Posts Made By: Greg Shaffer

Hi Charles

Perhaps Herb has already removed it since you posted but I only see 3 active auctions and all 3 appear to be from active accounts.

Do you still see it?

Originally Posted by mike tiller

First time in my 70 years I have been scammed.....and I should have listened to my little voices.  Made the mistake of trusting a classified ad post and submitted payment through Zelle for a non-existent ZWO ASI183 PRO.....This scammer was SO good at their craft.  Seller was very concerned that I received a shipping tracking # and assured me all of the accessories in the ZWO camera package came with the camera (even named them!).  I will pretend I sent my money to a charitable cause and that they needed the cash more than I did.

Hi Mike

Sorry you got scammed, it happens, particularly if you dont use sound judgement. Since you are new here I will offer some advice

1. Paying by Zelle (or any of the other instant pay services that offer no protection) as you now probably realize is tantamount to mailing cash to someone. Not a good idea unless you have a history of good transactions with them. 

2. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is, the bigger the ticket item the more cautious you should be.

3. Unless the seller has a well documented history on the site with 98% good feedback be very cautious and stick to paying with Paypal for protection. Even then I rarely use anything other than paypal unless we have history. If they refuse, I keep looking......

4. One rule I stick to is if the seller has little or no feedback I restrict myself to $100 or less without fail, anther one will come along, patience is a virtue

5. Be sure and report problematic sellers like this one to Herb at [email protected] with all the relevant info you have so he can insure they dont do it again.

Been here around 15 years and most of my astro gear was bought via AM......all without any significant issues 

Cluster Fuck seems appropriate......

Face it.....Regardless of how much "Trump this....Trump that" you guys shout, our current President is a classic example of a "Post Turtle".....

When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a "post turtle".

For those that dont know what that means.......You know he didn’t get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, he doesn’t know what to do while he is up there, and you just wonder what kind of a dumb ass put him up there in the first place.


His approval ratings reflect this as well.....Prove me wrong LOL

Originally Posted by mike tiller

Gary,
Thank you so much for your reply and wise advice.  You are absolutely spot on with your guidance concerning identifying suspicious on-line transactions.  All of the red flags you mentioned were certainly present.  There were two additional red flags that should have sent me running:

1. When I initially joined Astromart and submitted my credit card information, my bank flagged the transaction warning me that the website was suspicious, and:

2. The Better Business Bureau rating for Astromart is an "F".

Again, I should have listened to my little voices.  I will be more cautious in the future.

Best regards,
Mike

Cant imagine why your bank should have flagged it...... as for the BBB I can imagine quite a few sour grapes complaints. Herb has little patience for those who think the rules dont apply to them. If you read the TOS and abide by the rules this is a great place to buy and sell used gear and without a doubt the safest......If you ignore the rules you will get tossed out on your ear with little more than a "Bye now" if even that......seen it many times. 

The amount of "whataboutism" you guys engage in every time Bumble sticks his foot in his mouth is hilarious.....

Trump's to put it mildly "unpresidential behavior" was at times both aggravating and disappointing. It was in fact the single biggest issue that held him back IMO. I was rarely pleased with his public persona....

That said, he isnt President and nothing he did excuses Bumble of anything......If the best defense you have when it comes to Bumble is to play "whataboutism" using Trump then you have NOTHING.....lol

Like Rich said.....who cares, since it doesnt potentially change the court most people are not going to care whom they put in the seat outside of some outrageous radical that has no business there.....

1. You saved the same post 4 times.....Try refreshing your screen once you have saved a post.

2. You might get better results by posting your questions on mounts in the Mounts forum instead of the FAQ forum.

3. If you are interested in buying mount parts such as a motor, you will definitely have more success by posting a wanted ad in the classifieds section instead of in the message forums.

4. Welcome to AM.....

How quickly they will eat their own LOL

LOL....talk about some revisionist bullshit to make that claim.

6.5 million have left the work force and are not being counted as unemployed

The number of people on welfare has shot up by over 45%

Americans classified as living in poverty up by over 20%

Health insurance costs increased by nearly 20%

Gasoline costs increased by almost 80%

Federal debt increase of well over 50%

That is the REAL state of the union......