scammed! by! s4cr! out of thousands of $$$!

[Han]

Please keep us updated.

[*96tegls*]

GL getting your wheels/money man !

I have been PM'ing him about different sets of wheels for my w126 for weeks now, he sounded like a perfect trusty worthy person, until i read this !

I bet he has made a good 15k scamming people.

Fuck him..

[Pagani]

Good luck getting your money back, hope everything works out ok.

[iliescu]

Sucks to hear, I hope it all works out ok.

He should really respond to clear up the confusion or man up to his mistakes.

[iliescu]

This upset me so I did some research, I think he could be a good guy just busy as hell. Here are some replies from other forums about him or this issue.


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It took me just 30 days. It is comming quite a long way, customs is a bitch lately, shipping companys change from country to country, and apparently he has to send stuff to alot of people. There are alot of factors involved, he was kind enough to send me an e-mail explaining how some stuff got messed up during shipping, and he was doing what he could to get it all resolved. Im assuming, since I did get mine, that he isnt trying to scam people, unfortunatly not everything happens as smoothly as we all would like haha. I can understand why people would say he is scamming everyone, but why would he use the same name on every forum?? kind of a give away...


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I ordered parts from France that were held by US customs for 7 months. I recieved no notice they were being held/had been held until they finally arrived at the shop covered with a bunch or orange and green US customs stickers all over them.(it was clear they had been opened and retaped by the red us customs tape on the box as well). The shipper (a Skoda/Seat dealer was kind enough to ship me another set 1 month into the ordeal which arrived in around two weeks. I finished the car I needed the parts for and about 5 monthe later the original box of parts showed up randomly. Shipping to other countries you'll rarely have any issues, recieving shipments from outside the US it seems to be a potluck as to what gets looked at I've had many shipments coming from Germany, France, Brittain, and even Sweden and only hever had one go over 2 months, but most averaged 6 weeks. The only way I've had packages get here consistently faster from europe is when my buddies ship stuff from US airbases as I'm guessing our soldiers mail home is not nearly as closely scrutenized by customs. Customs can hold your item for 30 days, if they require longer they will get it, you have no say in the matter. If they determine the item is an illegal import they will seize it and you will get a thick letter in the mail explaining the process and where your attourney can show up to fight to have the package released.(I have never had this happen with car parts but my father had some electronics from his business seized once. )


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You say that with absolute certainty, but I doubt you know how long customs could hold something for. I've shipped stuff internationally before at my old job and it's not like printing out a shipping label on fedex and sending it in the united states. US customs is filled with people who don't give a flying fuck about your concerns or your items. It seems like this dude got in over his head with too many orders. I'm not saying to buy from him, I'm just saying he's not a scammer.


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And this one is from s4cr himself:
Thanks for the support and understanding Rob (i'm waiting for the pics of those on your car! ;} ) and Tuck&Poke.

I've explained all this A LOT of times in numerous emails, so i'm gonna repeat it just once:
I left bf.c cause i can't login for some reason i don't know.
I had no intention to scam anybody (why else would i give out where i live, my name, show off my car, use the same nickname everywhere and so on..?)
I'm trying to fix this all crap up, but it's freaking hard to do when nobody trusts you, you don't have any other source of income, and you have to reship/rebuy things. Shipping almost around the globe isn't cheap you know..


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Sounds like he buys and sells wheels that are not yet in his posession, or at least some of the time this is done. It also seems that he does this part thing full time and doesn't have another income, so if parts aren't selling that could slow things down like refinishing and shipping because of limited funds.

This is why you always only sell shit you HAVE, not something you see for cheaper on ebay, thinking you'll double your money.

I really hope it all gets sorted out, but I also know the limitations in a village in north eastern Europe for fast communication, and around this time of year he could simply just not be available during the holidays.

[T.Reed]

Woah. Man. That's wild.

[MrFukengruven]

still, at least he should reply back saying what the status is... since he really hasn't done that, NO MERCY! Somebody who is an undercover police officer should 'buy' a set of his wheels and set him up for the 6' x 8' "room" with bars

[Evolve]

So what is the best way to sell a set of rims then so everybody is happy and secure? Use an escrow company? Or do an ebay auction so the buyer has the ebay buyer protection?

