Just a Buyers/Sellers Heads-Up!!

[Daymon LaPoint]

Forum Staff, Please feel free to move this post to another location.

Update! Bank called, they made a decision to refund/un-freeze money. Thank y’all for all the wisdom and help. Seller will be happy and I can finally start getting to know this ol’ Fingertip!! It’s need a bunch of work but I’m looking forward to it.

Recently purchased a Fingertip project from a wonderful forum member/brother.
He packed and sent guitar as agreed.
I fed-ex'd bank check/cashiers check as agreed.
He received fed-ex BUT.... Envelope had been cut along the bottom seam and the check was nowhere to be found. I did place the check in the envelope in front of the fed-ex staff at the counter and sealed it myself. Note I sent was in there but check was gone.
He contacted fed-ex, as did I. Nothing could be done.
I contacted my bank and paid for a stop payment. I was told by bank that they'd issue an account refund after a few days if the check didn't show up.
Well bank notified me that the check showed up, cashed in Houston about 2 hours away at a check cashing location.
Bank fraud department got involved. Researched, and decided not to give me a refund. $1750.00 GONE!!!!
But wait.. There's more. Apparently these guys are able to recreate these checks somehow and did. 3 more checks were made from that original bank certified check and cashed at various locations in Houston and in San Antonio.
Needless to say I am dealing with the bank, had to close that account as they said it was "compromised".
I'm out the original $1750.00 and for the moment the additional $5250.00 as they've placed a hold on those funds until this is cleared up. I feel pretty good about getting all this resolved and not being out any additional money. This may very well become the worlds most expensive Fingertip!!
To add insult to injury while trying to connect my bank to paypal to pay seller it's literally taken 4 banking day so far and my account still isn't connected. I am wondering if the bank is delaying this while this is going on.

Meanwhile my forum brother/seller has lost faith in me but has been more than patient. Hoping to get him paid in full and better than new quickly. Those that know me know that I'm much more upset about disappointing a brother than I am about the money.

Just wanted to share the latest way they've found to steel what isn't theirs. Part of me misses the good ol' cash days.

Y'all have a blessed day. Look out for each other and pay it all forward.

[Will Brown]

I have a friend who within the past 3 weeks has had this same thing happen to the T.This is why I only usps on all my shiping. It's gets there faster it's cheaper you don't have to worry about theft. I ship every thing from steel guitars to bank checks etc. All these guys who have these fedx accounts that think they are great because they can print a label have them pick it up is great. We'll it isn't worth the hassle of it not getting there.I won't buy any thing that's not shipped by usps

[Daymon LaPoint]

I have a friend who within the past 3 weeks has had this same thing happen to the T.This is why I only usps on all my shiping. It's gets there faster it's cheaper you don't have to worry about theft. I ship every thing from steel guitars to bank checks etc. All these guys who have these fedx accounts that think they are great because they can print a label have them pick it up is great. We'll it isn't worth the hassle of it not getting there.I won't buy any thing that's not shipped by usps

Will, I hate hearing this. What state did this happen in?

[Will Brown]

Okla.I have have a friend who owns a Harley Davidson shop.He told me he had to tell his parts jobbers to quite shipping his parts fedx.Because at least 1/4 of the boxes would be empty by the time they got to him. Ha,all you fedx users you better watch out find another shipper it's only going to get worse.Fedx dosent care they really don't spend much time invesgationing. Also I have a friend who owns a. gun shop he said he can't tell you how many guns came up missing off fedx he went to usps

[Damir Besic]

Few years ago I sold a guitar to gentleman in Texas who mailed me a cash via FedEx, when I received it the envelope was open and then taped back closed , money was gone . I’m never doing any businesses with FedEx again

[mtulbert]

Check your email

[Daymon LaPoint]

Check your email

Hey Mark, I checked email. Nothing yet.

[Bill McCloskey]

There are any number of digital ways to send currency, Zelle, paypal direct transfer. It's immediate and you don't have to wait. I've sent cashier's checks by fedex and never had a problem but I may only deal in digital currency from now on.

[Daymon LaPoint]

Bill, thank you sir. I’ve sent literally dozens and dozens of cashiers checks via fed-ex without issue. I’ve also used PayPal, Venmo, CashApp and Zelle. Stoped using PayPal for many reasons of which are mainly fees. Had to reconnect my checking account and reopen my PayPal which is taking a few days now.
No more money by mail for me. Have a blessed day.

[mtulbert]

Not sure why the email is not working.

Here is the text

Daymon,

Feel your pain brother, and to me having a Fed Ex agent watch you put a check in an envelope sends a lot of suspicion to me and I would pursue something at your local office.

In the future. If you need to send money to continue our passion of buying and trying new steels may I suggest using registered mail. When I was in the jewelry business we used it all the time. When you send something the post office puts a cancellation stamp on every part of the envelope that is sealed. Also everyone who handles the parcel has to sign a log as it goes through the process. Never had an issue with doing things this way. More of a pain to be sure but the paper trail of everyone who handles the parcel in invaluable IMHO. Just a thought if you don't use Paypal or Venmo.

Take care and good luck.

[Will Brown]

That's fine but what about the rest of this stuff coming up missing. Parts etc it's not only checks its other cargo coming up missing.I mean there got to be a end to it. But it's not till fedx figures out that most of this is inside help. But that isn't going to happen

[Daymon LaPoint]

Excellent advice Mark and thank you for your time. What’s so crazy to is is as you know I’ve bought more steels as equipment than I care to mention. Never had much of an issue. Delays here and there but nothing terrible. Have a lease day.

