Wanna read something really whacked?
 

I had my 26' Carver fly bridge cruiser for sale on ebay. Last week I had struck a deal with a guy from Texas and had ended the auction early. He had called me on Wednesday of last week to let me know he was on his way to Maine. He called several times over the next couple of days as he was on his way. He was expecting to arrive on Sunday. On Saturday he called and said he was a day ahead and was only an hour from my home. My wife and another couple from this board were at a mexican restaurant sucking down margaritas the size of bird baths:D and we were feeling good:eek: We headed back to the house to meet up with the buyer.He had arrived soon after, driving a brand new F350 crewcab dually with a full navigation system and laptop cell/internet and all kinds of big money equiptment.

The buyer was very well dressed and said he was a doctor and was also the owner of a boat tranpo business. We went for a sea trial and he was happy with the boat and I had also sold him a trailer that I had that would fit it.

We went into the house and I gave him an envelope with all the info for the boat. He then pulled out his checkbook and asked me if I was comfortable with a check from his money market acct, and if not, he would hang around a couple of days for the check to clear. Well being a little buzzed and the guy seemed real professional and well put together, I said no problem.:eek:

We then drove the boat to the ramp and he said he was going to hit the road to avoid any traffic around the cities.

I called him on Sunday afternoon to see how the rig was towing and he said fine, he was entering Ohio. seemed fine at this time.

On Monday morning, I went to the bank to cash the check...I could tell by the look on the tellers face that there was a big problem:mad: :mad: :mad: She said that it was NO GOOD!!!

I asked her if I could freeze the funds that were available and she said not even close!....He had less than $10.00 in there:eek:

I was extremely pissed off and called his cell immediatly... no answer! I called him about 20 times over the next 4 hrs to no avail.

About 2 hrs later he called me and was extremely apolgetic and said there was a transfer in progress, I said bull****, the bank did a trace and there were no transfers in transit!

I then said, I don`t know what your trying to pull, all I know is that you have my boat and I have a wothless piece of paper!

He said he was very imbarrased and asked me if I would like him to return back to Maine!(He was in Columbus Ohio) I told him he better as I was ready to call the State police in every state from here to Texas!

The next 14 hrs I was kicking myself for being such a total moron, and was letting the clown get further away.

Around midnight on Tuesday, the guy pulled into my driveway with the boat in tow!!!! I could not believe it! He drove 14 hrs back to Maine!!!!

He apologized up and down and said that he would stay in a local motel and wait for a cashiers ckeck to be expressed mailed to me.

GUESS WHAT!... He is nowhere to be found and I have had no contact with him since dropping off the boat!

I even asked the motel keeper if he actually checked into the motel and they never heard from him!

Well folks, that was the most bizzare thing I`ve ever witnessed:eek:

Kurt.:D

WHHHHOOOOEEE!!! pretty wierd ......guess he changed his mind..

hhmmmmm.....a theif with a conscience, or a legitimate mistake. will we ever know the rest of the story???:confused: :confused:

WOW!!! I thought it would end badly but you at least got your boat back. Otto

That ticks me off and I know how you feel because I had a simular situation happend to me. Went to the airport to pick up a proposed buyer, waited and waited. Checked all flights and they never had anyone booked by their name, so I left. I called and called until I reached them. She non shalantly said, "Oh I forgot all about it" Yeah Right! You dont look to buy the boat of your dreams, ask a stranger to pick you up at the airport and just happen to slip your mind that you even made the arrangements.:confused: :mad: :mad:

What the hell are people thinking!

I 'am Happy for you that you got the boat back.:)

I can only imagine the sick feeling you had in your stomach,

I can not believe that he actually drove all the way back. Seller beware, I guess.

That guy really put the "Strange" in Stranger. You have a lot of guts just telling us that story. Just goes to show that alcohol and business do not mix very well. ;) Better luck next time.:cool:

Boy are you right Macdad, alcohol and business do not mix!

I`d have never taken that check if I was sober!

It scared me so much I`m gonna quit the margaritas!:eek: ....NOT!

