Online auction problem: scam?

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soonerfan66

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I feel like I have been screwed on this and probably nothing can do but wanted others thoughts or suggestion . December 17 on a popular online auction site (not sure if it's ok to give names or not so won't till hear otherwise) I won a Lee Enfield rifle , it posted that I had won , money was removed from my checking account a few days later . The actual seller was another auction house that had mostly good reviews . They posted before auction that because of the Christmas rush in shipping packages that they would not start shipping items till Jan 4th . After I saw had won I emailed info on myself and FFL dealer I would be using . Sent another email asking if they needed anything else just let me know a week later and I asked for a invoice . Toward 1st week of Feb 2020 emailed them to just touch base . Called and left voicemail several times since . I never got a response on anything . Called today and again just voicemail asking about whats the hold up on getting info from them and the fact about them getting paid way back before and if was a problem either refund my money or send the rifle . Has anyone else been thru this or am I the only sucker ? The sight doing the auction I have had good luck with several times but this seller auction house I had never did business with before . I didn't get wined and dined but sure feeling screwed .
 
One more thing the seller auction house is still in business and even has another auction coming up soon thru the popular auction house's site .
 
Have you contacted the "... popular online auction site"?

Did your money go to the site at which you bid or the organization that has the rifle?


Todd.
 
Yes I contacted the popular online auction and they told me that after 60 days they are considered out of the loop and I would have to deal with the seller auction house . The seller posted it would take 6-8 weeks to ship and the reviews I read reflected this in the past of being slow and bad on contacting them to were only complaints but good on everything else . I will just come out and say who it is and hope I don't get in trouble here for doing it . Proxibid was the site having the auction and Little John's Auction was the actual seller . The way the payment was set up it is thru Proxibid 's system to the seller .
 
soonerfan66 said:
The seller posted it would take 6-8 weeks
Click to expand...

Looks like Feb 6th is 8 weeks. Very slow shipping can add another 10 days.

The 6-8 weeks to receive an item is a big red flag to me. Lack of contact is never good. https://john-gangel.squarespace.com/contact

Its possible the shipping label has been damaged. Package will sit till its opened and hopefully, shipping info was placed inside.

File a complant with the Better Business Bureau.

Good luck.
 
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soonerfan66 said:
The seller posted it would take 6-8 weeks to ship and the reviews I read reflected this in the past of being slow and bad on contacting them to were only complaints but good on everything else .
Click to expand...

There you have it. You entered into a deal with a guy - probably a good guy - with a history of being slow and uncommunicative , and you agreed to "Proxibid 's system to the seller", whatever that is.
Either one of those two factors would have been a deal killer for me. (There is a ton of Enfields floating around...) 6-8 weeks ... wow. The good news is - you are still in that window. Here's hoping all turns out well for you ; I'm guessing it will.

Live and learn. Please let us know how it turns out; the vendor deserves a completed transaction report here now that he has been called out.
 
You are correct it is in the end up to me . As far as looking at past reviews I use to take them with a grain of salt if you know what I mean . I am not sure how to explain Proxibids payment system or for sure how it works 100% . when I was starting to wonder and had talked to them in time maybe they could of helped . But I would like to hear about is there anything I can do if by chance the seller has lost me in their system or something and never contacts me . The only proof I have is when they were paid thru my bank account . The Proxibid account info on this sale is automaticly deleted after 60 days they said . I have heard horror stories about this stuff and guess I have been lucky in all my past dealings . I have bought another rifle last week on Proxibid a Mauser and like most times that certain seller was top notch and I have already have received it . I got spoiled and probably felt "that will never happen to me" type thing .
 
While I steer clear of proxibid based upon personal experience - I didn't yet know about this LittleJohn's so, thanks for that heads-up.

Todd.
 
I put a great deal of stock in feedback content; I go through the trouble of sifting out any negative entries , even there are only a few , and I look for patterns.

I backed away from a potential deal earlier this week for that very reason , despite an attractive price.

There are always alternative vendors. Again, you’ll probably be fine.
 
This guy moves a lot of merchandise. It may take a while.

soonerfan66 said:
But I would like to hear about is there anything I can do if by chance the seller has lost me in their system or something and never contacts me
Click to expand...
Online, take screen shots of the item for sale. Bids posted. Anything that has to do with your item. https://www.proxibid.com/Little-Joh...use/3161?cid=99999999&at=&Archived=1#Archived
Save emails.
If they dont answer the phone at the auction house, call the gun shop.
There is a fax number on the website also. Email
[email protected]
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There is an auction house & gun shop under the same name. The address seem to be real. The locations at the addresses can be seen using Google Earth .

On march 10th, i would contact law inforcement in your sellers jurisdiction. Ask for a wellfare check. A welfare check occurs when the police respond to a requested area to check on the safety or well-being of a person. Officers will then report back with their findings.
Give cops the reason, no reply or contact from the persons. They more then likely know him or know of him.
“Little John” Gangel aka John R. Gangel, “Big John” aka John L. Gangel and Moe Gronsky
Click to expand...

If its not a lot of money to you, i would just move on. But do post bad reviews on his facebook & other places as well as theBBB. April would be a good time.
 
