Thathorologist Scammer? Need your opinions.

[acuteperformance]

Hi Everyone

Something just doesn't sit right with me, mods gave a suggestion to post it here for other opinions. I'm not going to name names right now. (EDIT: Mod inserted member name in title)

I currently have a Rolex Hulk for sale. Jon, not his real name, reaches out to me says he's interested and asks me the typical questions:

1. Do you have any references? "Yes I've worked with Takuya many times he can vouch for me. Here's a link to my eBay site and just Google my name you'll see I have a long history. Feel free to contact me on eBay or other forums and I will respond."

2. Can you take pictures with the clock set at a certain time. "Sure no problem."

We both come to an agreement, everyone seems happy and Jon says he'll give me a call the next day. I ask him what number he's calling from so I don't miss the call and he says he'll be calling using a calling card since he's in Canada. Fine no big deal, calling cards can be great to help save money.

Next day, Monday, comes around, we chat on the phone, everything is fine and he says he'll send a wire.

On Tuesday, he sends me some paperwork showing he did the transfer along with a FedEx shipping label. I acknowledge that I've received the label and will ship once I receive the wire transfer.

All day Tuesday, no wire, no big deal. I've dealt with int'l wires and know they can take up to 2-3 business days. Jon however sends me an email at noon telling me to call my bank since the wire should be there. I call my bank, they see nothing and tell me to ask Jon for a wire transfer tracking #. Jon says the tracking # is on the paperwork but the number there isn't helpful to my bank.

At 8P my time, Jon sends me an email:

Hello Michael, any hits yet?
have you printed the label yet?
Im having difficulty changing date also my company is paying for insurance and it’s costing $500CAD to make sure package gets here safely so rearranging that is a hassle as well.
I might have to create new labels and I already paid $147CAD for that label. If any fedex store is open at this hour please go ahead with shipping if not I have to call insurance and fedex to rearrange for tomorrow.

Definitely some red flags pop up in my mind. Doesn't make sense that he's charged for the labels, but again it's fine let's see what happens tomorrow.

Wednesday comes around, I regularly look for incoming wires and email Jon back each time giving an update, but nothing is in my account. Jon sends another email

Thank you for updating. I will revise the shipping label for today’s date.
Please ship before fedex is closed today.
Im sure you’re familiar with wires as my bank staff mentioned 3-5 business days and it’s only been 1 full business day...
thanks

I respond:

Why don’t you wait until I get the wire before generating a label? Don’t worry I’m being patient, let’s just hope it doesn’t take 5 days

Jon responds:

No Offence Michael but you only have 1 review and your business on the US LLC chart is Inactive I only sent the wire because of Takuya’s reference. I didn’t even contact him. You never participated in any major groups regarding watches vs me I have been dealing (collecting buying and selling ) watches since 2011 vs you have only 50 posts online regarding watches and you own very few pieces which I appreciate your taste but doesn’t contribute to my trust towards you.

I wired based on one fact(takuya) and I delivered as promised, But I’m still awaiting a response or an action from you to make me feel safe and secure about this transaction.
You mentioned you have international clients and wires so You are very familiar with bankwires.

Bankwires are certainly sensitive and untraceable so I am at risk here Micheal.
Thank you for understanding.

will forward the revised version of shipping label and please ship.

Thank you

I respond:

Are you expecting me to ship without receiving the money? Because that won’t happen. If you’re questioning my legitimacy, then please contact Takuya. I can even give you his phone number. He will 100% vouch for me. I have purchased and sold him many watches that are valued much greater (Patek, AP).

If that’s not good enough, then contact me on eBay, you will see me responding. My company name is plastered all over the Internet, you can contact me on any of those car forums and I will respond.

Who have you worked with that I can contact?

What is your direct #, you only call me through a calling card?

Again, I’m being patient, I have others offering me for the watch but I’m holding it for you. If I was trying to rip you off, why even respond as often and quickly as I am? That would make no sense.

Furthermore, if you do a search on Google for [email protected] you receive over 24k matches. When I Google your email, all I get is a recent incident on rolexforums.com.

Jon responds:

Your webpage online is private No access granted to public...

And yes I will contact Takuya.
I provided my cell in previous emails and the shipping label as well...

If you have offers more than your asking please go ahead with that sale I will call my bank and your bank to redirect it if possible.

Cheers

I respond:

In that case, are you ending the transaction? Like I said, I will wait the 3-5 days, I have no problem with that, but don’t expect me to ship without the funds in my account.

Jon responds:

Unfortunately Michael I am not feeling comfortable with that. I understand it from your point of view as well as a seller, I should’ve mentioned same or next day landing when I funds were wired.

I usually receive watches before paying for them or I fly if at certain value.

I am about to back out of this feel because my feelings aren’t right about this transaction...

I respond:

The decision is up to you. If you want to back out then go ahead just let me know what your final decision is.

Jon responds:

The fact that you bumped your ad after I sent funds says a lot about this deal and for that reason Im out.

Thank you for your time

All the best

Yes I bumped the thread because at this point I'm no longer trusting Jon.

On Thursday morning I respond:

I’m going to assume you cancelled the wire, but just FYI the wire hasn’t shown up. If by chance you can’t cancel the wire and it does show up; I can re-send it back to you if you’d like.

Jon responds:

Good morning,
My bank is working on that with Wells Fargo

If any help needed will contact you promptly

Many Thanks

So today, Friday. There is no wire transfer in my account and of course I never shipped the watch out. What's also interesting me is, I deal with a ton of int'l wire transfer with my business and generally do receive them in 2 days. But my understanding is that once you send out a wire, after 1 day, you cannot cancel it anymore. So since he claims he sent it on Tuesday and then cancelled the wire on Thursday. I am coming to the conclusion that he never sent the wire, created fraudulent paperwork, and was hoping by creating a sense of urgency, I would just ship him the watch.

What does the forum think? Maybe it was just a bad transaction. If so, then I will keep all names confidential.

Thanks.

Michael