I'd bought things from scsiforsamplers.com once before, and despite their high prices, I believed they provided a simple usable service that was actually worth the markup they made, and that this was supported by all the positive feedback and goodwill they have on the net....
as of today, I'm left with a few options to chose between:
1) scsiforsamplers.com is a very unethical company
2) "JD" has some serious things going on in his life that are causing professional problems. (if indeed "JD" is an actual person, and not a front identity run by other people - ie a net-puppet with someone elses's hairy arm up his bum, as suggested in some of his emails)
3) some combination of the above.
4) their domain has been hijacked by scammers.
Either way, I feel it fair to warn anyone thinking of using their services right now to be VERY careful. Especially if they are trying to get you to not use paypal, and instead send them payment by western union or moneygram, as they tried to force me to do yesterday (after they refunded my payment I had already made via paypal, to their exact instructions, and had paid just as i had done successfully for a purchase one month ago)
I don't really like doing this, but I'm going to post our email discussion as-is (minus my actual shipping details and phone number) just so anyone looking to deal with this company can see for themselves what just happend in the last 24 hours, and can make up their own mind if this is a company they'd like to deal with right now.
all I can say about this transaction is I'm happy that I lost no money to this stupidity (paypal refund seems to return the entire charge amount to you, rather than chopping out their transaction fee in putting money into your bank account, as I was worried they would)
if anyone has any suggestions as to what is going on here, or successful no-problem transactions in the last 2 days, I'd love to hear it.
from: JULIAN(me)
subject: another order
date:Sunday, August 16, 2009 10:53 AM
--------------------------------------------------
hey again JD!
I see you have PCD47b's back in stock again... and cheap, too!
anyway - my friend Ed, who I do music with was interested in adding an PCD47b to his mpc like mine, and I was thinking I might also just add one to my A5000 instead of stuffing about with internal only storage.
so - have you got 2 PCD47b's left?
consider them sold.
beige is good for both.
I'm not 100% sure exactly what CF cards/adapters we want right now. I will speak to him, and look about online to see what I can use with an A5k (this can do 8 gig I think?) and sort out what we need and get back to you with the complete order in 24 hours..
Also - maybe a longshot, but I see the SSD drive you sell is very similar to the n-disk. Is there any chance of me buying just what I'd need to convert the n-disk in my e64 to an SSD unit with an 8G card? or is it a completely different thing in the same metal housing?
thanks,
Julian
from: JD
subject: Re: another order
date: 17/08/2009 1:13 AM
----------------------------------------------
Julian:
Yes, I have 10 of the PCD-47B drives in stock today. They will sell fast at that price, so you should order as soon as you can. I will hold two for you until I hear otherwise.
Yes, you can use an 8GB CF card with the A5000 no problem and since the PCD-47B also has the PCMCIA slot, you could put two CF cards in if you wanted to, for a total of 16GB storage.
The NDISK and SSD are basically the same thing, the difference being that the NDISK has a 40GB internal 2.5" hard drive in it. For the SSD, I remove the hard drive and use an adapter and CF card in its place. The parts would be $50.00 USD (adapter and 8GB CF card). If you wanted to send me back the 40GB 2.5" hard drive, I'd give you a $20 USD credit on it. But that may not be worth the shipping expense.
Thanks,
JD
from: JULIAN
subject: Re: another order
date: Monday, August 17, 2009 8:41 AM
-------------------------------
Hey JD,
excellent news on the two PCD47s!
As for the n-disk - I think I might leave well enough alone for now, and
keep it as it is... it works well as is, and being a brand new notebook
drive in there, it probably has years of life ahead of it anyway.. I
should have just bought the 8 gig SSD drive to start (for some reason I
thought the n-disk was also a flash drive? didn't read the page
properly, or just got confused with the SSD drive page or something) but
can worry about changing it if it ever becomes an issue.
anyway - here's my shopping cart:
Product Number Product Description Qty
Ord Price
Each Shipping
Total Extended
Total
CRD-47Bi-BEG Microtech PCD-47B internal SCSI Card Reader drive (with
beige bezel) 2 129.00 10.00 268.00
CF-1GB-LEX 1GB Lexar 133x Compact Flash Card 2 16.00 0.00 32.00
CF-8GB-KNG Kingston 8GB Compact Flash Card 2 28.00 0.00 56.00
ADP-PCM-CF PCMCIA-to-CF Adapter Card 2 10.00 0.00 20.00
USB-CRDRDR All-in-One USB Multiformat Card Reader 1 10.00 0.00 10.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Extended Order Totals: 9 $376.00 $10.00 $386.00
So, I just need to modify the order to cover shipping to Australia, and
then I'll place the order..
Can you please quote both the shiping options agin? if they're about the
same, I'll go with the faster one, like last time.
my address is:
Julian xxxxx
xx xxxxxxxxxx Rd
xxx xxxx
NSW xxxx
Australia
thanks,
Julian
from: JD
subject: Re: another order
date: 17/08/2009 11:02 PM
---------------------------
Julian:
The shipping costs would be either $41.00 USD for Priority or $46.00 USD for Express. The earliest we could ship is Wednesday.
