This strikes me as a hobby where word gets around and seller reputation is everything. A little bad press can scare off all your buyers, so customer service is a priority.
(Topic ID: 63804)
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Quoted from Dbaum88:Thanks Al W - we all know you are a classy guy so your opinion means a lot....
I guess I can expect lots of pro bono work for the league members now! lol.
David is a great guy indeed. And no, not pro bono here, just dibs on your lineup!
Roswell, GA
Thanks shimoda - you know I'd help YOU (and the league) for free.
As for the lineup, I'm afraid I am liking that Earthshaker too much! Ah, who am I kidding? With my ADD, I get tired of all of them eventually. lol. And yes, you get first dibs.
I would also sell my cool DM at a friend price, its a LOT of fun. $1750 for you, $2000+ for others.
I am also starting to consider selling my really nice SWDE. Has the new rom. But I'd hope for $2500. Its worth it, great game, but I just can't keep em all!
Or CAN I?? (evil laugh).
Quoted from Triumvirat73:Why? It IS just ridiculous.
That doesn't make waiting for more than 2 months any more acceptable. Sorry that happened to you, but just because it did doesn't make it ok to drag heals sending out an item that was paid for promptly.
Totally agree, but if I said who it is, many would come to their defense and make excuses for the delay. In my opinion both the OPs situation and my own are unacceptable but when it's someone that people haven't dealt with themselves it's easier for them to universally condemn the guy. 2 months is a ridiculous delay for any purchase/order.
Quoted from Dbaum88:Thanks shimoda - you know I'd help YOU (and the league) for free.
As for the lineup, I'm afraid I am liking that Earthshaker too much! Ah, who am I kidding? With my ADD, I get tired of all of them eventually. lol. And yes, you get first dibs.
I would also sell my cool DM at a friend price, its a LOT of fun. $1750 for you, $2000+ for others.
I am also starting to consider selling my really nice SWDE. Has the new rom. But I'd hope for $2500. Its worth it, great game, but I just can't keep em all!
Or CAN I?? (evil laugh).
Can't blame the lucky, great deal on a really fun machine. I'd like to have an ES someday. And a Tron, and a STTNG, and...
Actually, it's a toss up between DW and the Gottlieb Hullk right now. The Hulk, with chime replacements just feels old school and I'm loving a machine that really invites me to learn how to nudge, shoot, etc. Oh yeah, the OP, um...
First off to the OP: Out this guy in your first post. FOrum handle, paypal address, name, address, phone number and amount stolen. You owe it to your "community".
To the jackasses saying getting ripped for a c-note is no biggee: Pull out your wallet and send OP the hunny or STFU.
To the jerkoff who steals money from people by selling shit and then not delivering: If you can't give back the money, you are a broke-ass, nickel scraping pomofo who shouldn't even have a paypal account. Stick to your EBT card and your welfare. Life is too short for d-bags.
ETA: If you mailed him a money order, sick the postmaster on him. They take mail fraud very seriously.
Updated first post with seller info.
I have ordered a PF from someone else, and guess what? I've got a tracking number 3 days after sending my payment! That seems more normal to me... I also negotiated so that I could do a normal payment through PayPal so that I'd have recourse to raise a dispute and have buyer protection. A lot of sellers request that you send the money as a "gift" and I think this eliminates much of buyer protection aspect of it, though you may still be able to dispute the charge on your CC if you paid that way, not sure.
I'm not planning to give up and let the scammer keep my money. I'll post back with any updates on that front.
Thanks,
Jim
If seller doesn't have the playfield any longer, you would think that he would just refund the $100 instead of having it drag out so long and get ugly. Is seller broke?
If seller does have the playfield, then why not just ship it out and be done with it.
So much unnecessary bs for winter to deal with. 
Quoted from Pinball-is-great:If seller doesn't have the playfield any longer, you would think that he would just refund the $100 instead of having it drag out so long and get ugly. Is seller broke?
If seller does have the playfield, then why not just ship it out and be done with it.
So much unnecessary bs for winter to deal with.
It sounds like the pomofo doesn't have the hundred bucks to spring back.... What a loser.
So, Daina at Mr. Pinball is defending Vince by saying:
"BTW, Vince has been buying and selling on our website for over 14 years. We
haven't had one complaint about him until yours. We have had a couple of
positive statements about him."