[Dennis Montgomery]

Wow. What a nightmare...I can't believe the fraud dept of your bank wouldn't back you up on the initial $1750. That is completely outrageous and clearly the worst example of customer service I've heard regarding something so obviously fraudulent.

Thanks for the warning about FedEx...we live in rural WA state and do all our shipping from the local UPS Store where we also have a box and receive all our packages. Have sent and received a few pedal steels through our UPS store and luckily have never had a problem.

I hope since other checks were generated from the first stolen one that the bank reverses it's original decision and you get the entire amount refunded

[Jerry Overstreet]

Well that's pretty disturbing. Especially the part about the bank not giving you the help you need. Didn't realize thieves can dup your check for more theft. Sorry this happened to you. Guess I need to be more vigilant in my own dealings.

I'm sure hoping this gets resolved quickly.

[Will Brown]

They do what they call washing a check. We're they put it in a solution take off the amount name etc make exact to the T copy and cash them. My buddy had to close and open a checking account 3 times before all the fake checks came through at the sum of 15000.00 but his bank made all of it good. These scammers know all the tricks and catching them good luck almost impossable

[Richard Sinkler]

Not only time to dump FedEx, but time to switch banks.

[Mark Shuda]

Whoever the seller of the fingertip is……Daymon will do good by the transaction.
He is a trusted longtime forum member and he does what he says! Unfortunately, it looks like a good deal of his steel guitar funds have been frozen! A tough deal to swallow!

As a side note , in the last three weeks there has been a Nigerian fraud ring targeting the wider steel guitar Community on Facebook.

They have infiltrated Marketplace and most Steel Guitar interest groups have been compromised. They advertised deals that are “ too good to be true” and ask for payment through Zelle or Venmo, which offer no buyer protection.

They do return phone calls , and you can recognize their dialect as South African.

Moral of story, if it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true! Don’t buy a guitar online without talking to seller first, and if seller doesn’t know who Lloyd Green is, he’s probably not a real seller!

Be careful out there! It’s getting worse!

[Daymon LaPoint]

Whoever the seller of the fingertip is……Daymon will do good by the transaction.
He is a trusted longtime forum member and he does what he says! Unfortunately, it looks like a good deal of his steel guitar funds have been frozen! A tough deal to swallow!

As a side note , in the last three weeks there has been a Nigerian fraud ring targeting the wider steel guitar Community on Facebook.

They have infiltrated Marketplace and most Steel Guitar interest groups have been compromised. They advertised deals that are “ too good to be true” and ask for payment through Zelle or Venmo, which offer no buyer protection.

They do return phone calls , and you can recognize their dialect as South African.

Moral of story, if it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true! Don’t buy a guitar online without talking to seller first, and if seller doesn’t know who Lloyd Green is, he’s probably not a real seller!

Be careful out there! It’s getting worse!

Thank you my friend. Doing some research and have called a couple of friends in the bank world. They say this stuff happens daily and they’re constantly updating fraud prevention measures but as soon as they do the thieves are one step ahead.
I hope you’re doing well and thank you for the kind words.

[Dennis Montgomery]

They do return phone calls , and you can recognize their dialect as South African.

While it was a different game, I can confirm that these scammers will return phone calls and appear legitimate so don't let that fact alone convince you they're for real.

My wife runs a marketing business and was contacted by a South African "client" who spent 2 or 3 weeks and several hours on the phone & email negotiating a contract for her services. This wasn't a red flag as she occasionally has international clients. He even docusigned the contract but when it was time to pay the initial fee provided 3 different credit cards to split the payment equally - none in his name which he explained were his "business partners". This was highly unusual then when he asked her to pay the fee he owed to his "US web designer" (who only accepted Western Union) and add the amount to his next invoice with an extra 5% for our trouble we knew it was a scam.

Obviously the 3 cards were stolen and his "US web designer" was an accomplice. My point is these scammers work it as a full time job and think nothing of spending hours on the phone or email for weeks setting the foundation for what appears to be a legitimate transaction. He even ended several calls during the negotiation saying he was "late for church"...

What a crazy world we live in

[Steve Hitsman]

Venmo... no need to mail checks.

[Keith Bolog]

There is fraud practiced in every digital transaction method too and new diabolical schemes are being created every day.
I fear AI will really accelerate fraud, its the end of reality as we know it. I expect a post here soon about an AI fraudster that learned enough about you to sucker you into a transaction which parts you with your money. The phrase 'a fool and his money' no longer applies....these fake 'people' are incredibly authentic sounding.

I shudder to think that most digital accounts are interconnected to a bank account or two, so that if one is hacked, others may domino.

A thumbs up for FedEx here - when there is legitimate loss or damage they are way easier to settle than USPS, in my experience.

I hope you are able to recover the funds.

[Erv Niehaus]

I won't give FedEx a thumbs up.
They damaged a guitar for me and I wound up having to take them to small claims court to get a settlement. The judge ruled 100% in my favor but they still didn't want to settle up. I had to send the sheriff after them.
Erv

[Will Brown]

I won't use them period

[Daymon LaPoint]

We’re working through this and it’ll get fixed quickly. Seller is being beyond patient and it’ll all be fine. Thanks for y’alls wisdom!!

[Jim Fogarty]

That TRULY stinks. So sorry for you, and what you're dealing with.


I have to say, I guess because of the age demographic, so many here refuse to use Paypal for transactions. But, for me, the cost is well worth it, as there's at least some form of protection for both parties. (yes, yes...I know the exceptions, etc).

Everyone, please deal wisely and safely.......and hope this mess works itself out ok!