Silk Road forums

Market => Rumor mill => Topic started by: MySecretAccount on May 13, 2012, 12:51 am

Title: How long to wait before outing a good vendor gone bad/"dark"
Post by: MySecretAccount on May 13, 2012, 12:51 am
So, this is obviously a separate account I made just for the forums, but - so far (two months) SR has been amazing. Everyone I've dealt with has been first class, and I recently decided to go to a vendor who has a 100 reputation, and who was super responsive up to the order.

Despite the fact that FE is the way to get scammed, I did it when I started, and didn't think much of it with this person (since I'm under the 10 order minimum). I did it a few times, after research, when I first started - no problems.

Anyway - I ordered from this vendor on Thursday morning, and paid $15 for international tracked shipping. I was told my order would go out Friday morning (UK time), but that my 8 transactions required FE. I was considering telling him to fuck off, but - he happened to have a perfect seller rating, and the other person in the UK who carries what I wanted is out.

So - put in the order, he told me that he'd get in touch Friday morning with shipment info. It's now been 2 days and he's been active/posting new items, and he hasn't responded to either PM I've sent.

It looks like he chose to selectively scam me using FE and his reputation, because he would respond within 1-2 hours prior to the order, and now is totally dark (at least for my PMs).

What's the proper amount of time/protocol before calling them out/reporting thing as a potential scammers/selective scammer? I learned my lesson about FE, but - this vendor has a flawless track record going back 7 months....it didn't seem to risky.

So, FE (because it's in his rules for orders) was dumb, no need to re-explain that. But - I think he's just putting up a ton of tempting auctions in a vulnerable space right now and is probably taking everyone's money and just cashing out.

SR - how long is "long enough" for me to call this person out publically? It'd be one thing if he hadn't been "seen" since I ordered, but - he's not only been seen today, and yesterday, but he's put up more auctions since then.
Title: Re: How long to wait before outing a good vendor gone bad/"dark"
Post by: lvlbrained on May 13, 2012, 01:03 am
has he been reading your messages? if he has and is ignoring them for 2 days then thats a good time to say something i would say. if he takes the time to read your messages but not to reply thats not a good sign obviously. you can always just post a message asking if anyone has heard from him and then explain what happened. you arent calling him a scammer just saying you are concerned because of whats happened. he may have other people in the same situation who just havent posted so by just saying you havent heard from him for a few days has anyone else you are a little concerned, it might get other people in the same boat as you to pop up their head.
Title: Re: How long to wait before outing a good vendor gone bad/"dark"
Post by: jpinkman on May 13, 2012, 01:16 am
has he been reading your messages? if he has and is ignoring them for 2 days then thats a good time to say something i would say.

How can you tell if he's read your PM?
Title: Re: How long to wait before outing a good vendor gone bad/"dark"
Post by: lvlbrained on May 13, 2012, 01:23 am
go to sent messages and look at the list of sent messages, the ones that are bolded have not been read.
Title: Re: How long to wait before outing a good vendor gone bad/"dark"
Post by: MySecretAccount on May 13, 2012, 09:31 am
Thanks for the answers...the messages asking about the shipping (from the day it was supposed to be shipped, and today) are unread, but he's been active both days. No notes about not posting on weekends or whatnot, so - I'm as in the dark as him right now.


I have had really good experiences with everyone here, and this vendor has 1 year of near flawless feedback. So - he's either ignoring my messages on purpose, is busy (can't imagine being too busy to simply reply to an order like this though), or has chosen to just let selective scam.

Because I don't believe in causing a problem until I'm sure there is one, I'm going to give him another day or so to respond. I'd feel like an asshole for red flagging a good vendor who happens to be on a holiday or something.

I didn't know the sent messages were bold if unread, but - it helps. If I got SS'd, I'm going to be pissed, because the counterpart/competitor with the same product from the same country, who didn't require FE on my order even when I was new, ran out of stock literally a few hours before I placed this order instead.

So - if we get to day 3-4 and he is still seen "1 day ago" every day, I'll have to put them out there are a new selective scammer. Hoping that's not the case though.
Title: Re: How long to wait before outing a good vendor gone bad/"dark"
Post by: johndoe1111 on May 13, 2012, 10:08 am
You should definitely give him more time. I would give a vendor one week minimum.

The thing is, you shouldn't be thinking in terms of "I'm going to out this vendor" - You should be dealing in facts. If a dealer has failed to communicate with you or deliver in a timely fashion (compared to his usual response times or compared to SRs usual response times) it is fine if you report that.

But instead of making a new thread "XXXX potential scammer?!?!" go to the vendor's designated review page (if it exists) and reply to that thread with the FACTS about your transaction. Like "i ordered 5 days ago, was asked to FE and decided to accept the risk and go along with it. I haven't heard back from him yet, anybody have any information as to his status or if this kind of delay is normal?"
Title: Re: How long to wait before outing a good vendor gone bad/"dark"
Post by: MySecretAccount on May 13, 2012, 06:28 pm
I did this - I checked, and he is online now/was today, and there are now more people posting 5/5 FE feedback saying he was great in communicating, will update when arrives, etc. So - he's taking new orders (looks like 3-4 in the last 2 days), communicating openly with them, but is ignoring my PMs and hasn't sent the confirmation I paid $15 for (stealth/better shipping).

I feel like a dick, but - at this point, KNOWING that he's replying to everyone else and getting them to buy and FE early, how can I not assume that he's now scamming? I changed my feedback to say that I ordered 4 days ago and have my messages not read, so tread lightly, and PM'd the vendor with the proof he's been online/responding to other orders but not reading my PMs.

I am going to wait until tonight, but after that I feel obligated to let SR know that he's scamming $100-200 a person 1-2x a day, and making everyone FE. I think I'm being more than fair here, so...unless SR thinks it's dick of me to give him 5 days (on day 4 now) of watching him take orders, respond to PMs, and ignore my already completed order...I am putting him in the bad vendor thread.