Small Scale Military Headquarters

Just a heads up on a potential scam from a relatively new member mecanico23. I had my reservations about dealing with someone overseas but as I have more than my fair share of extra items I figured I would take the chance. First of all in this process He asked me to make the amounts on the customs form less than the actual agreed upon price.(red flag) Then asked me to send an invoice for the balance.(red flag) He advanced me the difference from the invoice i sent and made a subsequent payment for the total amount.I got paid for the total amount agreed on. Now here is the tricky part.I have no way of knowing if mecanico23 received the item.He requested a tracking number and I explained to him the U.S.Postal service did not assign tracking numbers for overseas packages.Now A pay pal dispute has been opened.Hint to everyone...Trust your instincts...and don't deal with this guy.

so he opened a paypal dispute claiming he never got the package(s)...and there is no way to tell if he did or not...wow, not good. Guy sounds questionable for sure. Sorry you have to deal with this. Thanks for posting

Sorry to hear but that's not a surprise.
A friend of mine here had a 1/6 Helicopter Mecanico wanted but I didn't feel the guy so I stayed quiet. Seems to me you are on a way for big Paypal trouble

Let us know anyway.

phil

Customs can hold packages for months. I have had this happen before with ebay several times (twice in Brazil which is where he is from). You and the USPS should have a copy of the customs form for international shipping. That way you can prove the item was shipped.

Sorry to hear about this, Sarge. I hope it all turns out well, but if not your proof of shipping should be enough to show you fulfilled your part of the deal, if the package gets lost or mishandled it's out of your hands. If the buyer is legit (and from the sequence of events this guy already looks like he's trying to pull something), he'll understand EVERY possible precaution needs to be taken in overseas shipping including insurance/signature/or any other available service. Unfortunately I don't think PayPal will see it this way and will probably blame you, the seller.

So how long ago did you ship this thing? I would think that this being an international deal that it would be quite a while. It sounds fishy to me as well, and I have had a few buyers, international and domestic, try and pull stuff like this. I hope you are able to resolve this and if he is pulling a scam, able to catch him in his lie. It seems odd that the guy hasn't been spamming here for a while like he had been in the past. Reeks of someone looking to quickly victimize a few members of this board and move on to the next target.



-Kevin

I’m really sorry that this is happening to you. I voiced my opinion about mersanico 23 a while back and even posted statistics on his activity here. The guy tried getting people to ship him things when he had only been here a few days. After being reprimanded a few times he completely disappeared and posted again in the BST area 1 day after his 6 months were up. He was obviously here for one reason only.

Given that all the facts on this case are still a bit hazy, I would recommend that no one do business with this guy till things are cleared up. I have a bad feeling that this may not be the only person he has been dealing with.

Hello Big Sarge,
as trigger 1 stated Brazil is really bad for customs delays and can take 2 months to get to who you sent it. You think it will never get there and than it finally gets out of customs. Also you mention no tracking. Did you send item priority international or first class international. With priority you can put in the customs number and it will show information to the destination. First class forget it.

I know this doesn't help in your case, but the international thing is exactly why when I list on ebay I block everyone except North America, the UK, and Japan. The rest have been too problematic.

Sarge,

I have dealt with Luiz (Mecanico23) a couple of times. once when he bought a Marauders F-18 from me, and once when he needed one of the weapons pylons from an F-18 color matched and weathered. The deal with him purchasing the Hornet went perfectly, no problems at all. When I sent his pylons back to him after I painted them, I didn't send them with a tracking number, and of course they got lost for a few weeks. I sent Luiz the Customs number for the package, and he left me alone. a few weeks later, he sent me an email letting me know that he finally received the package.

Is he a pain in the a$$? Absolutely. However, I dont think he is a crook, at least not as far as my dealings with him are concerned.

Hit me up on PM and we can discuss this further.... I may be able to help you out with the situation.

-Rob

I have been starring at this all day thinking how crappy it is for you. This guy spams this forum up asking for help finding things constantly and continously for a month and when someone finally offers to help him out, they screw him. He needs banned from this forum. This to is why we need a posting minimum and feedback system.

