Conman: The ratcatcher

[T 20]

I'd just like to say Thankyou to members who've contacted us about suspected dealers using the sales section --- Thankyou.

Behind the scenes we have contacted a few vendors to point out your concerns.

Some folks you've pointed out will be receiving a complete sales ban at an appropriate time --- I may even permanently ban the ones who only ever post in the sales section as they obviously have no interest in adding to the forum.


Thankyou once again.




All the best Mick

[Anothermiss]

Good work, mods. I can only imagine how much work you guys have to put in.

[STR8SHOOT3R]

Back on topic, I wonder if situations like this might be alleviated if, say, it was a forum rule that if the buyer notified the seller within X (7, 14?) days of receipt (confirmed via tracking) that the item was defective or not as described, that the seller would take it back with a full refund, or lose sales rights.

Difficult to administer, and I’d suggest the buyer pays all the PF48 return costs to avoid an outbreak of “try it and see” or other forms of “buyer’s remorse”, but perhaps worth thinking about, even if only to decide against?

Trouble is, as you say, “Buyer's remorse” and otherwise less than straightforward buyers are also an issue.

Some years ago, I sold an HW35. It was a very accurate rifle. The buyer seemed a sensible chap, asked all the right questions (like what ammunition does the rifle like) and a deal was struck.

Well, he turned out to be a total PITA. A few days later, he gets back to me and says that the rifle won't group. A few probing questions from me reveals that he's using the cheapest possible pellets (SMK something or other) so no wonder. I told him to try JSBs or H&N and he went away again. A few days later he's back again saying that it still won't group. We had a little chat and he mentioned problems with zeroing his scope, and a few other bits & pieces (real basic stuff) and it started to become obvious that he simply didn't have a clue what he was doing.

So I refunded him and took the gun back. I put the old scope back on it and immediately shot a clover leaf group at 25m. I still have it now and it's still one of the most accurate rifles that I own.

So yes, I sold a gun to an idiot. Sadly they walk among us.

[bighit]

Trouble is, as you say, “Buyer's remorse” and otherwise less than straightforward buyers are also an issue.

Some years ago, I sold an HW35. It was a very accurate rifle. The buyer seemed a sensible chap, asked all the right questions (like what ammunition does the rifle like) and a deal was struck.

Well, he turned out to be a total PITA. A few days later, he gets back to me and says that the rifle won't group. A few probing questions from me reveals that he's using the cheapest possible pellets (SMK something or other) so no wonder. I told him to try JSBs or H&N and he went away again. A few days later he's back again saying that it still won't group. We had a little chat and he mentioned problems with zeroing his scope, and a few other bits & pieces (real basic stuff) and it started to become obvious that he simply didn't have a clue what he was doing.

So I refunded him and took the gun back. I put the old scope back on it and immediately shot a clover leaf group at 25m. I still have it now and it's still one of the most accurate rifles that I own.

So yes, I sold a gun to an idiot. Sadly they walk among us.

Saw this a few times. They slate the selier and others join in and when the truth comes out those that commented saying the person was a scammer are no where to be seen on the thread saying they were misled. Mind you it was mostly Facebook groups I saw this on.

[oldskoolzzz]

Trouble is, as you say, “Buyer's remorse” and otherwise less than straightforward buyers are also an issue.

Some years ago, I sold an HW35. It was a very accurate rifle. The buyer seemed a sensible chap, asked all the right questions (like what ammunition does the rifle like) and a deal was struck.

Well, he turned out to be a total PITA. A few days later, he gets back to me and says that the rifle won't group. A few probing questions from me reveals that he's using the cheapest possible pellets (SMK something or other) so no wonder. I told him to try JSBs or H&N and he went away again. A few days later he's back again saying that it still won't group. We had a little chat and he mentioned problems with zeroing his scope, and a few other bits & pieces (real basic stuff) and it started to become obvious that he simply didn't have a clue what he was doing.

So I refunded him and took the gun back. I put the old scope back on it and immediately shot a clover leaf group at 25m. I still have it now and it's still one of the most accurate rifles that I own.

So yes, I sold a gun to an idiot. Sadly they walk among us.

They certainly do

I know a few folks like that which is why I always always prefer a face to face transaction so I can show the purchaser exactly what he/she is buying.

Like most of us would do we even take time to show those unfamiliar with the setup how the functions work and in some instances how to even set a scope up correctly or even how to recharge in the case of a pcp etc.

Back in the freeads days there’s been a few examples like this.

Once sold a chap a HW110 and he pestered me for ages with daft questions and finally claimed it was broken because the safety catch wouldn’t work try cocking the rifle first numpty

Another old boy newbie bought an Airwolf full kit from me via freeads no shooting experience whatsoever took me about 3 hours to run through every feature and how to set a scope up with him

[T 20]

Good work, mods. I can only imagine how much work you guys have to put in.

