The White Van Speaker Thread To Warn The Unsuspecting
- Thread starter goraman
- Start date
- Status
Wigwam Jones
Caesar non supra grammati
Personally, I think it would be hilarious if you started laughing so hard he thought your sides had split, and then choked out something like "Only a complete idiot would buy that crap!"
Then get a sad look on your face and go, "Uh, you didn't buy any, did you?"
But I'm kinda mean that way.
Wigwam Jones
Caesar non supra grammati
Come on now, doesn't anyone feel just a little sorry for the Schmucks who fall for these scamsters?Okay, not me. I haven't run into any of them selling speakers but I've had a couple of 'em try to sell me tools out of a van. The crap was so bad I don't think I would even buy an anvil from any of them. These type of people are everywhere too. Why just today I had a guy try to sell me a bunch of old Vintage Vacuum Tubes. Great price and they came with a guarantee too!!
I feel for the ones who got taken on the most recent incarnation of the scam, where they were just lied to about the value on eBay or whatever. They should have done their due diligence, but yeah, they really did get taken - you can't be 'trusting' anymore.
I do not feel for the ones who fell for the classic scam wherein they were made part of the scam itself by implication - they *thought* they were buying stolen speakers.
They're crooks. They got taken. Good. With luck, they are actually decent people who just made a mistake in judgment, and this may wake them up a bit. I'm not saying I believe that...but it is possible.
propbuster
Stuck in the 70's
Just be on the lookout for this guy, he also looks a lot like that guy named Dan Ackroyd from SNL! :lmao: See attached pic of the Huckster below!
#16 Yesterday, 08:18 PM
70salesguy
Only 99 easy payments! Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Close to Charlotte NC, but not TOO close!
Posts: 988
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
Originally Posted by propbuster
Hey 70Salesguy, I still have my old Bass-O-Matic, finally paid it off last year!
Well, Mr. P.R. Opbuster, as a loyal Mainway consumer, we are thrilled to offer you a 13% discount on our latest product:
Bag O'Broken Vacuum Tubes !
As the current resurgence of Vintage Audio Gear has shown us, Vintage Vacuum Tubes are expensive! No need to damage any of those vintage or expensive imported vacuum tubes just so your kids can have the kind of fun you did growing up!!
Just order Bag O'Broken Vacuum Tubes from Mainway Products, ELLC (Emtremely Limited Liability Company)
Only $19.95!!!
100% Guaranteed except for parts, labor and shipping.
So you don't forget - order before Midnight tonight!
#16 Yesterday, 08:18 PM
70salesguy
Only 99 easy payments! Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Close to Charlotte NC, but not TOO close!
Posts: 988
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
Originally Posted by propbuster
Hey 70Salesguy, I still have my old Bass-O-Matic, finally paid it off last year!
Well, Mr. P.R. Opbuster, as a loyal Mainway consumer, we are thrilled to offer you a 13% discount on our latest product:
Bag O'Broken Vacuum Tubes !
As the current resurgence of Vintage Audio Gear has shown us, Vintage Vacuum Tubes are expensive! No need to damage any of those vintage or expensive imported vacuum tubes just so your kids can have the kind of fun you did growing up!!
Just order Bag O'Broken Vacuum Tubes from Mainway Products, ELLC (Emtremely Limited Liability Company)
Only $19.95!!!
100% Guaranteed except for parts, labor and shipping.
So you don't forget - order before Midnight tonight!
Attachments
Like most (ok, all) scam 'victims', they are actually victims of their own greed.
skiddlycat
James Island SC
About 15 years ago my dad called me to tell me about the great deal he had gotten on a set of "Pioneer" speakers. Next time I visited, we cranked 'em up. I still remember how disappointed I was in the sound quality. When I looked closely at the cabinets, the familiar Pioneer logo was nowhere to be seen. He had the shipping boxes in his cellar. Not the expected white cartons with the distinctive black logos, they were brown cardboard with a glossy color label stuck on one side. This was when I fully realized he'd been had. I still haven't had the heart to tell him. I wonder if he still has those things...
70salesguy
Only 99 easy payments!
You have to keep in mind, this fellow works for one of my customers (a utility) and has always been pretty helpful to me.
I did explain the "white van" legacy to him and even suggested he look up "white van speakers" on wikipedia.
Although the 70salesguy himself was approached by these guys a few years ago in the parking lot of my local Home Depot, it was the first time I had ever known anyone that "bought in".
Wiggy, I truly hate it for you that you are not back here in beautiful NC. :yes:
Wigwam Jones
Caesar non supra grammati
We are hoping that our house in Wilson sells soon and my wife and family can join me here in the frozen tundra. I love our beautiful house and will hate to sell it, but it is not where my job is, what can you do?
Besides, a couple of AK members are going to benefit when I move - I've got a bunch of elderly SS electronics that will not be making the trip, so someone will have to come to Wilson and get them.
This very thing happened to me, lets see about twenty years ago. I was working in the yard and a white van pulled up to the house, this guy tells me the same story about a mistake they made in shipping. he would sell me these $1000 speakers for $200. I was too skeptical to fall for it. but as I had never heard of it before I always wondered if I passed up a good deal.
I guess not, eh? Oh, I think They were called "something research"
I dont recall the exact name. I guess this is not a new scam.
Plan9
I guess not, eh? Oh, I think They were called "something research"
I dont recall the exact name. I guess this is not a new scam.