Thanks,
JD
from: paypal
-----------------------
17 Aug. 2009 06:17:09 PDT | Transaction ID: xxxxxxxxx
Hello julian xxxxxxx,
You sent a payment of $422.00 USD to SCSIforSamplers.com (xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxxx)
It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in the Recent Activity list in your Account Overview.
from:JULIAN
subject:Re: another order
date:Monday, August 17, 2009 9:20 AM
------------------------
all good
I just did the payment.
looks like my phone number didn't make it through paypal again...
+61 xxx xxx xxx
from: JD
subject: Re: another order
date:17/08/2009 11:37 PM
--------------------
Julian:
Thank you for the order. We will ship it on Wednesday and I will email you then to confirm.
Thanks,
JD
from: paypal
---------------------------------------------
Aug. 17, 2009 09:34:10 PDT
Transaction ID: xxxxxxxx
Hello julian xxxxxx,
-----------------------------------
You received a full or partial refund of $422.00 USD from SCSIforSamplers.com.
-----------------------------------
To see all the transaction details, please log in to your PayPal account. It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in your account.
-----------------------------------
MERCHANT INFORMATION
-----------------------------------
Name: SCSIforSamplers.com
Website: http://scsiforsamplers.com
Email: scsi-man@xxxxx.xx.xxx
Phone: 717-xxx-xxxx
Note from Merchant: See email for information.
-----------------------------------
ORIGINAL TRANSACTION DETAILS
-----------------------------------
Description: Order for 2 CRD-47Bi-BEG;2 CF-1GB-LEX;2 CF-8GB-KNG;2 ADP-PCM-CF;1 USB-CRDRDR. For use with Akai mpc2000xl & yamaha A5000. Phone,
Unit price: $376.00 USD
Quantity: 1
Amount: $376.00 USD
Total Postage: $46.00 USD
TOTAL: $422.00 USD
Questions? Visit the Help Centre at: https://www.paypal.com/au/help.
Thanks for using PayPal – the safer, easier way to pay and get paid online.
from: JD
subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
date:18/08/2009 2:44 AM
---------------------
Julian:
I'm sorry but I had to refund your payment. We have decided that we are not
accepting Paypal payments for the PCD-47B drives from any country outside
the US. So we will only be accepting Western Union or MoneyGram payments on
those drives. There is a fee associated with those type of payments, so you
will want to check that out before deciding about placing your order. But if
you do want to order, let me know and I'll send you the information needed.
The total due would be $422.00 USD.
Very sorry for the hassle.
Thanks,
JD
from: JULIAN
Subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2009 6:05 PM
--------------------------------------------
Hey JD.
how to respond.
umm... this isn't *just* a "hassle". This is a major annoyance.
I've already paid (via paypal's substandard exchange rates) to transfer the $ to US funds, and now I'll be paying (via the same substandard exchange rates, but the other way) to transfer them to australian $. Then, on top of that I'll have the cost of transferring the money back to my bank account. (I don't keep money in my paypal account, I only use it to buy things and put money in as needed, so a refund means I need to transfer back to my account)
now - all I have done to incur all this cost is follow your payment instructions to the letter.
if paypal was no longer an option, you could have told me this when I reserved the drives.
or you could have told me this last night, before I sent you the money. like, you know... when you sent me the shipping costs after I told you I was going to pay the order as soon as you sent them to me.
but this didn't happen.
Right here, your company has backed out of a deal after I completed my half of it to your specifications, which on top of being worse than a "hassle" has incurred a bunch of costs related to the deal for me.
this is not good.
and on top of this, you haven't even explained why you needed to change my order after I followed your instructions to the letter.
why is paypal suddenly no good? I don't like paypal as a company, and given another option I will usually pay the other way.. but that was the option you were set up for. so I used it. is the issue extra costs on your side? or something else? if it's extra costs, then talk to me about them, because I'd rather pay a few more $ through paypal now, than burn all the money I'll burn in getting my $$ back out of paypal, then going through western union's process too.
I can't help but think this is a very unethical business decision on your company's part, and I think that the people at SCSIforsamplers.com should discuss this particular case, seeing as it was a sale that your buyer had already completed on your terms.... and then if you would like to reconsider this decision, I haven't taken my money back out of US$ in paypal yet, so I can resend it.
thanks,
Julian
from: JD
subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
date: 18/08/2009 8:30 AM
------------------------------------
Julian:
I'm very sorry about this but my hands are tied. I am junior partner with two other guys and I don't get to make these decisions. The best I can do is offer to discount the total sale by $10.00 to help you recover any charges you incurred with Paypal.
If we lose your business, I'll hate that but I understand.
Thanks,
JD
from: JULIAN
Subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
date: Monday, August 17, 2009 6:43 PM
-----------------------------------------
US$10? it's a US$400+ order... It's a given that I'll be losing more than US$10 to paypal here from following your company's payment instructions in fulfilling my part of this deal..