Daina explained how to get someone on the blacklist:
"The Mr. Pinball Blacklist has two sections:
1. Certified Crooks--These are people who have two or more people that
have been taken by them, or they have a legal judgement against them.
2. Probably Crooks--These are people who have pending legal action against
them, or have taken one person for a significant amount.
The Blacklist is generally not for those that have shipped items that are not
as described or for those that are just slow."
I'm not sure how far we have to take the "legal action" to qualify... We'll see.
Post edited by winteriscoming : Removed "She"... it occured to me that the name is Daina, not Diana... so not sure which gender I should be assigning... it is MR Pinball...
They've actually got a rating system on Mr. Pinball that I had no idea about, and here's Vince's entry:
http://user.xmission.com/~daina/tpcr/ratings_detail.cgi?name_last=dooley&name_first=vince&address_state=unitedstates,+georgia&;
Ottawa, ON
Quoted from winteriscoming:So, Daina at Mr. Pinball is defending Vince by saying:
"BTW, Vince has been buying and selling on our website for over 14 years. We
haven't had one complaint about him until yours. We have had a couple of
positive statements about him."
She explained how to get someone on the blacklist:
"The Mr. Pinball Blacklist has two sections:
1. Certified Crooks--These are people who have two or more people that
have been taken by them, or they have a legal judgement against them.
2. Probably Crooks--These are people who have pending legal action against
them, or have taken one person for a significant amount.
The Blacklist is generally not for those that have shipped items that are not
as described or for those that are just slow."
I'm not sure how far we have to take the "legal action" to qualify... We'll see.
Ha. Same thing happen to me when I had the worst pinball experience ever with Kimballs Pinballs. He said I was the only one ever to complain, yeah sure 
It's because people that do have bad experiences usually don't complain. Then you get the people chiming in how great their experience was. Well that still doesn't make yours any better does it?
I would say go over mr pinballs head and call the authorities and let them sort it out, He seems to be taking sides on the matter, it only takes one complaint and or claim to fraud/theft to file a report,,,, mr pinball, daina. Mr pinball shouldn't decide who is good or bad IMO, the guy took your money period. Does not matter how many years hes been selling on there, So that gives him a right to steal your money, I don't think so.
Quoted from Dbaum88:Winter - would you like me to call Mr Pinball too?
You're too kind! Sure, if you're willing. It could help since you're a witness to what's going on and you've confirmed my story by talking to the seller. Maybe by having you involved, it counts as "legal action." It might at least be nice to have Vince blacklisted since he doesn't seem to want to work towards any solution...
In my mind a seller who wanted to avoid legal action once the threat has been made would be giving frequent updates on what he's planning to do to make it right, but Vince has done none of this.
I'm happy to report that my second transaction went smoothly and I now have a decent Big Game playfield in my possession. Scammer's not off the hook simply because I bought one from someone else, though!
1 month later
winteriscoming - I have a great idea. I paypal you $5. Then 19 other pinsiders follow suit. Bingo, you have your $100. But don't stop there! Use that $100 to mail 3 of these to him: http://www.nitetimetoys.com/sex-toys-for-men/sex-dolls/just-in-beaver-love-doll
Or 10 of these: http://www.nitetimetoys.com/anal-toys/butt-plugs/classic-butt-plug
Or any other combination of your choosing. I find the mere speculation of what the guy's face would look like would be worth $100. If there is an option to have him have to get it at the post-office, please do it.
Quoted from thedefog:winteriscoming - I have a great idea. I paypal you $5. Then 19 other pinsiders follow suit. Bingo, you have your $100. But don't stop there! Use that $100 to mail 3 of these to him: http://www.nitetimetoys.com/sex-toys-for-men/sex-dolls/just-in-beaver-love-doll
Or 10 of these: http://www.nitetimetoys.com/anal-toys/butt-plugs/classic-butt-plug
Or any other combination of your choosing. I find the mere speculation of what the guy's face would look like would be worth $100. If there is an option to have him have to get it at the post-office, please do it.
Ha! Funny idea, but not something I'd do.
I don't need Pinsiders to donate money, but I appreciate the offer.
