Anybody dealt with member stilmacher? Confused as to what to do

[Tibo]

Sorry if this post does not belong to here - please feel free to redirect to more appropriate section of the forum. Last week Saturday 30/4, member Stilmacher posted a pair of John Lobbs for sale on the B&S forum http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?p=4450976 I immediately exchanged a couple of PMs with him as I was interested in the shoes. He was always very responsive and answered to my PMs in a matter of minutes. The last PM I got from him was to confirm that if I were to make the agreed payment on Saturday he would ship the shoes from Germany on Monday (2/5) and that they would be with me in Belgium by the end of the week (6/5). I sent him the payment by PayPal and got the automated acknowledgment from PayPal that the payment was sent. My credit card was immediately charged with the amount. That's when things got tricky. Since then, despite sending several PMs to Stilmacher, I haven't gotten him to answer anymore. He never acknowledged that he received the payment, and never confirmed when and if the shoes were shipped. The shoes didn't arrive yet, so I got increasingly worried and sent him a PM yesterday saying that failing reception of the shoes or a PM by tomorrow, I would start a dispute procedure with PayPal to get my money back. You'll say this is a classic scam and I shouldn't have waited so long to react. Thing is, I never would have, if I didn't have the feeling that Stilmacher was a long-established and reputable SF member (profile here http://www.styleforum.net/member.php?u=9030). He's been selling lots of stuff on the forum and from what I can see only got thumbs-up from buyers. So my question is: before I launch the arduous process of trying to get my money back, is there anyone of you who knows this member, has dealt with him in the past, or has any idea why this is all happening (account hacked, Stilmacher travelling or sick or...)? Any clue would be helpful obviously. Many thanks for your help!

 

[TintoTerra]

If he's not responding contact your credit card company asap. Better safe than sorry.

 

[srivats]

That sucks ... not sure what went wrong. Good luck OP.

 

[IndianBoyz]

 

[lasbar]

Originally Posted by srivats

That sucks ... not sure what went wrong. Good luck OP.

He was quite pleased as a fellow Sfer but it is a different kettle of fish when money is involved.

 

[rsuhandy]

I am doing the same thing with another established sfer....
It's for a much smaller amount but it's been almost a month and I still haven't
heard back. Oh well paypal says if he doesn't respond within a month money will be refunded...

 

[lasbar]

Originally Posted by rsuhandy

I am doing the same thing with another established sfer....
It's for a much smaller amount but it's been almost a month and I still haven't
heard back. Oh well paypal says if he doesn't respond within a month money will be refunded...

It is a bit sad state of affairs but fellow Sfers are just internet acquaintances and nothing else most of the time...

We tend to forget about it on SF...

 

[pebblegrain]

I doubt he's scamming but at the same time you don't have to wait around while your window of opportunity shrinks. Even if the reason that he hasn't responded is because he died, that doesn't mean you should be ass out $500.

You could possibly wait a week or so, but definitely not more than 30 days, or whatever the limit for disputes is.

 

[rsuhandy]

I would just send him a PM telling him what you intend to do.
At least then you can say you tried to work things out first...

 

[niidawg3]

have had nothing but good experiences with him. i agree about sending him a PM that you are going to dispute the charge ... hopefully that will pique his attention. i have to believe there is something wrong and this is not him scamming you.

 

[Master-Classter]

a few days off I think is acceptable. I know when I'm selling stuff, sometimes I say I'll have it shipped off in 2-3 days but really I might wait until the end of the week until all the sales are in before going once to ship everything out. meaning the guy who bought on monday will get them a week late (at most)...

I say send him a PM (check if he's been online even).
wait until the end of the week


then do whatever you've got to do.

 

[SpooPoker]

Just saying -

Did you send him a direct email, or contact him via his ebay auctions? Some people dont have an email notification set up for PMs, and they might not come on to SF for long periods of time - or not pay attention to their PMs.

 

[LatinStyleLover]

No idea how often he normally frequents the forum, but he last signed on May 4th, 2011, for what it's worth.

 

[rsuhandy]

If that's the case then send him an email to the email
that you sent money to. If he doesn't check that one then
he won't even know that you opened up a dispute. Odds are he
checks his paypal email though...

 

[teddieriley]

Isn't that dude rich wearing his chinchilla coats and such and traveling Europe? I'd send the PMs, give it a couple of days, then start the dispute by the end of the week.