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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 12:43 AM
  #1  
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Default Buyer Beware

First of all I am not sure this is in the proper forum but Here goes
I strongly urge everyone to beware of this Vendor : Radicalwheelsinc.

EVERYONE BEWARE OF ANY PURCHASE FROM THIS FRAUD

I attempted to purchase a set of wheels on NOV 23rd and was happy to pay with Paypal to this vendor $2220.00. NO WHEELS WERE SHIPPED

I have attempted to contact this vendor via phone, Email, and IM listed on his website. MULTIPLE TIMES with NO response.

BEWARE of this fraudster. I found with a little investigation that he had also taken another corvette forum members money with no shipment of goods. This member has filed a fraud claim with his master card and was awarded a judgement, mine is in progress.

Turns out that the Illionois better business beauro has complaints listed with this vendor.
The FBI has been notified about this and I am awaiting notification if they can proceed with a fraud charges.

BUYER BEWARE DO NOT USE THIS VENDOR. YOU WILL MOST LIKELY GET SCREWED.

Again I do not know if this is the proper location for this and I ask that the admins give this thread exposure so that others do not fall into this trap. Also spread the word. Check the illinois BBB and verify the complaints if you need to but spread the word. EVERY TIME SOMEBODY GETS HIT BY PEOPLE LIKE THIS IT AFFECTS US ALL!!!! I will most likely get reimbursed which is great but make no mistake we all pay.

Good luck
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 09:05 AM
  #2  
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Address, in Illinois you say? Is that company a sponsor on CorvetteForum?
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 09:15 AM
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I see a RadicalWheelsInc as a user on Corvetteforum, but not a sponsor/vendor. It lists their 'hometown' as Plainfield, IL.

Their Domain Name contact info is below:

Radical Wheels Inc
Karen Biegel (KAREN.BIEGEL@AMERITECH.NET)
+1.8155773710
Fax: +1.8155773710
505 N James St
Plainfield, IL 60544
US

Though this phone number comes back as
Drew Collins (815) 577-3710 240 W Daisy Cir, Romeoville, IL 60446

So who knows...


Did you get a Paypal refund, or was the money withdrawn from their account?

His name is Craig Figgins, Karen is/was his Fiancee. He's on DigitalCorvettes.com as ChiMan.

Here's a weird post:

http://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb...5c983e8e757690

Google has some hits on him. If ACW were here, I'm sure he could tell us what he had for breakfast.

Last edited by Camaroholic; Dec 5, 2006 at 09:22 AM.
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 09:19 AM
  #4  
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Wow man that really sucks.
You can dispute it with your credit card company if you paid with a credit card (through paypal instead of the direct withdraw)
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 06:18 PM
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Originally Posted by 2MuchRiceMakesMeSick
Wow man that really sucks.
You can dispute it with your credit card company if you paid with a credit card (through paypal instead of the direct withdraw)
I agree PayPal should help you with this
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 06:49 PM
  #6  
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What goes around comes around. He'll reap the fruits of his crop someday.
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 07:02 PM
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Wow thats crazy that you guys got that much info on him. Makes me wonder if its safe to poo in my own bathroom. Thanks Josh, sorry about you getting screwed, hopefully it will all turn out ok.
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 08:26 PM
  #8  
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Default Radical wheels

WOW nice detective work. I had learned some of that but THANK YOU for helping out.

As far as my bank I believe I will be reimbursed through Visa but Paypal has a disclaimer that they will NOT gaurantee recovery of any funds unless the seller has some sort of insurance then they will only cover $1,000.00. I am still cloudy on thier details and will update when I learn more.

I would recommend that those of you that use paypal do not purchase anything over $1,000.00 with it without investigating your rights of recovery.

I have used paypal since it opened with no problems until now and if I had paid cash to paypal I would be seriously worried right now.

As far as Craig is concerned he was a vendor on Corvette forum untill the guy before me got screwed they then removed him promptly. Unfortunatly for me I had bookmarked the rims on his site last summer and didnt even think to check up on him. I mean there was no reason to i thought.
There is another lesson learned there.

Craig is being reported the FBI,s internet crimes bureau With your help here they will have plenty of info to help him reap some of what he has sewn.

If anyone else knows of somebody who has had a problem with this guy have them contact me so I can share case numbers and info with them. As a family we will shut this guy down.

Thank you
My email : nevadadave2002@yahoo.com
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Old Dec 6, 2006 | 08:57 AM
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You could try calling the local PD and see what they think.
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Old Dec 6, 2006 | 01:49 PM
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Local PD will refer to the matter as a civil complaint. At least thats what I have been told. I will contact them though.
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Old Dec 7, 2006 | 12:51 PM
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Radical Wheels has been REMOVED from all the corvette forums where he was a sponsor. This includes Z06 forum, Corvette forum and Digital Corvettes. Nuf Said
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Old Dec 7, 2006 | 01:00 PM
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That really, really, really sucks. Very sorry to hear about your situation. Thanks for letting everyone know about this, giving us the heads up to look out for this guy.
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Old Dec 7, 2006 | 10:53 PM
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Default Buyer Beware

No problem on the warning actually it helped me vent a bit. One positive thing that came out of it was actually on crossed flags forum. There we are trying to set up a posting site where bad transactions can be reported and listed. Albeit we as complaintants will need to show some proof of our claims to the moderators. My suggestion was to email the complaint filed with the better business bureau. That is public record anyhow. With this in mind I believe the Mods can weigh the complaint and list it in a forum that everyone might visit. Especially everyone that is looking to make an online purchase.

