I think I just got robbed..

[Amigamia]

Hello guys,

I spotted an Amiga 500 on craigslist about a month ago in Greensboro NC which is about 2 ½ hours away from where I live (Chesapeake VA). I used to own one when I was a teenager, but had to sell it. I have always loved the 500 out of all the other Amigas so when I saw it, I want to own one again to have those memories back.

I asked the seller if he was willing to ship it if I paid for the S&H. He agreed and we decided on a price of $50 for the unit and $20 for the shipping and handling. I asked for a form of payment but the fastest one was via MoneyGram. I sent him the payment but since then he has not sent the unit, nor is he returning my calls. It has been almost a month but he is not returning my calls. I have his address and all the e-mail exchange log. Now my question is (maybe someone here is a lawyer). Do I start legal action? Is it worth it? I mean this is so sad that he steals $70, when I have his phone number, email address, home address and facebook page. What do you guys think?

I guess I learned my lesson about sending money like this to un-trusted people and I decided to buy an eMac 1.25Ghz on eBay for $29.94, which I plan on using with MorphOS, but that is story for another post.

[EDanaII]

I'd say point the law in his direction and let them do their job. Beyond that, I wouldn't hope for a whole lot. Sadly...

[amigasociety]

Hello guys,

I spotted an Amiga 500 on craigslist about a month ago in Greensboro NC which is about 2 ½ hours away from where I live (Chesapeake VA). I used to own one when I was a teenager, but had to sell it. I have always loved the 500 out of all the other Amigas so when I saw it, I want to own one again to have those memories back.

I asked the seller if he was willing to ship it if I paid for the S&H. He agreed and we decided on a price of $50 for the unit and $20 for the shipping and handling. I asked for a form of payment but the fastest one was via MoneyGram. I sent him the payment but since then he has not sent the unit, nor is he returning my calls. It has been almost a month but he is not returning my calls. I have his address and all the e-mail exchange log. Now my question is (maybe someone here is a lawyer). Do I start legal action? Is it worth it? I mean this is so sad that he steals $70, when I have his phone number, email address, home address and facebook page. What do you guys think?

I guess I learned my lesson about sending money like this to un-trusted people and I decided to buy an eMac 1.25Ghz on eBay for $29.94, which I plan on using with MorphOS, but that is story for another post.

Juts happened to my... kinda.  Purchased an Atari 65XE and was told it was new and fully working.  Picked it up at a location mutual (walmart near where this person lives but I don't have their address).  Get home and it is dead.  Calls to seller gets nothing.  I guess at least I have a $50 + gas money door stop.  My last message to this person was hope he feels good about himself and his family must be proud of him.

Karma can be a bitch so legal action, no need.  The cost of something like that is more than your $50.  Chalk it up to the way it goes or if you know ninjutsu, silently sneak into his home one night and get your $50 back.  Or do something worse.  :hammer:

These crooks will get it 3 fold in the end as karma can be a tough cooky on those that are asses.

tj

[ajlwalker]

Hello guys,

I spotted an Amiga 500 on craigslist about a month ago in Greensboro NC which is about 2 ½ hours away from where I live (Chesapeake VA). I used to own one when I was a teenager, but had to sell it. I have always loved the 500 out of all the other Amigas so when I saw it, I want to own one again to have those memories back.

I asked the seller if he was willing to ship it if I paid for the S&H. He agreed and we decided on a price of $50 for the unit and $20 for the shipping and handling. I asked for a form of payment but the fastest one was via MoneyGram. I sent him the payment but since then he has not sent the unit, nor is he returning my calls. It has been almost a month but he is not returning my calls. I have his address and all the e-mail exchange log. Now my question is (maybe someone here is a lawyer). Do I start legal action? Is it worth it? I mean this is so sad that he steals $70, when I have his phone number, email address, home address and facebook page. What do you guys think?

I guess I learned my lesson about sending money like this to un-trusted people and I decided to buy an eMac 1.25Ghz on eBay for $29.94, which I plan on using with MorphOS, but that is story for another post.

Since you have all his contact details, just go round there and help yourself to something of his property.  Tell him this will be retained until he performs his part of the bargain or refunds your money.

Probably best not to take something too great in value, but something around the $70 should do.  Note you are not permitted to sell this property, merely to retain it until he performs his part of the bargain.

Of course the above course of action could be dangerous, but so far as I can see it is perfectly legal.  Take a look at lien and what it means in law.

[Amigamia]

LOL good one TJ but I don't know any ninjutsu or any other utsu form of martial arts. I am Italian so I guess I could give him an offer he can't refuse right? I could drive there and drop a horse's head in his bed.

It is actually 4 1/2 hours not 2 like I thought it was, but that would cost me more money to drive there. I know his location and places on the net so I'll just keep squeaking and hopefully this wheel gets some oil.

[CSixx]

I instantly think scam the second someone mentions MoneyGram/Western Union/Etc.
I was robbed for over $900 cause I was foolish and used these zero-recourse payment methods, I won't make that mistake again.

