schabiazabi Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I was defrauded by oceancube1 for $2500. The guy sold me a breeding pair and never shipped them for about 2 weeks. He was coming up with different stories each time. Finally he shipped it today, except he shipped the male only. In the box there were two fish bags. One with water and one without water. Water was spilled all over the box and one bag was fully open. The open bag was staged, in order to make it look as if the fish came out of the bag, but there was no other fish in the box. Thanks god I recorded the entire process and I have a witness with me. Here is the entire story plus pictures: I bought a Wyoming Whites breeding pair from oceancube. Paid using Paypal (mass payment) for $2500. Plus I paid $90 extra for shipping, because the seller claimed it's going to be a big box, so I told him I'll pay extra for the safety of animals. The seller delayed the shipping giving me different stories each day. Every story seemed like a little lie, but since I paid already I had no choice, but to wait for the fish. He shipped them out yesterday and provided me with a tracking number: 800041588780 (FEDEX). I checked the tracking number and it was showing: Overnight by 3PM. I was not happy as we talked about getting the fish to me by 10AM (I paid extra). When I wrote to him about the shipping time he did not reply. This morning I came home from school and I see a box with fish on my kitchen counter top. I was shocked as it’s supposed to be here by 3PM. The first thing I see is a box that is "over" taped. Tape is all over the box, and I see the box is dripping. I got scared and opened up the box, while my wife is recording everything with pictures. When I opened up the outside box the white inside box is "over" taped again. Seems strange, but I do not see a problem yet. I open up the white box and I see water everywhere. Water and paper ripped up and spread all over the box. I pull one bag and the fish is there, I search for the second bag and it's there, but it's empty. The bag was open. Right away we start to search for the fish, but I already have a feeling what has happened here. We go through every paper, foam, and board in the box, but nothing. No fish, no smell of a dead fish. Nothing. We went through everything one more time on the floor, but again nothing. That's when I realized the seller stage fraud. He purposely put an empty bag with tons of water around it to make it look as if the fish came out and something happened. The reason for the over taped boxes was not to spill the water that was floating in there at the Fedex location. (Strangely enough the seller tried to ship the fish few days before and he told me he got caught by Fedex, because the guys at the Fedex location could hear water in the box. I have a feeling he was trying to pull the same trick before, but the box was wet and water was dripping at the Fedex location.) I called the seller (Rudy Vasquez) right away and he would not communicate. He told me to be a man and he does not care if I sue the him. His replies were illogical, and he did not seem surprised at all. When I confronted him over the email he replied: "put what you want about me but I will defend myself,". The other fish (male) is doing fine. We will start a criminal investigation, because we were able to record there is no fish in the box when opening. I did not have a good feeling about this transaction and I speculated fraud, due to numerous lies over PM (Private Notifications) on the forum. The confirmation number mentioned above 800041588780 (FEDEX) turns out was not mine. It was for somebody in RAYNHAM, MA. Chances are the person has the other female, but that is pure speculation. I wish the person from RAYNHAM is from this forum and he/she will PM, or email me at: schabiazabi@gmail.com I contacted the seller in order to refund me the money, or ship me the female. He did not reply to that, and it does not seem as if he ever will make good on the transaction. Therefore I already obtained a police report for the accident, and I have an attorney from San Antonio helping me file a case in Texas as I am in New Jersey. If you have any information regarding this please help me as fraud is a serious crime. It will cost me some to run the investigation, but I will make sure the sellers pays for every penny of it. Sellers Information: Rudy (Rudolfo) Vasquez 2957 Ashfield Drive San Antonio, TX 78245 phone: 210.439.0667 Oceancube Oceancube1 Clownfishdirect rudyjrv@yahoo.com P. S. I am completely devastated as the pair I thought I was going to have is not here. Not to mention I setup a separate tank for the breeding pair for about $750. P.S. 2 I am hearing the fish I bought is not even a WW. It is a Platinum Percula. I'm also hearing someone was defrauded by the guy on the MOFIB forum. Please let me know if you're reading this. Attached are the pictures of the opening process plus pictures of the fish. Can anyone from these pictures confirm this is not a WW? Update April 4, 2012: Legal Case against Rudy Vasquez Was Won in Superior Court of New Jersey. Link to comment
castiel Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Wow that's a lot of money for one male. Good luck following this up. Link to comment
Mitch619 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I woul never pay more than 300 dollars to someone online. What were you thinking pal? I hope that son of a ##### gets caught. Link to comment
Japsican Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Wow, that's some BS. I hate F'n scammers. Make sure you put that A-hole through the ringer when you get a hold of him. Good Luck with everything. Link to comment