Dont get me wrong I make lots of online purchases every month. This is the first time I have been burned. Also I will get my money back with the Visa card I think so its not about that. What this is about is accountability. Everyday somebody opens up a couch-side mail order business and thats great but there just isnt anybody watching them so its up to us..a community of united members to do so.

Most businesses operate with out problems but those of us who use these forums should be able to investigate through our collective the experiances of others. In this way a mod could post a copy of a BBB complaint the complaintants s/n and the business name. This shouldnt create any liability for this site and would help those of us who do not know to choose better.

Obvisouly this Idea needs a little work but I believe it has merit as a system of checks and balances for online shopping.

Any thoughts????

Another thing to note would be that as claims get resolved with the BBB they are considered settled but still show as a past complaint. nonetheless they show that they have been resolved. This is important too as not all complaints against a vendor are completly warranted and as such a vendor should not hang from one bad complaint in a hundred transactions. Many issues happen every day and most get resolved favorably. I would think that complaints should be limited to a time duration as well. Something like one year or 18 months.

Help me out here an lets make some changes to the way these shady businesses are allowed to operate.

Last edited by nevadadave; Dec 7, 2006 at 11:09 PM.
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Old Dec 7, 2006 | 11:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Mr.427
Radical Wheels has been REMOVED from all the corvette forums where he was a sponsor. This includes Z06 forum, Corvette forum and Digital Corvettes. Nuf Said
Thank you for your community concern. I could have very well awaited my imminent check from Visa and said nothing but these forums have been extremly helpful in my pursuit of my hobby. Even though it may not be on a completly positive note letting people know whats going on is what its about.
Thank you nuf Said
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Old Dec 8, 2006 | 10:24 AM
  #15  
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Originally Posted by nevadadave
Thank you for your community concern. I could have very well awaited my imminent check from Visa and said nothing but these forums have been extremly helpful in my pursuit of my hobby. Even though it may not be on a completly positive note letting people know whats going on is what its about.
Thank you nuf Said
My pleasure. The problem is word of mouth moves very quick but the moderators must give any sponsor ample time to respond to problems. In his case he never responded to moderators e-mails. The sponsor should always have the right to respond, as we all know what BS customers can throw out but this takes time. Buyer Beware at least alerts folks and the moderators to problems. It is all a timing issue and I would always advise everyone to purchase by credit card over the internet and never by Pay Pal or Check. Then you have some recourse.
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Old Dec 8, 2006 | 11:15 AM
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Well you know I live about 10 mins from plainfeild.... lol Maybe I go see if I can find your rims...one way or another... jk
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Old Dec 8, 2006 | 08:02 PM
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Originally Posted by KenC5
Well you know I live about 10 mins from plainfeild.... lol Maybe I go see if I can find your rims...one way or another... jk
HEHEHE
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Old Dec 8, 2006 | 08:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Mr.427
My pleasure. The problem is word of mouth moves very quick but the moderators must give any sponsor ample time to respond to problems. In his case he never responded to moderators e-mails. The sponsor should always have the right to respond, as we all know what BS customers can throw out but this takes time. Buyer Beware at least alerts folks and the moderators to problems. It is all a timing issue and I would always advise everyone to purchase by credit card over the internet and never by Pay Pal or Check. Then you have some recourse.
First off let me say this I apologize for snapping back at you. That was irresponsible and I am Sorry about that.
Second I think This could be worked into a useful way to alert buyers but I understand the word of mouth Issues. I dont really have a good answer I guess. There should be a way to merit companies for members to view before making their purchases. Maybe the answer isnt a "Black list" so to speak. but there should be something.

Again my apologies it has been a frustrating month
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Old Dec 8, 2006 | 10:09 PM
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I would not be looking for any help from paypal. Your credit card company is allways your best bet. My paypal account was once charged by an insurance company while I was on vacation. This was for insurance I neither requested nor authorized payment for. When my daughter who is an adult now first started driving I helped her get her first insurance, now much later she failed to pay a bill and the insurance company came back and billed my paypal account. Paypal paid told me to take it up with the insurance co., insurance co. told me I could not stop payment cause insurance was not in my name, by this time I'm furious, call my credit card co., getting ready to do battle, and a nice lady listened to my dilemma, and told me she would take care of it, AND SHE DID. Paypal and Esurance blow!
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Old Dec 8, 2006 | 11:09 PM
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sorry,
good luck
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