My Taj Mahal ripoff...anyone got one?

[Sauromosis]

Was buying one of these off craigslist, got ripped off, I don't think the guy ever had it. Now it's in the "Resolution Center." The picture was very convincing. Hopefully they will rule in my favor, I have all the emails. One of the members here had four of them but he's not responding to PM's. Does anyone have a complete set to sell? I guess without box/instructions since I already spent too much the first time? I can't believe I missed this one by a year or so, having only started this hobby recently.

[Jeff Mack]

Check out this thread here http://www.brickpicker.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/2133/

[cflannagan]

Was buying one of these off craigslist, got ripped off, I don't think the guy ever had it. Now it's in the "Resolution Center." The picture was very convincing. Hopefully they will rule in my favor, I have all the emails.

One of the members here had four of them but he's not responding to PM's.

Does anyone have a complete set to sell? I guess without box/instructions since I already spent too much the first time?

I can't believe I missed this one by a year or so, having only started this hobby recently.

Eh? How did you "hand over" the money prior to being ripped off? Doesn't sound like you were conducting this transaction "in person", but rather, mailing payment or using PayPal.. bad idea since you don't really have any form of buyer protection with Craiglist. Unless I am misunderstanding your post.

[Jeff Mack]

Oops sorry I see he is not responding. Maybe they will see this.

[Sauromosis]

Eh? How did you "hand over" the money prior to being ripped off? Doesn't sound like you were conducting this transaction "in person", but rather, mailing payment or using PayPal.. bad idea since you don't really have any form of buyer protection with Craiglist. Unless I am misunderstanding your post.

No, you're probably understanding me fine. I did sent through PP. I didn't know there was no buyer protection, haven't done much with Craigslist. Will be an expensive lesson I guess unless PP rescues me.

[gremmie7]

There is a Taj ad on craigslist going around and it ranges in price from $400-1200. I have seen them all over California and as far as the east coast with the same picture. The guy almost got me, but then I offered $250 and he accepted. That is when I searched a little deeper and found the multiple adds and figured out it was a scam. Lessons, (all together now) if it is too good to be true it probably is, and if the person won't call you it's a scam. If I can find the picture I will post it.

[Sauromosis]

Does it look like the set is on his back porch with wooden railing behind? Got me, I'll wear the dunce hat if you all want. Weird thing is he offered to call me but I was feeling weird about it and didn't give him my number. Probably would have just BS'd me to extend the time before I filed a case.

[Snowcrash]

Please tell me you didn't send him the money as a "gift" through paypal? As long as you sent it as payment for goods you should be fine. In the future go through ebay or amazon. I'm also going to help you and other members here out. http://www.tineye.com/ Use this to check and see if a seller got the image of the set they purport to have from somewhere else on the net. You're welcome.

[gremmie7]

Does it look like the set is on his back porch with wooden railing behind? Got me, I'll wear the dunce hat if you all want.

Weird thing is he offered to call me but I was feeling weird about it and didn't give him my number. Probably would have just BS'd me to extend the time before I filed a case.

Exactly.

[Sauromosis]

Good info, thanks. It was "Goods," not gifts so I hope you're right. Craigslist is a hive of scum and villianry.

[Sauromosis]

Exactly.

Dang. Facepalm. Thanks for the info.

[Snowcrash]

Paypal is pretty good in cases like this. He didn't send you anything, so it should be an open and shut case. Sometimes sellers will try to send an empty box or a crap item just to generate a tracking number, but paypal will allow you to send it right back and refund you as soon as you upload a return tracking number. Really this isn't so much about cheating you as about cheating paypal, as the thief is hoping to withdraw the funds before paypal can lock the account. Worst case scenario you get a police report and file a case with the http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx and send them a copy. You should get your money back fairly quickly. Did you pay with a credit card? If all that fails just dispute the charge. Honestly, you're covered in so many ways its actually hard to lose money to a paypal scam.