White Van Scammers Getting Nasty on Boston CL

[Andyman]

I would say its unscrupulous but probably not fraud although it depends. If they make actual factual representations about the goods that are in fact untrue then that would be fraud. But it could not be a subjective thing. Merely saying that the speakers are "great" when they are not would not cut it. For example the Virginia Consumer Protection Act has a laundry list of prohibited practices. Here are a few that could be applicable depending on the ad itself or what the salesman might say:


6. Misrepresenting that goods or services are of a particular standard, quality, grade, style, or model;

#6 is interesting.

If that is the case, how can anyone promote their product as the "best" or "finest"? That implies "sine qua non" AND absoluteness, not relativeness. So when my corner restaurant has "the best pizza in town" or a donut shop has the "world's finest coffee" when I'm certain that there are gourmet options which are certainly better.

FWIW, this seems to be only a tactic employed by small independents who aren't usually worth the effort to prosecute, as opposed to giant multinationals who have financial resources worth pursuing and the legal help to quash such claims before the litigation occurs...

 

[RWFE]

#6 is interesting.

If that is the case, how can anyone promote their product as the "best" or "finest"? That implies "sine qua non" AND absoluteness, not relativeness. So when my corner restaurant has "the best pizza in town" or a donut shop has the "world's finest coffee" when I'm certain that there are gourmet options which are certainly better.

FWIW, this seems to be only a tactic employed by small independents who aren't usually worth the effort to prosecute, as opposed to giant multinationals who have financial resources worth pursuing and the legal help to quash such claims before the litigation occurs...

They can say it because best pizza is subjective. I had a friend who thought Stouffers French bread pizza was the best pizza there is. There is no accounting for taste. I personally don't like Starbucks coffee and think Eight OClock Brand is far superior so who knows.

 

[Rybeam]

White Van speaker salesmen are high end cable salesmen in training.

 

[RWFE]

What's wrong with Eight O'Clock coffee? I find it a decent coffee. :thmbsp:

Nothing its all I drink!

 

[chadnliz]

White Van speaker salesmen are high end cable salesmen in training.

Thats so silly I cant even begin to tell you where you are wrong and time is to short to waste. Pandering to those who think cables are a scam is easy but I am a bit too smart for that. Not to mention it has nothing to do with this subject.

 

[BrocLuno]

Good for you. As long as they don't fire bomb your house. These are not nice folks, be careful

As for their customers, buyer be ware :nono:

 

[mashaffer]

Number 6 if taken literally would apply to a few name brand speakers I can think of.

mike

 

[soundweasel]

Update

This morning before I posted an alert on CL about some Theater Research home theater speakers, the scammers were asking over $10,000 for a set of these beauties.

After I posted the white van alert -- and the scammers were flagged -- they reposted the same speakers on CL for $2,550. And then someone else flagged them. I guess the $10,000 price tag brought the scammer too close to committing a "real" crime.

Education may be the best tool with people can protect themselves. :scratch2:

 

[Blast]

Well, I for one won't be buying any Kirsch Le Scaleys, Herpeses, or Corny Horns any time soon then! But I have Rollez watches for sale... SONNY MulletMANs too.

Do you take PayPal?

 

[Mark W.]

can you say MONSTER PRODUCTS?

 

[Blast]

#6 is interesting.

If that is the case, how can anyone promote their product as the "best" or "finest"? That implies "sine qua non" AND absoluteness, not relativeness. So when my corner restaurant has "the best pizza in town" or a donut shop has the "world's finest coffee" when I'm certain that there are gourmet options which are certainly better.

FWIW, this seems to be only a tactic employed by small independents who aren't usually worth the effort to prosecute, as opposed to giant multinationals who have financial resources worth pursuing and the legal help to quash such claims before the litigation occurs...

Like RWFE indicated- the words "best" and "finest" aren't "absolute" to anything specific... unless YOU state what they are specific TO. The 'town' and the 'world' are not specific. I would hope most people could see through that. I'm sure some can't.

Now, if you said, "BETTER than model ABC-1", or, "FINER than XYZ-3" (and those items existed)- then there is something for someone to hang a hat on.
Brian

 

[Rybeam]

I apologize to the cables I offended, though silly nice cables may help white van speakers sound better.

 

[tarior]

"You can't con an honest man. It's an old aphorism, and for the most part it's true: most scams are dependent on the greed of the victim. They are convinced that they are getting something for nothing, or something for a lot less than it's worth, and they are blinded to the truth."

Precisely. Very nearly everyone who gets scammed is a victim of their own greed and dishonesty. If it seems too good to be true.....

 

[bshorey]

There is no law against selling "White Van Speakers" as you post hints to, a Detective was quoted as saying he believed it was "theft by deception" and could carry a prison term and a fine up to 5 years and $10,000.
Again what you are arrested for doesnt always mean a conviction...........yes it sucks to scam folks into thinking they got a better deal than they really did but I am going at this in a accurate way and its just not that cut and dry, though it would be nice if it was.
OK flame away, I am moving on..Happy New Years.

I would hazard a guess that there are some tax laws being violated somewhere. At some point, if they're being offered as 'new', then some corporation should be collecting taxes on them. And if they're receiving goods from some manufacturer, and peddling them as used, then at some point somebody was probably supposed to have collected taxes on them when they were sold as new..

Just a guess..

bs

 

[chadnliz]

I agree but taxes and product fraud liability are two very different animals, lets face it there would be no market for these if folks were not driven by their own blind greed and ignorance.............that is both the beauty and the downfall of our wonder freee market system.
As far as Monster goes who another did a drive by attack on, the are only guilty of over-priced products but again no crime........and they are a legal tax paying company certainly much more legit than a white van vendor.

 

[Mark B]

Its not really fraud, folks buy a product at what they feel is a fair price......retail does sort of the same thing by jacking up prices and then saying its a big sale off of an inflated number.......... all the gadgets and mail order gizmo's are far and away mostly junk, so is alot of Herbal medicine, male enhancement and weight loss pills but its a cloudy area of legal definition.......... Is it a shame, yes.

I agree but taxes and product fraud liability are two very different animals, lets face it there would be no market for these if folks were not driven by their own blind greed and ignorance.............that is both the beauty and the downfall of our wonder freee market system.
As far as Monster goes who another did a drive by attack on, the are only guilty of over-priced products but again no crime........and they are a legal tax paying company certainly much more legit than a white van vendor.

Why are you being an apologist for scammers?

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

What's wrong with Eight O'Clock coffee? I find it a decent coffee. :thmbsp:

Not to be confused with the White Van brand, "Ate A Clock Coffee".

 

[soundmotor]

How about all of those miracle products you see on TV at 3am?

3AM? Vince Offer is primetime baby! I've heard great things about Sham Wow, albeit mostly, OK only, from him!

 

[Markw]

What sane, or honest, person really believes they are getting a "hot" $3,000 speaker for a few hundred bucks off of the back of a truck?

If the van scammers use the usual tactic of "I've got these left over from a job and my boss doesn't know about 'em" or some type of similar BS, and the "victim" really thinks they are getting pretty much stolen goods for a song, I'd say they somewhat got what they deserved.

sorry...


(pssst.... hey kid. C'mere... Wanna buy a Romex watch cheap?)

 

[soundmotor]

What sane, or honest, person really believes they are getting a "hot" $3,000 speaker for a few hundred bucks off of the back of a truck?

That used to be the killer hook too before they started begging, i.e. advertising.

It is the key to a con, make your victim part of the conspiracy and play on their own greed.

Roll up to you with the "Hey buddy have I got a deal for you but keep it quiet......" approach.