A user, who I will not name at this time, has, I believe, shown up on this board with at least three identities for the purpose of selling high end whistles on this board. The pattern in these cases has been that the individual rarely, if ever, posts about anything other than the sale of high-end whistles. In the cases I'm aware of, some sales have gone well and some have been more than a little problematic. I've deleted a username which I am 99% certain is just a new account of a person previously banned for violating board policies.

This person may well pop-up again. My advice is not to do business with someone who doesn't have a track record of being a participating member of this community. Look at the number of posts, look at all of the person's posts and look for a pattern of coming on the board and posting almost exclusively "for sale" messages of high-end whistles. Ask around. Ask a moderator for advice. Ask anyone whose post count is high enough to suggest a history of being around for awhile.

Most transactions on these boards appear to go off well, but bad apples come and go.

Dale

Thanks Dale.

he is better not to make purchases by some time, is a loose swindler by the forum!!.

Thanks for watching out for us, Dale.

whew
I know from experience what a nightmare buying from an unknown entity can be!

Dale, it would be helpful if you would create a sticky for feedback. Check out the one here: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/10

very good catch.

I had some communication with this guy. (I'm pretty sure it's the same fella). He tried to come across as being some kind of philanthropist...not really interested in making a profit. That got me suspicous from the get-go.

Would it be wise to perhaps create another forum/subforum just for instrument sales? This might make it easier to regulate. Another forum (albeit a nonmusical one) similarly created a separate section for sales/Ebay adds.

I like the FS/WTB in the whistle forum if it's whistles. I, and perhaps others, would not go looking to see what's for sale every day, because I'm not "looking" to buy a whistle every day. However, when a FS pops up, I often check it out to see if it interests me. And I've bought a whistle from a forum member after clicking because I was curious. And there's not so many of them that it's a big distraction.

Thanks for these ideas. We've considered a separate FS/WTB forum many times and have generally felt it was not for us. I can see the merits, though.

Would some of you be kind enough to drop me a PM indicating one or more of the IDs this person goes by?

I'm about to buy something from someone I've never dealt with before and am just checking.

I understand the desire to be fair ... however I don't really understand the point of warning us, if you're not going to name names. How are we supposed to be careful about buying from this seller if we don't know who we are being careful about? Can you please explain a bit more about this situation?

Without the judge, jury and all parties being in the same room, it is impossible to be 100% sure what really transpired in a transaction and who was to blame. The bottom line is that a name once-named cannot be unnamed and we're all aware of the potential for fall-out such an act carries. I believe Dale has given us enough info to make us cautious about doing business with anyone who doesn't have an established presence on the board.

I'm right in the middle of a fight to get my money back from this couple. The whistle they sent me was nothing like they described. Plus it took a month to receive the low D that was advertized for $200 the last week of April. I filed a complaint with paypal. I'm hoping to win my case. If others bought a whistle from this couple, I hope you paid with paypal. And they will help you to retrieve your money.

Thanks for the heads up.