Concerned: Am I being scammed by a seller on TRF?

[jbk45]

Here’s the situation:

I saw a Daytona posted for sale here last week by a TRF member with an established history and post count. I contacted the seller and agreed to a price - I asked him for references - he provided 4, 3 of them responded to me with positive reviews of their dealings with him. I cross referenced these with his previous for sale threads - all recent.

I wired the funds in Thursday and on Friday when the watch was supposed to ship, he contacts me saying he got into a car accident on his way to ship the watch - i am immediatey skeptical but give him the benefit of the doubt. He emails me the following morning telling me his wife had shipped it and provides the courier service info and tracking number. What’s weird to me is that he used a company called Light Pace Courier Services - I’ve never heard of them before. We agreed to overnight shipping and I assumed he’d use UPS/USPS/FedEx - but i know many people use courier services so I didn’t think this was a major issue other than the fact my watch was now scheduled to arrive on in two days instead of overnight. the website is lightpacecourier.com and looks legitimate. But as I’ve been tracking the watch, notice it hasn’t left the shipping location (Illinois) yet - again, not a major flag because I know these systems take time to update. As of yesterday night, the tracking info says my package is in West Virginia but if it’s slated for a Monday delivery in NY on 10/8, I’d expect it to have moved. I check the tracking info this morning and see it’s still in West Virginia with the arrival date changed to 10/9 with no explanation.

I use the contact info provided on the website to inquire and received no response to me email. When i called the phone number provided during the business hours listed, no answer and a generic voicemail saying i had reached my “friends” voicemail and to leave a message - no official business voicemail box or anything. Now I am concerned.

I ask the seller for an update and he responds saying he’d look into it and reply ASAP. 15 hours later (next day) still no response from seller so I text him and express my frustration with his lack of responsiveness and he simply responds asking if I want a refund without addressing any of my concerns or questions.

This exchange happened 3 hours ago and no response.

I am fairly concerned that I may have been scammed. Although i have our email correspondence, texts, and bank wire info - i know none of those are safeguards for me and I’m feeling very frustrated and helpless. I engaged in this transaction based off his history and the references provided but am very frustrated that I so willingly wired the seller such a large sum of money 5 days ago and have been sitting frustrated and concerned that I’ve been ripped off the last couple of days.

Any insight from this community on what my options are and how best to proceed? It’s been 4 days since the wire cleared and even tho he provided me with contact and banking info, it may all be fraudulent if he’s in fact scamming me.

The other part of this may simply be he’s been terrible at communicating and the watch will be delivered tomorrow and this is all water under the bridge.

What do you all think? i am reluctant to disclose the sellers name until I am certain of the situation but this was a large sum of money for a 116500 Daytona. Super frustrated and appreciate any advice and insight before contacting the bank and local authorities. I’ve had numerous positive selling and buying experiences this year on TRF and every seller/buyer has been outstanding so this is disappointing. What’s my recourse here?