# CRAIGSLIST SCAMMER ALERT. Buyer Beware.



## Frayzm (Aug 11, 2013)

I don't know if I'm posting this in the right section, but I just wanted to share with out a "fun" little experience I had with a guy on craigslist so that no one here makes the mistake of doing business with him. This guy, agreed to sell me some African Cichlids juveniles that he had in his collection, which he told me were all 1 1/2" large. I specifically asked him for 6 Johannis and 4 Venustus and after agreeing on a price, we decided to meet. When I got there, I gave him the money and he gave me a TINY ZIP LOCK BAG that consisted of FRY. Seriously, all of these fish were only around 1/2" in length. Then he drove off without another word. To add insult to injury, all of the fry were Venustus and I only got 9 of them. 

Not only did I not get what I asked for, but I had to immediately setup a half-running (missing heater), 16G tank for these guys. In my rush to set-up the tank, I accidentally burned out my two of my heaters. I hope you can all understand my frustration and excuse my little rant. I just emailed the guy asking for an explanation to this very unfortunate situation.


This is just a warning to anyone looking to do business with him. 


And Marvin, if you're reading this, you owe me an explanation.


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

how much were the fish?


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

so you handed him the money, he handed you the bag and just ran away?


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

sorry to hear that... just curious... you hand him your money without looking what's inside the bag first?

maybe it's just me but I would not hand any money to anybody before I see and check what I'm getting.


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

why dont you just call him and sort it out


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## Frayzm (Aug 11, 2013)

I paid $25 for them. I'm very thankful it wasn't a horrible deal but no matter the amount I paid, he should have still given me what he promised. 

I was standing by my vehicle and he stopped in the middle of the lane blocking off a couple of cars trying to get out. I told him to park his car so we could make the transaction but for reasons unknown at the time, he wouldn't park. Basically he just made the situation really awkward for me as there were cars waiting for us to move away. Also it was already dawn at the time and I couldn't see properly so I had to make a split second decision. I guess it was partially my fault for being careless but I gave him my trust and he broke it. He drove away the moment he had the money.


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## Frayzm (Aug 11, 2013)

If I call him, it'll turn in to an argument for sure. The money is gone already and I am positive that I will not be able to get it back. I'm posting this only to alert others about this guy in hopes that no one will fall in to the same trap as I did.


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

did you contact him to try to resolve this?


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## Frayzm (Aug 11, 2013)

Yes, I emailed him asking for an explanation. No reply though.... not that I expected one.


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

you have his phone number, phone him


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I would phone him!!!!!


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## Frayzm (Aug 11, 2013)

Well I really don't want to get in to an argument, but thank you guys for you concerns. I'm just going to have to accept the fact that there truly are some horrible people in this world and that karma will most likely get them. Anyways, I'll just pretend I paid $25 for a good learning experience.


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## Frayzm (Aug 11, 2013)

So yea. Buyer beware.


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

are you sure? perhaps juveniles look similar
did you ask for a refund?


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## beastmode604 (Dec 5, 2012)

maybe he just got mixed up, if he wanted to scam you he would not reply... plus he drove with a vehicle with his license plate # and has his cellphone #...so maybe if you man up you can get this sorted out
on the other half its only 25$


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

There's certainly two sides to this story. If he was a total scammer I have a feeling you would have been off a lot worse than you are. 9 fish for $25 is a pretty big steal imo, you'd almost pay that for tetras.. Do you have a picture of the fry? Fry can look very similar between species at such a young stage. Venustus may have some spots at 0.5" but may also just look a plain brownish colour. Johanni can look similar but a bit more orange.


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## Frayzm (Aug 11, 2013)

No, he's not a total scammer, just a dishonest person in general. He said the the fish were 1 1/2" in length but the guys that I got were only about 1/2", some even smaller. Maybe Nigerian Prince is correct, juveniles look similar. I'll try getting some pics nonetheless. Anyways, as I said before, I don't want to engage in an argument with him over a couple of fish. I posted this here just as a warning for people trading with him. What's done is done.


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## Dude (Oct 4, 2013)

Hey Frayzm,

I actually know marvin and I have contacted him to ask him in regards to your posting. First I would like to say Marvin isn't that kind of guy that would rip you off, he actually bought 3 jewels off you couple weeks back and those were for me actually he picked them up as a favour for me because I didnt have time. I would have taken the advice that few people threw at you to simply call him up and sort it out, because after I confronted him about this he felt bad but he said he actually emailed the guy back. however He said He just called you right now again and you didnt answer your phone. Ive known marvin for 10 years and trust me He loves his Cichlid hobby and he doesnt even want to make money from selling his cichlids he simply has soo many babys that he has no idea how to keep them all any more. He has been only into cichlids for only about a year and I myself for about half a year. Trust me when I say he wasnt trying to scam you or anything like that bud. I am not venting just simply relaying his message in some ways because he barely knows how to use a computer. As a Favour can you please take his Phone number off that would be great.