schabiazabi Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 In all fairness I have to say the male I received is probably a Wyoming White. Link to comment
gojk Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Can you file a claim with PayPal? Link to comment
schabiazabi Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 Can you file a claim with PayPal? No I can not. It was a masspayment. Otherwise it would not be a problem I think. Link to comment
M@! Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Hitting the forum circuit? Hope it works out. For $2500 I would take it to court! http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/seller-tra...ajor-fraud.html Link to comment
schabiazabi Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 Hitting the forum circuit? Hope it works out. For $2500 I would take it to court! http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/seller-tra...ajor-fraud.html For $2500 I would take it to court! It is going to court, I had to establish if it is a Platinum or a WW indeed before I would file. Link to comment
Mojorizn Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 So ya didn't pay with a credit card that you can simply deny / charge back ....? That's a bummer. Link to comment
akma Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Dang sorry man. What a headache. Hope you get this sorted out. p.s: Tell Judge Judy Akma says waazzzzupppp~~ It is going to court, I had to establish if it is a Platinum or a WW indeed before I would file. Link to comment
schabiazabi Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 So ya didn't pay with a credit card that you can simply deny / charge back ....? No, I trusted him. I did some research and nothing bad came out about the guy. I even found the pair of his WW on YouTube. When it came to the payment he said either pay $2500 as a gift or include the 3% Paypal fee in the payment. That's where he got me. I paid $2500 using the gift (masspayment) method. I'll get the money, but it's a bit tricky due to the fact he is in Texas and I'm here in NJ. It will take few days. Link to comment
thewire Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 oh my..for $2500...i would buy a damn plane ticket and pick it up myself..why you didnt do that? Link to comment
schabiazabi Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 oh my..for $2500...i would buy a damn plane ticket and pick it up myself..why you didnt do that? Hm, that never crossed my mind, but honestly if it came to this where one has to fly in order to have an honest transaction, then god help us. Link to comment
Daveg99 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 $2500 for 2 fish is pretty crazy. I wouldnt send anyone that kind of money online. Especially as a "gift" on paypal. You hear it all the time about people getting screwed by sending money as a gift. Link to comment
reefdummy Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 No, I trusted him. I did some research and nothing bad came out about the guy. I even found the pair of his WW on YouTube. When it came to the payment he said either pay $2500 as a gift or include the 3% Paypal fee in the payment. That's where he got me. I paid $2500 using the gift (masspayment) method. I'll get the money, but it's a bit tricky due to the fact he is in Texas and I'm here in NJ. It will take few days. an extra $75 to make sure you arent scammed out of $2500 doesnt seem like too bad of an idea not trying to be a jerk but it does seem like a silly move i am sorry this guy was a jerk though. sucks that you cant trust people Link to comment
iball1804 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I love how that's a PetsMart bag holding a 1000$+ fish. Totally lame. Link to comment
Fluffeh Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 wow... thats a lot of money.. i hope you resolve the situation Link to comment
schabiazabi Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 not trying to be a jerk but it does seem like a silly move - I felt stupid for a day. I love how that's a PetsMart bag holding a 1000$+ fish.Totally lame. - you know what, now that I finally cooled off I realized how lame this whole thing was. Each fish was only in one bag. Today I got a shipment from SA and they put a fish in THREE bags, the way it should be. I paid $90 extra for very good packaging, so there are no issues. He packages the whole thing super bad, in order to make it look as if the fish bag was tempered with. Even the fish that came in had very little air in it (deflated bag). The rubber band was super thin and snapped on both bags. Anyway, if anyone reading this has a female Wyoming White that was just purchased, please PM me. I will obviously not challenge you, but I would like to compare and see. Also, I'm looking to buy a single WW. Link to comment
thewire Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 so what..you going let it walk???? $1250....crazy... Link to comment
schabiazabi Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 ^ No. I will file a case this week. I already have a police report and I reported this to ic3.gov Link to comment
SouthFlorida_Tron Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Get that fker, there's no room for that on this site Link to comment
MeanGreenEyes Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 D@mn that's insane...get his @$$... Link to comment
Lawnman Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Just file a case with paypal as item not as described. They will have you return the item. Once tracking shows the fish has been returned you get the money back. Link to comment
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