Help: Scammed by Beyond member (Apexi-R/Jeremy Mani)

[Danish]

Hi,

This post is in response to the following for sale thread in the marketplace:

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/257812/fs-80gig-ps3-300/

Originally posted by Apexi-R
i have a new 80gig ps3 the box was lost when i moved comes with 1 controller and all wires including controller charger and hdmi cord no games incl asking 300 very firm on price pm me your number and i will get back to you asap thanks

I called Apexi-R regarding the ad, he informed me that his name is Jeremy and that he lives in Okotoks, so we agreed to meet at Sunridge Mall (half way point) for me to purchase the unit. The next day I received a phone call from him and we met up on Friday at 4:45pm. Straight forward exchange, everything seemed in good condition, but he was missing the charger cable for the controller. We agreed to meet up at noon on Saturday so I could get the cable. I didn't think much of this at the time, as he seemed like a legitimate seller.

I went home and quickly tested the system to ensure that everything was in working order. The system functioned correctly with no issues. To my surprise the system information tab showed that the PS3 was a 40GB model and not the 80GB model that was advertised in the post. I have made multiple calls to Jeremy (Apexi-R) and sent multiple PM's, he has not responded to either. I was even able to track down his parents number from one of his other for sale posts and tried calling them and explaining the situation. They have told me that he hasn't been home in the past 4 days, that they don't know where he is or how to contact him.

I just want to return his PS3 and get my money back, but I'm out of ideas on how to track him down. I would appreciate any suggestions and hope that posting this will lead to a solution.


Thanks

[dj_rice]

Did you look at his trader rating before you purchased from him?

[Danish]

That was my mistake, it was 0 so no positive or negative comments. I did perform a search on his user name however, and there were no negative comments in any of his previous for sale threads so I assumed it was safe.

[7thgenvic]

You really should have looked at the PS3 when you were purchasing it......

[Danish]

The hardware model is the same between the 2 models, so it was not outwardly apparent to me. I could not check the storage capacity until I had the unit up and running. In retrospect I should have arranged to meet at a house so the system could have been tested, that too was my mistake.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3

[e36bmw///]

nm

[Danish]

He drives a black skyline GTS-T, I believe he lists it in his profile.

[dj_rice]

I dont think theres much Beyond can do besides banning his account since all marketplace transactions are buyer beware but hopefully past buyers will chime in and give you his address and info for sweet justice

[Danish]

Yeah I figured I was SOL, but this was the last thing I could think of to try.

[rumeo]

Why don't you give him some time to read your messages and give a properly reply instead of overreacting and posting on beyond? Maybe there's a legitimate reason...

[topmade]

Originally posted by rumeo
Why don't you give him some time to read your messages and give a properly reply instead of overreacting and posting on beyond? Maybe there's a legitimate reason...

Maybe the guys out of town for the weekend or something, it's a common thing people do. It doesn't seem like a all out scam since it works fine but just missing the charger and HD is smaller then expected.

[Team_Mclaren]

Originally posted by topmade

Maybe the guys out of town for the weekend or something, it's a common thing people do. It doesn't seem like a all out scam since it works fine but just missing the charger and HD is smaller then expected.

80GB vs. 40GB... thats a pretty big different...

[Danish]

Yup, that's what I thought. Doesn't seem like something that you would easily miss. Either he sold me an older system or swapped out the hard drive.

I'm trying not to jump to conclusions, it just seems odd that he's not contacting me, especially when we had agreed to meet the next day.

[Projek01]

doesn't the ps3 40gb and 80gb look different? i thought the 80gb had more chrome on it for the BLING factor.

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by rumeo
Why don't you give him some time to read your messages and give a properly reply instead of overreacting and posting on beyond? Maybe there's a legitimate reason...

Because he was logged in and active last night...

[Sharpie]

I live out in Okotoks pm me...

[Danish]

pm'd

[Danish]

Originally posted by Weapon_R


Because he was logged in and active last night...

Thanks for the information, at least now I know he's been reading all of this. That confirms that's he's choosing not to contact me.

[realazy]

To add some information to the situation.

The 40gb model did cost the same as the 80gb model.

There were 6 different HD capacity PS3's out so far.

1st ones were 20gb and 60gb

2nd ones were 40gb and 80gb

3rd ones were 80gb and 160gb

The 2nd gen 40gb PS3 costed the same and the 3rd gen 80gb PS3.

Not that it matters too much, since he told you the capacity, but you didn't get "ripped off" as much as you think.

[Amysicle]

Originally posted by Danish
To my surprise the system information tab showed that the PS3 was a 40GB model and not the 80GB model that was advertised in the post.

Originally posted by realazy
Not that it matters too much, since he told you the capacity, but you didn't get "ripped off" as much as you think.

Maybe I misunderstood you, but how is lying about the capacity when it is half as much as stated in the ad not ripping someone off? If the seller told the truth about it being 40GB instead of 80GB, it would have been up to the buyer if they wanted to pay $300 for it, instead of being tricked into the sale. The price the seller "could have" paid for a second gen 40GB and a third gen 80GB is irrelavent to the buyer of a used item.


Good luck to the OP of getting the money back.