On the Bird site...buyer beware

I've received pm if it happened to me...no it happened to some one on the bird site that has paid for a set of seats back Nov 2013.
You can read about it on that site. I'm just passing on info so others don't get burned.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911...o-new-post.html

He's reading this right now

Buyer was refunded on February 10th

well... you can run but you can't hide. I think its best that person should settle up with the Bird site person there.
Just notice a reply... Person on Bird site mentioned he paid in Oct / Nov and seller refunds in Feb ?
Don't get me wrong. I'm just passing on info off other sites.

Honor...you can't buy that.

Shipping the seats went on for weeks at the buyers request.

I sold two Recaro seats to him for $450 shipped to Cali from md.

I told him if I could not ship them for under $200 I would refund him.

Several weeks later and many attempts driving a huge box to different places I went to greyhound. That's the last I saw of them.

I tried and tried to contact square about refunding

This is the second problem in the past few weeks. Shady, for sure.

Have we heard from the person(s) who have been scammed? If not, then it is here say. I don't have any interest here other than fairness to both parties...

-- brett

I posted a warning here a couple of weeks ago about this guy, but it was eventually removed.

Here we go again. And it never his fault, it's the shipping company, it's the payment company, it's the bank. What an asswipe.

Still have my lug nuts Courtney? You're a scam and a liar.

There are many reputable people to do business with. This joker is not one of them.

Fairness-Shmairness...... we take a higher amount of risk when we purchase on this site - from fellow members. This isn't Macy's we're dealing with.

If something goes this wrong more than once?? That's enough for me. I'm not going to call the guy a crook, but I think it's fair to AT LEAST assume that he is a weak businessman.

I've had a lot of success with this wonderful site for many years..... for my own hard-earned dollar, I stick to buying from members with more than 6 posts, and preferably with a fairly early member number.

Not the only way to buy, but it has served me well.

Let's take care of one another on this site..... or the whole thing goes to sh$!

Peace.

Everyone makes mistakes...bad day, client upsets you, kids ....who knows but what can create a bad day for anyone, which in turn could reflect negatively on their ability to perform their best service.

But ... And this is my point,....when redundant occurrences of poor service have been witnessed, it becomes "fair" to hold anyone accountable to their history. I have had bad days where I have been less than what I wanted to be..but I learned and did not let it happen a second time. This guy needs to learn as well...IF....poor service is more than a single experience. So I think it is appropriate, and a needed heads up to the World community, to share these documented poor service experiences.

He was just banned from Pelican.

And BTW, this guy could be the most honest and fair person on earth ....the point is if he is a poor business person who cannot manage his client's needs well, he will suffer in lost sales opportunities. As time goes on it should be a bad service platform that eventually suffers and not buyers on the World.

So, he says that the problem was he couldn't find anyone to ship the seats with, for less than $200? Are you kidding me? I've shipped a pair of seats and also paid to have a pair shipped to me. I used FEDEX both times; to send and receive. It didn't cost anywhere close to $200. And yes, they went from East coast to West coast; opposite points of the U.S. Sounds like a load of crap. in order to stall a customer that just wants their money back. If you can't make the deal happen, give people their money back IMMEDIATELY! It's not your money to keep if you don't send the merch.

So, you had dealings with him and you lost money on the deal? I am not challenging anyone's story. I base my thoughts on facts. I do have to say, it does not look good at this point.

I give everyone the benefit of doubt, as I would hope people would do for me.

And Iagree about this being a great site/community and part of that is looking out for each other.

-- brett

I love the 914world community and the high standard of "service" that is almost always delivered by members selling here. I think it's OK to hold members to this (relatively high) standard but IMHO calling this guy names and essentially a "crook" or "scammer" is going a bit too far. I have dealt with and spoken with him. He's also the only guy that ever sent me something without receiving a payment up front. That being said, if he is to eventually earn a more positive reputation here in the future he will (simply) have to prioritize quicker service to members over other things taking up his time more than he has thus far.

@Tweet, higher demand in MD and the NE may dictate higher rates than shipping from FL. I personally think Courtney has better things to do than waste his time offering something and then corresponding with someone, etc. etc. only to wind up refunding their money.

M.i.M.

Thanks Mike

I offered to refund several times after driving a huge box with two late model Recaro seats weighing 90lbs around getting shipping quotes. One quite was over $300.
I had the seats for sale for $600 he offered $450 shipped to which I agreed as long as I could ship under $200. I really did not want to drive the 25 miles to greyhound at that point but I did. Then back twice since.

I was sending emails to square to refund him in early December. I have since closed the Square account because they have no phone number and never respond except an automated response. I have also opened a UPS account to ship from my house.

