Flexing that I didn't get scammed.

Everyone should know better and decided to take the risk anyway. No pity from me.

That's your only comment in this thread? Weak.

This thread is right up your alley.

I'll bet this guy's next claim will be that he has a Bouncer arcade game....

You seem genuinely tickled pink that these people got ripped off which seems really, really weird. Like, to the point of emphasizing it over and over and over again. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen you this enthusiastic about anything, ever. Is that weak? Strong? Who's to say?

You also convinced you could never be a victim of any kind of a scam. If this were a Twilight Zone episode I'd be super worried about you!

But it isn't and there's no ironic justice in the world so you'll probably be fine

So are some pin collectors. Of course, no one on pinside has even fallen victim to a scammer. Do you remember Heighway pinball or some of the other pinball scammers who ripped people off? This can happen to anyone chasing a dream game.

Feel really sorry for the KLOV members and hope they get their money back.

Hard to believe so many people got scammed that should know better. That's the really interesting part. I could never imagine sending over $10k to a guy for some arcade games without any protection like an Escrow service or you know, not buying from the guy.

Everyone can pile on me for saying out loud what most are thinking to themselves. At least it may make the scammed feel a little better with me getting downvotes for my thoughts on their actions. lol

Why?

It happens in pinball all the time, you've had a front row seat.

Just seems like a run of the mill folks-shoulda-known-better arcade game scam to me. Sadly not too out of the ordinary.

But hey it's really, really important that someone points out a dozen times that they should have known better. And also that collecting video games is silly, unlike collecting pinball machines.

This seems like it was a little different than the normal scams that come through. The guy was already fairly well known in the community. Had been around for a few years and done business with people without too much issue. People noticed right away a couple red flags such as the crappy pics and wire transfers being required but he was active on the forums up until they banned him, people regularly talked to him on the phone, and had been verified by others as being ok to deal with in the past. I get why someone could have "fallen for it".

ASOA cough, cough.

He lives in West Virginia. Sounds like he got scammed to me.

And yet no one seems to learn. Here is a crazy idea...stop wiring money to people you don't know. If you want a game, go travel to get it or use an escrow service.

Wait, did you just use Deeproot as an example of a legit business? That is funny!

You mean like
'do not assume pinball machines appreciate' -- So don't put money in you can't afford to lose?

or
'don't send money large amounts of money to unproven companies'

or
'the rules of business apply to pinball startups too'??

or
'having a prototype doesn't mean they are ready to ship'

or
'a business model that requires sales 20x higher than the entire market is sus' ?

How's that working out for pinside? Education doesn't work for those who don't want to hear something that might question their decision.

Steven's ban was lifted and he finally got to respond.

Dam alot of different points of view here lmao anyways some people will be getting there games some people will be getting there money back some people will have to go through the insurance process as far as chris goes he has alot of the same games i do but he does not have anything to do with this situation some games will be going out this week i hope but have talked to those people ive talked to some that will be recieving money back and then there are those that just dont get it and whats going on and the lose that is involved well you can claim your game through insurance for smoke or the water damage i can only afford to pay back so many people rite away so be patient i have not broke any laws at all my grow was legal or i would be in jail , your games are there even the duplicate games that everyone thinks i dont have but i do i will be pulling games out as soon as i get power and people to help clean and look them over to make sure they are working the people that have been patient with me thank you so very much and to the ones that just made that are doing what their doing because its going to make them get there money or their game faster good luck with all of that everything is documented through my bank account of what i have purchased and through shipping what i have bought also locally from sellars its only been 3 working days i dont know what expect one person to do but attacking me is not going to help at all ive believe ive kept everyone up to date as well as possible and to the people that threaten to kill me my faimly thanks all over a fire to those people you can talk to the insurance company so for anyone that from some reason i havent reached out to call me please and i will update you and when its all done the people that want to buy the rare boards and games parts etc that are decent or repairable and that were decent to me and understanding i will hook you up

Did the fire burn the Shift, period, and Enter keys off of his keyboard?

Y'all sent thousands of dollars to someone who writes like a 4th grader?

