A preamp is joining the party soon!

It is with great sadness that I write this post... It seems that I have been conned by a seller in Poland and I guess I am not going to get my Nagra pre amp...

What a huge disappointment in every way: hifi, financial and human.

Very sorry to hear it.


~
 
Indeed its very sad.
Excuse me if this is not the right time but if possible,
Could you please explain in detail that how this deal has gone bad, may be this can save another FM from getting conned by fraudulent sellers.

never do a deal outside Audiogon..they charge 4% for the sale but that is the insurance you buy

a lot of buyers compromise on that and on shipping costs and suffer. On shipping always use Fedex/DHL etc
 
Sorry to hear about this. Hope something works out for you.

I have suffered loss through Audiogon deal too. I got stuff not as described. Which means I paid much higher than the item deserved. In my case, I didn't even deal outside Audiogon. Everything was done through Audiogon's proper channel. For that reason Audiogon and even Paypal ruled in my favor. However, even then it was a huge loss to me.

Dealings with strangers always has an element of risk, be it a regional affair or cross border, doesn't matter. Even security mechanisms such as Paypal etc fail to help due to practical problems involved in availing a claim.
 
If you guys ever buy from a'gon avoid these two sellers:
1. Augustyn Rutowsky from Poland , seller goes buy the moniker of witheath.
2. His partner is called Andreo Lamert and is from Spain

I am sorry to hear about your misfortune but this guy's posting raises some doubt. He became Audiogon member on 17 May 2014.

Received several positive feedback from new users who joined after May, 20th. One guy joined on 17 June and provided feedback on the 19th. Just too good to be true.

His latest item for sale is Roksan Kandy K2 TR-5.

The description is very similar to this posting here. . And the pictures were taken from this website..


I think you should alert Audiogon about this guy.
 
Better deal them on Indian soil :cool: :cool:

(forgive the aside ;) )

Sadly, though, plenty of rats on the internet.

LOL. Any day Thad.;)

Sadly, though, plenty of rats on the internet.

FM Ambio did quite a bit of research and put up some facts. On hifiwigwam, where he is a member, all his posts were 'For Sale' posts. Looks like a dealer to me; a slimy one at that.
 
Sorry to hear about this situation Malvai. Having been a member of Audiogon since 2000, I fortunately have never been conned, though there were various tries. However, I have been quite cautious in my dealings. Some of the scams I faced were -
1)The classic Nigerian scam ( this was sometime in '04, before Nigerian scams were in vogue), wherein the user said he was owed money by his friend in the us, so his friend would send me a higher amount than the equipment I was selling was worth, and I had to send the balance back to him via wire transfer.
2) Some guy in Indonesia would offer to pay more than what I had listed the equipment for saying that he felt I was underselling the equipment.
3) Many times some highly desired items, for instance the B&W 801's would be listed for a quarter of the new price.
etc.
So like other FM's have adviced be very careful with your dealings in agon or any other site, especially since most purchases from India are likely to be International transactions. And if it sounds too good to be true, walk away. Unfortunately there are hardly any avenues to recover your money after being cheated, paypal etc. will not do much. I know that hindsight is always 20/20 and this will not help Malvai much, but as the tone of the thread is veering towards avoiding future mishaps I thought I would post my experience.
Cheers,
Sid
 
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This is, indeed, sad. Thanks for sharing. Thanks also to others who have shared their experiences
 
This should not happen to anyone. Sorry to know about this friend.

Im very new to buying stuff from internet, I have only so far bought few tubes online. I think through this thread, I have learned a great deal about the risk involved in online overseas purchases and what to avoid.
 
Very sorry to hear about your mishap.

I've done a few transactions through Agon and they've gone well with the exception of one.

Purchased an Integrated amp from a dealer named Michael Gliksman...company name Luckyman Media. The amp arrived DOA. I reported to him and he refused to accept my word. He roped in a chap named Alex Dondysh, his so called Technical Director, who certified that he had personally checked out the amp and there was nothing wrong. Both these Conmen then tried to convince me that the amp had been damaged in transit and wanted me to claim damages from Fedex. The amp came in its original packing which was very strong and secure, and without the slightest sign of any damage. I got the amp repaired for USD 170 and sent the bill to Gliksman who flatly refused to make good the amount.

Fortunately the amp has been performing well so I just chalked down the USD 170 to experience.

But the bottom line is there are plenty of con men lurking on the net and one needs to be wary while purchasing internationally.
 
FM Ambio did quite a bit of research and put up some facts. On hifiwigwam, where he is a member, all his posts were 'For Sale' posts. Looks like a dealer to me; a slimy one at that.
Ambio's approach of comparing joining and feedback dates, and searching for images (easy with Google image search) provides good lessons in checking out an online seller. Sidvee's examples are also useful cautions.

I am very loathe to buy second-hand online. Even though I monitor the for-sale forum here for interesting items, I feel reluctant to buy from any member that I do not feel that I "know" from their posts (and not all, or majority, "sale" posts). This is not imputing anything bad, but others are strangers to me, and equally I am a stranger to them. Caution has to be the byword.

I've bought twice from HFV members. Both have been honest, decent deals, even though one piece of kit has failed after some time, that is not the fault of the seller, but I will probably not buy that brand again.

One e-bay purchase got me a faulty item. it did not cost enough to fight about it with an abroad seller because sending it back would have been a hassle in itself. I just learnt the lesson not to try saving mere pennies when I could have bought new and had some warranty. False economy!
 
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Update! I have reported the seller to audiogon and have reported his current for sale classifieds. Now all his classifieds are down. Audiogon has asked me to initiate another process... I don't know if anything will come off it, but in the very least it should put some heat on the scammy seller.
 
Update! I have reported the seller to audiogon and have reported his current for sale classifieds. Now all his classifieds are down. Audiogon has asked me to initiate another process... I don't know if anything will come off it, but in the very least it should put some heat on the scammy seller.

Hi manav , i am not sure if you will get your money back, but even if your complaint to audiogon saves another few people from being conned its a worthy effort from your side

As for the scamster there will be some.heat on him as for sure he wont be able to put any for sale ad from the same id

Hope audiogon has some process by which they not the ip of such people and stop them from publishing for sale ad by a new account
 
In the early days of Audiogon, 99-2000, there was an escrow option. i.e; The 2 parties created an escrow into which money was deposited by buyer and the seller would send his equipment. After both parties were satisfied the escrow would release funds albeit with a small fee. This option worked if both parties were trustworthy (like any other deal), but it offered some measure of protection, both to buyer and seller. Not sure if that option is available any more.
Cheers,
Sid
 
In the early days of Audiogon, 99-2000, there was an escrow option. i.e; The 2 parties created an escrow into which money was deposited by buyer and the seller would send his equipment. After both parties were satisfied the escrow would release funds albeit with a small fee. This option worked if both parties were trustworthy (like any other deal), but it offered some measure of protection, both to buyer and seller. Not sure if that option is available any more.
Cheers,
Sid

Yes thats a simple but a great idea. I think paypal also works the same way but some of the sellers do not accept PayPal but instead ask you transfer the money or pay directly by CC.
 
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