Seats and wheels suck to ship. Another alternative- Stockpile your big items, rent a spot at Hershey. You have the opportunity to sell them without shipping worries. And people can meet you and put a face on your tag.

Mike,
I agree that there is a somewhat higher standard here than on lets say Craigslist, after all, we are members here. This guy had the opportunity to maintain that standard from the beginning and I repeatedly told him that his reputation, not his parts, are the most important part of any sale, especially when a problem occurs.

I'm relatively new here, but I've been in sales for 20 years and my hobby is vintage stereo equipment, which I sell on Ebay. It is incumbant on the seller to do everything he can do to ensure the sale goes smoothly. From honestly describing the item to packing and shipping in a safe and timely manner or communicating with the buyer immediately if an issue pops up. Ask a good seller like Eric S. or Timothy and they will tell you the same thing.

In my previous warning, I said that I wouldn't NOT buy anything from him, just to be very careful. He owed me a set of lug nuts which he posted in the same thread that he was sorry and he was sending them asap.That was 3 weeks ago and I received nothing. Small potatos? Yes, but it says a great deal about this guy. No return phone call, same shipping company problems, same Square payment issues etc.

I hope we as, 914 nuts, are not so hard up for parts that we need to deal with this crap. These kind of sellers, if allowed to continue, will eventually tarnish the entire classified section. By banning him, you will be protecting the standard mentioned above.

It's nice to have more posts than all the collective complainers here on this thread combined. Buy from Courtney, don't buy from him, your call. Unless he's taken your money and not delivered your part you have no real opinion. Slamming him because you didn't get your part like you bought it from Amazon makes no sense. Communicate your expectations, understand that those that sell parts here probably have real jobs and communicate your satisfaction or dissatisfaction to the seller.

Courtney has been straight up with me so far. I'm planning a visit soon and will happily report back.

"Slamming him because you didn't get your part like you bought it from Amazon makes no sense."

Huh?

Mike, did you read the entire Pelican Thread? The moderator banned him for "continuous problems conducting basic transactions and communicating with people in a courteous and timely manner." This tell me it isn't the first time over there. He didn't even reply back to the moderator.

Unlike you who lives nearby, we can't just drive over and see what's going on. Could it be that explains the difference in his responses?

You say "understand that those that sell parts here probably have real jobs and communicate your satisfaction or dissatisfaction to the seller."

Well, buyers have jobs too and we work hard for our money and usually, don't have the time to chase a seller around for delivery information or a refund on what the seller offered. In my eyes, this kind of crap is intolerable.

Len,
It is understandable that you are upset, if you are still missing parts, you paid for. I don't see where he is offering to get them to you, as agreed upon. Since we are a community, maybe someone like Mike, that is close by, can pick them up for you. Still if you are owed parts, or owed money, it is incumbent upon the seller to make it right. I personally know how it feels to place trust in an unknown person, and then get ripped off. That's why I don't do checks or m.o.'s any more with first timers. I also don't understand the driving around for weeks, with a giant box to get a shipping quote.
USPS, FEDEX, UPS, DHL, etc. aLL have shipping calculators to input, weight and dimensions, insurance options, and other added value services. I've shipped all around the world. There have been very large, heavy and bulky items. Did it from my computer at home to calculate a price. As a seller, a shipping quote should be gotten up front and declared to the customer. Then it is up to the customer to choose if they would like to proceed. No one is being forced into a transaction on either end. It should be a mutually agreed upon transparent transaction.

Agreed Tweet. My loss is 16 lug nuts, so it's no big deal and really, I don't care. The other guy on Pelican is having a problem with $400 and that is a big deal. My concern is for other people on this forum who, not knowing the seller's history, buy something from him and never get it or have to chase him around for weeks or months. I didn't post anything initially only because I didn't see him selling again. When I saw mulitple F/S's, I posted a warning to be careful. But after reading the Pelican thread, perhaps it's time to come down a bit harder on the guy and stop this from happening anymore.

Once again he was refunded

ya based on the feed back on the bird site...buyer never received it

ps.. If I paid for an item in Oct /Nov and just got refunded.....I don't think there are many that would accept that.

Now this is what I would do if I did that to some one... refund via certified funds and send the parts for free to make up one's error.

Read up :http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911...o-new-post.html

Simple question
Where's Len's lug nut's you said you were going to send them.

...easy now....let's not ask direct questions that would require simple answers.
still plenty beating around the bush time left here.....

holy crap...what was I thinking! I better get back to my real job, so I could pay for my 914 habit....

Good one Ray

The Straight Dope, as I see it...

SpecialInt, a.k.a. Courtney sent me an Amco center console before getting around to emailing me his account info for a payment. This is clearly not how scammers operate.