If it's the deal of a lifetime and involves funds that are non-trivial to yourself... why not invest in your own success by paying for escrow or securing the goods in a hands on deal?

Your point illustrates why the cons work... lure people with the desirable, push a sense of urgency to commit, prey on someone's interest in getting a deal.

When I had a 'deal of a lifetime' on the table... I
- did my risk tolerance assessment for that much up front money
- did the market research to understand my desired ROI to stage my negotiations
- scheduled my rented transport and hotel rooms to make the 1000+mile trip.

If it's that worthwhile, it's worthwhile to invest to make it a success. If you aren't willing, you're lining yourself up to the be mark.

It is baffling.

Ok I'm board with POTC...these people should have known better!

I will now repeat that a dozen times over the next couple pages.

Also, I wrote WAY better than that in 4th grade. This guy is borderline illiterate.

My favorite part is that he refuses to use a period in a 500 word run on sentence, but for no reason in particular, he throws in a comma right in the middle of it.

At least his response wasn't full of calling people R-slurs and to S his D and all the usual stuff that hes been saying to people while all this was going down.

Yeah... instead lets 'educate' people.. so when it happens again and you point out the stink, people will chastise you as a hater/etc because you didn't think boasting that a $1m/mon burn rate was a good thing.

Education is working wonders here on pinside!

so now it was a grow operation in the building that caused the fire? lol... I love this show... can't wait for the next episode.

Yes very interesting turn of events.

Thanks for "reading" and deciphering that for us. Any other interesting details?

Can you imagine getting an "invoice" from this guy and deciding to wire him thousands of dollars?

"im good sellar youll like this game 4 the failmy it good wyre the money to me plze nd shipper will come pic it up its all rite their"

Sure thing! The money is on the way!

I consider myself owned. Sorry POMC you wuz right!

Where is that guy anyway? Time for another victory lap!

Horry sheet! That guys "SHIFT" and ">." keys are BOTH broken on his keyboard! Can someone post one of his KLOV "for sale ad" responses with instructions on sending him money?

I wonder if he still has the Mystic Marathon board I sold him or if it got burnt up in the fire?

LOL...No...I used them as an example of a business that many THOUGHT was legit, but wasn't. In the end, it was just another scam that fooled many, but admittedly, not everyone.,

I don't disagree. My point was indeed why the cons work. We all know the things we "should" do to protect ourselves, and if just about everyone I have worked with over the years would have taken the time to do some checking and make some calls, they would not have been taken. But ultimately the human psyche got in the way, and pretty much everyone of them said at one point "I should have known better".........

I'm just getting into the second thread.. but I'm already waiting for the next phase of denial...

"How would anyone would have known?"
"... no one saw this coming..."

(meanwhile, all the posts posting those very same red flags were buried by the stampeding buyers)

I especially like his line “get there money or their game faster”. Like he used up his quota of there’s in a sentence and had to switch, ironically to the proper usage.

Even if there really was a hypothetical fire, whatever was claimed on the insurance would not be his to sell.
He can’t sell boards and parts from these “theoretical games” if he claims them on a policy and in a situation like this they would become property of the insurance company once the claim is paid out.
Now said insurance company could theoretically choose to sell whatever is left back to him. They could also choose to haul it to the dump, sell it at auction or whatever they want once the claim is paid.
Once you get paid out on an insurance claim those items may or may not be your property to sell.

one of his cryptic messages already said that... mentioning if there was a buyback.

I'm still on about episode 4 in my bing session.. but my money so far is on 'he burned a junk pile'

My favorite dichotomy so far is everyone talking about how he doesn't need the money... followed by him claiming he can't refund everyone because he doesn't have the money and that's why he was selling.

It's like people forget people live beyond their means all the time and sometimes it catches up to them fast.

My guess is he was buying with a lot of money that wasn't his and when the bills started coming due, he started "selling" games to get money back. When that wasn't making enough, the place burns down.....how many people do you know with a warehouse full of games that are fully insured? I realize these are rare games, but it would also be rare so see them all covered to full value, and I also cannot imagine an insurance company knowingly covering such with a grow operation in the same building.