[Topazkd]

So what is the best way to sell a set of rims then so everybody is happy and secure? Use an escrow company? Or do an ebay auction so the buyer has the ebay buyer protection?

How about...if you are selling a set of wheels....after recieving a payment, SEND out the rims to the buyer?

[Evolve]

I am sorry - this is of course, self implied. If you want to continue with a good rep and the business (and for this guy it is the business) you need to follow through and have the customer updated.

That was not the question. I am asking what is the best way to keep everybody happy DURING the shipment.

[maverick]

When i ship wheels from the uk ,i get tracking details from the moment it leaves my workshop ,
these are usually delivered to usa within a week, (if they get raped by customs it holds up the delivery but its not happened yet)
I hope that everything gets sorted out , as there are too many threads like this at the moment ,

[BADwayz]

GL getting your wheels/money man !

I have been PM'ing him about different sets of wheels for my w126 for weeks now, he sounded like a perfect trusty worthy person, until i read this !

I bet he has made a good 15k scamming people.

Fuck him..

How many people have you been PMing for rims in the last 6 months? You made a deal with me and more than a few other people here then punked out, and I still see you making plans with people....you might not be stealing from people, but stop leading people on with your false intents yourself.

[twastheglow]

I really **** to do this, but I've been PM'd here & on bimmerforums regarding a fellow member on here that has scammed me out of a set of wheels.

I don't know the best way to go about this story, but s4cr has stolen a very! very! large chunk of money from me. This situation is beyond sad & has left me close to vomit on an almost daily basis for almost 2 months now.

DO NOT BUY FROM S4CR!

S4CR is a SCAMMER!

S4CR will take your money & promise you wheels that he does not even own!
please please be careful; again, DO NOT BUY FROM S4CR!

I've been asked to please post this thread warning forum members. I feel horrible doing so, but at the same time, I feel it's an obligation to fellow wheel whores to be careful.

his name on StanceWorks, MaxBimmer, Bimmerforums, VWVortex, & Stanced.lt is s4cr. His real name is Antonis Palekis from Lietuva, Telsini. it's in Lithuania.

basically, he lures you in with a set of wheels that he says he owns, are rare, & in mint condition. he says he'll paint the wheels whichever way you want, freshly polish the lip, zoop seal it, send with a brand new key locking device . . . the whole shabang. basically he tells you everything you want to hear.

Antonis, s4cr, told me to just send the money & he'll get you a tracking number sent directly to my email within 24hrs. of receiving the cash. once he had gotten my money, he seemed to stall on sending the tracking numbers & said he couldn't make it out to the shipper that same day & would try the next. didn't happen, so he says our time zones are completely different so he will do it first thing tomorrow, but it'll seem like a couple of days because of our differences in time zones again.

okay, no problem I'm thinking. I mean, the guy's on a bunch of forums, seems really into fitment & bimmers, etc. nothing was fishy & besides, the dude's so genuine sounding in his emails that I had nothing to question.

so, almost two weeks go by & I start to think something seems a bit off here. I've purchased plenty of wheels before from overseas & never remember having a similair dealing. I want to PM s4cr, but I feel silly asking him to prove they've been sent, so I stall on my own end figuring he'll just copy/ paste them to me sometime soon.

it became about 5 weeks since I had paid closer to $2,000 than it was $1,000 & my subconcious keeps telling me to just PM the dude & ask for the tracking numbers. it's not checking up on the guy, it's just something that should be understood when purchasing anything online. it's the same as getting a receipt at a store, so I do PM him.

Antonis is all cool with me, he says he's sorry he hasn't gotten back to me. He says it's because he wanted to make sure the wheels were in perfectly restored condition & that the polish on the lips were even, etc. I had them painted by him as well - at least supposidely, & he tells me in a PM how the guy was dragging & he didn't want to rush him in fear he'd do a bad job, etc.

