[closed] Garr255 grievance over late delivery of 87 BFL chips

[Bogart]

Warning: Lengthy post ahead.  I'm quoting everything I can in case he deletes or alters his posts.

What happened:: Garr255 posted a thread in Group Buys offering 65nm BFL chips for sale.  I purchased 87 chips in 2 separate transactions.  He has failed to deliver them for 45 days now, and his communication has been terrible.

Scammers Profile Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=24589

Reference Link:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=235595.0
Amount Scammed: $2080 plus 27 BTC
Payment Method: Bitpay and BTC
Proof of Payment 1: https://blockchain.info/tx/7fc19c851fac85491bcc3bc8f7849b801ba39e9aae1871e089c684c37462f5a7
Proof of Payment 2: http://blockchain.info/tx/95e663dbfb11f6674cd5ab9c5c7338710034d9ab9e1514c58e4a6fdefe8a4688
PM/Chat Logs:

Chips remaining: 55

I've placed an order (#100066934) for 100 BFL Chips, and will be reselling them to those who want to purchase less than BFL's minimum order amount of 100.

Orders will be processed as they are received, in a first come first served queue. If more than 100 orders are placed here, I will purchase another batch of 100. The chips are scheduled to arrive no later than 100 days from the purchase date, which is September 24th.

The chips will hash at a minimum 4gh/s each. Please understand that you are not purchasing a ready-to-mine product here. The processors being sold will need to be incorporated into a host board before being used. If BFL does not deliver I shall not be held at fault.


The pricing structure is as follows:

1-4 Chips	5-9 Chips	10+ Chips
$80 each Order here:	$75 each Order here:	$65 each Order here:

Shipping will be a flat $14.99 for the continental USA denominated in BTC to be billed at the time of shipping. International will be a case-by-case basis. Please factor in these costs when making your purchase.

Cheers,
Garrett


Thread rules: No advertising BFL chip/credit sales.

I used the bitpay button to buy 32 chips, at a cost of $2080.

Later I arranged via PM to purchase the 2 sample chips from him.  That went badly, and ended with the samples being stolen out of my mailbox.  Not his fault.  I'll not go into the details of that.

Later via PM I arranged to purchase the remaining 55 chips for 27 BTC:

Great.  If you get a chance to send me the tracking info (if any) I'd appreciate it.

I'd also like to buy the remaining 55 chips.  Would you consider 25 BTC for the remaining 55 chips?

Great.  If you get a chance to send me the tracking info (if any) I'd appreciate it.

I'd also like to buy the remaining 55 chips.  Would you consider 25 BTC for the remaining 55 chips?

They are scheduled to arrive Friday. No tracking info, sorry.

And I'll do the remaining 55 for 27 coiins. 1Garr2555P4oiAaLQqXkcdAKGg4SMt3RZS

--Garrett

I can do that.  Sent with TXID 95e663dbfb11f6674cd5ab9c5c7338710034d9ab9e1514c58e4a6fdefe8a4688.

The scheduled delivery day, September 24 comes and goes.

Has there been any word?  Supposedly some people have been asked for the second half of the payment, and some have received chips even, like dwdoc with an order from 11-June.

I have made the second half of the payment and the chips should be shipping soon!

Great.  Let me know when you have them in-hand.

When you do get them, I'd like them shipped with tracking and insurance (USPS Priority) to my xxxxxxxxxxxx address:

<shipping address was given here>

No response was received.

Via email (forums were down):

10/08/2013 12:01 PM:

Will do!

--Garrett

On 10/5/2013 8:00 PM, Bogart wrote:
> Hi. With the forum down, you can email me here if needed.
>
> Let me know when you receive the BFL chips plz.
>
> Thanks.
>
>

Have you heard anything since?

I also bought some chips from a guy with a 6/18 order, and he tells me he has now received the chips.

No response was received.

Via email:

10/14/2013 02:03 AM:
I just got a shipping notification!

I'll have them off to you this week.

Cheers,
Garrett

On 10/13/2013 7:48 AM, Bogart wrote:
> Have you heard anything from BFL?  You'd said you had paid the second half...
>
> I also ordered chips from another user with a 6/18 order, and I have those chips in-hand now.
>
> What's the state of your 6/16 order?
>
>

Any new information?  A tracking number (I hope)?

No response was received.

In the thread:

I got a tracking # from BFL a few weeks ago but have not received anything yet. I will call them tomorrow and post back here when I have info.

--Garrett

I purchased the remaining 87 chips from this offer.

What does the tracking information show when you check the number?

Also, why did you wait 3 weeks and still haven't called to check on them, and why have not responded to my emails and PMs asking about them?

Due to their diminished value because of the delay, I would like to request a refund rather than taking delivery.

Hi,

I have called BFL, and BFL assures me that the chips shipped on Friday. This is very shady of them because they told me the chips shipped about two weeks ago. I will call them tomorrow morning and request that they be refunded. I agree that this has taken them a ridiculous amount of time and I don't want to take delivery on the chips that I bought for myself either.