His dream arcade cannabis grow warehouse shipping hub burned down?
Did he improperly dispose of a blunt or did a high powered grow light fall? Was he playing a game of Juno First and the old faulty plug finally caught up with him? A dastardly deed of fraud?

It’s intriguing

When my car got stolen, a few days after I deposited the insurance check, the car was found unharmed. I saw it through the fence of the impound lot with my $200 boots still visible inside. Property of the insurance company. Couldn’t touch any of it, couldn’t buy the car back or give the money back. It probably disappeared at some auction somewhere.

And grows dope apparently… REEFER MADNESS!

I suddenly believe everything they told me in the 80s about the dangers of smoking pot.

" Just say no " Nancy Reagan
" Never trust a Junkie " Ministry
Sage advice

Hey, that's video game weirdo to you!

If people would just think for 2 minutes, they probably would not have got scammed. Hard to feel sorry for "victim's" when its clearly in your face this is a scam. I mean, who in there right mind would buy anything based on those pics?

Nobody, hard lesson to learn and it really sucks sometimes.

I've had the incense flare up while I was taking bong hits as well, sad state of affairs. Fortunately only my Atari 2600 was lost in the blaze.

We told them heighway and dr and zidware and von d were scams then too. Had the same gullible suckers coming back time after time. At what point do you learn?

Hope they get paid back!

Says the guy from Cali lol. Take note, that pic of all the stolen converters in the Tesla, was from Cali. Soft on crime cali.

Yep. Lol. It sucks here. You should stay away.

Funny thing is the guy also sold a lot of high end pinball machines and scammed on that as well. So the arcade whiner who went and paid "cash" for his Buck Hunter game can fuck all the way off.

Escrow. Rofl you going to ask Tilt Amusements for fucking escrow? Really? GTFO

Already tried to say this but no one read it.

Many people vouched for the guy, he has spent a lot of money and had sold transactions with people picking up games.

Literally same shit as here when you vet someone.

Are you telling me pictures make the case? Really? I have seen people with crazy amazing pictures scamming for days.

People stood up for this dude and he had no prior issues.

Like I said before, if you have not dealt with someone on pinside before and they want xxx payment either you pass or find out if he was reputable.

Well, this guy was reputable, until he wasn't.

See it is easy to say this was easy to avoid but in reality if people didn't back the dude and the guy didn't name drop people who I even CALLED AND SPOKE TO VOUCHING FOR THE GUY I would not have bought anything.

Still ridiculous people blaming victims here on this shit. You literally all will want a payment method the same way to avoid chargebacks or cash only in person. Not one person here does that for everything.

Fast forward. Some people are just that way. Like the relishing in the glowing failure of Deeproot and all those investors that lost $$$

I would expect the same mini mob attitude like this guy here and well, there you go

Difference is you take cites that the guy is real and has goods.. to mean REPUTABLE. To me that is just there is a real person here. I would never take STI's comments that they've delivered lots of stuff to him to mean anything about his morals or trustworthiness. Same as prior sales.. it means transactions were made. How many of those people spoke about the guy beyond doing transactions with them? How much did you know about the guy and his stuff?

Don't oversell the vetting. In hindsight from the outside all those references basically meant "This guy is legit in the hobby and has done deals with other people we trust" -- Nothing more than that.

People still took a history of prior deals to mean "its totally cool to send this guy thousands of dollars via unsecured means with no recourse with little info on the product" and deny there is some significant leap between those points.

Even good sellers often turn -- so lowering your guard and pretending "well no one got burned before..." is a risk you put on yourself. Not one people get to put on those who simply said "he's real and we did deals before". You are gaining insight... not getting guarantees of success/credibility.

Andddd nobody gives a shit. Bragging that you got a Big Buck Hunter is like bragging you got 5 pairs of pants at WalMart for $29.99

No-one likes being ripped off. Its pretty stressful, that sinking feeling.

Never understood how people can sleep at night when they have done this to someone.