I was hoping legal action would motivate the scammer, but Dbaum88 likey got busy with real life and paying gigs, so I don't want to keep pestering him. I'll gladly take his help (or anyone's) as he's willing to give it, but I'm in no huge rush. Though the $100 would help with my T-REX mod research and development... 
Quoted from winteriscoming:Though the $100 would help with my T-REX mod research and development...
I was going to mention that. I'd gladly chip in to help with that, because I want one of those eventually! I'd love to do the airbrushing on one.
Mail Fraud Complaint
The form below allows you to send a complaint to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service if you suspect you are a victim of mail fraud. Mail fraud scams include deceptive mailings, sweepstakes, lotteries, on-line auctions, and work-at-home scams. For more information on the various types of mail fraud scams, please refer to the following:
Quoted from PinballHelp:Mail Fraud Complaint
The form below allows you to send a complaint to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service if you suspect you are a victim of mail fraud. Mail fraud scams include deceptive mailings, sweepstakes, lotteries, on-line auctions, and work-at-home scams. For more information on the various types of mail fraud scams, please refer to the following:
http://ehome.uspis.gov/fcsexternal/default.aspx
Thanks! We'll see if that does anything, but it looks like they're not after small fries...
If someone hasn't already mentioned it, Vince Dooley was Head football coach at University of Georgia, and then Athletics director. University of Georgia is in Athens Georgia, where the listed address is. So either a rich guy has time to scam people, or someone is scamming you using his name, or the name Vince Dooley is more common that anyone would expect.
Quoted from mdclips:If someone hasn't already mentioned it, Vince Dooley was Head football coach at University of Georgia, and then Athletics director. University of Georgia is in Athens Georgia, where the listed address is. So either a rich guy has time to scam people, or someone is scamming you using his name, or the name Vince Dooley is more common that anyone wood expect.
I vetted the name against public records, and Dooley is associated with property taxes at the mailing address I sent the payment to. In fact, I think it's Vince's father who owns the property. The guy I'm dealing with appears to be a Vince Dooley, but not the coach.
By the way, it's scary the kinds of things that are available from public records online... You can pretty well figure out family connections, addresses and phone numbers for land lines with someone's name and location (town is ideal, but state would probably do in a pinch). I wasn't comfortable with the results when I did a similar search on myself. 
Quoted from mdclips:Well - his son (Derek) was a head coach too, and now works for the Dallas Cowboys. Something's not right with all of that.
No, it's not the coach or his family as far as I can tell. There's not a rich guy conspiracy going on. If you look up tax records on the mailing address, the house is in the name of Horace Dooley and according to public records, he has a son named Vince.
Quoted from Dbaum88:Demand letter going out this week. Happy Thanksgiving Vince you jerk.
Go get him!
Quoted from Dbaum88:Demand letter going out this week. Happy Thanksgiving Vince you jerk.
Thanks for your help!
1 month later
Nothing much. David was awesome and sent a demand letter, but not sure what can happen after that without wasting too much of his time.
2 months later
Let's finish up this story:
It was a $100 lesson learned for me not to pay for anything remotely except through a standard PayPal purchase. A seller unwilling to accept a standard PayPal payment doesn't get my money. This experience has also taught me that Postal Money Orders are NOT a safe means of sending money. There is no simple means of filing a dispute to keep from getting screwed over, let alone recoup the stolen money.
Thanks to all who offered support, and a special big thanks to Dbaum88 for doing everything he did!
Quoted from winteriscoming:It was a $100 lesson learned.
It happens. At some point you just have to chalk it up to experience and move on. But it would still bother me because I'm one of those guys who doesn't gamble because losing twenty bucks causes more aggravation than winning a hundred bucks causes enjoyment. (My only exception is going in on company lotto pools, because I don't want to be the only guy that didn't participate if they ever do win.)
Simpsons Episode "Sunday Cruddy Sunday"
Homer laughs at a guy who was scammed by the auto repair shop for a stem lube, but then says "although winter is coming".
WinterIsComing was scammed.
Sorry... I know this isn't 6 degrees of the Simpsons... just thought I'd point it out (I have a problem 
)
Sorry also to hear about your $100 loss, OP. Knuckleheads like Vince Dooley will eventually pay a price for their dishonesty.
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