I will post back here tomorrow.

--Garrett

No offense meant, but I feel like you should just refund me now and settle-up with BFL on your own.  I entered into the purchase agreement with you, not with BFL.

I feel like you've dropped the ball in not managing the order or responding to my emails or PMs in a timely manner (usually not responding at all.)

I'm looking to receive the 27 BTC I paid for 55 chips directly to your 1garr255 address, plus the $2080 I paid for the first 32 chips via the bitpay button in the OP.

Thanks in advance.

Hey,

Today, after much persistence with BFL, they have still refused to give a refund and sent me the chips regardless. I have them in my posession as of this evening and will be sending them to their proper recipients on Monday. I apologize for this mishaps, but it is nothing I could have prevented. The chips will be out of my hands Monday and this will be over.

I am never going to order from BFL again, unless they can ship the same day I pay. That is a lesson most of us have learned the hard way with BFL.

Well that's just great.  :sarcmark:  BFL fucks us over again.

I still have to ask why you didn't follow up with BFL more aggressively when the delivery first became late.  I don't feel like I received the level of customer service I ought to have with this purchase.

For contrast, I purchased another lot of these chips from another forum user who had an 18-June order, and they were delivered to me on 11-Oct.  Only about 8 days late after accounting for reshipment from him to me.  He called BFL right away when they passed the 100 day mark.

PM me the tracking information please.

Thanks.

No response was received.

Via PM:

Can you PM me the tracking information for the chip shipment please?

Thanks.

No response was received.

Again in the thread:

PM me the tracking information please.

Thanks.

Pretty please?

No response was received.

It's Friday now and the mail has been delivered, and I still have no chips.

Garr255, please talk to me.  I think you at least owe me, your paying customer, a response.

Did you ship the chips?  If so, please send me the tracking number.

No response was received.

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[Bogart]

Additional Notes:

By now the value of the chips is severely reduced.  As of this writing they are about 45 days late.  I will not accept their delivery now as a sufficient remedy.  I want nothing less than a full refund of the amounts I paid.  $2080 plus 27 BTC.  He can keep the chips, if he even has/had them.

My main points are:

He blames BFL for the delays.  While that may be true to an extent, he has offered no proof.  He claims to have received tracking information at least twice, yet he has never shared the tracking numbers, or what tracking status is shown when the numbers are checked.

If BFL was indeed late, he failed to pursue the matter with BFL in a timely manner.  Had he done so (if he's even being truthful about BFL being late), delivery may have occurred in a reasonable timeframe.  I purchased BFL chips from another seller, and they were delivered to me only 8 days late.

Even now after he claims to have received the chips and that he would send them out on Monday November the 4th, I still have not received the chips, nor a tracking number, nor any response from him at all to my many inquiries.

[Lloydimiller4]

I am also a victim of this faulty group buy of BFL chips. I purchased 10 BFL chips on 8/14.

Bogart has done a great job at laying the facts of the group buy, Garr simply did not choose to follow through on demanding BFL to ship the chips in a timely manner.

At this point, I want a full refund of my bitcoins and Garr can do what he wants with the chips. I understand that Garr goes to school and is involved in bitcoin at the same time, but he should not be biting off more than he can chew. He very clearly dropped the ball, and repeatedly wasn't around to answer questions. Garr should have been in communication with BFL to resolve the shipping issue since the day they were scheduled to be delivered.

I also find it odd that Garr seems to be the only group buyer of BFL chips whose shipment was delayed longer than a week. He still hasn't shipped us the chips even though he claimed he would last Monday.

Today, after much persistence with BFL, they have still refused to give a refund and sent me the chips regardless. I have them in my posession as of this evening and will be sending them to their proper recipients on Monday.

Today these chips are worth less than half of when they should have been delivered, and he missed his delivery deadlines twice.


On a slightly separate note, I am in another of his group buys for Avalon chips. He got a refund from Avalon because they did not ship him his chips(sounds familiar...), and I have requested a refund from him about 4 different times over the past 6 weeks. He hasn't gotten back to me.

Altogether he has about 15BTC of mine that I want back.

[DiamondCardz]

Interesting, I'll be seeing how this plays out.

[Atruk]

Where is kakobrekla when you need him?

[MrTeal]

I've had a couple issues with BFL and their supply of chips in the couple dozen different orders worth of chips I've been involved with, but the vast majority of time a simple email to Jonathon solved the issue. The latest one involved an order that was late, and when the chips were reshipped the FedEx box got dropped in the bin for USPS packages and is now apparently somewhere between USPS and FedEx. A couple emails about the issue and Dave McClain gave me a phone call and sent out another batch of chips FedEx First Overnight (8AM) to cover it.

Garr may be scared of Inaba, but it's likely that a simple email on his part would have gotten this issue solved pretty quickly.

[Bogart]

I've decided to stop pursuing the accusation.

The chips were delivered, albeit ~50 days late.

Details in the thread linked in the OP.