Bad Trader Warning

[numbersix]

I was the member who nearly lost a nice Tinsky pipe to Kyle Black.

Thanks Al for this update - very good to know.

 

[ssjones]

When it appeared that I had lost my pipe, I thought a lot about how to make a trade safe with a little known member. The bottom line is you are truly at their mercy since no funds were exchanged. Two thoughts:

- each trader sends the other a nominal Paypal payment to establish a cash trail

- I would want to see the pipe pictured on a dated newspaper from the traders hometown (old ranson movie trick)

- I would ask for the traders business/work info, address and phone.

Of course trading with a trusted member with a good track record eliminates most of the risk.
Kyle really did his homework and reading of my posts, he knew exactly which pipe would attract my attention. Thieves are like that.

 

[ejames]

Thanks for this heads up Harris !

 

[taerin]

Well the Briarbid website eliminates this issue. We are allowed to link our auctions from that to this community, instead of linking Ebay (which is not allowed). The only thing you can really rip off now is pipe tobacco and that is done in fairly small amounts with low value. If we start getting ripped off there, then people may start only trading to the long established accounts (people who been here for over a year). There really is no good way to do it since no online broker will trade in pipe tobacco such as ebay or briarbid and paypal I believe actually will freeze your account if your caught trading in it, so asking for help from them may not be a great idea... At least tobacco trading has gotten paypal accounts banned/frozen in the past. This may be the reason Briarbid does not do it. Paypal may have changed it's policies though, I haven't heard about that for years... Just food for thought, something to discuss.

 

[jpberg]

I'm glad you got your pipe back, Al. It's scary that he's still at it. I don't know what drives people like that.

 

[crpntr1]

Does BriarBid have a section for pipe trading tho??

 

[taerin]

Chris knows where the real thieves are... they work at USPS.

 

[ssjones]

I think perhaps he is a bit delusional and had really hoped to somehow acquire the GBD to trade. The first tracking number he sent was never shipped but the second did show an insured package leaving Texas. At that point, i had nothing to lose and confronted him by phone on what I had discovered. On that call, he still clung to that he really did have the pipe to trade. He did offer to Paypal me some cash for the tin of OGS that was part of the deal. I told him to keep and enjoy that and hoped it would help make him honest in the future. He did go thru lots of PM's and phone calls in this ruse, to little ultimate gain, which is a real puzzler.

 

[crpntr1]

Al maybe its the thrill of the attempt or something

Eric true...

 

[flmason]

Perhaps the moderator or owner of the site that banned the guy can tell Kevin his Internet information. That way Kevin can ban him from our site.
It is sad when a bad person ruins good things for others.

 

[crazypipe]

 

[yohanan]

Thank You Cigrmaster, and Thank You Al, for providing this useful information. It's good to know that we have great folks here watching our backs.

 

[tjameson]

Thieves piss me off to no end! I work in retail and Loss prevention is a constant hassle. Granted it feels great to prevent or even catch someone in the act, but the fact that someone wants to take from my business at the expense of the company just blows me away. The schemes that people come up with for thievery never cease to amaze me. This is only

amplified when its a one on one deal and something is stolen. Thieves are among the lowest of the low in my book. It's really a shame to see it in the pipe community as I've had nothing but fantastic personal experiences on this forum and believe we have possibly the largest group of generous hearts on the web right here.

 

[cigrmaster]

You guys are more than welcome. I hate people like this and hopefully now that he has been outted, no one else will have to deal with him. Kevin has all his info and email addresses used so he is on it.
The real shame is that the site he was just at and where he got Al and another guy I know was warned that he was a thief when he signed up. That site chose to ignore the evidence presented to them and decided he should be given a chance because he did not rip off people from that site. They are the ones to blame for Al's troubles and my friends. Kevin didn't think twice when I asked him to post this warning,he asked for his info so he could protect the people here.
I really want to out the site that let this happen but don't know if that is against the rules here so I will refrain for now. One thing is for sure, I will not be going to that site ever again, in my opinion they are guilty as hell for allowing this thief to continue to prey on people.

 

[joshwolftree]

the other sites may well have been concerned about slander or libel issues. but then there is this great mental image of Kevin

 

[rotschefeller]

At least jerks like him are rare in the pipe world.

 

[instymp]

Thieves & Liars, same to me.

 

[corncobguy]

This is the kind of thing that makes it hard for a person like me( low amount of posts and nobody knows me) to eventually try and make a trade and befriend fellow pipe smokers. Ive only ever asked peoples advice and feedback and have appreciated every thing that everyone has helped me with. People that STEAL from someone that they have never even met deserve to be in a pit in the darkest part of hell with a bowl of Balkan Sobraine and no way to light it.

 

[logandow]

Thanks for the warning!

 

[cajundad]

Thanks for looking out and keeping us aware Harris !