Here is the email he sent you: SUBJECT WAS: ill buy all your african cichlids

If you feel as if I wronged you in any way I am more then willing to give you your money back and you can still keep the fish I am by no means trying to wrong anyone or burn bridges with anyone or yourself. If you feel this is fair. I would like to make amends with you and work out any differences 


So I suggest you contact him to sort this out. Goodluck to you


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## Frayzm (Aug 11, 2013)

Dude said:


> Hey Frayzm,
> 
> I actually know marvin and I have contacted him to ask him in regards to your posting. First I would like to say Marvin isn't that kind of guy that would rip you off, he actually bought 3 jewels off you couple weeks back and those were for me actually he picked them up as a favour for me because I didnt have time. I would have taken the advice that few people threw at you to simply call him up and sort it out, because after I confronted him about this he felt bad but he said he actually emailed the guy back. however He said He just called you right now again and you didnt answer your phone. Ive known marvin for 10 years and trust me He loves his Cichlid hobby and he doesnt even want to make money from selling his cichlids he simply has soo many babys that he has no idea how to keep them all any more. He has been only into cichlids for only about a year and I myself for about half a year. Trust me when I say he wasnt trying to scam you or anything like that bud. I am not venting just simply relaying his message in some ways because he barely knows how to use a computer. As a Favour can you please take his Phone number off that would be great.
> 
> ...


Dude, thank you for your help in this. I have just contacted Marvin about the situation. Just so you know, I am not by my phone and computer all day due to school so I have not been getting his messages. I by no means what to get something free off of him so I am passing on his offer and putting an end to this. In respect to you, I will take off his last name and phone number and will assume that he just accidentally forgot a fish and gave me the wrong sizing for the cichlids.


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## Fishman21 (Apr 26, 2010)

Lesson learned - I agree with Frayzm, this was clearly a scam - phone/email follow-up will not likely offer you any resolution. Best to just move on.

It just reminds us that not everyone in the fishworld is quite as trustworthy as we want to believe.

Will make for a more careful purchase next time.

Hope the fish are growing


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I have to disagree....it is not *clearly* a scam if a person is not going to make an good attempt to contact the seller to find out what the deal is before posting a thread as such on a local fish forum. It is totally unfair to just *assume* they got scammed IMHO. 
the original post stated:

_" When I got there, I gave him the money and he gave me a TINY ZIP LOCK BAG that consisted of FRY. Seriously, all of these fish were only around 1/2" in length. Then he drove off without another word."_

Judging by this it sounds a problem was clearly noticeable before the guy drove off.
Also it was stated:

_"I hope you can all understand my frustration and excuse my little rant. I just emailed the guy asking for an explanation to this very unfortunate situation."_

this does not appear to be an very good effort at making an attempt to resolve anything. Clearly the seller didn't have ample time to reply before being accused of being a scammer on a local fish forum. Not everyone sits by their computer all day and night, let alone checks their email every hour. Big problem with this generation is they would rather email or text as opposed to just making the phone call.

The only lesson to be learned is that common sense should be practiced when dealing with anyone from CL or even here.

1) if your going to meet up with someone at after dark , do it in a well lit place
2) no matter how awkward a situation is....it's your cash.... check to make sure your getting what your paying for before giving YOUR cash away. If they want to make the sale, they will let you make sure you are getting what you want. If it's so awkward you have to make split second decisions, then maybe that itself should be a red flag.

Personally if it were me, I would have made the trip to their place to see the fish in the tank as opposed to having them delivered without ever seeing them. As for the size, that could have been an honest mistake, not everyone is good with sizing, plus sometimes fish look smaller in a bag then they do in the tank. 
IMO if the OP isn't going to make an honest effort to contact the seller to find out if it was just a simple mistake, then they should have never posted this to begin with. I see a poor excuse in this thread why no effort for a phone call was attempted by the op...imo not a good excuse was listed to justify a good reason to post this without giving a little time for the seller to respond. The OP stated they just emailed the guy when starting this. The only good effort to find out what was going on via a phone call, was made by a member that knows the seller. 
If your going to post a thread as such, then you should have exhausted every effort of contacting them and give them more than an hour to reply to an email, before doing so. As I see it the OP was simply afraid to make the call in fear of an argument. Understandable but doesn't seem to be any good reason to assume that would even happen. Even if it went that way, simply hanging up the phone would end that. Then there would be reason to believe one was scammed. Judging by the response by the seller, I'd say it was simply a mistake for the most part. But there were mistakes on both parts as far as I can tell. The guy offered to give the cash back and let them keep the fish? Never ever heard of a scammer doing that. Just my 2 cents on the situation.

With that said I closed this thread as I do not see anything being solved by it except further slandering someone without good cause, as well as an effort for a resolution was attempted.


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