Getting ripped off in a HALO B sale

[BobTheCow]

Okay, here's basically what's happened so far:

I settled on buying a black HALO B from somebody on PBNation. We agreed that I would pay $90, and he would pay for shipping. I sent him the money order, and he took almost a week after receiving the money before he shipped it. (This whole time, he was very hard to talk to...in fact, he ignored my e-mails and IM's until my "dad" talked to him and threatened him). When it finally got to me, the only thing i noticed at first was that the lid was broken off. I figured that wasn't too huge of a problem, but then I checked out Odyssey's website.

I found out what i had received was a HALO A. I IM'ed him, saying only: "hey, i got the halo." after a while, he hadn't responded, so i said: "hello?" He then "signed off," but I figured out that he had blocked me. I don't know what to do now, I'm stuck with the wrong model HALO i don't want/need.

Any ideas?? The person that's been helping me through all this thinks that if he can't get him to talk, I should file for mail fraud. That seems kind of severe; I guess what I would want to do right now is just trade everything back, get my money back, and find somebody else with a halo <font size=+2>B</font>!!

Sooo...any other suggestions/ideas??

[Evil Bob]

File for mail fraud. He sent you an item that the two of you did not bargain for, which falls under the fraud definition. He also appears to be purposely avoiding you, which is a clear indication of fraud. Make life painful for him and go the legal route.

-Evil Bob

[BobTheCow]

Is that gonna end up hurting me in any way though?? Also, i have a tourney on March 2nd...I'm gonna need SOME kinda hopper by then :( .
Argh, just another reason to stay away from PBNation.

[cledford]

Let the buyer beware. Next time use Paypal with your Dad's card. Then at least you'll have some built in "fraud protection."

In the mean time if you chose not to pursue it (since I doubt anyone in law enforcement will bother over $90 - since it's less then the typical $300 limit for felony level) is to send the HALO to odyssey for the B upgrade. I believe they charge $30 bucks and have like a 3 day turn around.

-Calvin

[fire1811]

its sucks but if u want a halo b
u can get it converted over.

i know its even more money u shouldnt have to pay
but u got screwed and its most likey going to stay that
way.

good luck

[BobTheCow]

Originally posted by fire1811
but u got screwed and its most likey going to stay that
way.
Yeah, it sure looks that way...

Does the upgrade that Odyssey can do turn it into everything that a B would be if you bought it new?? I mean...I payed for a B, and I just wanna make sure the upgrade isn't gonna turn it into just some half-a** B look-alike.

[cledford]

They *look* exactly the same. It the internals that are different.

-Calvin

[Evil Bob]

The upgrade is pretty much all the moving parts (swapping out all the gears for the belt drive) and a new board, you will still have the same external shells. I had them upgrade a pair of A's, which perform just as well as the pair of B's I have.

The only problem with going this route is you still got ripped off and the other guy still gets away.

Definitely use PayPal with a credit card in the future, you can always recall/cancel a payment, you can do the same with a money order as long as you have the receipt, its just a more painful route to take.

-Evil Bob

[la690]

if you dont have a pay pal or a credit card i would use COD. It wouldnt have helped in this case but it's still a better idea than sending money to someone when you dont know for sure if they will carry out their half of the bargain. I would file for mail fraud if i were you.

[BobTheCow]

Yeah, right now I don't have PayPal...I'm definitely gonna hafta fix that...

[rdb123]

At least when you sent 90 dollars, the guy actually sent you a hopper. =\

-Ron

[Timmee]

Originally posted by cledford
Let the buyer beware. Next time use Paypal with your Dad's card. Then at least you'll have some built in "fraud protection."

In the mean time if you chose not to pursue it (since I doubt anyone in law enforcement will bother over $90 - since it's less then the typical $300 limit for felony level) is to send the HALO to odyssey for the B upgrade. I believe they charge $30 bucks and have like a 3 day turn around.

-Calvin

Actually, since it was sent through the mail, it makes it mail fraud (which is automatically a federal felony charge). I do have to say, though, that you're at least lucky you got something. A friend of mine (also a manager of mine at work) got shafted on eBay for a Halo B (sent the money, and never recieved anything). He's filled out the mail fraud forms, and it seems to have helped to convince the other guy to refund my friend his money. It can't hurt to at least check out that route (even if you decide not to file charges).

[Evil Bob]

Here is the online USPS Mail Fraud Complaint form: https://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm

Here is more info on the USPS Fraud Services: http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/welcome.htm

-Evil Bob

[BobTheCow]

Originally posted by Evil Bob
Here is the online USPS Mail Fraud Complaint form: https://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm

Here is more info on the USPS Fraud Services: http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/welcome.htm

-Evil Bob
muchas gracias, señor!!

[rdb123]

Same here. I bought a HALO B off some guy two months ago; he later tells me that there was something wrong with it and sent it in to Odyssey for repair. A month later he tells me they are "out of stock" and will get them back within a week. It's been another month; still no HALO.

Anyway, the guy's name is Kevin Petsche and he lives in Valrico, FL. Watch out hehe.

Bob, I hope you are able to get your money back or at least a new HALO B.