Just want to tell that I've ordered a lot of things from the USA and China and never had any loss. I'm leaving in Switzerland. Though I've got a Humvee from Italy, a F-16 from Greece, sent a Blackhawk to Spain, I wouldn't take any risk now with many countries considering the economical situation.
I'de like to start soon to trade with SSMHQ members and hope that not everybody will exclude me because I'm not in the USA (I will only have my 100+ stars and 100% satisfaction on eBay as a guarantee, + perheaps a recommandation of Pizzaguy)...
It could be usefull that when a new member did his 6 months delay, he also must have had some deals with SSMHQ members on eBay before starting selling or buying here.
Best regards, Chris

granch wrote:Just want to tell that I've ordered a lot of things from the USA and China and never had any loss. I'm leaving in Switzerland. Though I've got a Humvee from Italy, a F-16 from Greece, sent a Blackhawk to Spain, I wouldn't take any risk now with many countries considering the economical situation.
I'de like to start soon to trade with SSMHQ members and hope that not everybody will exclude me because I'm not in the USA (I will only have my 100+ stars and 100% satisfaction on eBay as a guarantee, + perheaps a recommandation of Pizzaguy)...
It could be usefull that when a new member did his 6 months delay, he also must have had some deals with SSMHQ members on eBay before starting selling or buying here.
Best regards, Chris

I will be happy to deal with you but only to send stuff. As Swizterland is not part of EU, taxes are sometimes high

phil

Thanks to everyone for the support.I forgot to mention there has been consistent communication between both of us on this transaction....I will mention that some family issues prevented me from communicating for about a week or so but i let him know as soon as I could yet he still filed the paypal dispute...the item shipped on Jan 28.@ Rob,having been an active member here for a while it just seems that maybe you or anyone could let him know I have no intent to defraud him....thanks again...
John

cjg476 wrote:I have been starring at this all day thinking how crappy it is for you. This guy spams this forum up asking for help finding things constantly and continously for a month and when someone finally offers to help him out, they screw him. He needs banned from this forum. This to is why we need a posting minimum and feedback system.

I agree 100%, I would love to be rid of his spam and this seals the deal for me.
I had a guy in Brazil buy something from me on Ebay in spite of my requests for no international bidders, he also asked for me to lie on the customs forms and then claimed it was lost, and requested my personal information (just name and address) I reluctantly provided it and I guess it all worked out because he left me positive feedback later and I haven't been kidnapped yet. I subsequently figured out how to block oversees bidders.

Well I tell you.

I send a lot of stuff overseas. Those pay crazy amount of taxes on the total amounts so most guys now are asking me to declare smaller amounts.

This is kind of the norm for overseas transactions.

Italy takes the longest to get any packages.

Mexico is the worst. You put insurance on the package and if lost they will pay for only 1/3 of the amount

Many people simply refuse to ship to Mexico.

I tell my buyers that I will do everything that I can but in no way can I guarantee that they will get their package.

Big Sarge he may have jumped the gun. but it sounds like you are talking to him so I hope everything will work out for you.

Sorry to hear about this Bigsarge

Hopefully its just the customs delay and he'll get the item in less then a week. By opening a pp dispute, this has to be resolved in a week's timeline? Doesn't give you much leeway or time to let this sort thru. It would've been nice if Paypal is able to disclose whether if a buyer has filed disputes regularly (absolute red flag), then a seller would have a better understanding on the customer he is dealing with.

Does seem unusual for mechanico not to raise any issue here as he has been actively posting in bst every 5 or so days and the last post of his was 10 days ago?

What is the item in dispute and whats the value of it? Is it the 1/6 AH-6 or the pilot?

USCGSARdog, I'm very surprised that you dealt with him for a F-18 Marauder, that was a huge risk you took. Did you know him for long to deal with him or did you take precautions that minimzed the risk?

Not saying this is a confirmed scam but all I can say is that there is always some bad international apples (including some countries customs that are the culprit) does give us genuine international buyers an unwanted situation and reputation. Its somewhat unwarranted but I understand its the sellers perogative not to possibly risk putting themselves in such a situation.

Do not use first class international and use USPS Priority Mail International or Express Mail only, do not declare low value, keep customs form for reference tracking and evidence to Paypal. Make clear that it will be buyer responsible if force to declare the low value or use unsecure term of shipping method. Currently shipment from US always take too many days for international even use USPS Express Mail International. In the past it took not late than 7 days (some time only use three days to arrived) to ASIA country and another xx days for import customs clearing depend on the practice in each country. Now it took over 7 days before the package will left US after seller sent to US Post office. I do not know why but this is my experience but I never loss the package. Only two shipments delivery error to some country but finally it sent to me. This is due to team work between me and seller to issue complaint to Post office in each of our country to investigate asap once find something wrong. Paypal also honor buyer a lot but if you have evidence to prove they will not refund the payment back to buyer easy as well.