Aye, it's really terrible wading through new registrations checking out all the pornography sites that try to join to corrupt you lads --- terrible I tells you.

Take it from me, Mrs Sexymilfblowjob won't be joining us.




All the best Mick

[oldskoolzzz]

Aye, it's really terrible wading through new registrations checking out all the pornography sites that try to join to corrupt you lads --- terrible I tells you.

Take it from me, Mrs Sexymilfblowjob won't be joining us.




All the best Mick

Spoil sport

[T 20]

Spoil sport

She wasn't that sexy, Nick.

[oldskoolzzz]

She wasn't that sexy, Nick.

[shootingdaft]

one of the guys at our club has just sent his xr back for waranty work, it was shooting fine then started doing exactley what you describe, sure he said it was a valve issue with something sticking causing wild variations in power and shot placement,
fingers crossed Brocock sort it for you.

[Phil Russell]

Trouble is, as you say, “Buyer's remorse” and otherwise less than straightforward buyers are also an issue.

Some years ago, I sold an HW35. It was a very accurate rifle. The buyer seemed a sensible chap, asked all the right questions (like what ammunition does the rifle like) and a deal was struck.

Well, he turned out to be a total PITA. A few days later, he gets back to me and says that the rifle won't group. A few probing questions from me reveals that he's using the cheapest possible pellets (SMK something or other) so no wonder. I told him to try JSBs or H&N and he went away again. A few days later he's back again saying that it still won't group. We had a little chat and he mentioned problems with zeroing his scope, and a few other bits & pieces (real basic stuff) and it started to become obvious that he simply didn't have a clue what he was doing.

So I refunded him and took the gun back. I put the old scope back on it and immediately shot a clover leaf group at 25m. I still have it now and it's still one of the most accurate rifles that I own.

So yes, I sold a gun to an idiot. Sadly they walk among us.

Apologies for going off topic but this immediately brought back memories: firstly of a Falcon rifle my daughter sold. She was not the first owner but the rifle was fine but it was easy to double load it from the magazine unless you were very positive in cocking the bolt, which also indexed the magazine. Buyer complained the rifle would not shoot a pellet. After a bit of enquiring it was clear the rifle had been double loaded and from the gist of the mail exchanges there could have been a full magazine worth of pellets stuck in the barrel. A few words of advice and eventually my daughter heard no more. We both hoped the purchaser had learnt the hard way and cleared the blockage.
The other case was a pcp I sold. Again I was not the first owner but after quite a while owning it we decided to move it on in order to create space for another. The sale went pretty well but a few days later the seller said the rifle was broken on receipt and would not charge / shoot. I immediately refunded all costs, including postage. On receiving the rifle back I tested it. It was perfect, no problems found at all, apart from the fact I needed to replace an O ring on the charge probe. I have no idea what the buyer had done ... the charge O ring had been new, perfect on despatch but I had emptied the rifle to comply with shipping which wanted the rifle empty. Maybe he/she had fiddled and got the charging sequence wrong. Whatever, it was sorted and only cost me two sets of postage out of pocket. But no animosity ensued. I guess that's life. On the other hand, all issues could have been solved with face-to-face transactions.
I might add both these memories were a long time ago, maybe 15 years.
Cheers, Phil

[gc93]

Back on topic, I wonder if situations like this might be alleviated if, say, it was a forum rule that if the buyer notified the seller within X (7, 14?) days of receipt (confirmed via tracking) that the item was defective or not as described, that the seller would take it back with a full refund, or lose sales rights.

Difficult to administer, and I’d suggest the buyer pays all the PF48 return costs to avoid an outbreak of “try it and see” or other forms of “buyer’s remorse”, but perhaps worth thinking about, even if only to decide against?

there would be no way id sell an item under that guise , its quite possible you could end up with a badun and end up with bits missing or was never sent with in the first place ! f2f or buyer take the risk for me .

[bighit]

Back on topic, I wonder if situations like this might be alleviated if, say, it was a forum rule that if the buyer notified the seller within X (7, 14?) days of receipt (confirmed via tracking) that the item was defective or not as described, that the seller would take it back with a full refund, or lose sales rights.

Difficult to administer, and I’d suggest the buyer pays all the PF48 return costs to avoid an outbreak of “try it and see” or other forms of “buyer’s remorse”, but perhaps worth thinking about, even if only to decide against?

Gary C tried to offer an escrow service where the item was sent to him and the money to him. That way there was no issue of the money or item not arriving .

It may have worked if the person offering the service could check it was working as claimed but it seems a lot of work but it could save incidents like this or worse.

[myiot]

I 2nd the above statement, this forum would be the poorer with out them.

Indeed! There are other forums where the mods actually seem to encourage antagonism....
Dave handled this well.

[MartynB]

Dave handled this well.

I second that comment