Silk Road forums
Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: chwarrior on June 29, 2013, 03:36 pm
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So after hearing about SR for a long time, I finally decided to check it out about 2 weeks ago. Upon first setting eyes on it and reading some of the listings for things you could purchase, my mind was alive with excitement at the possibilities. I've also recently become an anarchist, so this whole marketplace was really interesting to me as an idea, not just as a way to get drugs delivered to your door.
I spent a week just reading through the forums, checking out how to get your security up to par, learning how to use PGP and Truecrypt and getting TAILS running on a usb stick. I'm generally pretty retarded with computers, so this in and of itself was a huge process for me.
So after getting my security to be fairly good tight, and searching around for what I felt would be a reputable vendor that was domestic for me, I excitedly placed my order and waited patiently for the advertised next day delivery. The vendor sent me what I assume was an automated message saying that my package had been sent, and also asking me to finalize early because it was "definitely" on its way.
Day after day, I waited for it to arrive, but to no avail. After a few days, I started looking through my mail for any letters from LE regarding my package, but still nothing.
After a week had passed, I sent a message to this vendor, just requesting that he send me the tracking number for my order so that I could at least try to find out whether it had been seized. A day later, there was no response. Maybe he was just busy? I figured I'd send another message, just in case my previous one had gotten overlooked somehow. I also sent an email to his vendor TORmail requesting the tracking number. It's been another full 24 since I sent the messages, and there's been zero response from the vendor...and now I'm feeling like I may have just been scammed.
Looking through the vendor's page, it mentions that no refunds will be given at all to buyers whose accounts are less than two months old, or that have less than 300 dollars of purchases made so far. When I first read that before I ordered, I thought that was par for the course just because of scam orders they must get. But now looking at it, I feel like it's a disclaimer that they're allowed to just take your money and not send you your order if you're a new buyer.
Considering that they also boast that they have some of the best stealth on the road and that I've yet to receive a seizure letter, I don't think that LE was involved in my package not arriving. The fact that I'm getting nothing but radio silence when requesting a tracking number and that they asked me to FE also makes me think that they've just taken my money without actually ever putting the package in the mail. I'm very surprised, as this is one of the top rated vendors of my area.
I'm wondering now, is this something that happens occasionally? Brand new buyers getting scammed by established vendors? Maybe I'm being paranoid...but considering all the details, I feel it's fair to assume this may be the case. What are the next steps one would take in this scenario?
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Rarely domestic, but I haven't actually heard of any new buyers successfully ordering from overseas.
Do keep in mind, that the newer the vendor, the more impact your review and your transaction has upon that vendor. Newer vendors are compelled to give a shit about you, but established vendors are not.
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never FE, there's certain vendors out there that don't request it (i.e. Aidoneus for quality molly). find those first and establish some stats first
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Whatever you do, don't finalize. What you're going to do is keep waiting until you can bring your transaction to resolution center.
You're going to request a 100% refund.
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Thanks a lot for the replies, Trappy and bearman.
I was actually going to finalize early after I made the order and got the message from him, thinking that it would be a show of good will to make me stand out from other new accounts that might be scammers, since this was such a seemingly reputable vendor. Luckily in my time researching security on the forums, I read many posts from people specifically saying to -never- finalize early.
Trappy: My order is about 10 days old now, should I attempt to activate the resolution option now?
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Yes, go to the resolution center now. Although a vendor cannot give you the tracking number, a vendor can check your tracking number for you to tell you whats up.
But this vendor did not.
If this was your first purchase, consider the account dead. Make another, send your bitcoins to it, and try again with a DOMESTIC vendor.
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let support sort this mess.
NEVER FE.
And rather than going for the cheap postage option spend a few dollars more for signed for postage, which will give some sort of piece of mind if there is a no show.
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We don't have much to add that hasn't been stated - just wanted to thank beardman for the plug! 8)
We do what we can ::)
.Whish.
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if in the US, I don't understand why you would even want to order from someone in EU...
I've never been ripped off by a vendor except for buying BTC coins...
The best thing to do is build a good relationship with a particular vendor and keep coming back to them..
I have about 4-5 different vendors that I go to and I also will try new ones, but I am at the point where I just want to have consistency with my orders.