-Ron

[Nobody077]

It sucks that you dident get what you paid for but the Halo A is still a good hopper. I would suggest using it and then if you still realy want a B model then send it in for the upgrade. You may find there is no need for the upgrade.

[rdb123]

Personally though, I think the HALO B upgrade is well worth it.

Think about it this way: you're getting a new shell and new internals which means you're essentially receiving a brand new hopper.

You paid 90 for the HALO A, toss on the 30 you pay for the B upgrade and you paid 120, or roughly the same price you'd pay anywhere else for a brand new HALO. ;)

-Ron

[BobTheCow]

I think the $30 odyssey upgrade only gets you new internals...if you want a new shell, I THINK you hafta pay $50 (total). Of course, I could be wrong...it definitely WOULDN'T be a first.

[rdb123]

I'm pretty sure the HALO A and HALO B shells are different since the A's have that ball detent in them. So wouldn't they just give you a B shell and take away your A shell, but make you keep the same color? hehe

-Ron

[Xerces]

send him an email listing all of the instances of fraud in your transaction. show him how you can bring a case against him. let him know how much money its going to cost him. then ask if he would like to refund your money, or resolve the problem.

[BobTheCow]

Originally posted by rdb123
So wouldn't they just give you a B shell and take away your A shell, but make you keep the same color?
wow...i REALLY can't think right now, sorry if i'm making no sense...but i thought the $30 got you new internals, and you kept the A shell...but if you wanted a new shell too, you give 'em an extra $20...again, WARNING: brain non-functional, please correct me!!

[Evil Bob]

Originally posted by rdb123
I'm pretty sure the HALO A and HALO B shells are different since the A's have that ball detent in them. So wouldn't they just give you a B shell and take away your A shell, but make you keep the same color? hehe

-Ron

Same shells, they simply remove the ball detent itself, the detent slot is still there after the upgrade. Upgrade is only internal parts.

-Evil Bob

[rdb123]

Ah ok, thanks for the clarification, Evil Bob.

-Ron

[BobTheCow]

ok that makes more sense.
so does that mean that the only difference in A shells to B shells is the detent/lack thereof?

[Evil Bob]

Yep, the new B shells are not slotted for the ball detent like the A's are, that's the only difference, other then that they are identical between the two series as far as the shells are concerned.

-Evil Bob

[BobTheCow]

so, basically...if you can find some horribly crappy A, you can send it in with $50 and end up with a NEW B??? am i MISSING SOMETHING HERE??

[Evil Bob]

That's a safe assumption if the shells only cost $20 to replace, not a bad deal at all.

I don't know the pricing for the shells myself, I just opted for the $30 A to B upgrade.

-Evil Bob

[WARPED1]

Send it to OPP for $30 or so they'll upgrade it to a B.For $50 you get the B upgrade and a color shell of your choice.

[rdb123]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you could even send in a non-functional HALO A since they are completely replacing the internals. It's not like they're going to give them to WGP; they've got enough elves over there already.

-Ron

[IcantBelieveit]

what makes you so sure it is an A? and what if the guy himself was actually told it was a "B" and did not know any better. I am just sayin it could be a simple mistake.

[BobTheCow]

I'm positive it's an A. There's a page on the odyssey website, "how to distinguish an A from a B." It's an A.

As for the mix-up being a "simple mistake"...I thought about that too, it's quite possible. However, this guy's been shady through all our dealings, and the fact that he blocked me on AIM as soon as he found out that i had the halo made me just a teeny bit suspicious.

[Kevmag]

can you post this guy's real name, address, username, ect. in the feedback forum? You might save someone else from making the same mistake. I always do a search in the feedback forum before I do a trade. Post on AO even though it was a PBNATION deal.

[Evil Bob]

The A is easy to discern from the B. Check to see if it has the ball detent present (it's spring loaded, hard to miss at the base of the feed neck), if it's there, it's an A and hasn't been upgraded yet. If you don't see one, crack the shells open carefully and look at the underside of the feed mechanism... if you see gears, it's definitely an A.

-Evil Bob

[BobTheCow]

good idea. i'll do it right now.

**edit** lol that was directed at the "feedback forum" comment. It IS an A, ball detent is present, fins are for the A, and the long spring is only on the A. I'd mess with it as little as possible beyond that (cracking it open, etc).

[Evil Bob]

Below is a pic of the ball detent from Odyssey's site, little spring loaded tab right at the base of the unit near the top of the feed neck. Shown is with one of the shells removed.

Here is full disasembly instructions for the HALO A: http://www.odysseypaintball.com/halo-assembly.html

-Evil Bob

[Evil Bob]

Here's another way to see which is which. The HALO A has a long plastic bar and a big spring (top picture) over the feed neck entrance, the HALO B has a rollers and a smaller spring (bottom picture).

-Evil Bob

[WARPED1]

UPGRADE HALO A TO B LINK (http://www.odysseypaintball.com/bupgrade.html)

[BobTheCow]

evil bob: mine is the top pic, that's how i figured it out first.

kevmag: he's on the bad traders thread.

warped1: thanks.