:D KURT:D

Kurt that really pisses me off!!! Not only did you cancell the auction but man I can not believe the feeling that you must have had when the check was a NO GO. Can you imagine if the jack ass had not come back. Well at leaste you know the trailer is "road worthy". Wonder why he came back. Oh well I am just glad he did!!! Good luck selling that thing as I know you wanted the money for a new trailer. How is the weater up there? I was thinking of heading up in two weeks to run the boat for the final run of the year in Fresh to get out all the salt.

Jon

It was CATMANDO:p

WOW!

WOW No doubt!!!! You better go buy a lottery ticket.

wow..I kept waiting for the punch line.... lucky..I think

WOW you realy lucked out this time.I guess that trailer is road worthy.Glad to hear you didn't screwed. :D :D :D

Jeff, wait til you see the trailer!:eek: :eek: :eek:

All the cross beams are now cracked all the way through!

I am amazed that it didn`t spill the Carver all over the road:eek:

HA HA HA!!! I'll have to check that out. I tried to contact that guy in the classifieds about his 28 cig no responce 2 emails and left a message on his machine mabey it's sold?:confused:

Never, ever accept a check unless it's a certified check or a cashiers check, and never make a transaction unless it's during business hours. People who are trying to scam you will set up a time to pick up the merchandise when the banks are closed so you can't verify anything. Make sure you find out how your customer is going to pay. If it's not cash tell him only certified or cashiers check. Get the buyers name & address, the name, address, check number, and the person he deals with at the bank or financial institue that the check is coming from. Call information in that city & ask for the number of the bank, call the bank & verify the check. Don't call the banks number that the buyer gives you. It may be a bogus number he set up with a friend. Let your banker know you will be coming in with a check for a large amount and he can inspect & verify it for you also. Don't let yourself get ripped off !!

Bo knows

I don't think the guy had a consience- I think he had second thoughts about playing mystery date in a federal penitentary.

Well, I guess maybe that is the modern day equivalent of a consience. A guilty A-hole...

Bulldog

Recently sold boat and had to wait 5 days for checks to clear as they were processed out of state (local bank), found out that stop payments could be put on at any time on any type of check. My recomendations would be to only accept wire transfer, if not at least hold title until checks clear--this does not occur at the same time they tell you that the funds are available. SELLER BEWARE

Wild Wild Wild story Kurt!!!!!!!!!! You friggin lucked out, or the guy was on the up-and-up and just had transfer problems, then to red-faced to come back. If he was ripping it off, and he got scared, he would have just dumped the thing somewhere. Just what I was thinking.

Was that the duct-taped trailer that you brought your TopGun home on? Whoa!

Thats just weird. I guess he decided not to finish his scam and go through with it.

maybe it was the plastic spread out on the floor with the chair in the middle that freaked him out a little:eek: :cool:

that is nucking futz!!!

i can't believe he actually drove back! You are damn lucky to get your boat back!

Hey do you think the Ford dealship has caught on.

Its the craziest story I have heard. Truth can and usually is in the boat world stranger than fiction.

WOW, Your lucky it came back!! My friend and I had bought 2 sea-doo's way back in 93, we both put them for sale at the same time, I sold mine, and I got another call so I told him to call my friend, as he had the same one, and I told him it was in great shape, ect... He caled him, looked at it, agreed on a price, and said he was going to go to the bank, and get a cashiers check, and he would be back later that afternoon. He came back with the check, and they went to my friends bank where the lien was and did the exchange, and the guy left with the ski. About a month later the bank called him and said that the cashier's check was counterfit, and he was still liable for the $5000 owed. Police got involved, and fbi as counterfit cashier checks are a federal offense. I guess the guy had made these checks and was going all over the country buying stuff like this, and had spent like $60,000 in less than two weeks on this stuff, then he was selling it really cheap to people to get cash. His ski was sold the next day for $2000, and the guy that bought it perfectly legal for a good deal was called down and the police explained what had happened to the guy. Which it wasn't his fault, and he got to keep the ski for the $2000 he paid the scam artist guy. My friend had to pay the bank the $4900 still, plus intrest. I really am very picky about selling stuff since then. I want cash, or I must go to the bank with the buyer and see the cashiers check made out. with the guy. It's a scary world out there. Too many F*ckheads out there! Glad mine was sold, or that would have been me.
That guy did get caught, and went to jail for a very, very long time, there was like 40 counts of felony fraud, and each one had a pretty big minimal sentance, but ofcourse no money was recovered.

