Suspicious buyer

I think a point that folks are missing is that Vlad/Mike/whomever has a different side of the story. Anyone who agrees to wait 45 days for payment to clear seems on the level to me. That's more than enough time for paypal or any other merchant to sort out the problems. If the vendor doesn't like the payment method, then they can discuss alternatives with their client.

Like I said before, as posted the buyer sounded suspicious, but we don't know the details of their interaction. More details surface and maybe he seems OK. The problem now is that this guy who was previously not showing up in Internet searches has something that will show up on Google about him and it was started in not such a good light. I'd be pretty upset too.
 
AcridSaint said:
... Anyone who agrees to wait 45 days for payment to clear seems on the level to me. That's more than enough time for paypal or any other merchant to sort out the problems.

Like I said before, as posted the buyer sounded suspicious, but we don't know the details of their interaction. .
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It's noble of you to stand up for this fellow, as we would all like to receive the benefit of the doubt.

But as I see it...

As someone else mentioned, Paypal will reverse charges ands possibly freeze ALL the funds in your account 181 days later and you are then screwed.

I'm just as web paranoid as the next fellow, but in a transaction....
as Dr. Winter says..."business" I see no good reason for reputable business to have a fake phone number...heck even a criminal can use a disposable cell and then toss it.

If Dr. Winter is the assumed customer, then why is his location set as Russia here on BF, and Cincinnati to Rob?

Even the credit card Co. won't do business there because of widespread fraud- and they have the means to investigate, avoid and write off
(even they won't do it)

That's unfortunate for the legit operators in those countries, but not at all surprising.
His last post here is simply trying to bluff & bully you into going against your better judgment.

As Nathan-TM mentioned, CASH in hand...what ever that may be...Western Union or whatever works with no possibility for reversal.
-And only then.
At least then, the credit card Co is taking the hit for stolen CC info and not you.
 
I've explained the issue about Vlad to Rob - Vlad is my partner in OH and he deals with vendors who don't ship abroad. And the phone number was real, actually. It was a number of a Russian mobile phone operator, so maybe that's why it looked as a fake.
Anyway, its not a disaster for me - I've got a stock of S30V and ZDP. Just sad that there's no 3V left anywhere.
 
Once again we're making assumptions based on too limited information, in my opinion. I've also twice made recommendation to take a form of payment that is satisfactory for both the buyer and seller. If they can't agree on terms that's another issue all together. If Vlad/Mike/whomever is willing to wait 45 days for paypal, I would assume he is willing to wait a reasonable amount of time for any other number of payment forms. If he is not, then they can't both agree to terms they are comfortable with and then everyone can walk away from the deal with no bad feelings.
 
well, as I see it, a business has the right to refuse service to anyone. A business not dealing with a suspicious customer is simply protecting their own interests.

Better safe than sorry these days.
 
SShepherd said:
well, as I see it, a business has the right to refuse service to anyone. A business not dealing with a suspicious customer is simply protecting their own interests.

Better safe than sorry these days.
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That is totally different than posting his FULL name online in such a bad light. I don't know this guy maybe he is a scammer but maybe he is a legit business man. I google most people i do business with to see if there is anything on them. The original poster apologized and rectified his mistake I consider this this matter over.
 
swilliamf said:
That is totally different than posting his FULL name online in such a bad light. I don't know this guy maybe he is a scammer but maybe he is a legit business man. I google most people i do business with to see if there is anything on them. The original poster apologized and rectified his mistake I consider this this matter over.
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and neither did the OP

personally, I wouldn't have done business with him either. You give out a russian cell phone number , when you have a "partner" in ohio--why not just give the ohio number?

sorry, too many things don't add up
 
SShepherd said:
and neither did the OP

personally, I wouldn't have done business with him either. You give out a russian cell phone number , when you have a "partner" in ohio--why not just give the ohio number?

sorry, too many things don't add up
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Do not understand what i was saying? I did not disagree with you. I am saying not doing business with him is ok but posting his name online in such a bad light is not ok
 
swilliamf said:
Do not understand what i was saying? I did not disagree with you. I am saying not doing business with him is ok but posting his name online in such a bad light is not ok
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The OP has been changed, I do not see any full names.

That being said, it has happened here before. Sometimes with good results and with business as usuall-- othe times it's been a "Watch list" for theives.
 
SShepherd said:
and neither did the OP

personally, I wouldn't have done business with him either. You give out a russian cell phone number , when you have a "partner" in ohio--why not just give the ohio number?
sorry, too many things don't add up
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I've counted only one thing that don't add up - Vlad's phone. I could give his Skype contact to the vendor, because - sometimes everything could be very simple - I don't know his US phone and don't want to get that knowledge either, 'cause we're always talking via Skype.
Looking at posts in this topic, it seems to me that US knifemaking community suffers from frauds much more then ours. Russian knifemakers rarely work with foreign customers and almost everyone know each other. You have to earn reputation for years and it's very stupid to loose it within a day due to a simple cheat that can bring you just a few bucks - but ruin all your business.
Anyway, I can repeat that it's OK about Rob's refusal. He's in his own right. Just acting illogical - that's what really puzzled me.
 
DrWinter said:
I've counted only one thing that don't add up - Vlad's phone. I could give his Skype contact to the vendor, because - sometimes everything could be very simple - I don't know his US phone and don't want to get that knowledge either, 'cause we're always talking via Skype.
Looking at posts in this topic, it seems to me that US knifemaking community suffers from frauds much more then ours. Russian knifemakers rarely work with foreign customers and almost everyone know each other. You have to earn reputation for years and it's very stupid to loose it within a day due to a simple cheat that can bring you just a few bucks - but ruin all your business.
Anyway, I can repeat that it's OK about Rob's refusal. He's in his own right. Just acting illogical - that's what really puzzled me.
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It does happen quite a bit, mostly online and unfortunatly, from overseas.There's been a few frauds who have stolen from multiple makers here ( and private sellers). They just change their names, email addresses, or mailing address.
The way they get found out, is they are asked about in the various forums.
Maybe next time you should just have your contact in ohio do the business from here in the states, it may save future irritation
 
DrWinter said:
it seems to me that US knifemaking community suffers from frauds much more then ours
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SShepherd said:
It does happen quite a bit, mostly online and unfortunatly, from overseas.
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Maybe I'm the only one who read the entirety of the Vlad thread. Ok, well I skimmed some parts in the middle, but I read all the real content.

Anyhow, here's why everyone is so nervous, DrWinter.
Recently, a man named Vlad stole MANY high-dollar knives from a number of makers and dealers.
He bought them here on Bladeforums.com.
He had them shipped to himself in Israel, using several different names, addresses, and phone numbers.
He claimed the knives never arrived and convinced paypal or the credit card company to give his money back.
Then he sold the knives on a Russian-language knife forum.

(But remarkably, he came back to Bladeforums one more time to post some silliness about how he was an honorable thief and was going to move on to custom crossbows and snowmobiles.)


So certainly it's unfortunate for you to receive such suspiscion. And obviously there's more than one Vlad in Russia!

But to understand why this is going on, you need to know that a Russian-speaking Vlad with multiple phone numbers stole many, many, many thousands of dollars from knifemakers right here on Bladeforums, and then announced he wasn't sorry, and intended to continue.

If your name was Jim, you might have had no problem. :p
 
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If I remember correctly, Vlad the scammer caused a couple of online knife shops to go out of business and one shop owner commited suicide... can't totally remember all the details but it was really, really bad, probably over $250, 000 in knives stolen in a short amount of time. You can look in Good, Bad and Ugly (GB&U) in the hall of shame and find him.
 
SShepherd said:
The OP has been changed, I do not see any full names.

That being said, it has happened here before. Sometimes with good results and with business as usuall-- othe times it's been a "Watch list" for theives.
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KnifeMaker.ca said:
OP Edited
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swilliamf said:
That is totally different than posting his FULL name online in such a bad light. I don't know this guy maybe he is a scammer but maybe he is a legit business man. I google most people i do business with to see if there is anything on them. The original poster apologized and rectified his mistake I consider this this matter over.
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You showed up late and started commenting on a thread you did not read. We were never saying that he HAS to do business with him we were saying he should not post his full name in such bad light unless he is 100% sure. This was fixed.
 
MSCantrell said:
Maybe I'm the only one who read the entirety of the Vlad thread. Ok, well I skimmed some parts in the middle, but I read all the real content.

Anyhow, here's why everyone is so nervous, DrWinter.
Recently, a man named Vlad stole MANY high-dollar knives from a number of makers and dealers.
He bought them here on Bladeforums.com.
He had them shipped to himself in Israel, using several different names, addresses, and phone numbers.
He claimed the knives never arrived and convinced paypal or the credit card company to give his money back.
Then he sold the knives on a Russian-language knife forum.

(But remarkably, he came back to Bladeforums one more time to post some silliness about how he was an honorable thief and was going to move on to custom crossbows and snowmobiles.)


So certainly it's unfortunate for you to receive such suspiscion. And obviously there's more than one Vlad in Russia!

But to understand why this is going on, you need to know that a Russian-speaking Vlad with multiple phone numbers stole many, many, many thousands of dollars from knifemakers right here on Bladeforums, and then announced he wasn't sorry, and intended to continue.

If your name was Jim, you might have had no problem. :p
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...Yeah, I linked to that thread on post #9. I guess nobody looked at it? Y'all might want to look at that and understand...
 
swilliamf said:
You showed up late and started commenting on a thread you did not read. We were never saying that he HAS to do business with him we were saying he should not post his full name in such bad light unless he is 100% sure. This was fixed.
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How in the hell do you know what I did and didn't? I read, and re-read the thread. I'm entitled to my opinion just as you are-although you seem to think you have the final say for some odd reason

I suggest you check you're attitude at the door
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Chill. Follow your own advice. This is Shop Talk, these men are trying to see how to avoid being scammed out of their own hard work.
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which is exactly what I was trying to explain, just to be told I 'didn't read the thread"
I've been here long enough to see scammers take alot of money from good people. I really don't see the problem with posting a name in the forum to get some kind of reference or someone to vouch for their credibility.
Pretty simple, if no one knows them and there are questionable circumstances..no business.
The OP could have simply said no, but I think by asking in the forum he tried to save a potential cutomer
 
DrWinter said:
Vlad or Mike - that sounds like names of evil Russian paratroopers from Modern Warfare 2, but Nathan is quite a suspicious name too. :)
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I had to quote that since my name is Nathan as well. I have known Rob and his wife Marilyn for around 4-5 years now. In that span of time I have purchased several thousand dollars a year in materials and tooling and have never had a single issue. Any problems I had with purchases (and I can only recall one issue with one block of wood) were dealt with immediately and efficiently - with Rob making things right at the cost of his own time (of which they have little) and expense.

Rob and Marilyn's business is based on the supply of small quantity orders to knifemakers and beginners (although they are more than capable of handling larger orders too). They are more than willing to deal with beginning makers and newcomers, with Rob offering advice freely to anyone who takes the time to ask. I am a welder and millwright by trade, in that arena - I have never met anyone who is as willing to work with a customer the way Rob and Marilyn are.

I would personally consider them an invaluable asset to the knifemaking community, at the very least here in Alberta. They have personally helped me more times than I can count, whether by allowing me to try out some new materials I would probably not have tried otherwise, or just a hot cup of coffee and some encouragement when I've needed it.

I know Rob, I consider him and Marilyn to be friends, if he has a reservation about a deal, there is a legitimate reason.

Nathan
 
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