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Yes Little john's is real and still in business that is one thing I check first and if it's a pawn or gun shop I feel more secure about doing business with somebody . I avoid individual sellers who are selling something for first time . Gunbroker has a running tab on items sold and bought and feed back on sellers and buyers which is nice . 243winxb that is a thought . I will keep that in mind . I just never have been blown off like this before , I was never rude or hateful in my emails . You live and learn and fingers crossed will get a surprise call from my FFL guy saying there is a rifle that just came in for me . I hope , I hope , I hope .
 
I have bought probably 150 items through Proxybid (mostly) without issue, and have bought a couple of items thru Little John's (via Proxybid). The longest I have ever had to wait for a firearm to be delivered was about 4 weeks. I did not have issues with Little John's. I was looking at some Yelp reviews of Little John's and there are comments about long waits to be contacted and long waits to have things delivered going back 5 or 6 years.

Good luck getting your rifle!
 
Got a email from Proxibid this morning say they made a courtesy call to Little Johns on my behalf . Maybe I will get a response . I am waiting till March 4th to respond and then I will do what needs to be done . It just boggles my mind that a business that's been around for awhile and has a decent rep on most things would have a area like customer service as poor as this .If they would let me know one way or another was there a error somewhere , their fault , my fault stuff happens I get that , sometimes it takes a while , BUT RESPOND TO EMAILS AND PHONE VOICE MAILS and let a person know something . Auction was over 10 weeks ago no invoice sent nothing just the with drawl of money . Poor business .
 
Just wanted to post a quick update . I stated a invoice was never sent , going over all my emails I had sent them and printing them off to have ready when I press the issue further with my bank I did discover a invoice from Little Johns Auction . It was the type you have to click on to pull up and see . It was at the bottom of the first email I sent them and over looked by me because I am not tech savy to understand all computer stuff . All other items invoices I bought on Proxibid were posted to my Proxibid account under "invoices" or items won . My wife helped me looked over everything else hoping to maybe find if I have missed anything else to help understand this issue but did not find anything . But having the invoice along with the bank statement hopefully will help my case if I still haven't receive the rifle or some type of communication this week . Just wanted to give credit were credit is do even if it's something as simple as a invoice .
 
243winxb said:
i would contact law inforcement in your sellers jurisdiction. Ask for a wellfare check. A welfare check occurs when the police respond to a requested area to check on the safety or well-being of a person. Officers will then report back with their findings.
Give cops the reason, no reply or contact from the persons. They more then likely know him or know of him.
Click to expand...

Welfare Check = Family members/friends/coworkers haven't heard from/seen a person in several days (hasn't shown up for work, etc.), and the person has known health issues, suicidal, etc.

Welfare Check = / = "I can't get a business to answer their phone...can you go by and see if they're open and have them call me?"

And if you try to do #2 under the false premise of #1, there's a good chance of being charged with a crime.

Years ago I was dispatched to an apartment, under the pretense that a mother couldn't get her daughter to answer her phone and hadn't been seen in several days. The complainant met us at the apartment and waited nearby as we knocked on the door. As soon as the young lady that resided there opened the door, the complainant tried to barge her way past me..."I knew that muthafucka was here!!", screaming at a male in the apartment.

As you can guess, it wasn't her daughter's apartment at all...it was the (rightfully) suspected home of her husband's girlfriend. What the complainant didn't suspect was that her evening would end in the rear seat of a patrol car.
 
I took a chance and contacted Little John's gun shop Sunday which is somehow connected to the auction house . The email I sent gave the whole story about all this stuff . They emailed me back Monday saying I would be contacted Tuesday and the situation would be took care of . It's 8 o clock pm Tuesday and nothing yet . Was not holding my breath anyway . The process on my end has started and will hear what my bank can do about now . O well .
 
Call the police department at the shop's locale and request to file theft charges. This has gone on long enough.
 
I have a real clear bias here, and am a real fanboi of these two places so keep that in mind.

I only deal with two places anymore, Rock Island and Morphy.....you do pay to use their service....but in my experience you get just that service.

I bought a 99 Savage a couple months ago and my 03 had expired....they left me an email (I never check my home email), called the home phone (never answer that phone), then called the work cell.....hay your FFL has expired where do you want us to ship this gun.....really it has? Crap I guess I forgot to send you the new copy....can I just email it to you......sure. Gun was in the mail that day.

Fantastic folk to work with....ask for photos of a specific area, they will take them and email them to you. Everything they have sent me has been better then the photos.

I flat will not deal with anyone else.....but you do pay for that service.....it is worth it to me.
 
We have two gun sales in Limbo.
One, guy in Ar who wants the gun but claims every ffl near him charges over $100 to do a transfer. (Something wrong there.) "Can you send it right to me?" Ummm, no.

Second one has supplied an ffl but hasn't gotten around to paying. Three emails and two phone calls, nada.

fpgt72 said:
.they left me an email (I never check my home email), called the home phone (never answer that phone)
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it be wise to provide valid contact information?
 
FlSwampRat said:
We have two gun sales in Limbo.
One, guy in Ar who wants the gun but claims every ffl near him charges over $100 to do a transfer. (Something wrong there.) "Can you send it right to me?" Ummm, no.

Second one has supplied an ffl but hasn't gotten around to paying. Three emails and two phone calls, nada.



Wouldn't it be wise to provide valid contact information?
Click to expand...

They had three ways to contact me...they tried all three. I made that point to show they did take an extra step or two.

How many places would have sent the email, had that paper trail and called it done. The fault would be on my end.

This is the point I was making.
 
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