There are some great people (vendors) on here who run a lot of risks for what to do... so stick to them..
If cannabis is what you are into, I can give you a bunch of great vendors to trust.
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As has been said, you did all that research but still FE. :(
I understand your motive behind it (I also did first time altho it was delivered successfully). I guess it's a chicken and egg scenario but if vendors are selling on here they aren't on the street, or in a club, or having people turning up at their front door regularly arousing suspicion.
They take away that risk, but have another risk by selling online and having the odd transaction go wrong or people trying to blag them, I would imagine they win far more than lose otherwise the site wouldn't still exist, so as the purchaser you shouldn't really deviate off the process set out by SR and stick to the process. If Vendors insist on FE, there will be generally others who dont require it.
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I try to always use a domestic vendor if possible/available. That alone will reduce the chance of never receiving a shipment.
But sometimes you just get unlucky...
Best of luck in your next transaction (if you choose to do so again).
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Yes, go to the resolution center now. Although a vendor cannot give you the tracking number, a vendor can check your tracking number for you to tell you whats up.
But this vendor did not.
If this was your first purchase, consider the account dead. Make another, send your bitcoins to it, and try again with a DOMESTIC vendor.
Just curious as to why a Vendor can't give the customer their tracking number??
Thanks
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Yes, go to the resolution center now. Although a vendor cannot give you the tracking number, a vendor can check your tracking number for you to tell you whats up.
But this vendor did not.
If this was your first purchase, consider the account dead. Make another, send your bitcoins to it, and try again with a DOMESTIC vendor.
Just curious as to why a Vendor can't give the customer their tracking number??
Thanks
Do you realize how much work it is to be a top vendor here? It's literally a full-time job. While we do offer tracked shipment options, the tracking is only used IF there happens to be an issue (at least that's what we do). It's too time consuming going through the hundreds of tracking labels to find your particular number and check it for you unless it's been well past the time it should have taken to get to you.
99% of the time we get asked for tracking information it's on the first day or the same day the package will arrive. Hope that gives you some perspective.
.Hades.
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My very first purchase was MDMA from Ivory. I live in the US and it was an overseas order from the UK. I had to FE and i have never had an issue. I have made 10 more purchases since then all overseas without any issues some FE'd some not.
From doing my research it seems that the overseas vendor are much more reputable than my domestics. There are exceptions though, like heroin i think i would get domestic and I can't wait to try Studio54's (i think he's domestic) cola when he has it back.
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Yes, go to the resolution center now. Although a vendor cannot give you the tracking number, a vendor can check your tracking number for you to tell you whats up.
But this vendor did not.
If this was your first purchase, consider the account dead. Make another, send your bitcoins to it, and try again with a DOMESTIC vendor.
Just curious as to why a Vendor can't give the customer their tracking number??
Thanks
Do you realize how much work it is to be a top vendor here? It's literally a full-time job. While we do offer tracked shipment options, the tracking is only used IF there happens to be an issue (at least that's what we do). It's too time consuming going through the hundreds of tracking labels to find your particular number and check it for you unless it's been well past the time it should have taken to get to you.
99% of the time we get asked for tracking information it's on the first day or the same day the package will arrive. Hope that gives you some perspective.
.Hades.
Thanks what you say makes sense now.
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us new buyers get scammed too!!!
all the time by the sounds of it. i'm guessing its a bigger loss to a buyer as well. the thing is a lot of sellers are expecting all the protection themselves. they want you to finalize early, then they don't want to refund you if the package doesn't arrive. if you don't want to refund, fine. but don't expect us to finalize on a parcel that doesn't even exist yet afaic.
ffs, you sellers aren't the only ones taking a risk here, we're new to this. my first buy is a huge risk from what i'm seeing on these forums. this isn't ebay. i have absolutely no idea who i'm trusting with my money here. i have a strict rule on the street that nobody i don't know gets to go off with my money while i wait like a cunt hoping they'll be good enough to come back with it. but this sr is the equivalence of doing that with someone you don't even get to make a quick judgement based on their look and body language. you don't even get a rough idea where they hang out.
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I've had far more good experiences with vendors based out of the UK then from anywhere else in the EU. Not sure if there was just bad luck on my part or a correlation but for me at least, the UK seems more reliable to order from than say the Netherlands