SCAMMER ALERT!! Have you ever been scammed by someone in the hobby?

[MichaelP121579]

Oh this is a huge can of worms
I have been in the hobby and industry for a while there are allot of good people in it but many “opportunists” in it as well what would you define as a scam or taking advantage of a situation

Importers/wholesalers sending you different animals
Importers selling you different size animals
Manafactuar's telling lies on products
People selling damaged broken products
People selling dead stuff
People selling dying stuff
People selling pests (unknowing to the buyer)
People and lfs knowingly selling sick or infested animals ie aptesia, bubble algea, ick, flukes....... (probably the most common)
Lfs charging people different prices
Lfs taking advantage of maintenance customers
Price gouging certain “new” products

Scamming manafactuar’s
Ohh the list goes on and on it’s a real wildwest all this drama is the number 1 reason people leave this hobby they love the hobby but iether gets too expensive or fail miserably because they fell into a scam/trap misinformation is the second major reason

I have been scammed by major companies and brands
People i was always more careful with being from ny but i have been “scammed” in the past i think it comes with the territory you get burned you dont stop using fire you are just careful with it

Edit:
Figured idd add this out of all the community’s i have found that this one the best for its people and the way it’s run

Yes you are correct. I would've to "tag" the person while scammed me. I ended up getting my money back, but PayPal refunded his money before I could stop it. It was very obvious to me that he has scammed people before, he was too good at it. He filed a dispute 3 mins after package arrived, video himself opening the box and pulled out rocks.

 

[Crabs McJones]

YUCK! I'm sure this is a can of worms I'm opening up today but hey it's a good topic and one we should think about when buying and selling online. (sorry mods )

It's one of a couple things that really gets my blood boiling! It's never happened to me personally, in this hobby, but it seems to be becoming a little more common. I can tell you that it aggravates me very much when we find out someone has scammed any of our R2R members and we make it a mission to try and figure out who the person is and try to help get the issue resolved as best we can.

With that being said let's hear from you by answering the following questions:

1. Has anyone ever scammed you in the hobby and did you get the issue resolved. (please no names, save that for the feedback forum)

2. What are some proactive steps you take to help protect yourself when buying or selling online?

Yeah! I shipped you a bag of cheeto and you still ain't paid for it!
Kidding aside I havent been scammed thankfully. But I dont do alot of buying and selling.
I'm sure my day will come. But all you can do is take steps to protect yourself. Never give out to much personal info. Always use paypal goods and services. And research who you're buying from.

 

[rusty hannon]

YUCK! I'm sure this is a can of worms I'm opening up today but hey it's a good topic and one we should think about when buying and selling online. (sorry mods )

It's one of a couple things that really gets my blood boiling! It's never happened to me personally, in this hobby, but it seems to be becoming a little more common. I can tell you that it aggravates me very much when we find out someone has scammed any of our R2R members and we make it a mission to try and figure out who the person is and try to help get the issue resolved as best we can.

With that being said let's hear from you by answering the following questions:

1. Has anyone ever scammed you in the hobby and did you get the issue resolved. (please no names, save that for the feedback forum)

2. What are some proactive steps you take to help protect yourself when buying or selling online?

i havent been scammed n this hobby n hopefully never will.my trick so called n so far has been research research research.i have been beaten n other things before n it usually boiled down to someone playing on something i really want n proably couldnt get or on my sympathy so dont fall for the preverbeal too good to b true . i feel as you do about scammers n cons and it would take all the fun n excitement out of the hobby if it were to happen . careful out there n lets all enjoy our wonderful hobby.R

 

[USMA36]

Sorta. I bought a used 210 setup from someone on a local reef site that's also on here including lights, stand, sump, 2 mp40s, a UV light, Varios return pump, and skimmer. I had to rent a trailer to pick it up about 2 hours away. I thought I was getting the deal of a lifetime. In my excitement I didn't really look closely at the quality. Once I got home I noticed the seals on the tank were shot and the bottom of the stand was rotted. I was told the tank was only 2 years old. I can't verify because the date sticker was mostly pealed off but I'd guess the tank was closer to 10 than 2. The 2 mp40s worked but looked like they had been through hell, cords were frayed, miss matched power bricks One dry side gets red hot. I'll probably never use the 2nd mp40 and the first is only used in my basement live rock tub where I can't hear the awful racket it makes. I was able to take apart the stand and replace the rotted bottom. I am in the process now of stripping the old silicone and I am going to attempt to reseal on my own. It's really my own fault for being so excited and not looking closely enough at the items to realize that it wasn't as good a deal as it seemed.

 

[ahiggins]

There is a local reefer who operates a fb group. He also sells corals regularly at swaps and the like. The mushrooms I bought from him were COVERED in flatworms. A freshwater dip revealed ~40 from a 3” shroom. I posted back on that sell thread for people to watch out. He deleted it and sent me a message that stated all corals have pests and it’s not up to him to fix. That I was the one with the issue and that he doesn’t have to do anything. Unfortunately he sold me a mushroom that was way overpriced and ended up looking nothing like what it was supposed to.
on one hand I agree but selling things when you’re aware of an issue is so dirty imo.

 

[will25u]

I haven't been scammed that I know of yet. I wouldn't dare do that to someone and would be hugely upset if that happened to me. I do my best to push this hobby forward in the right direction (not gouging). I recently sold some coral on here and shipping didn't go as smoothly as I liked, but I worked hard to make it right. That's what we should all aim for.

I prefer to do trading and buying in person. I also prefer to buy my dry goods from the manufacturer or reputable vendors in person.