Hopefully things turn out better for you, but it doesn't sound good

[ferrellsl]

You have his address.  Dump a truck load or garbage on his front lawn, but do it discretely in the middle of the night. LOL

[TjLaZer]

Juts happened to my... kinda.  Purchased an Atari 65XE and was told it was new and fully working.  Picked it up at a location mutual (walmart near where this person lives but I don't have their address).  Get home and it is dead.  Calls to seller gets nothing.  I guess at least I have a $50 + gas money door stop.  My last message to this person was hope he feels good about himself and his family must be proud of him.

Karma can be a bitch so legal action, no need.  The cost of something like that is more than your $50.  Chalk it up to the way it goes or if you know ninjutsu, silently sneak into his home one night and get your $50 back.  Or do something worse.  :hammer:

These crooks will get it 3 fold in the end as karma can be a tough cooky on those that are asses.

tj

Well I would of just told you it was sold as is, since it's 25 year old electronics, but his reply is BS!  You can use the case/keyboard and buy a beat up one and restore it.  Or have someone on atariage repair it for you while upgrading to to 320k !!

[koaftder]

Hello guys,

I spotted an Amiga 500 on craigslist about a month ago in Greensboro NC which is about 2 ½ hours away from where I live (Chesapeake VA). I used to own one when I was a teenager, but had to sell it. I have always loved the 500 out of all the other Amigas so when I saw it, I want to own one again to have those memories back.

I asked the seller if he was willing to ship it if I paid for the S&H. He agreed and we decided on a price of $50 for the unit and $20 for the shipping and handling. I asked for a form of payment but the fastest one was via MoneyGram. I sent him the payment but since then he has not sent the unit, nor is he returning my calls. It has been almost a month but he is not returning my calls. I have his address and all the e-mail exchange log. Now my question is (maybe someone here is a lawyer). Do I start legal action? Is it worth it? I mean this is so sad that he steals $70, when I have his phone number, email address, home address and facebook page. What do you guys think?

I guess I learned my lesson about sending money like this to un-trusted people and I decided to buy an eMac 1.25Ghz on eBay for $29.94, which I plan on using with MorphOS, but that is story for another post.

Contact the police in the district you live in and ask if you can file charges on the guy. If they let you do it he'll have to go to court. If he doesn't show up he'll have a warrant out for his arrest. I'm no legal expert, but this is fraud right? Fraud is a crime. If he gets brought before a judge, the judge will probably order the guy to pay you restitution. So call the police department and see what they can do for you.

[ElPolloDiabl]

You won't get the court application fee back (probably around a $100) but you will have the satisfaction of winning in court. So let's say 6 months till the hearing. Another 6 months after that they will garnish his wages and you will finally get your money.

[koaftder]

You won't get the court application fee back (probably around a $100) but you will have the satisfaction of winning in court. So let's say 6 months till the hearing. Another 6 months after that they will garnish his wages and you will finally get your money.

In the US, and in North Carolina specifically, I don't think you have to pay to press charges on someone. It's ridiculous actually, here you can just make something up, press charges and that person will have to appear in court and when the bogus charge is thrown out, it stays on your record permanently. That happened to me 15 years ago. Me and another fellow had a dispute about money and a week later he showed up at my place of employment, full of people, called the cops and said I threatened to kill him. He pressed charges when the police arrived and I had to appear in court. He didn't show up and the judge threw it out, though the incident is still on my damn record. (not guilty of course). Now every employer who does a background check on me will see a charge for "communicating threats" even though the event never happened.

[Amigamia]

Hmmmm good ones guys. Thanks! I thought I was out of luck since the money was sent via Moneygram and have literally no receipt. I do however have all the email correspondence from him giving me the price, his home address, his phone number etc. I am going to wait till the end of the month and leave him a message telling him my plan of action.

[koaftder]

Hmmmm good ones guys. Thanks! I thought I was out of luck since the money was sent via Moneygram and have literally no receipt. I do however have all the email correspondence from him giving me the price, his home address, his phone number etc. I am going to wait till the end of the month and leave him a message telling him my plan of action.

I wouldn't contact him at all, that will just give him ample time to plot a defense to make you look like a liar. I'd just file the charges and hope he's stupid enough not to appear. You'll get yours in the end.

[Iggy]

All  this discussion is pointless.
You lost the money.
Driving there and confronting him or doing something to him would not make up the loss to you, would cost you to get there, and might lead to more trouble than you already have.
You don't really have a criminal case. Even though he took advantage of you, all you have is a civil case. Filing a lawsuit for that and traveling to the court proceedings would cost you more than you would recover.
Plus you might no even win the case. Can he claim the unit was shipped via USPS and that you didn't receive it? If so, you might not have a case.

$50.00 for a functional Amiga? You probably should have looked at that with a grain of salt. The funny thing is you can get an Emac on Ebay for about that. And if you're defrauded you can get your money back.

Swallow your  pride, Admit that you didn't make a good decision and buy the Mac.

[Matt_H]

Sorry you got burned, but every craigslist sale page has anti-scam warnings plastered all over it:

Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally! Beware any deal involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, cashier check, money order, shipping, escrow, or any promise of transaction protection/certification/guarantee.

Contact his local police and complain, and be extra careful next time.