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

Has anyone ever SCAMMED you in the hobby?

  • Yes

    Votes: 178 30.5%
  • No

    Votes: 394 67.5%
  • Other (please explain in the thread)

    Votes: 12 2.1%

  • Total voters
    584

Russell Casey

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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.
Crab,
I love the signature about being arrested I am going to modify it for mine :). What do you think? If you were arrested and charged with being a ***** would you be convicted? No I wouldn't be convicted but I am an ***** it is I am just to dang beautiful to be held accountable :).
 

Crabs McJones

I'm so shi-nay
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Crab,
I love the signature about being arrested I am going to modify it for mine :). What do you think? If you were arrested and charged with being a ***** would you be convicted? No I wouldn't be convicted but I am an ***** it is I am just to dang beautiful to be held accountable :).
I would say not as whatever you typed was picked up by the profanity filter lol
 

Russell Casey

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I was actually scammed by a local brick and mortar store. I ordered $600 worth of equipment. They delayed and delayed for weeks. Finally, I let them know that I was posting all of our messages and details on a local hobby group and they got me most of the gear. They continued to delay on one piece, saying it was backordered. I reached out to the manufacturer and found out it wasn’t. When I approached them, they said they had it finally and I could pick it up. When I went to get it, they gave me a used one in a baggie and told me that the packaging had gotten soaked and they had to throw it away. When I questioned why it looked used and had salt creep on it, they said they had rinsed it in saltwater. I called them out and they basically told me to go away. It wasn’t worth the effort to fight with them, so I just bought another ATO and have the used one on standby.

A friend in the hobby had a similar experience with the same vendor on livestock. Purchased a torch on an auction and they gave him a different torch altogether. They would not communicate with him on it afterwards either.

Indiana Reefer,
The reason this type of behavior exists is there are few consumer laws that protect us. Even if you had 100% proof and evidence they gave you a used unit the law wouldn't bother with them at all. They would tell you it was a civil matter and you would have to sue them. Most people don't, but if you took
I would say not as whatever you typed was picked up by the profanity filter lol
lol
 

Russell Casey

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I was actually scammed by a local brick and mortar store. I ordered $600 worth of equipment. They delayed and delayed for weeks. Finally, I let them know that I was posting all of our messages and details on a local hobby group and they got me most of the gear. They continued to delay on one piece, saying it was backordered. I reached out to the manufacturer and found out it wasn’t. When I approached them, they said they had it finally and I could pick it up. When I went to get it, they gave me a used one in a baggie and told me that the packaging had gotten soaked and they had to throw it away. When I questioned why it looked used and had salt creep on it, they said they had rinsed it in saltwater. I called them out and they basically told me to go away. It wasn’t worth the effort to fight with them, so I just bought another ATO and have the used one on standby.

A friend in the hobby had a similar experience with the same vendor on livestock. Purchased a torch on an auction and they gave him a different torch altogether. They would not communicate with him on it afterwards either.

Indiana Reefer,
The reason this type of behavior exists is there are few consumer laws that protect us. Even if you had 100% proof and evidence they gave you a used unit the law wouldn't bother with them at all. They would tell you it was a civil matter and you would have to sue them. Most people don't, but if you took it to the police even if it was a $20,000 transaction they would tell you it was a civil matter. Yet, if you steal a tube of reef glue in their store and they call the police you are arrested. See the problem?
 

Russell Casey

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This forum can be such a joke sometimes, haha. Ya''ll ask a question about scammers but God forbid we name the fools who have wronged honest reefers. Here is my slow clap to you R2R for saying its okay to scam, we wont name you and protect our friends, get real! Maybe its time this forum re-evaluated whats important, being "nice" isn't always nice.
Anthony,
I don't speak for R2R but as someone familiar with the law, it might surprise you (wink wink) that some people lie. Yes, some people are ripped off and that is wrong but what transpires when a customer of a place is lying to try to extort if you will refunds and keep the goods? To me the problem is most people are honest but some aren't.

I do think a feedback mechanism as others have stated is the way to go. Something on a 100% basis would be fine.
 

oldbob50

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Yes I have and it was a reputable online company. I have purchased from them in the past but the last two orders contained corals that were not as advertised. Twice I have ordered corals from them that have different descriptions, stock numbers and pictures only to get frags that were identical to ones I have already bought from them under different names and stock numbers. This is why I am now staying away from online purchases. I am more likely to go to my LFS, show them what I want and see if they will order it for me with a commitment to buy only after seeing the product.
 

vetteguy53081

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For those that ship:
Take a photo of contents, box and shipping label BEFORE you send off package!!
We obviously live in a whole new world
 

Huynhter_Soldier

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No I havent been scammed but I did sell my last 160 setup that i invested over 10G into and had to sell since my apt didnt allow fish tanks. So I sold to a friend to setup at his house. well instead he goes off and parts everything and makes all his money back plus more since I hooked him up cheap. Need to say we arent friends anymore
 

mfinn

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For those that ship:
Take a photo of contents, box and shipping label BEFORE you send off package!!
We obviously live in a whole new world
I agree 100%.
Plus I would add, if there is a serial number on the product, get a picture of that too.
 