Plan9
Wigwam Jones
Caesar non supra grammati
Nope, not new. They were probably called "Audio Research." There is a 'real' company called 'Acoustic Research'. What they like to do is make names that sound vaguely like high-end speaker brands, for the people who 'kinda' know something about audio. They know they won't fool audiophiles.
Legit companies do something similar. Now that Polaroid is out of the instant film business, they've sold the licensing for their name brand to a bunch of companies that churn out cheap plastic digicams with the Polaroid logo on it. People remember "Polaroid" as being a 'name brand' and buy thinking they're going to get high-quality. Unfortunately, it's junk.
treserious
Post Punk Junkie
i keep seeing theater research speakers on CL, and i keep posting every time i see them about the scam, and i flag it as a scam.
been seeing these lately though
[EDIT: Auction links not allowed outside of Dollars and Sense -Moderator]
been seeing these lately though
[EDIT: Auction links not allowed outside of Dollars and Sense -Moderator]
Last edited by a moderator:
Wigwam Jones
Caesar non supra grammati
I agree with you that they are scammy, but you have to be careful.
It is not illegal to sell crap. It is not even illegal to pretend that your crap is actually top-notch gear. It is generally illegal to make patently false claims ("We invented speaker cones") but 'puffery' ("We're the brand people think of when they think of great speakers") is legal - at least in the USA.
It becomes a scam when sold in the 'traditional' white van manner - pretending that they 'found' the speakers, or 'were given too many on the loading dock' and attempting to rope in those willing to engage in a little (what they believe to be) larceny in exchange for a good deal.
And even THAT may not be technically illegal, depending on jurisdiction. When I worked in LE, many years ago, the most the city I worked for was willing to do to these guys was cite them for not having peddler's licenses and throw them out of town. They didn't even get arrested, just escorted to the city limits.
Are they scam artists? Sure. But they're on a fine line legally. They may not actually be breaking any laws.
Last edited by a moderator:
fsjonsey
Born in the wrong decade.
TR Theatre Research is the ARish sounding brand around here.
70salesguy
Only 99 easy payments!
It's almost an anachronism that you had move from NC to MI for a job! The ratio must be 100:1 moving the other way.
No disrespect meant to MI, but that would be a serious downgrade in the climate department, IMHO.
But I compliment you for making the sacrifice for what would seem to be the better good.
I run across people all the time that work for my customers in small towns and they complain about limited job opportunities in their enclave. Of course, their limited education certainly is a factor.
I have on a few occasions asked them why they didn't move to some other town or area of the state with better job opportunites, and the reply is always "I don't want to move".
So it just goes to prove, no matter where you go, there you are!
I traveled extensively for the years I was in the Nuke business. I lived in Florida (twice), Arizona, Virginia and Illinois before I got back to NC.
One of the reasons that I started my own business was more control over my life. It has worked out pretty well. I did do a project in Florida last year, but it was only for 8 weeks out of a 6 month period, my associate (contracted under me) did 9 weeks and we would fly to FL on Sunday afternoons and back home late Thursday nights.
Good luck to you in MI and remember you'll always be "welcomed home". :yes:
Don't forget there is also a real company called Audio Research, but they don't make speakers as I recall, only tube electronics.
Wigwam Jones
Caesar non supra grammati
You ought to see the price we're being quoted on a U-Haul. About 1/4 the price of going from MI to NC. Seriously, they're nearly willing to pay US to take the thing back to MI - they're almost all out of them up here!
I don't know what you're talking about. Just because we got 10 inches of snow LAST NIGHT that I still have to shovel!
Seriously, my wife is originally from NY, she loves and misses snow. I can live without it, but whaddyagonnado?
I went where I could find work doing what I do.
I have a relative who is a carpenter. He lives in central Illinois. He was laid off for like 16 years. He is a union man and would not relocate to find work or consider doing other work. He stayed at home and raised the kids while his wife worked. Truth be told, when his union finally called him back to work 16 years later, he picked up his tools and went. But man, I just don't think like that.
Well, I never had the choice. I grew up moving from town to town, I've lived everywhere.
So it just goes to prove, no matter where you go, there you are!
I traveled extensively for the years I was in the Nuke business. I lived in Florida (twice), Arizona, Virginia and Illinois before I got back to NC.
Illinois, Colorado (three times), California, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Carolina, and now Michigan. And let's not forget Okinawa Japan and the Philippines or Australia. And that's just place of abode. I used to travel for a living visiting my employer's customers. 150K miles a year I flew, all over the world.
Yeah, been there, done that.
Well, NC has only been my home since 2004, but I like it. However, I also find a lot to like in MI. Beautiful state - it's really a 'best kept secret' how beautiful it is up here, and the people are very friendly. OH - and I feel a bit less lonely being a mackerel-snapper up here. There's lots of us. In NC, my neighbors were nice and all, but convinced I was going to hell.
70salesguy
Only 99 easy payments!
MI mackerel snappers
It's all the money you spend on them golden candlesticks that make us tarheels leary of you mackerel snappers.
Actually, I'm originally a sandlapper, but guess I'm a tarheel now after being here so long! :scratch2:
It's all the money you spend on them golden candlesticks that make us tarheels leary of you mackerel snappers.
Actually, I'm originally a sandlapper, but guess I'm a tarheel now after being here so long! :scratch2:
- Status