Tucson, AZ
Hey all, new Pinside member here. i've been an owner of a Gottlieb Rack-A-Ball for a few years, and an F-14 Tomcat for a few months and have been following this community closely. Great information to be had for sure! Anyways, I was hoping to get some feedback on a recent experience with a pinball company. A few weeks back I started to go down the road with a seller, (pinballshore.com) which ultimately I found out was a scam (thank you Pinside) so my radar has been up on this sort of thing and worried about who is for real.
My story: A few days ago, I found a T2 that I was really interested in via ebay. Priced seemed a little too sweet but I looked into it it was being sold by www.fulltiltpinballleds.com. I saw he was a seller here on Pinside and he had good feedback. I went to his website, called the main number, and left a message. A few minutes later Kevin called me back from a different number and we talked about the T2. It all seemed great! He was super nice. I asked about the difference in price from ebay versus his website and he said he does less because its not on ebay, and so it seemed to make sense. Then he asked if I could do a Zelle since it was from his personal collection versus a Paypal which would go to his business. He gave me his address and background to look him up to verify. He also offered a video call, which I accepted. He showed me the pinball along with his other collections, talked about the deal and he seemed like a genuine guy (which I truly hope he is)! So I agreed to the deal, arranged shipping and the plan was to have me send two Zelle payments to get to the total over the course of two days. It was late in the day and I sent the first batch of funds. He didn't get it, so I waited a bit and he still didn't get it. So I called my bank, and they said because I put it on so late in the day that it would get approved in the morning. I shared that with Kevin and I assumed it as all ok.
That evening I was reading up about recent scams, and I really started to freak out about what I just did. What stuck out was really the small things that made me worry. The changing of the items included, the insistence on Zelle, the different return cell #. But, the fact he had a house full of pins, and his registration came up via the Florida business website, it all seemed cool. The following morning I called my bank and they informed me that they cancelled the Zelle the previous day when I called (probably because I was upset with them) and so I let Kevin know. But I also asked if we could find a different way to do the deal. Such as Paypal, or using escrow.com, but something that gave me a hint of protection.
Since then...radio silence. I left a VM, multiple texts. I'm assuming he's busy, so I've been patient and continued to convey my interest in the pin, but not a single response. All of this makes me wonder, is this a legit business or not? Did I dodge a bullet, or miss an opportunity? Again, I'm really hoping he is for real and if he is, wish him only the very best! I enjoyed talking with Kevin via the phone. He was very personable, friendly, motivated to sell, had a huge collection of games. All things that 'felt' good. But the ghosting really has me worried and thus thought I might reach out to this group to get your feedback.
Should I persist or walk? Thoughts?
-BH