 

[HeinritzReef]

Definitely been scammed... by a company I had ordered with prior (algae scrubber) by recommendation from a fellow reefer. We thought we would order a nice custom sump with the same company. We paid for the order in full and after 8 weeks of excuses, delays, no tracking information, the owner mysteriously gets sick and will not be able to complete orders for unforeseeable amount of time. We had delayed our 300 gallon build months due to this sump not being completed.

I asked for a refund of our money and the company stopped all communication. Thank goodness for Citi Bank and PayPal because of them we were able to open a dispute and get all of our $800+ back.

If ordering with someone even if you think you know a guy, use PayPal they are so good to customers if any issues arise. I was shocked and dishearted that this happened within the hobby.

 

[Dana Riddle]

Years ago, when I was managing a commercial coral farm, a nationally-known hobbyist contacted the company and asked for free corals. The conversation went something like this: "Hi, I'm XXXXX and want you to ship me some free corals. In return, I will write an article for a magazine and showcase some of your corals." I spoke with another coral farmer and he said he had been contacted as well. I also discussed this with the owners and they agreed to supply corals, but shipping would be on the hobbyist. All were in agreement. Corals were shipped overnight and the next morning I got a call from the outraged hobbyist - he was complaining the shipping cost was too high! Never saw any article either.

 

[Wen]

I had an R2R new member pm me questions about an item I had for sale here, he strung me along asking questions and wanting pictures. Then he claims to have sent a Paypal payment, few minutes later, he said he changed his mind-didn't want the item and refund his money ASAP! I told him when the payment comes through on my end, then I will refund. He dropped off the map and of course, no money was sent to me.

 

[ca1ore]

I guess it depends a bit on what you mean by getting scammed. On a couple of occasions i received second hand equipment items that did not work as advertised. In both cases the seller claimed it to have been an honest error and made adequate reparations. I don’t buy used equipment anymore - ‘value’ is mostly an illusion.

 

[SammieT]

I am just cheap to be scammed, why spend money on a product when you don't have any $$ from the start ;Bookworm;Bookworm;Bookworm;Bookworm

 

[Mical]

I avoided being scammed compliments of Amazon. I bought a sump - great quality, but bulkhead fitting for external pump leaked. I wrote to them 3 times just asking for a new bulkhead fitting & I'ld change it out - no replies. Contacted Amazon, they sent me a new sump & told me to keep the original one. Went to HomeDepot bought new bulkhead fitting and currently BOTH sumps work great.

 

[BobbyCline]

Scammed is probably too harsh of a word in my experiences. What I do believe has happened to me, on more than one occasion, is that I am sold something that is not what I was told it was. Rarely do I believe this is an honest mistake.

My most recent occurrence of this was being the “winner” of an online auctioned “Todd’s“ torch. While I do believe what officially defines a Todd’s torch is certainly up for debate, the seller had to know that what they sent me could qualify in NO WAY possible.

Long story short, for $280 (GREAT deal for a true Todd’s) I received the tiniest head of pretty much the most common green torch you’ll ever see. It’s essentially worthless...stop by and I’ll give it to you for free. I know the seller has enough experience to differentiate between the two. Scam maybe, but for sure very poor business practice. Pretty surprising knowing that this persons primary source of income is selling corals and fish. I can’t imagine they’ll be in business long like this.

 

[Simply__J]

The only time in my 7 to 8 years of buying, selling and trading both dry goods and coral, both locally and via mail in this hobby and I got got by a tween little punk who said he had a Gold Torch head for trade ended up being a blue/green hammer. I traded a handful of corals for something I already had. Another time someone sold me a busted iwaki pump but it was dirt cheap talking pennies on the dollar and fixing it was inexpensive so I didn't take the L.

 

[DHill6]

I would not call it a full scam but partial one. I bought 4 acros from a super famous vendor on this forum and worldwide worth approx $1000. When it reached me 2 of them were already dead. It was mid winter without any heat pack which was not expected from a vendor of their status. I took some picture and texted him immediately and he texted saying it was their fault and he will make it right next time. So next sale I bought couple more and texted him that he promised to make it right. he answered yes. Guess what?? Exact same thing and another dead acro. I texted him again and then talked to him. He was again apologetic and promised to make things right but never answered back after that. So I quit buying from him. I still buy their name brand acros but from other vendors and fellow reefers. In this process I lost almost $450.;Blackeye;Blackeye

Guessing who....

 

[zapbap99]

yea on here and the guy still hasn't been dealt with

 

[DHill6]

Yes you are correct. I would've to "tag" the person while scammed me. I ended up getting my money back, but PayPal refunded his money before I could stop it. It was very obvious to me that he has scammed people before, he was too good at it. He filed a dispute 3 mins after package arrived, video himself opening the box and pulled out rocks.

Set that up didn’t he. Video opening a box is ridiculous unless you’re setting someone up.

 

[Bob Lauson]

About 5 years ago I moved from WV/OH to Michigan and knew I would not be able to re-establish my tank soon enough. It was a small market and could not sell the fish myself. One the only LFS agreed to take the handful of fish that I had (mostly) nice sized tangs and said he go 50/50 with me on whatever he sold them for. I moved and never heard from the guy. Hopefully they found a nice home and I bought the LFS owner a nice dinner

 

[BobbyCline]

Set that up didn’t he. Video opening a box is ridiculous unless you’re setting someone up.

I videoed opening a box. When you pay 1K for one frag it seems reasonable to me. Zero intentions in scamming.

 

[radsdad]

I received an Extreme photo shopped coral once and once received a fake, dead Critter.