Weird people on Craigslist - Tell your story

Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Oak Tree said:
I was looking to buy a swing set from a lady, so I wrote that I would like to come look at it, and ask "Where is the swing set located?". I kid you not, she replied, "Its in my backyard."
And she was probably thinking, " that ....., it's sure not in my kitchen."
I didn't even reply to tell her an address would have worked.

Here's your sign............. :mrgreen:
 
GameBent said:
I'm currently trying to score a couple bikes from a woman on Craigslist, but she doesn't seem too anxious to sell. It's been three days of texting now.
She only responds to every third or fourth text, and the response is as short as possible, without addressing the entirety of any previous texts.
I've asked her several times to call me, but she won't. I also left messages for her and her answering machine message is in plain English, so she doesn't seem to have a problem with the language.
Some people are just screwy...

i hate sittin around twiddlin my thumbs for a bike i cant WAIT to get my hands on. :roll:
 
thesuicideride said:
GameBent said:
I'm currently trying to score a couple bikes from a woman on Craigslist, but she doesn't seem too anxious to sell. It's been three days of texting now.
She only responds to every third or fourth text, and the response is as short as possible, without addressing the entirety of any previous texts.
I've asked her several times to call me, but she won't. I also left messages for her and her answering machine message is in plain English, so she doesn't seem to have a problem with the language.
Some people are just screwy...

i hate sittin around twiddlin my thumbs for a bike i cant WAIT to get my hands on. :roll:

I think we all hate that
 
If you knew how incredible the deal it is, then you'd know how freakin much I want these bikes.
 
I just found a bike that was listed very vaguely and no pictures. i emailed the guy, he replied and i said i was interested and would like to come see it. I had zero money for any more bikes...so i listed one. The one i listed my landloard gave me. So im trying to check out this bike i want and the guy is very slow wich made it easier to sell my bike. I got a kid interested in the bike i was selling, very annoying and sent me way to many one word answers to questions that required a bit more. We had agreed on a price and a small delivery charge. I almost gave up selling it to the kid multiple times, but i wanted the other bike so i kept my cool. It turns out the kid and the bike i wanted were minutes from each other and my school. I got everything worked out to meet up after school, sold the bike to kid and it went surprisingly smooth, and then hustled over to meet the other guy to buy the bike i wanted! good times.

On a side note the guy i bought the bike from does storage unit auctions, he bids ussually something like 20bucks for a whole abandoned unit that you allowed to look in but not through. Thats how he came across the bike i wanted...he made his bit of maney and that cool but i need to get to some of these auctions...
 
sweet, I bet he finds some cool stuff in there too. I just caught a glimpse a bike late tonight coming home from riding my rat that I'm going to look at tomorrow and see if I can acquire it, it looks like an old English looking 3 speed with a bent back wheel. Looks a lot like the Phillips I sold last summer. Can't wait to see it closer and negotiate.
 
Am I in Trouble?

Post my 24 yr old Black Chrome Schwinn Sierra on CL. Somebody e mails me asks if its still available. Next a lady emails me says her "assistant" told her of the bike, cannot pick up imediatly but would send money, she would add $25 to hold it. I give her my address and paypal account info to send funds either way, THEN I think WTF. Now she emails me that her asistant sent the wrong funds (too much) by money order, I should cash iMO and send back excess, meanwhile she has told me she will later tell me where to send excess funds and how bike will be picked up by freight handlers! What trouble am I in and what should I watch out for? I've done a lot of business through forums before with strangers and never had nor gave a problem, thats why I was so niave. Did I give too much info to start?
 
Re: Am I in Trouble?

rich56 said:
Post my 24 yr old Black Chrome Schwinn Sierra on CL. Somebody e mails me asks if its still available. Next a lady emails me says her "assistant" told her of the bike, cannot pick up imediatly but would send money, she would add $25 to hold it. I give her my address and paypal account info to send funds either way, THEN I think ***. Now she emails me that her asistant sent the wrong funds (too much) by money order, I should cash iMO and send back excess, meanwhile she has told me she will later tell me where to send excess funds and how bike will be picked up by freight handlers! What trouble am I in and what should I watch out for? I've done a lot of business through forums before with strangers and never had nor gave a problem, thats why I was so niave. Did I give too much info to start?