He may well have to take responsibility for poor service rendered, but it's wrong to call someone a liar, thief, scammer or whatever when it's not true. Len, Courtney forgot to send your lugs out and by the time he got around to speaking with you about it you had gotten another set and didn't want his any more, or is that not true? Did you lose money?

As for the two Recaro seats in excellent condition for $450 including shipping, the guy fails to mention that he turned down numerous or at least several offers by Courtney to refund the money because he did not want to let go of his hope to get those seats for that awesome price, and time went by, and by and Courtney didn't "find" a way to send them economically and eventually sent the guy his money back. Kinda crap, but not a scam nor a rip off. Why he was selling them for that price is a mystery to me, but it wound up being nothing but a waste of his time and energy with nothing gained. This too is not how scammers operate.

Len, I hear what yer sayin' man, I am, but I'm sticking up for the guy because IMHO he doesn't deserve to be called a thief, scammer, liar or anything in that league.

I have spoken to him on the phone twice and would bet a 914-6 engine against a set of decent hatch letters that he wasn't full of when he told me that he's GIVEN parts away while paying for shipping himself to several members here who's names he mentioned though I will not, but one of those donations was a transmission used in a Dr. Evil clinic for a guy who's tranny had reportedly been stolen just prior to the already paid-for clinic was about to get started. Wow. Perhaps Dr. Evil could verify this and put this thread and its title to rest.

Those beneficiaries are apparently not reading this thread, else they would certainly, one would like to think, be defending him as well. Again, scammers don't spend their time sending parts at their cost while asking for nothing in return.

M.i.M.

Normally I would not respond to a post of this nature but just wanted add that I purchased a set of adjustable Koni's for my 911S from Courtney and found him to be very easy and straight forward to deal with. I would not hesitate to do business with him again.

Best regards,

got to love a Happy Ending. If I were a jury with the facts as provided herein, I would have to say this seller is trying hard to deliver good solutions but his communication during times of issues may be challenged.

The old saying "the customer is always right" , which I believe is not true, does tend to prevail in debates. My suggestion is this fellow work extra hard to document commitments and promises with all transactions. Sometimes hard cold facts bring about a better reality for all. I would believe the repeat clients who have defended him and give the guy a fair shake.

with MIM.

I can't and won't comment on what kind of a seller he is; but he posted an offer for members to come and help themselves to a 914 being cut up. I got a nice drivers side door that he would not accept money for even though I offered. based on that and what MIM said he must be really bad at being a scammer.

so far by my count there are 2 satisfied PAYING customers (I am not counting myself as I did not pay) and 1 here and 1 on the bird who are dissatisfied customers. Again I can't and won't comment on what went wrong, but yes if you paid for something you should get it but you also have to make a correction possible; again I don't know what did or did not happen so I won't comment.
That being said, I suspect that if he was the crook and scam artist that some are calling him there would be a lot more members posting how he scammed them.

Myself I am only an hour away from him and think he is a decent guy, therefor I have no concern doing business with him as I can do a pickup for myself. If you are not local and are not comfortable then I would suggest having someone local handle pickup and payment for you or take your business elsewhere.

I will also remind you all of several weeks ago when a car was sold on Ebay and then questions came up here about pictures being deleted and postings being edited (suspect that complaint thread is also gone). From what I have gathered specint has not done anything to that level but rather possibly more of the level of being a poor seller then a scam artist (I am NOT calling the other person I referred to anything either, just pointing out that questions come up).

Sorry peeps, just can't resist commenting on this right now as well.

"scam", "liar", "asswipe"...Len, I hope you're not liking your decision to write those things at this point. Since you never mentioned it I would bet that you did not lose your money for the lugs, which would make you the one whose reputation here should suffer as much as Courtney's IMHO sir, acting like some kindergarten kid, calling names and wasting our (my) time here on this unjustified thread.

I hope this will indeed end here and not become something like

Ok everybody? The fight is over, right? So let's get back to



M.i.M.

Whoa Mike, let's back up a moment.

I have a text from Courtney saying he was shipping the lug nuts usps flat rate today....that was January 7th.

When I eventually outed him in a thread that was removed (I wish admin. would repost), if anyone read it, he said he would again ship. Again, nothing.

Ever have a seller not answer your phone calls after weeks of trying?
Ever call a seller only to find his mail box full?
Ever have a seller give you a shipping number and the next day having it cancelled?

The ones who seemed to have success with him are all from Maryland, the seller's home state.

Listen guys, you can believe whatever you like, but knowing this guy, it will happen again. And I hope those that spoke up for him will do everything they can to make sure the potential buyer gets his item or money back

Perhaps enough people have read this thread over the last couple of days to be forewarned, especially if your from outside MD.

One more thing.....I might enjoy the spanking only if you're female and very hot.

isn't it about time this stops.