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

[shots123]

Well I just learned the hard way also !! Just bought myself a set of speakers also feel like an idiot !! Oh well I got a plate # 448 MRI florida tag large maroone suv not always that "white van " I hate learning the hard way people beware it's still happening !!

 

[shots123]

Mine was January 12 2011 FORT LAUDERDALE ,FLORIDA 2 guy's mid 20's in a maroone suv florida tag # 448 MRI !!!!

 

[Charles Smith]

That's interesting, but it has me wondering why someone who at the moment of purchase believes they're getting a perfectly good deal would have bothered to note the seller's license plate, as though they thought they might need that information later. When did you come to the conclusion that you'd been ripped off? I would think it wasn't till you got home and tried to hook up the speakers, or did a little checking on the internet. How many people at that point could say "well, at least I know the license plate number and can warn other people about it"? No offense intended, and maybe I'm over-thinking this. Perhaps someone can use the information. But that just struck me as curious.

 

[WOLFMAN282]

just feed the wire thru the hole once u unscrew and tighten back down over wire .. mine work great .

 

[WOLFMAN282]

they are in greenville tx now , just bought the 700ls speekers and they sound better than the pioneer one's i had ... I looked up brand name and they are what they are so im glad i only paid 100 for them ...

 

[shots123]

OK NOBODY CAN MAKE ME FEEL ANY WORSE THEN I MADE MYSELF FEEL THE WHOLE LICENSE PLATE THING WAS A HUGE SIGN THAT I DIIDN'T PAY ATTENTION TOO I LEARNED AN EXPENSIVE LESSON IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT PROBABLY IS AND I SHOULD'VE KNOWN BETTER OH WELL TOO LATE NOW

 

[CB750]

Jeanne,

Their are different degrees of feeling bad.

Do you feel bad because you may have paid $100 for a speaker that may have cost $25 to build in China and ship to the United States and the White Van Guys purchased from a distributor for $50. Under that scenario everyone made a 100% mark up on the goods with is not that out of line compared to what may happen in retail. You pretty much got what you paid for.

Or do you feel bad because though you had negotiated a great deal and got a $1,000 speaker for $100 only to find out you really got a $100 speaker. In either case you got what you paid for.

 

[Tim Hoover]

Originally Posted by bikerchick1498
So has anyone ever hooked them up, do they work and how do they sound?

I know a guy who owns a restaurant/bar here in Paducah, and he swears by them for his house PA system...and honestly, his house PA actually sounds rather good!

 

[CB750]

Tim,

Perhaps your friend has Wharfedale speakers which are an old and trusted maker of quality speakers. These should not be confused with Wahldorf Speakers which are one of the cheep white van brands.

http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/

 

[that1dude]

I once had a couple guys in a white van flag me down on my way to lunch & try to sell me some "extra" home theater speakers they had in their truck because someone at the warehouse put 2 sets on the truck instead of 1 & they just installed the 1 so now they're going to sell the 2nd set to make a few bucks. This was several years ago, long before I ever heard about "the wahldorf scam" or anything, but after reading this thread I see it's clearly a pretty common game they play. I'm not judging, but on some level, what does falling for this scam say about the victim as a person?

The thing is, no matter what quality these speakers are, no matter what brand they are or how they sound or anything else, they're being sold to you under the preface of some seriously bad moral mojo. The story they present is blatantly wrong, if you choose to screw over this guys boss or warehouse man or whoever "accidentally" left this sleaze with an extra set of speakers to sell for his own profit just so you can have $2000 speakers for $200...I kind of think you're asking for what you get. It's not even like the ebay stores that say "we have incredible pricing on these items that are just as good as blah blah blah" or anything like that, its an immoral shady business man telling you point blank that he's deceiving his boss and his coworkers to line his own pockets. He might as well be saying "hey man, you see my sister over there? she's passed out, nobody will ever know. Go ahead." As badly as I wanted a nice home theater at the time this guy tried to sell me his white van speakers, I didn't even think for a second about taking him up on his offer, regardless of whether or not I'd be pleased with the speakers. You don't have to know sound quality to know right from wrong.

 

[shots123]

who said I only paid 100 I can feel as bad as I want for whatever I want-- just sayin ' !! Just wanted to post info that might be helpful to someone else .

 

[Mike Frezon]

Jeanne:

Bill was asking the origins of your regret through use of two hypothetical situations. He clearly said "may have paid $100."

No one is denying your right to "feel bad." You certainly can feel as bad as you want.

 

[Tim Hoover]

Originally Posted by CB750
Tim,

Perhaps your friend has Wharfedale speakers which are an old and trusted maker of quality speakers. These should not be confused with Wahldorf Speakers which are one of the cheep white van brands.

http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/

No, Bill, they are definitely white van speakers...can't remember the exact brand name of them, but they were Acoustic-something. At the time, they were one of the more common white van brands.

Edit: just Googled and found the brand: Acoustic Response. They were a carpet-covered 3-way design with some useless midrange parametric EQ on them.

 

[CB750]

Tim

You just confirmed my belief that who ever purchases White Van Speakers got what they paid for. A seller officers a product for sale and the consumer has the option to purchase or not.

Jeanne,

Did the seller put a gun to your head and force you to buy his goods? I agree that you can feel bad but I offer you no sympathy. I suspect that you purchased goods that were sold to you as either stolen goods, or goods that were sold to screw a boss due to as a business mistake. You can feel as bad as you want but no crime was committed.

Common sense tells me that If I was approached by some young dudes in a parking trying lot trying sell me goods out of a van, my first reaction would be to be to be at a high level of alert for a possible foul play, and to make sure I had easy access to my firearm. I would also leave the area as quickly as possible and when I felt safe I would call the police and tell them that someone had tried to sell me stolen goods from the back of a truck. A visit from the local police and investigation to my complaint would force the bums to move on to another city.

As I said before enjoy your speakers you got what you paid for.

 

[wiredawg]

I happen to drive a white van to work each day. : ) I never sell speakers out of it though.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by wiredawg
I happen to drive a white van to work each day. : ) I never sell speakers out of it though.

But, as you can see, the financial possibilities seem to be endless for you, Tim!

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Mike beat me to the punch (again)!

 

[CB750]

Thanks Mike & Adam

You really got my juices flowing and I have developed my own White Van marketing plan.

Sell "Bosie Acoustiblast" speakers a $1,000 retail value for $200. I figure I could sell a ton of these and would not get any complaints as they would perform as good if not better than the originals.

 

[Mike Frezon]

How about Bosie from Boise?!? Made in the US of A, natch!

 

[gene c]

"Sell "Bosie Acoustiblast" speakers a $1,000 retail value for $200. I figure I could sell a ton of these and would not get any complaints as they would perform as good if not better than the originals."

You got that backwards. Those Bosie Acoustiblast's should be "a $200 value for $1000" . Apparently people are willing to pay much more for things than they're worth.