I suggest you talk to your senior partners, and then forward this email on to them, and make sure they have had the chance to consider the unethicality of this situation before they decide that my order is the cutoff for accepting payment from overseas via paypal. Especially seeing how I'm a repeat customer, and seeing how as part of our last order I even provided you with mounting instructions/photos you requested for E4 series samplers.
I'll leave the money in my account for 24 hours. you can get back to me after you've spoken with your senior partners.
Oh, and you still haven't explained what the actual problem is with paypal all of a sudden.
thanks,
julian
from:JD
subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
date: 18/08/2009 8:59 AM
-------------------------
Julian:
I'm sorry but nothing will change on this policy. If you would like to return the products you have already purchased, let me know and I'll supply an RA number and return shipping address.
I don't understand what you mean by losing money to Paypal - they don't charge people to send payments, only to receive them, so I cannot understand why you would lose anything. This is a refunded payment and should cost you nothing.
We certainly appreciate your help with photos before but unfortunately, that doesn't affect our policies concerning payments. Trust me, my partners are fully aware of this situation and I have pleaded your case but they say not with these drives, as they are just too rare and hard to find.
Thanks,
JD Wilson
from: JULIAN
subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
date:18/08/2009 9:16 AM
---------------------------------------------
(this reply was interleaved in between the 3 paragraphs of the last message above)
Why would I do that?
I'm happy with my PCD47b I already bought... My friend and I just wanted some more for our other samplers..
OK, well, lets see how it goes in 24 hours.... every time I've received money from paypal to my bank account they've charged me money. if it's different for receiving money to my account from a refund rather than an ebay payment, I'll be happily surprised. For the record, I put AU$527.82 into paypal. I'll let you know what comes back.
of course they are rare and hard to find.
that's what your business makes money from.
And I have paid you the amount the site asked for them.
you are not explaining why is payment via paypal suddenly a problem, when it worked perfectly last time.
is it a problem with the profit margin being eaten by paypal? if so, you've been using paypal for years - why is it suddenly a problem?
is it a problem with people being able to pull money back via paypal after you shipped? I didn't do that last time, and you've been taking paypal for years, so why is it suddenly a problem?
basically this whole situation makes no sense. and if you're going to back out on this deal after I already paid you, I deserve a proper explanatuion as to why.
from: JULIAN
Subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 7:48 AM
----------------------------------
Hi JD,
I'm still waiting for an explanation as to what exactly is so cripplingly wrong with paypal all of a sudden that you need to refund completed purchases.
thanks,
julian
from: JD
subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
date: 18/08/2009 11:19 PM
We are just about sold out of the ten PCD-47B drives but I am holding two for you. Do you still want them, knowing how payment will have to be made?
Thanks,
JD
frrom: JULIAN
Subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 5:58 PM
-------------------------------------------
I'll buy the two PCD47b, but I'd like to cancel everything else from the order (no 8G cards, no 1G cards, no PCMCIA adapters, no USB card reader)
also - is it at all possible to pay by TT (might take a few days to complete) into your bank account, rather than via western union or money gram? (which may take a day or two for me to get to an office) quite frankly, TT is way less dodgy than these two options you've given me (every single internet fraud site warns explicitly against paying money to people you don't know, via these organisations)
anyway - let me know the total for the 2 drives plus shipping, and your payment instructions.
thanks,
julian
from: JD
subject:Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
date:
---------------------
Julian:
Wow, you just don't know when to quit, do you? That last comment was the end. We won't be doing anymore business with you. Best of luck finding your SCSI gear in Australia.
Unless you need warranty assistance with what you have already purchased, you do not need to contact us any further.
JD Wilson
from: JULIAN
subject: Re: Your Order with SCSIforSamplers.com
date: 9:37 AM
---------------------------------------
I find it strange you are offended that I find this entire transaction a bit funny - cancelling an order after payment is made, and then refusing to even explain for what reason you canceled the order, and insisting on payment methods that are only ever insisted on by scammers.....
Just wondering - how about you go back and have a read of our interactions up to this point - then reverse the sides and have a guess what would you think, if you placed an order with someone you'd already ordered through, then they came back to you with the sudden change of plans and and plain unethical behaviour like you have just done?
You wouldn't be happy, I guess. and you'd maybe be a bit suspicious, too.
as for the loss of the drives, thats OK. this was going to be our last business anyway - yeah it'll be a bit harder getting SCSI gear in australia, but I do have other options. It'll happen.. afterall, these precious SCSI devices that are apparently all of a sudden too precious to sell outside the USA were just made in china, just like everything else you sell.
so... goodnight. have a nice sleep. I'm off work today.... I'm just running out to pick up a nice ensoniq mirage rack for really cheap. then I'll be coming home to play with it, and have a bit of a relaxing surf around some music forums I go on. so I'll be having a nice day.
this is certainly the last email you'll have from me.