I sold a boat around a year ago and delivered the boat to the buyer at his finance company to complete the paperwork. The finance company gave me a check from a "trust" account and assured me it was the same as a cashiers check. I called the bank that the check was drawn from to verify funds and it was OK, so I let the buyer take my boat and went to my bank to deposit the check. When I got to my back, they put a 10 day hold on the check and told me that it was essentially just a personal check from the finance company, definitely not even close to the same as a cashiers check..Lucky for me the check cleared and I didn't have any problems, but it was an uncomfortable 10 days for me. I don't know what I'll do next time when I sell..

Glad to hear that you got your boat back.

Yeah guys, this was on wacky chain of events!:eek:

I tried again today to reach this guy and his cell phone is now out of service!

I can`t believe how lucky I was:D

Kurt.

WOW! I use to accept personal checks for things I sold....not anymore!!!

Thanks for sharing your stories!

You CAN cancell, stop payment, bank checks and Cashiers checks, if the check hasn't cleared the bank it was issued from

What part of Texas was the guy from? Was he a red head? What were his initials? That's all the questions

Glad you got it back. Bet it was a long 14 hrs before he showed back up.

He was from Wichita Falls, Texas and his name was Lewis A.

Yes, it was a long 14 hrs. I was ready to take a flight to Texas if he did not come back!:mad:

Not the guy I know. After I read your story I starting thinking of I guy I knew about 20 years ago. Hell, if you just posted your story someone in Texas would have hunted him down for you.

That's Wack!
 

Man, I can't believe your stressful experience! I too have had a similar transaction.

I sold a 21' sport cuddy (name withheld for security reasons) to a guy that simply claimed he had a line of credit at a bank. The guy seemed nice enough during the viewing of the boat and seemed to share a genuine passion for the sport. Trouble is, it's easy to get caught up by people who are good at what they do best.

As it turned out, the cheque was good for $14,500 CDN. (yeah, I know how little that is in American funds!) but I had to wait a few days to actually KNOW things were OK. Live and learn. I now will only accept cash or certified cheque (through afriend of mine, @ my bank) for my next sale...which happens to be a fully restored 1978 25' Martini/ 7 metre w/ 502 power. May attach pics.

Holy crap! That's pretty messed up!...
Gotta admit though...You're damn lucky to have the boat back in your posession! :cool:

Well, today I had stopped into the bank, and the woman who had handled the rubber check for me on Monday had said she called the bank that the account was from. It turnes out that this clown does not even live in Texas, he lives in Indiana!:mad: She then asked the manager in that bank if they knew who he was, they said they did. She then asked if they knew where he worked.

This clown is no doctor, he is some dork who works at a RV dealer down the street from the bank! My banker then called his place of work to speak with him and the mgr. of the RV place said he was out of state on a delivery!.....sure explaines the high dollar tow rig!

He must have recieved a call from his boss asking him WTF were you doing in Maine!!!

I CAN`T BELIEVE I GOT MY BOAT BACK:D :D :D

Kurt.

Kurt I am sure that due to the amount of the check that if they track him down he could be in trouble.

Jon

I have had someone stop payment on a cashiers check and i thought they were as good as cash, guess not.

I'm going through the counterfeit check thing right now. A person calling himself femi e-mailed me claiming to be a used boat dealer in Africa. We negotiated a price of 34,500. He then tells me that his client in the US owes him 55,300 so I will receive that check from the client and wire the excess to Africa. I smelled a scam from the start but I was still hopeful. I was so psyched when I got the check, it looked legit but of course it was not.

The check came from a John Irvington in Minnesota but the issuing bank was First Citizens in Raleigh, NC. So then I say I'm ready to wire the 20Gs to Nigeria, hoping to get this asspacker's address. I got that and now I'm trying to get his phone number too.What can I do?? Give the info to the FBI or something? Bastards!!!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: