issue has nothing related to them and I was lost during that time.
Thank you for helping me out.
Thanks anyone who gave advise and some supports to me.
Thanks and sorry for leaving akujiwa's personal information initially.

[Rendom]

desheol has nothing to do with this anymore, he has already given up. On my part, I have no idea about things, as I am contacting him through 3rd party as well, and not direct contact.

UPDATE

This has been resolved. Extra 20$ has been sent.

[Belfong]

Glad to see this resolve through exposure at GH. There's just so many people who loves keyboard so let's keep this community pleasant.

[aj-kun]

After some investigation on my own, I believe I am actually in ownership of the keyboard you were supposed to receive. Sorry about not giving you extra information lotus1109.

How do I know this?
- Google Cache works wonders for finding ****.

Facts.
- I paid the $436.80AUD ($35 express post) to the same email address that lotus1109 did.
- The seller tried to get me to pay via internet bank transfer. 4-6 week payment recall process, that isn't guaranteed in the event of a dispute...(turns into legal matter, in Australia anyway)
- The keyboard has the same configuration and dent as the one lotus1109 described to me via PM.
- I was also given the run around with postage, here are the excuses I was given.
        "Where does one buy a box big enough for keys, keyboard and bubblewrap?"
        "I'm really busy and can only post this on thursday my day off"
- Only after I threatened to launch a paypal dispute was any real action taken.
- The GH user I bought it from said "I still haven't told my friend that I've sold it yet (the one that I bought from)."
- That same user also said that he had bought this KMAC 2 from Chaosstep - Refer to the Dodgy Balanar thread - Same Keyboard.
- I paid on the 10/12 for express postage and received it on the 21/12 (SP from USA shipped 9 spacebars to me in 6 Days)
 
Any similarities here lotus1109?

- I paid Rendom, yet my payment was to the same email address as lotus1109 paid who paid akujiwa

RENDOM AND AKUJIWA are either the same user or are scamming together.

[SpAmRaY]

This is getting deep....

[bueller]

Keyception.

[lotus1109]

Thanks Aj-kun, it can't be coincidence to have same led option and dent at two boards and thanks for telling us the truth. So may I know is there any action we can take? Like revealing some of his information to prevent others got scammed by him again?

Anyways, I am glad you have the KMAC2 by chaosstep. It is a really nice board except for the dent!

[ideus]

Question for the elders and GH mods: Should a list of users involved and responsible of issues like this being posted in a permanent threat for the community to be aware of them?

[SpAmRaY]

Question for the elders and GH mods: Should a list of users involved and responsible of issues like this being posted in a permanent threat for the community to be aware of them?

Seems like threads like that always end up locked....the GH mods and admins will only tell you, caveat emptor....basically your on your own buying, selling trading, geekhack takes no responsibility.

[ideus]

Question for the elders and GH mods: Should a list of users involved and responsible of issues like this being posted in a permanent threat for the community to be aware of them?

Seems like threads like that always end up locked....the GH mods and admins will only tell you, caveat emptor....basically your on your own buying, selling trading, geekhack takes no responsibility.

I am just talking about keeping a public record of GH offenders. We all know we are in our own doing business over the internet here or out of GH.

[funkymeeba]

I would say to make use of Heatware, but they failed to let me edit a review of a buyer who attempted to scam me. Just the same, it's probably the best resource we have at the moment.

[ideus]

I agree but not all use HW.

[phoenix1234]

... So please be very cautious and do not sell to whom who has less than 200 posts.

Dat conclusion 

[blighty]

... So please be very cautious and do not sell to whom who has less than 200 posts.

Dat conclusion 

I've bought and sold from multiple people with the only hiccups being GBs with takaki, theprofister, and MassDrop.  Even if a person does one (or multiple) good transaction(s), it doesn't necessarily mean that the next one will be the same.  ****e happens. 

As for heatware, I can see how some people use it for the illusion of safety, but like I said, just because they did well in the past... 

Post count for selling?  Wouldn't that just increase the amount of spam newer members puke out to increase their post count?  I have a low post count, and generally don't post anything unless I have something relevant to say/share or am drunk-trolling.  So, if that keeps people from selling me gear, that's my loss of their product, but their loss of my money.  Sales-wise, I'm wary to ship outside of CONUS because of increased risks from packages getting lost/damaged as well as shipping/insurance costs, regardless of post-counts from buyer. I've done it a few times, but stressed out each time hoping that things would arrive safely and not have to worry about a Paypal charge back.  I think I've taken gift payments for overseas orders because I was paranoid of shenanigans, but I personally wouldn't pay by gift for anything major.

/rant 

[tp4tissue]

... So please be very cautious and do not sell to whom who has less than 200 posts.

Dat conclusion 

I've bought and sold from multiple people with the only hiccups being GBs with takaki, theprofister, and MassDrop.  Even if a person does one (or multiple) good transaction(s), it doesn't necessarily mean that the next one will be the same.  ****e happens. 

As for heatware, I can see how some people use it for the illusion of safety, but like I said, just because they did well in the past... 

Post count for selling?  Wouldn't that just increase the amount of spam newer members puke out to increase their post count?  I have a low post count, and generally don't post anything unless I have something relevant to say/share or am drunk-trolling.  So, if that keeps people from selling me gear, that's my loss of their product, but their loss of my money.  Sales-wise, I'm wary to ship outside of CONUS because of increased risks from packages getting lost/damaged as well as shipping/insurance costs, regardless of post-counts from buyer. I've done it a few times, but stressed out each time hoping that things would arrive safely and not have to worry about a Paypal charge back.  I think I've taken gift payments for overseas orders because I was paranoid of shenanigans, but I personally wouldn't pay by gift for anything major.

/rant 

I guarantee you no one with over 5000 posts will be out to scam you..

[Tym]

I guarantee you no one with over 5000 posts will be out to scam you..

Are you sure?