I have seen the same thing, most times they send you a fake money order and get you to cash it and send them money but when the money order doesn't go through you get stuck for the money. had the same thing happen with a car I sold, Just tell them I'll do it BUT wait till the money order clears and advise the teller at the Bank to make sure it's good BEFORE you get money out of it. From there if it cashes good you got a deal and if not you aren't out anything but time.
 
Re: Am I in Trouble?

rich56 said:
Post my 24 yr old Black Chrome Schwinn Sierra on CL. Somebody e mails me asks if its still available. Next a lady emails me says her "assistant" told her of the bike, cannot pick up imediatly but would send money, she would add $25 to hold it. I give her my address and paypal account info to send funds either way, THEN I think ***. Now she emails me that her asistant sent the wrong funds (too much) by money order, I should cash iMO and send back excess, meanwhile she has told me she will later tell me where to send excess funds and how bike will be picked up by freight handlers! What trouble am I in and what should I watch out for? I've done a lot of business through forums before with strangers and never had nor gave a problem, thats why I was so niave. Did I give too much info to start?

Should the money order arrive, Don't handle it more than needed. Contact local law enforcement. They will not be able to do anything more than take a report.

I had the same thing happen to me when I was selling a car on CL a while back. The scammers started using my name and info to start trying to scam others. I had people from across the country calling to see if it was really me that was interested in their stereo, watch, TV, cars...

I would cease all contact with these people and be aware in the future.

You still have the bike? How much you asking?
 
Lately, I'm getting a new vibe from CL. It used to be people expected real value used prices, it is getting more like garage sale expectations now. It seems to be a good time to bottom feed and see what turns up. Somewhere back in this thread it was noted that real prices for bikes are falling. I think there are a lot of people hurting for a few bucks now, and willing to sell for whatever they can get. About 3 weeks ago I responded to an ad for a 50s bike for $100, offering the RRB limit of $50 in case it didn't sell, (thanks for waking me up to this self imposed buying limit guys) :D . Looks like I'll pick it up for that tomorrow. The gal says she is P-G, so I may pop for an extra $20 to buy her some diapers or what-ever. I'll see how it goes.
 
I came across an abandoned mongoose mtn bike junker with a broken derailluer and shifter cable. It was too cheap a bike to fix properly so I got it in riding condition and put it on CL for $40. A Chinese guy emailed me that he wanted it. Coming by at 2, then 4, then he texts me that "there are no buses and maybe need 2 hours to walk"!! I texted him back and said tell me where you are at and I'll bring the bike to you for crying out loud. It was well into the 90's that day.

I don't hear from him. But an hour or so later I'm working in the yard and here comes this asian guy sort of staggering along the road carrying his shoulder bag and a two liter bottle of diet 7up. Have to hydrate right?
One look at the bike and he wants it. Sold. He hands me a hundred dollar bill. Sheesh! The banks are closed so I tell him put the bike in the van I'll drive you to the store to change that bill and drive you to the metro so you get back home in less than 3 hours by taking the buses.

So he eventually comes out of the convenience store with my $40 and a 24 oz beer for me! Ghetto beer for the trouble of driving him to the store! Thanks!
Weird story that worked out ok.
 
I have bought three bikes of CL and have never had any bad experiences. One guy was cooler then I could ever imagine, showed me his projects and even his cars, flat out said he didn't want to make money off of his bikes, just wanted them gone. I think he saw the younger version of himself in me, gave me a great deal.

But a year a two ago I father and his buddies had their motor stolen off their boat (three of them went in on a boat), while in dock. So they watched CL and guess what? The similar motor is for sale within 3 days. Seeing how the theif didn't know what the owners looked liked they scheduled a meeting. Checked everything, called the cops, and he admitted to it. Didn't end up pressing charges because of his sob story, but ended up getting the motor back. I don't agree with it, but that's what they decided. In my eyes there's not much lower you can go then stealing from someone else, I probably would have punched him in the nose, then the cheek, and then the forehead.

Mitch
 
Re: Am I in Trouble?

rich56 said:
Post my 24 yr old Black Chrome Schwinn Sierra on CL. Somebody e mails me asks if its still available. Next a lady emails me says her "assistant" told her of the bike, cannot pick up imediatly but would send money, she would add $25 to hold it. I give her my address and paypal account info to send funds either way, THEN I think ***. Now she emails me that her asistant sent the wrong funds (too much) by money order, I should cash iMO and send back excess, meanwhile she has told me she will later tell me where to send excess funds and how bike will be picked up by freight handlers! What trouble am I in and what should I watch out for? I've done a lot of business through forums before with strangers and never had nor gave a problem, thats why I was so niave. Did I give too much info to start?