I just laid out the guidelines of how the deal was going to be done. Period. He wanted me to cover Priority shipping to Brazil, I said no. Then he wanted me to lower the price of the Hornet. I told him no again. I then grew tired of Luiz badgering me on the price, so I told him the deal was off. In the end, he met my requirements of the full sale price AND all shipping fees UPFRONT (which he paid in 2 payments, 3 weeks apart). Once I received the last payment, I sent the Hornet, via USPS w tracking number. It took about 10 days for the Hornet to reach Brazil, but everything went well.

The lost weapons pylons were partially my fault because I sent them the cheapest way possible, as shipping was on my dime this go round. Luiz did work with me on this situation, and in the end the pylons finally surfaced in Customs down in Brazil.

Keep in mind when dealing with anyone overseas, or anyone online for that matter, that it is imperative to keep ALL shipping documents and ALL email communications concerning the trans action until all monies have been exchanged, and all goods have been received. I hang on to these records for 6 months or so, in case there is ever any question.

I honestly don't think Luiz is trying to rip anyone off. If he was a crook, I don't think he would want to friend me on Facebook and be so open about his life. We have had quite a few conversations about where he lives and what he does.... he even sent me Christmas and New Years greetings via email. He is in the Brazilian Air Force and is actually an aircraft mechanic. (just to confirm, his shipping address is in fact at an Air Force academy in Brazil) He is a pain to deal with, but if you stand your ground, he will pay top dollar for these aircraft. I think the bartering/price negotiation antics are something that is done on a daily basis in Brasil. We find it offensive and annoying, but I think it is a way of life down there. I'm not sticking up for Luiz here, I'm just presenting the facts of my dealings with him. I think this is a miscommunication/knee jerk reaction on Luiz's part, and I believe it can be resolved so Big Sarge isn't getting the $hit end of the stick. I do know that Luiz has been burned on big dollar items by a couple of people on eBay here in the U.S., so maybe that is why he was so quick to pull the trigger on the PayPal dispute.

AND, btw... In my opinion, If anyone is a crook in this matter, it's PayPal.....

John, if you will PM me some specifics about the transaction in question, I will get in touch with Luiz and see if I can get him to drop the PayPal dispute.

-Rob

I agree with USCGSARdog. I don't think the guy is a scammer, but he is impatient. One thing I will say about Luiz is that there is NO shortage of communication. I am currently working with him and have had no problems to speak of. I personally don't think he should be banned from the forums.

Well top to bottom this should speak for itself!


Priority Mail International Parcels


Customs clearance processing complete


February 10, 2012, 7:56 am


BRAZIL


International Parcels




Customs Clearance


February 09, 2012, 12:44 pm


BRAZIL





Processed Through Sort Facility


February 09, 2012, 12:42 pm


BRAZIL





Processed Through Sort Facility


January 31, 2012, 5:23 pm


ISC MIAMI FL (USPS)





Arrived at Sort Facility


January 31, 2012, 5:22 pm


ISC MIAMI FL (USPS)





Depart USPS Sort Facility


January 28, 2012


MACON, GA 31204





Processed at USPS Origin Sort Facility


January 28, 2012, 8:31 pm


MACON, GA 31204





Acceptance


January 28, 2012, 12:35 pm


FORT BENNING, GA 31905

Pretty sure that is all the evidence needed to clear you from a Paypal dispute.
Just seems that he is very impatient on International delivery.
Although I always thought he smelt fishy, no involvement in 1/18 discussions, then totally Blitzkrieging the B/S/T thread for 1/6 items when his 6 months were up.
Hope you got a good price!.

WOW. Looks like that member patiently waited for 6 months and then steamrolled the BST forum. Doe this call for a longer period of waiting for newcomers. Maybe 12 months instead of 6 months??

UPDATE!!!!

Well he finally got the OH-6 but now claims it was missing the small angled antenna on the upper portion of the tail boom....I know for a fact this bird was complete when shipped so his claim is bologna(ba-loan-e) in my opinion....he also states he is disappointed and can't use this aircraft for a static display at some modelers group meeting...I even told him how to make the piece but whatever....I will not deal with him again....

That's disappointing. Scam or no scam, it sure seems like a lot of unnecessary headaches to try and help someone out.