I posted for sale in the DTR classifieds a home entertainment sound system made by Genesis Media Labs. This morning I received a call from a fellow DTR member warning me about the ad, and the fact that the product is involved in a scam known as "white van" scams. Look on wikipedia.org for "white van" speakers/scams for complete information. Upon verifying the information the member gave to me I immediately removed the ad.
Basically several months ago I was out running errands and came across a couple of guys in a 6.0 Ford in the parking lot of Advance Auto Parts. They gave me this story about how they made a mistake at the loading dock and gave them too many sets of speakers/systems for delivery and they were going to sell them for cheap. My idiot self fell for it and gave them 260 bucks and took home what I thought was a pretty nice unit. It was all in the box, but after setting it up I quickly realized that it...ummm...sucked. The tag on the box said it retailed for $2899. I got better sound out of the 150.00 phillips/magnavox system I bought my senior year of high school. I shouldn't have bought it to begin with, as it's not very moral anyway. I got caught up and made a bad decision. Luckily I did not spend several hundred or even thousands on products that are worth perhaps a fraction of the msrp, if even that.
I forget who the member was the called me this morning, but if you see this thread THANK YOU for alerting me to this. I hope that those who are unaware of these types of scams will now be aware and help to stop these scammers/thieves.
As for the "system" itself, I plan to completely destroy it within a few days. I will not try to sell it to anyone and pass my loss onto anyone else. I feel destroying it will help me feel better about losing the $ and getting bent over....lol.
Also this scam isn't limited to speakers and home entertainment centers. In my research this afternoon I found it applies to all kinds of electronics. Cameras, tv's, dvd players, etc....

 

I have heard of this same thing going on around here.
I actually had a guy stop at work the other day trying to sell some equipment that was left over from a "show" that I was completely unaware of and didn't sound the least bit familiar. The equipment being gas powered: generators, compressors, pressure washers, etc.... He was a nice enough fella with a southern accent, we had a nice chat and he told some jokes, then he started talking numbers to me.
I just laughed and said no, I just came out here to BS with you and kill some time, no thanks have a good one...

crazy what people run around trying to sell out of the back of a pickup...

 

Sounds like a good opportunity for TARGET PRACTICE!!!!!!!! Glad you have better morals than the guy that sold it to ya! Cudo's to you!

and really, if you wanna drive an hour and a half north and get in some practice shots, I've got the perfect place! LOL

 

Yeah, believe me I would love to get what I paid for it, but only if it was from the guy that sold it to me. I just can't let someone else get disappointed when they hook it up and think "that's it?"
You know I didn't think about shooting it. I don't own a gun, but just about all of my friends do. that might be a lot of fun!

 

Same thing happened to me in a Walmart parking lot. I didnt bite, but the pitch sounds EXACTLY the same. Guys had on hats and shirts from the business where this stuff had supposedly come from. Was a 6.0 Ford also, but it happened to me in Ohio.

 

Was it a silver 05/06? Might be the same guys.

From what I read on wikipedia oftentimes they will appear in clothing similar to the industry, to help them fool you even more.

 

This has been going on for years. I remember working at a gas station when I was 15 (over 20 years ago) and guys would come around in a pickup selling big speakers and audio equipment, shop presses, floor jacks, engine hoists......hell, even frozen steak and shrimp.

 

Cool, another home appliance shoot.
Bring it down this way and we'll take care of it.

 

That looks like it needs a little more annhilation!

 

Had the same pitch thrown at me in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico while we were antelope hunting. Pulled over to answer the call of nature, and some yahoo pulled up behind us and threw that sales pitch at us. You figure people would know there were guns in the truck when two guys are decked out with camo and hunting knives. Idiots are indeed everywhere.

 

For real....if I was a scam artist I wouldn't want to bother some hunters who could possibly make me "disappear"

 

if you are buying stuff out of the back of a truck, van, or semi, do you "REALLY" want to know where it came from??? come on guys, you are all adults and should know better. if i buy something like that, and i have some stuff, i just keep my mouth shut and when someone asks about it i just say something along the lines of "my brothers best friends girlfriend had this uncle that had a friend whos step-brother had a cousin whos girlfriend knew a guy that got me a good deal on the last one he had." admit nothing, deny everything, make counter accusations.