It's a scam. Abort the deal and stick locally. 8)
 
Ratfink1962 said:
Real frustrating situation...

Got a guy that lives in my town that keeps posting parts and stuff for sale, no phone number listed in the ad, so I use the email link. The guy NEVER emails back, Ive been trying for weeks to get ahold of him. He posts in a bunch of different catagories with all kinds of stuff for sale, but he wont return emails I suppose.

I even went so far as posting an ad to get his attention so that he would hopefully get back with me.... TWICE so far... no luck. Since he posts the same stuff over and over you would think a light bulb would go off and he might realize he cant sell anything if he dont communicate!!! :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

At this point I dunno what to do, Ive tried emailing him from a different address to see if it was just me that he was ignoring, but no luck there either. Plus Ive seen others post on CL with the same frustrations, he has something they want, but no contact info. :roll:

Ive been trying to watch his postings and see if the ones he actually posts pictures in has something in the background that is familiar, my town is fairly small, only 9-10k residents and Ive lived here all my life, so Im hoping to catch a glimpse of something familiar. I just dont get the game this guy is playing??


same thing happend to me. It sucks!!!:(
 
Saturday I responded to a local ad for a free Schwinn Suburban that belonged to someone's elderly father. It was listed well and said it needed TLC. The person posting the bike asked folks to respond and she would reply in order received. I replied within 30 minutes. She wrote back and seemed pleasant about it stating she received my email and would be in touch. Sunday I got a reply that now it was going to cost $12 because they had put brake pads on it and she also wanted to buy a bottle of wine for her dad as a bike-sending-off present. I replied sure, $12 or I could supply the wine and told her of a couple of bottles I had which were worth more than $12 for sure. I gave her my cell phone number and asked her to call me Monday morning to get the address because I was going out of town midweek. This morning she sends an email saying she is waiting for her dad to make his "decision" and the bike is not as nice as the photo. I reply that if I can't pickup tonight, forget it. No reply yet. What a loon and waste of time. Now I am thinking it is lucky I did not get it; I would probably be on her stalker list later.
 
I have a pet peeve with craigslist.... I hate sob stories......



I put my Reckless Kelly trike up and finally sold it but I kept getting emails with sob stories. One lady wanted me to sell it for 200 (asking 650) because her son had a club foot and couldnt ride a normal bike. Lets be honest, if y'all saw the bike we both know that no kid with club foot was going to be able to shift the suicide shifter under the seat and ride if he had a disability. I also had a kid who bought the bike, nice guy though, was buying it for his dad. I cut him a deal because I wanted the bike gone. cash is king, and if you bring me a good amount of cash I feel comfortable selling the bike at it'll sell, I dont care about the who what were when and why. I only care about dead presidents.


I digress.
 
I need to know if I need to be concerned. I have several non-bike items listed on CL right now. This morning I received an e-mail from my ad for my canoe. All the email said was "canoe". I replied back and waited. Several hours later I received an e-mail on my ad for a pick-up bed trailer from the same person and all it said was "pick-up bed trailer". I replied back that yes, I had the trailer and the canoe. I haven't heard anything else. :?
 
Re: Am I in Trouble?

schwinnmesa said:
rich56 said:
Post my 24 yr old Black Chrome Schwinn Sierra on CL. Somebody e mails me asks if its still available. Next a lady emails me says her "assistant" told her of the bike, cannot pick up imediatly but would send money, she would add $25 to hold it. I give her my address and paypal account info to send funds either way, THEN I think ***. Now she emails me that her asistant sent the wrong funds (too much) by money order, I should cash iMO and send back excess, meanwhile she has told me she will later tell me where to send excess funds and how bike will be picked up by freight handlers! What trouble am I in and what should I watch out for? I've done a lot of business through forums before with strangers and never had nor gave a problem, thats why I was so niave. Did I give too much info to start?

It's a scam. Abort the deal and stick locally. 8)

Zach is right. This is a scam. We had similar things happen to us with our vacation rental house. Usually came from a none english speaking country in europe and the people claimed they miscalculated the exchange rate.
 
Back
Top