So I just got taken by the "Wahldorf Home Theater" scam. (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by gene c

What smiley face would you use for a migraine . I think my head's gonna explode.

This one?

[SIZE= 10px]Dammit. I keep forgetting animated .gifs aren't working... That one just keeps pounding himself on the head with that hammer.[/SIZE]

 

[Phil Taylor]

Speakerman090 -- Dude ... have you considered trying decaf? Apparently for you the term scam (much like beauty) is in the eyes of the beholder....

BTW - thanks for the chuckles.

 

[safesinger]

Wow this thread is still going That is good!
Keeps people informed of scams. The people that sell these electronics out from the back of a truck is a SCAM!!

The stuff they sell is junk that they claim is worth thousands but the fact is that when you buy them for that $200 you were taken because any product from these people are not worth what you pay or what they are asking.

 

[bikerchick1498]

So has anyone ever hooked them up, do they work and how do they sound?

 

[Marie77]

Mine looks completely different than this. Is there a chance that several types are being sold with the same product names but are actually different products?

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by Marie77
Mine looks completely different than this. Is there a chance that several types are being sold with the same product names but are actually different products?

Absolutely!

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by Marie77
Mine looks completely different than this. Is there a chance that several types are being sold with the same product names but are actually different products?

They generally just print off randomized graphics from the internet to match whatever they could throw together based around random parts from Radio shack and scavenged. If they looked the same, it'd be proof they actually had a manufacturing process.

 

[grtmstake]

dammit. I should've known. I knew the ridiculous price on the side was BS, but I assumed it may have been a $800 system. I didn't realize till I got it home it was speakers only -which I don't even know if they are real speakers. I got duped for $140 after my ATM displayed I had withdrawn all available funds for that day. And to add insult to injury, it was a white van. I feel like such a jackass. I hope carma quickly catches up to these guys. Oh.. this happened in Arlington, TX so beware folks!!

 

[gene c]

Chock it up as a learning experience. Knowledge can be expensive. At least you know what happened. I wonder how many people out there still think they got a great deal.

 

[Mike Frezon]

This has been probably been asked/answered before (here or in other threads)...but why do the scammers seem to prefer white vans for these operations?

 

[mattCR]

White vans are normally able to rent from business van locations (Hertz, Avis, etc.) who rent them as white because they are later resold to put wraps on them. But since they can be rented cheaply as cargo vans (about $40 a day) it's a good deal for a vehicle that can store lots of items that doesn't trace right back to you.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Now THAT makes sense. And I can now put that idle question to rest for good.

Thanks, Matt.

 

[CB750]

Wow, I always thought they used white van's because they also wore white cowboy hats and wanted customers to think they were good guys when they separated you from your wallet.

 

[Javlin]

Those could be for the DC power.
 





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[audiogod]

Good luck getting someone from the tax office to go find the white vans. you have a better chance having a chicken crap a banana. The state Tax office doesnt investigate anything under a $500,000 in tax fraud. Plus there's no paper trail for the tax office to follow.

But tell me this?

IF an empoyee of a legitimate business pays his employees under the table and you know about it and youre good friends with the owner, do you run off and tell the authorities? No you dont you shut your mouth because its a friend of yours, so that makes you a SCAMMER as well.

Merry Christmas Computer Tards!

 

[Michael Reuben]

/forum/thread/300709/so-i-just-got-taken-by-the-wahldorf-home-theater-scam/60#post_3763845

Merry Christmas Computer Tards!

All participants were previously warned about name-calling.

 

[smithb]

Does anyone know for sure if they are doing anything illegal? I've always thought that the way they've survived this long without being shut down is that they, from a business standpoint, have "dotted their i's and crossed their t's" so to speak. That would mean keeping books, filing taxes, the works.

It was only the sales approach that crossed the line into a deep gray area of missrepresentation. Truth be told the products are not stolen. They just have a way of making prospective buyers think they're more valuable then they really are with highly marked up MSRP's, confusing names that match real products, and the idea that they are getting a "special deal" based on circumstances of having extra merchandise on the truck.

Don't get me wrong...I think it is a dishonest approach, but that doesn't mean it is technically illegal. I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV either It would be interesting if anyone has actual facts to exactly what they are doing that is illegal vs. just being scummy.

 

[CB750]

Some cities require all business to have a some sort of a business license to do business in their city or town. In addition the white van seller needs to have

 

[mattCR]

It's technically illegal to sell as an enterprise of any sort without collecting sales/municipality taxes if you're somewhere that has them. If they offer person-to-person, they can get away with it, but then they have to be sold clearly as that way.. that isn't what is happening here; people are being induced with offers "too good to be true" and the people selling pretend to be a reputable business or represent one. By doing so, and offering: no return policy, no real receipts, they don't pay in taxes.. yes, they break the law.. and in some places they have been prosecuted for it. The reason why it survives is because it's a new group of idiots every time.

 

[smithb]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending them by any means I'm just trying to understand what is factual and what are assumptions about there business practices based on their sales techniques. For example, I've heard of times in the past that police have been called but yet they don't seem to get arrested.

I hear about license requirements in some cities. How do we know they don't have one or operate in cities that require one? How do we know they don't represent a percentage of some of the money they collect as for sales tax? Or are they somehow able to avoid the issue by selling person to person, as you say. I was confronted once and if anything I thought I would have been buying from a person not a company (I didn't buy). How do we know they don't pay taxes? Are they required by law to offer a return policy if buying from a person?

I don't know the answers but they've been around a long time, so I just have to wonder if there is more to it and that they are doing just enough to somehow avoid legal prosecution. It would be interesting if documents from a court proceeding against them could be found to better understand their defence strategy. Recently, there is that case of trying to extradite the Colorado man to Florida based on decency laws and a book he sent across state lines. From what I recall reading a Colorado lawyer will probably get him off because he hasn't broken a Colorado law. Is that our moral opinion on what should be done, not mine but its probably what will happen.

Again, I'm not defending them, but unfortunately many times what the majority of people find as moral and questionable practices don't end up being found illegal by law, as written. So do they know the loop holes to prevent prosecution where they practice or do they just avoid being prosecuted by not being caught. That all I'm trying to figure out.