Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 14:08:09 -0700
Reply-To: John Goubeaux <john@UCSB.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Goubeaux <john@UCSB.EDU>
Organization: UCSB
Subject: Re: false ads on Craigslist?
In-Reply-To: <482603A7.6070409@cox.net>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Mark,
Yes, this Van (based on the pictures), at this price does not add up.
I'd say online sales, and the internet in general make for easy scams.
What do they say, "a sucker is born every second, and the internet makes
getting to them that much easier"
If in fact this is "too good to be true" it is likely a case of false
advertising, which there are laws against. The problem is that online
resources such as Craig's List, Ebay etc. are not too willing to police
this type of thing as it is a time sync for them and it is easier for
them to declare that they are " neutral" entities that just provide the
conduit for people to collaborate, and unless any serious laws are
broken, and or law enforcement get involved, subpoena's issued they are
reluctant. Unfortunately this leaves the average Joe out there to fend
for themselves...it's a cruel world..(:
I just bought what i thought was a HiLift jack off of a guy advertising
on the Samba. He called it a "HiLift" and even used an actual picture
of a Hilift jack in his advertising. When it arrived I saw that it was a
cheap Chinese knock off that one can get for 28.00 at Home depot, and it
was also damaged. What a hassle....!
I guess unless the $ numbers are large (in my case i use this as a
learning experience) there is no reason to get too worked up. There is,
however a brilliant true story printed in the "NewYorker" about how a
guy who was swindled - to the tune of about a million dollars, via an
email scam (Nigerian as they are known) that arrived in his inbox.
Have a look at: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/05/15/060515fa_fact
-john
Mark Drillock wrote:
> It seems to me that every week I see ads for VWs that don't add up. Lots
> of Vanagons and buses show up with what seem too good to be true prices
> and descriptions. No phone numbers and never any response to my
> inquiries. Anywhere else this seems to be happening besides SoCal? I
> wonder what the purpose is of such ads are?
>
> example:
>
> http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/car/674983739.html
>
> Maybe it is a real ad but the photos are not the year van listed and the
> price is way low for the van in them.
>
> Mark