I think s4cr is literally my best friend & looking out for me here, so I believe these stories & lay back thinking that s4cr is treating my wheel purchase like gold, so don't stress him out as he is already doing that to himself over my set of wheels. He says don't worry, I answer your every reply fabel & emphasizes how it's very important to keep in good contact with me so I feel safe as to where my wheels are at every given moment. Remind you here that he has not sent ouf this set of wheels 5 weeks past the date I had paid him what I will refer to as 'thousands'.

I think this is stupid & should not be the case, so I tell him if you cannot get my wheels done by the end of the week, just refund some of the cash I gave you & ship them out already. He says no man, I want you to be proud when you open the boxes & help create an epic build for you so please just hold tight. he says I can ask a couple of people of his business dealings here & vortex as to create some trust, but I say it's all good, just send them out by the end of this week because I'm starting to get scared. He says, yep; promise.

well, the end of the week goes by & nothing. I get pissed, but don't contact him because again, I try to be very respectful & think highly of Antonis Palekis of Lithuania. foolish of me! I start thinking of how many people I know that will only buy wheels in person for similair reasons etc. my dumb ass though was only concentrated on gettin' some rare shoes mounted up & so my judgement became easily clouded. this furthered in my head as clouded judgement when I asked why he would do this; it would only come back to haunt him. I also told myself to stay cool, because this guy is like the nicest you've ever met.

so wrong of me! s4cr surely scammed me. I kept having thoughts at this point on how I'm dealin' with a dude overseas that has had my money now for close to 2 months & still hasn't sent my wheels out. I get all crazy in the head when I realize some dude over seas has my money & my wheels & the true story of what's going on here while I just sit back & say, naw, the dude is straight as hell.

this fades right before the actual two month mark & I PM his saying I need proof of some sort that these wheels have been sent out. he says in his country they do not provide such without paying an extra fee. I say I don't care, pay it & contact me before weeks end because I don't like thinking about this everyday; I literally can't handle how strong some of the fears are on my mind.

Antonis tells me to relax & that he's sorry. s4cr continues to go on saying he will pay out of pocket for these tracking numbers, but if I could be so kind as to let him cash his work check on friday first so that he'll have the cash to do so. I say okay . . . however, this now brings us to the following week which was more like two weeks later since I had inquired over this early in the previous week.

I guess what I find confusing is he offers to paint the wheels whatever color you want...you claim you asked him to paint the wheels yet also expected them to be shipped within 24 hours. How would that be feasible? It's one or the other. Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying you ARE or ARE NOT being "scammed". I was just pointing that out.

With that being said, I WILL say that when I purchased some wheels from Poland it took a hair over 2 months from when they were first shipped. It seemed to take forever!!! It's very nerve racking. I was given tracking numbers through the USPS and they were only scanned in ONCE...when they were leaving Poland! So for 2 months after I sat and waited and checked the tracking numbers every couple hours and nothing. Eventually they showed up on my doorstep. 2 wheels the first day, 2 wheels the next day.

[Jedidiah]

We are actively looking into this..


We HIGHLY encourage members to buy wheels from either our sponsors or reputable / proven companies. When it comes to buying from another member (especially one who has not been authorized to sell as a company on the forums) you are definitely purchasing at you're own risk.

WIth that said, we want to see this resolved and will be working actively to help however we can.

Ben
StanceWorks

[Average_Jerk]

I guess what I find confusing is he offers to paint the wheels whatever color you want...you claim you asked him to paint the wheels yet also expected them to be shipped within 24 hours. How would that be feasible? It's one or the other. Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying you ARE or ARE NOT being "scammed". I was just pointing that out.

With that being said, I WILL say that when I purchased some wheels from Poland it took a hair over 2 months from when they were first shipped. It seemed to take forever!!! It's very nerve racking. I was given tracking numbers through the USPS and they were only scanned in ONCE...when they were leaving Poland! So for 2 months after I sat and waited and checked the tracking numbers every couple hours and nothing. Eventually they showed up on my doorstep. 2 wheels the first day, 2 wheels the next day.

USPS typically doesnt update their tracking info on international shipments. I ship internationally on a daily basis, and Id say that happens about 80% of the time. they get scanned when the package reaches the international dispatch, then never again.