Grill

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Sorta. I bought a used 210 setup from someone. 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.
Same here, I bought a 210 for what I thought was a good deal. Rented a trailer and drove two hours. The back of the tank had a chip that was taped over with a blue backing. Ended up having to purchase a new pane of glass (7'x2' 1/2"thick) My own fault because of the excitement but he knew what he was hiding. Lesson learned.
 

Wildcats1023

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I received a 6 pack today that was supposed to have 2 4" mini colonies according to the post on here. Instead I received 2 that were around 2" each. They were the same coral but just half the size. The seller said that the original corals fell over and no longer looked good so he substituted the smaller frags and included a couple freebies for the problems. The problem is the seller notified me after he already shipped the box. Seller feels like he didnt do anything wrong and did the best he could. Even added up the value and said I still came out way ahead based on his perceived value. Their words not mine. I paid his asking price and did not ask for a price break. I dont expect a full refund but I feel something should be refunded. I honestly would not have purchased the pack if the smaller frag were the ones listed originally.

How would you all handle this situation?
 

mfinn

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I received a 6 pack today that was supposed to have 2 4" mini colonies according to the post on here. Instead I received 2 that were around 2" each. They were the same coral but just half the size. The seller said that the original corals fell over and no longer looked good so he substituted the smaller frags and included a couple freebies for the problems. The problem is the seller notified me after he already shipped the box. Seller feels like he didnt do anything wrong and did the best he could. Even added up the value and said I still came out way ahead based on his perceived value. Their words not mine. I paid his asking price and did not ask for a price break. I dont expect a full refund but I feel something should be refunded. I honestly would not have purchased the pack if the smaller frag were the ones listed originally.

How would you all handle this situation?
Start a feedback thread with the sellers name, and list your complaints.
 

Still_human

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I’ve been scammed by an eBay seller, and also repeatedly by a major online store that held me credit hostage for some time. And once long ago by a transhipper from the Philippines. I buy on eBay all the time, and It’s only happened once ever there, so that’s basically never, and I’ve bought from possibly all the major online presences, current and past, and many smaller ones, and i would only refuse to purchase again from that 1 problem company. Being extra careful, or only purchasing through eBay, or only using PayPal still doesn’t keep it from happening:( People can get around that easily, whether that was their intention or not. 1 problem is if someone has you with significant store credit, youre either gonna keep ordering from them until you get all ur credits worth(every order I placed had DOAs AND incorrect items, so the credit train never ended), or at some point just cut your losses and give up trying to come out even.
 

Snitch

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Sure have - by a guy right here - If I'm ever in the Tacoma Washington area... Let's put it this way - I hope that dude has the day he deserves...
 

Lost in the Sauce

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Reefing Addictions aka Frankie Alderete scammed me today :-( I bought Coral from him once before and this time he promised me four really nice eclectus mushrooms and wound up only sending three that looked like crap and had literally just been cut, he was playing me with the long con. Then, he tried to act like it was my fault for talking too much about coral and said he got confused and is now just ignoring me treating me like Im the one in the wrong. Talk about terrible people who ruin the hobby. I'm out over $800 and there's nothing I can even do about it except to try to report it to as many refers as possible to watch out for this guy and hopefully at some point he'll do the right thing and make it right. That was a huge hit financially and now I'm just super bummed out and sad.
This is a post for the sellers feedback. Read page one. The prompt specifically requests members not be dropping names.
 

Aquatic Bobs

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This is a post for the sellers feedback. Read page one. The prompt specifically requests members not be dropping names.
Actually the first post says buying or selling number one and number two I didn't see anything about that? Must be way later in the forum But I deleted it anyways
 

Squidward

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Was on a local forum back in 2008-2009. A member sold me some chemicals. I paid him and he never sent the products. He basically never came back on the site or either changed screen names. ****** move... thankfully it was only about $20 that I lost.

The other time wasn't necessary a scam but more of a nuisance. Saw a nice 7ft tank on fb marketplace. Texted the guy and said I'd buy it. We both agreed etc. On the weekend I was supposed to pick it up. He totally stopped responding. A major dbag.
 

Lost in the Sauce

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Actually the first post says buying or selling number one and number two I didn't see anything about that? Must be way later in the forum But I deleted it anyways

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)
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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